Episode 0

Before we get to the strip, a couple of bits of trivia: First, I didn't actually write it. Second, It makes absolutely no sense out of context.

So, here's what happened...

Back in the late 90's, there was a website I frequented called ClassicGaming.com. Long-since slurped up into the morass that is now IGN, it used to be a cool website. There was a semi-regular column titled "Game of the Week" (long before blogs, mind you), generally written by someone going by the name of "Fragmaster". He also handled the mailbag chores there (again - long before blog comments), answering reader e-mails, and bringing a welcomed dose of humor into the whole classic gaming scene.

On April 16, 1999, the following letter showed up in the Mailbag:

[indent]From: Aaron Gore
Subject: Atari Y2K question???
Wasn't sure who might know this, so i thought i'd try you guys first. I'm not an electonics guy so i wouldn't know the answer to this question: Is the Atari 2600 going to "CRAP OUT" after January 1, 2000? And a broader question: Will the old NES, other Atari consoles, Vectrex, etc "CRAP OUT" January 1, 2000? Since i have a stack of old consoles, i was just wondering. Like i said, i don't know alot about electronic architecture!

Heh. Gotta love the media for scaring everyone, huh? "Y2K WILL KILL YOUR PETS IF THEY WERE BORN BEFORE 1970!!!! YOUR CAR WILL EXPLODE AS WELL!!!!!!" Please.

I don't see how any old consoles would "CRAP OUT" (is that a technical term?) because of the year 2000... first of all, I can't think of any consoles that keep track of the time. If they don't keep track of the time, how will they know it's the year 2000? Will they ask a nearby lamp or something?

[indent]VideoGameConsole: Hey buddy, got the time?
Lamp: Yup... lesse... January 1st, 2000...
VideoGameConsole: SWEET CRAP! I'M A GONER!
* VideoGameConsole explodes in a massive ball of flame. *
[/indent]
I don't think so.

[/indent](You can read the original exchange, thanks to the Wayback Machine near the bottom of this page.)

Anyway, that struck me as being very funny, so I drew it up. I never actually did anything with it for whatever reason (probably the aforementioned fact that it makes no sense out of context), and so the finished artwork has sat on various hard drives for the last 10+ years, gathering dust, and waiting for its extremely dated humor to finally see the light of day.

So with that, we present the only known prototype to exist of "Artie the Atari":



I wonder what I could get for it on eBay...