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The History of Atari: 1971-1977


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Are you the author? If so, you might want to change "discreet" to "discrete" (seen twice so far, and I'm only on page 4). "Discreet" is a synonym for "secretive" and "judicious", while "discrete" means "separate". "Discrete logic" is an electronics term for circuitry which does not use a microprocessor.

Edited by A.J. Franzman
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Are you the author? If so, you might want to change "discreet" to "discrete" (seen twice so far, and I'm only on page 4). "Discreet" is a synonym for "secretive" and "judicious", while "discrete" means "separate". "Discrete logic" is an electronics term for circuitry which does not use a microprocessor.

 

No, I'm not the author, and I just started reading it myself.

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No, I'm not the author, and I just started reading it myself.

 

The author is Steve Fulton over at 8-bit rocket, its an expansion of a previous timeline series he had been working on. Its a good compilation of previous material and he has a nice writing style. Unfortunately during the process, some stories or facts seem to have been mishmashed a bit here and there.

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Awesome,awesome read!I'm more into reading about the history of classic gaming,and gaming in general,since I'm not into PLAYING games as much as I ONCE was.I read somewhere the ATARI logo was supposed to represent two people facing each other,playing a(PONG?) game,like in PING PONG,or something.I thought that was pretty stupid,as it representing MT.FUJI makes more sense.

Edited by Rik
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Awesome,awesome read!I'm more into reading about the history of classic gaming,and gaming in general,since I'm not into PLAYING games as much as I ONCE was.I read somewhere the ATARI logo was supposed to represent two people facing each other,playing a(PONG?) game,like in PING PONG,or something.I thought that was pretty stupid,as it representing MT.FUJI makes more sense.

 

 

Yes, that's what the logo originally represented until it was later referred to as a "Fuji". Actually its not stupid at all, since at the time that was created, PONG (and its "sequels") were Atari's bread and butter.

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Awesome,awesome read!I'm more into reading about the history of classic gaming,and gaming in general,since I'm not into PLAYING games as much as I ONCE was.I read somewhere the ATARI logo was supposed to represent two people facing each other,playing a(PONG?) game,like in PING PONG,or something.I thought that was pretty stupid,as it representing MT.FUJI makes more sense.

 

 

Yes, that's what the logo originally represented until it was later referred to as a "Fuji". Actually its not stupid at all, since at the time that was created, PONG (and its "sequels") were Atari's bread and butter.

Thanx for the input.So it WAS the original meaning.The reason i thought it was stupid,is because i thought it was an un-informed amateur who said it was suppose to represent two players facing each other,i read that MANY years ago and wasnt sure about the author's validity,so,thanx for confirming it as true.It just doesnt look like two people to me,it in fact looks more like a mountain,hill,tall structure of some kind,to ME anyway.

Edited by Rik
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Excellent read. I could have sworn a quote or two came out of Stella at 20 but none of it was attributed to it. Also wish more were written about Jay Miner.

 

Nope, nothing from Stella At 20. There are some quotes in part 2 from "Once Upon Atari" though.

I will add more about Miner in part 2 when the 400/800 are discussed. I am a fan of his. If you have a good source, please point me to it. (besides that Commodore book).

"Game Brain": I did research it, but the thing was already getting "out of hand" so cut it out, my bad. Right now I'm trying to find out if Atari actually released the "Pro Coach Football" board game in 1978. Any takers?

"Discreet vs Discrete": Might have bee a global search and replace error, or down the fact that I can't spell.

1979 vs 1972: Fat finger.

Everything else is down to my bad editing, my inability to see my own mistakes, or me being a bone-head.

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Thanx for the input.So it WAS the original meaning.The reason i thought it was stupid,is because i thought it was an un-informed amateur who said it was suppose to represent two players facing each other,i read that MANY years ago and wasnt sure about the author's validity,so,thanx for confirming it as true.It just doesnt look like two people to me,it in fact looks more like a mountain,hill,tall structure of some kind,to ME anyway.

 

 

Rik - the source is here.

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Thanx for the input.So it WAS the original meaning.The reason i thought it was stupid,is because i thought it was an un-informed amateur who said it was suppose to represent two players facing each other,i read that MANY years ago and wasnt sure about the author's validity,so,thanx for confirming it as true.It just doesnt look like two people to me,it in fact looks more like a mountain,hill,tall structure of some kind,to ME anyway.

 

 

Rik - the source is here.

Yes,right on,thanx!

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Excellent read. I could have sworn a quote or two came out of Stella at 20 but none of it was attributed to it. Also wish more were written about Jay Miner.

 

Nope, nothing from Stella At 20. There are some quotes in part 2 from "Once Upon Atari" though.

I will add more about Miner in part 2 when the 400/800 are discussed. I am a fan of his. If you have a good source, please point me to it. (besides that Commodore book).

"Game Brain": I did research it, but the thing was already getting "out of hand" so cut it out, my bad. Right now I'm trying to find out if Atari actually released the "Pro Coach Football" board game in 1978. Any takers?

"Discreet vs Discrete": Might have bee a global search and replace error, or down the fact that I can't spell.

1979 vs 1972: Fat finger.

Everything else is down to my bad editing, my inability to see my own mistakes, or me being a bone-head.

 

Within the context of the 2600, you'd want to mention how Jay Miner was acquired by Atari through the Synertek/CBM deal (which Al Alcorn related in Stella at 20). While the 2600 was already in development by then, it was very raw. In Larry Wagner's notes you can see how Jay redid the hardware memory map and changed the register names from the original cryptic ones to their final familiar forms. It was also related to me that it was Jay's specific goal to tightly synchronize the TIA behavior to the 6507 clock at the cycle level, not just the bare minium of the end of scanlines or between screens. He may not have known exactly how that would help but it was clear enough early on to carry through in the 400/800 and Amiga. It was also his goal to preserve access to the bare metal in future designs. That's why you can turn off the OS and ANTIC on the 400/800 and drive the GTIA directly, for instance. Unlike other design evolutions, there was a fine line between hardware engineer and software developer at Atari, so the Atari machines always provided maximum flexibility rather than being a black box with a limited interface as many other architectures were.

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I thought I saw an Atari commercial or similar thing that showed a quick clip of Pong being played and the objects turned into the Atari logo? Did I really see that or did somebody put drugs in my distilled water?

Since I have a recollection of the same thing, either it's true, or we're sharing a hallucination.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Haven't read the article yet, but I currently work in a SF Bay Area startup where not one, but TWO of the people used to work for Atari in their 80's heyday.

 

One of the guys is an older guy (almost 60) who served as a hardware engineer for atari. Plenty of stories from those days.

 

Donald

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