airraid Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2000...ri_19711977.php 20 pages will be continued. this first part covers upto the VCS/2600 era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 (edited) 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 November 7, 2007 by A.J. Franzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airraid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Good stuff, thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninermaniac Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 (edited) I'm not a human dictionary but I like what you've posted. Good stuff. I've climbed Mt. Fuji 3 times when I was in the Marine Corps. AWESOME! Edited November 7, 2007 by ninermaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP Atari King of Michigan Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 They goofed in one spot where they said that Pong was released November 1979, when it should be 1972. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasholzer Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Ok, no mention of the Game Brain Console, or did I miss that bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) 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 November 12, 2007 by Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) 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 November 12, 2007 by Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 (edited) 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. Edited November 13, 2007 by mos6507 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefulton Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Everything else is down to my bad editing, my inability to see my own mistakes, or me being a bone-head. You're too hard on your self Steve, you do a very good job compiling and presenting facts, etc. in your articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The news item on the AA main page gives the name of the site as "Gamesutra". Someone might want to correct that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The news item on the AA main page gives the name of the site as "Gamesutra". Someone might want to correct that. Thanks, I fixed that. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightytodd Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 I love reading about the details of history like this. I very much enjoyed the Gamasutra article and the posts in this thread. Thanks everyone for contributing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coach41 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 One of the guys is an older guy (almost 60) who served as a hardware engineer for atari. Plenty of stories from those days. Do tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingstiff Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 I am on page 12 of 20 and it is a very good read. Most of it is I already knew as video game lore, but not in this level of detail. It's kind of like the high school history class that you enjoyed because the teacher was cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.