246 replies to this topic

[Curt Vendel]

Taco Bell is giving away free with purchase on a meal- CD's with Atari classic arcade games on them - Super Breakout, Asteroids, Lunar Lander, Centipede.

These were done by Legacy Engineering (Marty and I) and are done so that they work on both PC/Windows and Mac OSX systems.

They have Classic modes and then Enhanced modes (updated graphics/audio)...

Hope everyone enjoys them:

http://kotaku.com/54...ree-atari-games



Curt

Edited by Curt Vendel, Tue Mar 2, 2010 8:21 AM.

[lucifershalo]

wow, the artwork is great
no Taco Bell in Belgium:(
anyway I can buy them from you or from someone else??

[save2600]

Thanks for the heads up! Can't stand their "food", but love the promotion and retro packaging of the CD's!

Might have to check one out and see how well the Flash programming works on my G5

[Curt Vendel]

We did these using Adobe AIR which I have to say is a fantastic technology... we wanted to take it to the full extent and have the games look for a network connection - connect to atari.com, just for updates and upgrades, but Atari wanted to keep these really simple - in fact there are three levels for every game, the beginner level on all of them is meant to be playable by 6 year olds as this was something required by Taco Bell... medium level is more arcade accurate and the expect level gives everyone a bit more challenge. We kept all of the original gameplay mechanics intact and on one game - Lunar Lander, we've added an expanded element to the game, after several successful landings we've added an ascent to lunar orbit stage where you have to dock with the Command Module for extra fuel and points, so we kept things true to form, but added what we felt would be gameplay appropriate elements into the enhanced modes.


Curt

 save2600, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 8:31 AM, said:

Thanks for the heads up! Can't stand their "food", but love the promotion and retro packaging of the CD's!

Might have to check one out and see how well the Flash programming works on my G5

[jboypacman]

Sounds like Taco Bell for lunch for me.

[Chris Leach]

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:12 AM, said:

Sounds like Taco Bell for lunch for me.

My lunch is at 11:30 sharp jboy..you comin to town, we can run for the boarder together!

[jboypacman]

 Chris Leach, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:14 AM, said:

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:12 AM, said:

Sounds like Taco Bell for lunch for me.

My lunch is at 11:30 sharp jboy..you comin to town, we can run for the boarder together!

Not today was in town yesterday to see the doctor but maybe we could do lunch on Friday.

[Chris Leach]

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:17 AM, said:

 Chris Leach, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:14 AM, said:

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:12 AM, said:

Sounds like Taco Bell for lunch for me.

My lunch is at 11:30 sharp jboy..you comin to town, we can run for the boarder together!

Not today was in town yesterday to see the doctor but maybe we could do lunch on Friday.

SOunds good! Lunch is on John Friday guys!

[DaytonaUSA]

Taco bell in 1.5 hours! I love their food, but now I have more reason to go eat there today .

[82-T/A]

 Curt Vendel, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 8:20 AM, said:

Taco Bell is giving away free with purchase on a meal- CD's with Atari classic arcade games on them - Super Breakout, Asteroids, Lunar Lander, Centipede.

These were done by Legacy Engineering (Marty and I) and are done so that they work on both PC/Windows and Mac OSX systems.

They have Classic modes and then Enhanced modes (updated graphics/audio)...

Hope everyone enjoys them:

http://kotaku.com/54...ree-atari-games



Curt

Hey Kurt,

Do you know when this promotion begins? Is it in the drive-through only? This is too bad-ass... I'm going to ask my wife to go to Taco Bell on the way home from work next time...

[Kripto]

Very cool to see.

Congrats on the release Curt!

[AtariLeaf]

Anyone know if these are available at taco bells in Canada?

[Curt Vendel]

I have no idea, sorry... you'd need to check specifically with Taco Bell on how they are handing these out and such. We were just spec'd to get these down originally for different levels of gameplay so the easiest could be played by 6 year olds, then the regular setting and a hard setting. Originally they only wanted PC games, but by the way we did this through Adobe Flash and deploying using one of the coolest technologies - Adobe Air, we made these dual platform installs so they also work on Mac's too.


Curt

 82-T/A, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:29 AM, said:

 Curt Vendel, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 8:20 AM, said:

Taco Bell is giving away free with purchase on a meal- CD's with Atari classic arcade games on them - Super Breakout, Asteroids, Lunar Lander, Centipede.

These were done by Legacy Engineering (Marty and I) and are done so that they work on both PC/Windows and Mac OSX systems.

They have Classic modes and then Enhanced modes (updated graphics/audio)...

Hope everyone enjoys them:

http://kotaku.com/54...ree-atari-games



Curt

Hey Kurt,

Do you know when this promotion begins? Is it in the drive-through only? This is too bad-ass... I'm going to ask my wife to go to Taco Bell on the way home from work next time...

[Curt Vendel]

BTW - when you play the enhanced version of Asteroids... check out the ship - we took some original photo's of the actual models used back in 1984 for the Atari 7800 artwork for 3D Asteroids and made that into the ship used in the enhanced graphics mode. Also, we had some fun with the asteroids too --- we didn't like going with fully rasterized asteroids so instead we did this cool black vectorized look of the asteroids so that the enhanced mode would keep the original arcade feel to it.

Super Breakout (ahem - Breakout) is a lot of fun too --- Marty came up with a cool motif that was this "bouncing proton's off of the walls of the inside of computer chips" and has a tron-esque kind of feel to it.

*** However just a note - somebody in marketing made a mistake - we did BREAKOUT, not SUPER Breakout for these, in fact Al Alcorn lent some help with making recommendations to the game engine to make sure that this would be not only the first time Breakout was ever made (remember it is all TTL, no CPU, No ROM) but that it is the first ever truly accurate recreation of it on a modern platform....

Lunar lander enhanced - I sampled actual Apollo 11 moon landing audio and its incorporated into the game as you descend to the surface, so it added a little more depth and feel to the game. Plus as I mentioned - we added in a take off and docking stage as well.

...and no - you can't ram into the Command Module and blow it up (but I know you were thinking about it...) the display will say TOO FAST and the ascent level will end (You killed Neil, Buzz and Michael Collins in CM --- shame on you!)


Curt

Edited by Curt Vendel, Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:22 AM.

[DaytonaUSA]

I just picked up Lunar Lander. I can't wait to play it when I get home. Thanks guys! All the CDs are $1 a piece. I'd heavily recommend buying all of them. I'll do that later on in the week.. I didn't have enough singles on me hahaha.

EDIT: Bless you for making it Mac OSX compatible. Thanks!

[Curt Vendel]

Mac's don't get enough gaming love


Curt

 DaytonaUSA, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:06 AM, said:

I just picked up Lunar Lander. I can't wait to play it when I get home. Thanks guys! All the CDs are $1 a piece. I'd heavily recommend buying all of them. I'll do that later on in the week.. I didn't have enough singles on me hahaha.

EDIT: Bless you for making it Mac OSX compatible. Thanks!

[DaytonaUSA]

 Curt Vendel, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:18 AM, said:

Mac's don't get enough gaming love


Curt

 DaytonaUSA, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:06 AM, said:

I just picked up Lunar Lander. I can't wait to play it when I get home. Thanks guys! All the CDs are $1 a piece. I'd heavily recommend buying all of them. I'll do that later on in the week.. I didn't have enough singles on me hahaha.

EDIT: Bless you for making it Mac OSX compatible. Thanks!

Haha so true. Is this a regional thing, or every Taco Bell? I'm curious how you guys got permission to reproduce these games. I'm not familiar with your company, so sorry if there's an obvious answer . I hope they payed you guys well. These are great!

One thing that bothered me was the utter lack of advertising for it. No signs, nothing. When I asked for it, the lady smiled and said "wow, yea we just got those in today, how did you know?".

[TrekMD]

This is cool. I'll have to pay a visit to Taco Bell...

[jboypacman]

 Chris Leach, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:26 AM, said:

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:17 AM, said:

 Chris Leach, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:14 AM, said:

 jboypacman, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:12 AM, said:

Sounds like Taco Bell for lunch for me.

My lunch is at 11:30 sharp jboy..you comin to town, we can run for the boarder together!

Not today was in town yesterday to see the doctor but maybe we could do lunch on Friday.

SOunds good! Lunch is on John Friday guys!

More like lunch is on you Chris i don't have your money lol.

[Curt Vendel]

We were commissioned by Atari to do these and they did some kind of deal for Taco Bell. I was told these weren't even coming out until April, so I'm surprised Taco Bell jumped on these so quick, other then the word of mouth there is nothing official announce insofar as I know.


Curt

 DaytonaUSA, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:27 AM, said:

 Curt Vendel, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:18 AM, said:

Mac's don't get enough gaming love


Curt

 DaytonaUSA, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 11:06 AM, said:

I just picked up Lunar Lander. I can't wait to play it when I get home. Thanks guys! All the CDs are $1 a piece. I'd heavily recommend buying all of them. I'll do that later on in the week.. I didn't have enough singles on me hahaha.

EDIT: Bless you for making it Mac OSX compatible. Thanks!

Haha so true. Is this a regional thing, or every Taco Bell? I'm curious how you guys got permission to reproduce these games. I'm not familiar with your company, so sorry if there's an obvious answer . I hope they payed you guys well. These are great!

One thing that bothered me was the utter lack of advertising for it. No signs, nothing. When I asked for it, the lady smiled and said "wow, yea we just got those in today, how did you know?".

[jsmith73]

I am SO getting Taco Bell for lunch!!!!!!!

Curt, you and Marty are now officially cooler than Santa Claus!

[DaytonaUSA]

 jsmith73, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 12:34 PM, said:

I am SO getting Taco Bell for lunch!!!!!!!

Curt, you and Marty are now officially cooler than Santa Claus!

Weeeell, if he wanted to be cooler than Santa he could have made the games totally free . But forcing me to have Taco Bell isn't the worst thing in the world haha.

[ls650]

Ah man, I bet it's USA only. I would even eat at Taco Bell to try those out!

Are they the same as the Flash-based games on the atari.com web-site?

[StanJr]

This is awsome, Curt! You rule! Can't wait to grub some change and make a run for the Border! Excellent!

[Mirage]

In that article, they say $1.50 each, not $1 each. Since this isn't even official yet, I think I'll hold off a bit, but I'll go to TB soon enough and pick these up for the heck of it.