_ATARI_AGE_ Magazine Index (or the first two years of publication anyhow) Compiled by Mushroom Mandrake , Atari Club Member 20319019 waaay back when, at the insistance of Xeno . Any rights still held by Atari Clubs, Inc. are reserved; this file is merely an outline of what each issue of the Atari Club's official publication contained for those who don't still have (or never had) their own copies. Transcripts/paraphrasing of various articles' contents may be available somewhere in the universe. Mushroom makes no claim toward the accuracy of the items reported; he's just copying what the magazine said. :) If there were further issues, feel free to add to this listing or snailmail photocopies (or originals, I'll be careful!) to Mushroom. Hit restart... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- V.1 I.1 May/June 1982 Cover: Art from Superman, Football, Video Pinball, Pele's Soccer, Outlaw, Breakout, Basketball, Othello, Backgammon, and Asteroids. Celebrity Corner: AA interviews Pac-Man. From The Editor: Steve Morgenstern welcomes everyone, mentions his advance copy of Defender -- "it is incredible!" Atari International: The World Plays Atari. News: Atari gets rights to Phoenix & Vanguard, Computer Camp opens, 5200 unveiled, Clubhouse Store offers merchandise, pic of the Army's upgraded version of arcade Battlezone, and Sneak Peeks... Sneak Peeks: Home -- Berzerk, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Swordquest series. Arcade -- Space Duel Article: If you like Pac-Man, why not play Maze Craze? Cart ads: Yar's Revenge, Defender. Article: Real life haunted houses ("if you think Atari's Haunted House game is scary...") Merchandise: Poster of cover, game case, cartridge library, t-shirts (Missile Command, Asteroids)... Contest: Scavenger hunt ----- V.1 I.2 July/August 1982 Cover: Two 2600A circuit boards as spaceships. Inside Your VCS: Guided tour of a VCS's hardware. Atari International: Pac-Man skis the Matterhorn, Kuwait plays Dodge 'Em, pic of soccer great Pele and kids in "I (heart) Atari" t-shirts -- "Pele Visits Middle East As Atari Goodwill Ambassador." From The Editor: An invitation to contribute to the magazine. Letters: The programmer's sig in Missile Command on level 13, where does the name Atari come from?, will the Atari hurt my TV? News: Atari Force comics, tie-in with McDonald's, new stuff in the Store, new service speeds game repairs; EPROM report on Math Grand Prix, Berzerk, and Demons To Diamonds; and Sneak Peeks... Sneak Peeks: Home -- 17 cartridges planned for 1982, the RealSports line. Arcade -- Dig Dug. Have you played Warlords today? Order it now and get paddles for $10! Cart ad: Berzerk. Article: Secret codes. Merchandise: Digital watch, sports wallet, earrings, Game Center Organizer, tennis gear, bumper stickers, Pac-Man TV tray, fuji kite, polo shirt, mug, keyrings (fuji, Berzerk, Pac-Man), beach towel, tote bag, backpack, and the infamous I (heart) Atari pendant worn by the cute girl in a blue shirt Contest: Break this code and win an Atari 400 & a Frisbee. ----- V.1 I.3 September/October 1992 Cover: SwordQuest (man and woman reaching for levitating sword). Inside Your VCS: The guts of a cartridge, with blowup of an IC. Important Announcement: Club Store discounts on all carts. Letters: Holding down the start button in Space Invaders for double- shots, why are the contests void in Ohio?, programmer signature on Yar's Revenge (answer: RTFM, we're not gonna tell ya). Atari International: Atari is videogame of the '84 Olympics, meet Captain Atari (a hero in Europe [like David Hasselhoff! m3]). News: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sesame Street games coming. Arcade: Kangaroo. Sneak Peeks: Summer '82 CES presentations -- RS & SQ games, Frog Pond, the 5200 demonstrated plus details about a trakball and 2600 adapter for it, and "Atari also confirmed that the 5200 will _talk_ to us soon" sometime in 1983. Christmas catalog: Notable are the hat & scarf with Breakout pattern, and the Astroscan Newtonian telescope -- $229.95. Cart ads: Star Raiders; RS Baseball, Football & Volleyball. Article: SwordQuest info, contest, t-shirts, starting with EarthWorld. Article: The panic of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast. Contest: Seen in a Sign (make words out of "ATARI GAMES"). ----- V.1 I.4 November/December 1982 Cover: E.T. extends his glowing finger to a stock Atari joystick. Inside Your VCS: The innards of the joystick and paddle. Your Turn: Tips on Defender, Night Driver, and Adventure. Captain's Log: The Clubhouse number is for orders only, kids! Letters: How long does a cart last? (answer: a lifetime), how long does it take to develop a cart? (6 weeks to 9 months) and where do cart ideas come from (reply includes whom to send your software and written ideas to), and a non-reply on finding the programmer's signature in Defender on level 25. New Cart Report: E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, RS Football Mini-article: How to do the official Atari handshake. Hoo boy... Article: The Making of Atari Force. Sneak Peeks: Crazy Climber, 3 more RealSports carts coming, and -- "a game now in development based on a top-rated CBS tele- vision series. It's still too early to reveal the name of the show, but we _can_ tell you that the game will almost certainly feature some fancy high-speed car driving." [The the world was never ready for the Duke Boys, I guess... m3] Arcade: Gravitar. Cart ads: Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., RealSports Football. Article: Interview with Steven Spielberg, by Steve Morgenstern. Clubhouse: 5200 available ($249.95) and 8 carts, water rocket, the Teledaptor for VCS sound through your stereo. Contest: Cart name rebuses. ----- V.1. I.5 January/February 1983 Cover: Crazy Climber Make your own left-handed joystick! Captain's Log: Steve can't get over having the exclusive distribution rights to CC six months before it hits the public market. Letters: What does the fuji mean?, is the light cycle scene of the movie Tron based on the game Surround?, will there be a voice synth for the VCS? ("At this time, the answer is no."), and tell us more about the Atari Camps. New Cart Report: Vanguard, Ms. Pac-Man, Phoenix, SwordQuest FireWorld, Crazy Climber. Arcade: Millipede, Pole Position. Sneak Peeks: "the first hit game ever programmed by a woman", Kangaroo, new controllers for the VCS, Krull, five Sesame Street games. Cart ads: FireWorld & contest, Ms. Pac-Man, two-pager for Crazy Climber, Phoenix, Vanguard. Article: "Climbing The Walls" Contest: Get E.T. Home and win a 5200! Ad for 5200 and 10 carts. Clubhouse: Joystick repair kit. Your Turn: How to cheat at Superman. ----- V.2 I.1 March/April 1983 Cover: Art from RealSports tennis, football, baseball, soccer, and volleyball. Inside Your VCS: How they make game consoles. Your Turn: Eliminating baiters in Defender by shooting at them. Centerpiece: Phoenix poster. Captain's Log: Steve tells us that Crazy Climber "is not currently on the schedule for general release." Letters: Why not add a high scores section?, how do you join the Atari Club?, and what kind of education does a game designer need (answer: either have a Ph.D. or just be a closet hacker). News: Call Atari Customer Service and they'll send you info on how to win Raiders of the Lost Ark, introducing the 1200XL, another summer at Atari Computer Camp, and 1 year service contracts. New Cart Report: RS Tennis, RS Soccer, Centipede, Galaxian. Sneak Peeks: Jungle Hunt, Pengo, Sorcerer's Apprentice; Oh No, There Are Gonna Be Peanuts Cartridges, Charlie Brown!; coming to the 5200 are Tempest, and Quantum vector image hardware in summer '83. Cart ads: Galaxian, Real Sports series (with baseball cap), Crazy Climber, Centipede. Arcade: Quantum and Xevious, plus all-time high scores. [Must take real determination to ply Asteroids 53 hours (40M) or Missile Command 45 hours (64M)... and Ken Vance of Las Vegas needs a life! m3] 5200: Fifteen games. Contest: Centipede shoot. Clubhouse: Atari system carrying case. Article: Guinness Book of unusual sports records. ----- V.2 I.2 May/June 1983 Cover: Atari Video Cube Inside Your VCS: The humble trakball. Ads: Atari Safari (Jungle Hunt & Kangaroo) calendar, Video Cube two- pager, Atari Safari carts & tote bags, "A Letter From Dr. Lee Salk" newsletter, the $9.95 cart collection, trakballs, Atari Club. News: SwordQuest EarthWorld solution, Atari Youth Advisory Board, fun at Club Med, Dr. Salk helps design games "that focus on teaching human values," Atari brings multimedia shows to schools. New Cart Report: Atari Video Cube (a club exclusive which "may never be released to the general public!"), Kangaroo, Jungle Hunt. Article: Puzzles of all sorts. Arcade: Food Fight! and the high scores were upped (Asteroids -- 41M, Missile Command -- 80M in 48 hours, blah!). Letters: Readers tell AA how to get the Defender easter egg but AA won't reveal, a kid can't wait for Dig Dug, what does "software" mean?, and what's this "*531" in the middle of the screen when I hold the Select switch down in Vanguard? (answer: program initialization) Contest: Harvey's Dilemma (rearrange letter fragments). Sneak Peeks: "Keyboard Will Turn Atari VCS Into Powerful Home Computer." In Fall 1983 Atari was going to put out a 56-key typewriter that snaps into the cartridge slot, and was going to turn the VCS into a real computer -- 8k RAM, Microsoft BASIC, expandable to 32k with cassette or disk drive, printer, modem, and access to Compu- Serve and The Source. Pic shows keyboard on VCS. [Sigh... m3] ----- V.2 I.2 July/August 1983 Cover: Pole Position New Cart Report: Pole Position, Battlezone, Krull. News: Atari Video Adventure at Marriott's Great America, AtariTel -- "a new, dramatically capable home network for voice communications", Atari Force comic premieres, winner in the SQ EarthWorld contest. Sneak Peeks: Summer CES had demos of Joust, Moon Patrol, Dig Dug, (screen shots for the former 3, none for the rest listed) Pengo, Xevious, Tempest, and Robotron. Four new Atari 8-bits, light pen & Touch Tablet, Pro-Line and Space Age Joystick. Ads: Pro-Line ($19.95) and Space Age ($14.95) Joysticks for VCS, Pole Position, Berzerk, Krull, Battlezone. Strategy Guide: Secrets to playing Defender, including the signature. Article: The Making of a High-Tech Ad. Letters: The Video Chess cartridge cheats!!, why do carts have different prices, why doesn't AA come out monthly?, why haven't my letters appeared in print?, and what happened to Flag Capture? (answer: it died of old age. [My favorite game is Starship; I know the feeling. It went out of print before AA started publishing. m3]) Contest: Send Us Your Face for a comic book. Arcade: Star Wars, Arabian. Article: Star Raiders -- the comic book. 5200: Space Dungeon and its dual joysticks, VCS cartridge adaptor ($75). ----- V.2 I.3 September/October 1983 Cover: silver Video Game Masters Competition Contest: Video Game Masters high-scoring competition, subject Gravitar. Cart ads: Gravitar, free carts for ordering $40 (Warlords, Asteroids, Video Pinball), SQ WaterWorld, Joust, Dig Dug, Defender, Sesame Street carts/Kid's Controller, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Moon Patrol. Captain's Log: Gravitar is excellent; other new carts are cool too. New Cart Report: Dig Dug, Joust, Gravitar, Moon Patrol, SwordQuest WaterWorld, Alpha Beam with Ernie, Cookie Monster Munch, and Sorcerer's Apprentice. News: Graphics in movie Superman III, Nolan Bushnell forms Sente to enter video game market (again), Atari gets new CEO -- Raymond Kassar, SwordQuest FireWorld finalists chosen, and the creator of Tempest catches a hit-and-run driver who hit and paralysed a 15-yr-old with a pickup. Sneak Peeks: Mario Bros. "The keyboard system desgined to adapt the Atari 2600 for use as a home computer ... has been postponed indefinitely" since the unit would cost a little less than the new Atari 600XL. The Casebook of R. Cade: Pac-Man. Clubhouse: Mostly Atari computer stuff. Strategy Guide: Vanguard. With the free-ship at startup cheat. Article: Should there be a home computer in your home? Letters: Why is Atari now only making 1-player games?, what was the CBS TV game mentioned or is it too early to say? (answer: uh, it's too late -- The Dukes Of Hazzard was cancelled before the cart was released. [Like I said... m3]), is Atari popular in Europe?, is there an Atari Computers magazine? Article: The Atari Institute for Educational Action Research. Contest: Which photo is Steve? Arcade: Crystal Castles. Arcade scores still rediculously high. ----- V.2 I.4 Nov 1983 - Feb 1984 (!) COVER: VGMC logo on QuadRun background. Contest: Video Game Masters Competition, subject QuadRun. Centerpiece: 1984 calendar. New Cart Report: Mario Bros., Pigs In Space, QuadRun, Snoopy & The Red Baron, Big Bird's Egg Catch. The Casebook of R. Cade: The 3D Tic-Tac-Toe EPROM. Article: How to photograph your TV screen. Letters: What happened to Combat II?, why are graphics square?, is there a difference between a 2600 and a VCS?, does turning off the TV hurt the VCS?, and what about those Breakout stripes on the cover? [They ran out of good questions? m3] News: World Centipede champion crowned, Post Cerials offer Ataris, Atari Adventure Centers open. Sneak Peeks: Two games from Lucasfilms: "...a futuristic ballgame with high-velocity action and astounding graphics. And when combined with dazzling three-dimensional perspective and space-age sounds, it's like a dream of what sports might be like in the 21st Century." Also coming, "the player is the pilot of a realistically pictured rescue ship, flying through the cosmos to pick up marooned astronauts" and the game is supposed to be extremely exciting. And in more definite titles: Crystal Castles, Millipede, Stargate, and Choplifter (5200 screen shot shown). Arcades will get Firefox and TX-1, yet another racing game by Namco (of Pole Position fame). Strategy Guide: Berzerk. Shoot an exit to get rid of Evil Otto? Cart ads: Mario Bros, Sesame Street games, Snoopy and the Red Baron, Pigs In Space. Article: Continuing on the Do You Need A Computer theme. Clubhouse: Romscanner lets you choose between 10 carts. $49.95. Arcade: Pole Postion II, Adventures of Major Havoc. Contest: Decipher these limericks into game titles. Three free Atari Redemption Certificates (ARCs) enclosed! 5200: Big spreads on Pengo, Robotron:2084, Moon Patrol, and Berzerk. ----- V.2 I.5 March/April 1984 Cover: Battlezone scene with VGMC logo. Contest: Video Game Masters Competition, subject Battlezone. Captain's Log: Alright, here's what Steve really looks like. New Cart Report: Millipede, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Stargate, Taz, Oscar's Trash Race. Letters: how do you use ARCs?, how do you renew your membership? [I didn't; that's why the file ends here... m3], why do you guys remove old carts from the order list? ("This has created an interesting phenomenon: collectable cartridges! Pretty soon, some of those older Atari games will be worth quite a bit to collectors." [Don't we know it, though it appears the LATER games are worth more than the early ones; funny how that works out.]), do you have to order something to enter a contest?, and a recommendation by a "happy camper" to visit Atari Camps. News: Club member wins SQ FireWorld contest, Atarisoft spreads the wealth of games to other platforms. Ads: Olympic merchandise (tote bag, shirts, keychain, pins, mugs, hats), Battlezone, Stargate, Crystal Castles, Millipede. Sneak Peeks: Final Legacy for 5200, Zookeeper for the 2600. Article: The Construction of Crystal Castles, with tips on how to play the arcade game. Strategy Guide: RealSports games. Computerworks: Wordprocessing, and hype for AtariWriter. Arcade: Firefox. Parody section: Not The Atari Age. Contents: The Nuclear Joystick; the world's hardest game, Ion Patrol; playing video games by smell (to compete with Insmellivision and Coreeko, it's the 21st Scentury Game Machine -- games include Scentipede and Big Bird's Rotten Egg Catch, played with a scratch & sniff joystick); new cart you can't remove, Big Brother; Atari gains rights to butcher Norman Feldman; Clubhouse items include a radio-tower joystick, bejeweled GemStick (only $1.2M!), TrakCube controller, and the Arcade Machine Carrying Case. Contest News: QuadRun deadline extended, Gravitar contest ends. Contest: Close-Up (identify games by tight screen shots, EASY). Clubhouse: Free Dig Dug t-shirts!, 5200 has 20 carts, Atari home computer software and peripherals now offered. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- th-th-th-that's all, folks... Have You Played Atari Today? +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Distribute this file wherever you so desire, so long as you keep | | all information intact (it took awhile to type this sucka, you | | know!). Scribbled by R.A.T. #2 (have you read a R.A.T.phile | | today? email him for details) 1/30/95; posted on website 6/27/2k | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ -eof-