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ATARI BYTES

Remember those great Atari 2600 games? I have fond memories of playing classics like Pitfall or Yar's Revenge or River Raid. In this podcast, I take another look at the games, but as a writer, not a gamer. When I think of these games now, I see writing prompts; taking inspiration from the game plots or maybe even the titles to create original short stories. But this isn't simply fan fiction. The stories, more often than not, spin-off into some weird places in all kinds of genres. Sometimes funny, occasionally serious, always unique.
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Now displaying: March, 2018

Remember those great Atari 2600 games? Sure, they were fun to play, but didn't you ever wonder why they sent a plumber to take out Donkey Kong? What Yar was seeking revenge against? What the Defender was defending or why those robots went Berserk? Me too! ATARI BYTES is a game review podcast like no other. We review not just the game play, but the STORY within these classic games. We take a BYTE out of the story (get it?) and see if that story BYTES us back (now do you get it?).

Mar 25, 2018

Hey, Pinheads! Don't biff the bumpers, just nudge the podcast machine - DON'T TILT! - and check out this week's kick-out hole of an episode before it goes down the drain. 

Obviously, this week's episode is all about golf. 

Kidding! Don't do a panic flip. 

Now, let me do a lazarus ball to get these show notes back on track. This week, on episode 113, we're playing VIDEO PINBALL, Atari's 1980 port of it's own 1978 coin-op machine. Is the game (and the story therein) a house ball or a gobble hole? Insert your quarters where indicated and let's find out.

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Pinball Spring" and "Reformat". 

Atari Bytes episodes, social media, show notes and more here...

It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show. Get your Snoopy fix here, every month.

You can get "Go play some old games, they've missed you." shirts nd more at our Atari Bytes Zazzle.com store AB_Pod_Store here.

Consider supporting the show financially on our Patreon page here.

Here's the Mental Floss article where we got the pinball slang used in the episode.

Mar 18, 2018

Sorry! No show this week. We've gone fishin'...

Just kidding! In episode 112, we've gone fishin' AND we're doing a show.

How is this possible? Well, obviously we're playing the 1980 Activision (squee!) game FISHING DERBY. So is playing this game like landing a lunker or is it the one that got away? And why, we wonder, are these fish derby-izing?

Unlike the typical fish story, we actually check the facts on this one. Pull up a bucket of chum and join us!

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Pinball Spring" and "Reformat".

Atari Bytes - show notes, social media and more

It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show. Get your Snoopy fix here.

AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com - pick up "Go play some old games" shirts here.

Patreon - support the show financially on the Atari Bytes page here

Mar 11, 2018

We could have phoned in this week's episode, #111 to be specific.

We could have tossed Encounter at L-1 at you.

Maybe even L-2 with nary a thought. 

Encounters L-3 and 4? Probably good enough.

But we here at ATARI BYTES believe that any encounters below L-5 are for chumps, which is why we've got for you:

ENCOUNTER AT L-5 from Data Age, 1982.

No need to thank me. But what do we find on our Encounter at L-5? Tune in to find out...

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance", "Pinball Spring, "Gustav Sting" and "No Frills Salsa".

Atari Bytes show notes and much more

It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show

AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com for "Go play some old games" shirts and more

Patreon.com - You can support the show financially here

Mar 4, 2018

Episode 110 of the podcast is silent...but DEADLY.

That is to say, we're playing DEADLY DUCK, the 1982 20th Century Fox game. It's sort of like waterfowl nested inside a Space Invaders game and QUACKED everything up. Also, there are brick-wielding crabs and dragonflies armed with bombs. Because why not?

What story could I possibly make out of this? Hope I don't lay a (duck) egg on this one. Listen to find out if I do.

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "Pinball Spring". 

Atari Bytes - show notes, social media and so much more.

It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - my other show. Get your Snoopy fix here.

The AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com for show shirts and more

You can also support the show financially on our Patreon page here.

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