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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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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?).

Feb 24, 2019

BRIAN COLIN IS A FLIPPIN' GENIUS.

How do I know? Well, he helped design two of the most beloved fun, whimsical arcade games of ALL TIME. RAMPAGE and XENOPHOBE, among many others. And then they were adapted for the home video console market which was...almost as good?

We've talked about Rampage in the past. This week on episode 161, we've got the 1988 Atari 7800 port of XENOPHOBE. Does it live up to it's arcade progenitor? Ancestor? Daddy? 

This game about beaming aboard a space station overrun by aliens and blasting them with your phaser - which is totally different than Star Trek - is the backdrop for this week's story "To Go Where No One Has … But Not Boldly". The story centers on a character who is basically the space equivalent of Hermie from 1960's TV's "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". 

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the storytime theme.

Thanks to Mike Mann for the Mad Mike Hughes update theme.

Atari Bytes show notes episodes and more. 

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

Check out the merch in our Zazzle.com store AB_Pod_Store.

You can support the show financially on the Atari Bytes Patreon page here.

 

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