Info

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.
RSS Feed
2023
December
April
March
February
January


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: April, 2016

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?).

Apr 24, 2016
EPISODE 14: AMIDAR

On EPISODE 14 of ATARI BYTES, we down some of the leftover 'shrooms from the Centipede episode, indulge in some peyote and wash it all down with a bottle of Jack and...Oh, wait. No actually, we just played AMIDAR. But that does even weirder things to your brain.

Gorillas that want to paint while being chased by WILD warriors that really just look like boogers. Gorillas that turn INTO PAINT ROLLERS and are pursued by pigs. That's the game.

No, we're not kidding. We couldn't make this up. But there's some OTHER stuff we could...listen to find out what sort of story we can possibly cobble together from this madness.

Here's where you go to find out about Atari Party.

Here's the Atari Bytes Patreon page.

Here's the Atari Bytes Zazzle store.

 

Apr 17, 2016
EPISODE 13: TURMOIL

This game is TURMOIL-ISH!

TURMOIL-SOME!

TURMOIL-U-TUOUS!

Lookit, there's lots of turmoil in this 1982 20th Century Fox game. With weird creatures that look like tanks, UFO's, pink tie-fighters and Andes candies, we're not sure if this game is a space alien shooting gallery or the weird office cubicle fever dream you might experience after inhaling copier toner all day.

Find out more about the Atari Party in California here.

If you can, donate to the show on Patreon.

My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for the creative commons license to his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat", and "Pinball Spring".

Atari Bytes is a Carnival of Glee Creation.

Apr 16, 2016
ATARI BYTES IS NOW ON PATREON!

A podcast like Atari Bytes is a lot of fun to make and, I hope, a lot of fun to listen to.

However, that fun comes with a sizeable commitment of time and resources. The host services, storage and games are not free. And as the show grows and we try to do more things, those costs will grow too.  

And so, I made the decision to put Atari Bytes on Patreon. Here. A lot of you probably know how Patreon works. It's kind of like an Internet tip jar. If you like a thing - such as this podcast - you can go to Patreon and leave a tip or donation or hush money or whatever you want to call it. It can either be a one time thing or an ongoing one. It's just another way for you to say "Thanks, Bill. Keep it up." But its also a way to help offset some of those expenses I mentioned so that we can try more things with the show.

I'm going to keep doing the show for as long as I can whether you go to Patreon or not. But if you can, I'll really, really appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

 

 

Apr 10, 2016
EPISODE 12: POLE POSITION

DRIVERS, START YOUR ENGINES!

Seriously, you can't drive if you don't start the car, doofus.

Atari's 1983 POLE POSITION, a formula one Grand Prix racing game, is our focus this week. How can we make a story out of little more than a race car on a track? Listen and find out! The finest twenty-two minutes of a man alphabetizing his toothpaste collection you'll ever hear.

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

Go here to get more info about this summer's Atari Party.

Here's our Patreon page

Apr 3, 2016
EPISODE 11: CENTIPEDE

PASS THE 'SHROOMS, MAN!

Atari goes down on the farm in this episode. Atari's CENTIPEDE from 1982 is our topic.  While other elves are out fighting wars and hanging with Hobbits on epic quests, your poor little elf Oliver is stuck tending a mushroom farm. If that isn't bad enough, you're being pummeled by giant centipedes, scorpions, spiders and FLEAS.

No one would blame you if you used that magic wand to teleport yourself out of here. But no! That's not the Atari way. On this farm, we beat our swords into plowshares...then use those plowshares to beat the holy crap out of anyone who messes with our 'shrooms. Nobody messes with our 'shrooms. NOBODY.

Does the story hold up? Are the steaks, er stakes, er mushrooms clearly defined? Pull up a toadstool and we'll figure it out.

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

Here's a link to Bill Kendrick's Atari Party info.

 

Apr 2, 2016

When we talk about the story within the games on ATARI BYTES, we approach it as if we are analyzing a piece of literature. Every story basically has five points: Introduction, where the setup happens; the rising action (building up to the big reveal); the climax (te high point of the story), the falling action (where the story winds down); and the resolution or denouement (how the story is wrapped up)

If you charted it, it might look like this:

                                                       CLIMAX

                                                    /              \

                                                   /                \

                           RISING ACTION                    FALLING ACTION

                          /                                           \

                        /                                               \

INTRODUCTION                                                   RESOLUTION (DENOUEMENT)

1