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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: January, 2019

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?).

Jan 27, 2019

Episode 157 features a game whose name is both a title and cogent life advice: DODGE 'EM. 

No time to write out the full word "THEM". This race car game moves too fast! Can you gobble all the pellets in the maze before you get caught? Does that sound a lot like Pac-Man? That's weird...

Why are you, car driver, so desperate for speed and pellets? This week's short story has an idea...

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

Thanks to Mike Mann for his "Mad Mike Hughes" theme.

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the "Storytime" theme.

Atari Bytes show notes, episodes and more here. 

It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show. Get you fix of all things in the Snoopy universe here. 

You can pick up Atari Bytes merchandise on Zazzle.com

Please consider supporting the show financially on the Atari Bytes Patreon page here.

 

Jan 20, 2019

Plunk down your chips, put on your poker face and shove an extra Ace wherever you need to. It's time to play some cards!

This week on episode 156 of the podcast, we're playing CASINO, from Atari, 1978. And you can BET the FULL HOUSE that this week's story, "A Quarter of the Way There" will DEAL you a HANDful of feels.

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

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for our Storytime theme.

Atari Bytes show notes and more.

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

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

 

Jan 13, 2019

Are you ready for some football?

Well, too bad. This week on episode 155 we're gonna slam dunk on Kareem Abdul Jabbar as we're playing Atari BASKETBALL from 1979. Then we'll celebrate Dr. James Naismith's creation of the wholesome American game of basketball with some mildly suggestive poetry in the style of Victorian era erotic literature. I'm not slapping the "explicit" tag on this episode, but don't say I didn't warn you. 

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

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for our brand NEW storytime theme.

Atari Bytes show notes and more are here. 

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

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

Here's a link to the Strategy Wiki article about the various Atari Basketballs.

Jan 6, 2019

Episode 154 fires at you like a cannonball, screaming profanity and peeing itself with fear like a human. That's right, we're playing from Atari's early days the "what the hell, let's try this" title, the 1978 classic HUMAN CANNONBALL.

Those of you who didn't get enough of your aggressions out by splatting flailing stick figures into the ground in "Circus Atari", this game is for you. But does this week's short story land dead center in the water tank or smack the dirt?

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

If you're still interested in a review of 2018 written in the style of classic children's book "Goodnight Moon", well I wrote one! Go read it here.

Thanks to Mike Mann for his "Mad Mike Hughes" update theme.

Atari Bytes show notes, episodes and what not. 

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

 

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