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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: May, 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?).

May 26, 2019

Listen closely...hear that? Right now, as I write and you read this, tiny little plaque jerks are eating away at your tooth enamel. You can hear them, can't you? I can't unfortunately, as the voices in my head are much louder.

We're playing Activision's 1983 ode to oral hygiene, PLAQUE ATTACK. Blast the plaque with your tube of toothpaste and leave the whole eight teeth in your mouth minty fresh. Pucker up!

This week's short story is: "Bared Teeth. Bared Soul."

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 "Mad Mike Hughes" update theme.

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the "Storytime" theme.

Atari Bytes show notes and whatnot. 

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

Pick up "Go Play Some Old Games. They've missed you" mugs and shirts at AB_Pod_Store on Zazzle.com

Become a Patreon subscriber here. 

My first collection of short stories from this show is out! MISERY BANANA: VERY SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY OLD GAMES AND ODD THOUGHTS is available many places, including this one. 

May 19, 2019

Dive down deep into episode 173: SUB SCAN, the 1982 port of Deep Scan from Sega. We explore the depths of this submarine v. destroyer ocean battle. 

I hope you don't get the bends coming back up to the surface to listen to this week's original short story: "Maximum Depth Charge: A Steve Stetson, 1980s Superspy, Adventure". 

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

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the Storytime theme. 

Atari Bytes show notes and more

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

Pick up Atari Bytes "Go play some old games" shirts and mugs at AB_Pod_Store on the Zazzle.com store.

You can support the show financially by becoming a Patreon subscriber here. 

Pick up my book! Please! Here's one of the places you can get MISERY BANANA: VERY SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY OLD GAMES AND ODD THOUGHTS.

May 12, 2019

In 1982, Data Age had a video game concept meeting. "We need a new idea, people," the team leader said. "We gotta get this one out by the end of the day."

It was 4:45 p.m.

The office closed at 5:00

It was also Friday.

In desperation, someone grabbed a marker and scrawled "SPACE BUGS" across the large flip chart, knocking the easel to the floor. 

Ernie sat at the computer. He wasn't the best programmer, but was the fastest typist. He banged out some code that would have pink centipedes type things and some other cylindrical bug with antennae crawl slowly across the entire upper half of the screen. It wasn't really clear what they were doing, but you could shoot them.

"Good enough?" Ernie said.

"YES," the rest of the team said in unison and fled out of the building into the five o'clock world where no owned a piece of their time.

And, thus, BUGS, the game at the heart of episode 172, was born. Is this a bad game? Well, can one dung beetle drag 1,141 times its weight?

This week's story is...BUGS: A POEM

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

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the "Storytime" theme.

Atari Bytes show notes and what not

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

The AB_Pod_Store on Zazzle.com has Atari Bytes related stuff to buy.

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

Pick up your copy of MISERY BANANA: VERY SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY OLD GAMES AND ODD THOUGHTS wherever you like to buy ebooks or print books. Here's one of those places.

May 5, 2019

We exist in three dimensions: length, width, height.

This podcast has spanned three types of classic video games: Intellivision, Atari 2600, Atari 7800.

And now, much as H.G. Wells, in his 19th century novel "The Time Machine", bravely journeyed in time, the fourth dimension, this podcast is venturing into a fourth type of game...

We are playing our first Atari 7800 HOMEBREW!

We're playing the 2016 title T:ME SALVO, a run and shoot game inspired by Wells' novel and the movies the book spawned. Is the game destined to become a timeless classic or is it simply not worth the time?

This week's short story is "Weena: Warrior Princess". 

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, episodes and more

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

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

Pick up show mugs and shirts and what not in our Zazzle.com AB_Pod_Store...store!

Thanks to Mike Mann for the "Mad Mike Hughes" theme

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the Storytime theme

Don't forget to check out the new collection of short stories from this very podcast. MISERY BANANA: VERY SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY OLD GAMES AND ODD THOUGHTS. Here's one of the places you can order it.

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