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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: April, 2021

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 25, 2021

In ATARI BYTES episode 274, we're playing LASER GATES. Two guesses what this game is about.

Wrong! It's monkeys and gonads, obviously. (You gotta listen to the show to understand that.)

This week's Bad Poetry Corner: IF WARREN ZEVON'S A ROBOT

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the "Storytime" and "Jason Sez Stuff" themes.

www.carnivalofgleecreations.com is where you need to go for social media, show notes and episodes for this show ATARI BYTES here, and for my other show IT'S A PODCAST, CHARLIE BROWN here

The website is where you should go to find out about my other projects, including books that I've written, like HELL'S CEREAL: VERY SHORT STORIES FORTIFIED WITH ESSENTIAL SYLLABLES.

Consider supporting the show by subscribing on the ATARI BYTES page on patreon.com. Subscribers get bonus stuff!

Apr 18, 2021

One day in April 2021, ATARI BYTES drifted into Data Age's 1982 game BERMUDA TRIANGLE and was NEVER SEEN AGAIN.

Episode 273 is the chronicle of that disappearance. 

If you look up, you might see your host mooning you from the spaceship.

This week's short story: BERMUDA SHORTED

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the "Storytime" theme.

Thanks to The Delroys for the use of their song "Bermuda Shorts"

www.carnivalofgleecreations.com is where you can go for show notes, episodes, and info for this show ATARI BYTES here, and for my other show IT'S A PODCAST, CHARLIE BROWN here. 

The website also has info about my books, like HELL'S CEREAL: VERY SHORT STORIES FORTIFIED WITH ESSENTIAL SYLLABLES here. 

You can support the show by subscribing to the Atari Bytes patreon page here. 

Apr 11, 2021

This week's ATARI BYTES episode, 272 for those scoring at home, is totally tubular (that's for you Gen Xers)

Or is it? We're playing the unfinished 1984 effort TEMPEST, which tries to translate the 3D tubes the action plays out on on the arcade screen onto our home screens. Listen to find out if it works. We also talk about Shakespeare and say the word "panties". A lot. 

This week's short story from Bad Poetry Corner: Parched in a Tempest.

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the Storytime theme.

www.carnivalofgleecreations.com has all the info you need about this podcast, ATARI BYTES here, and my other show IT'S A PODCAST, CHARLIE BROWN here. 

The website also has info about my books, like HELL'S CEREAL: VERY SHORT STORIES FORTIFIED WITH ESSENTIAL SYLLABLES here.

Support the show by subscribing at patreon.com here. 

Apr 4, 2021

ATARI BYTES 271 revisits an old friend. A twitchy, large-nosed, profanity-obsessed friend who just won't just hold still for goodness sakes. We all have a friend like that. If you're not sure about that, it's probably you.

It's Q*BERT'S QUBES, the 1983 follow-up to the adorable arcade-er (I'm trying to make that a word. Help me out. I'll be rich!). Is the game fun cubed, or just for squares, man?

This week's short story: NOT THE CUBES YOU EXPECTED

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

Thanks to Sean Courtney for the Storytime theme.

www.carnivalofgleecreations.com has all the show notes, social media, info you need about ATARI BYTES here, and about my other show IT'S  A PODCAST, CHARLIE BROWN here. 

The website also has info about books I've written, like HELL'S CEREAL: VERY SHORT STORIES FORTIFIED WITH ESSENTIAL SYLLABLES, here, with links to a few of the places you can order them.

Support the show financially on the patreon page and you could get early access to episodes and bonus content.

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