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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 23, 2020

If sports is a metaphor for human competition, auto racing is a metaphor for life as a whole: going round and round as fast and loud as possible, consuming as many resources as possible, without actually getting anywhere. 

Exhibit A: this week in ATARI BYTES episode 213, we're playing Atari's 1977 contribution to automotive sports INDY 500. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and perhaps you'll outrun the futility of existence without crashing into the inevitability of the finish line that awaits us all.

This week's short story: ANATOMY OF VROOM: A POEM

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use 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" theme.

Show notes, episode links, social media for ATARI BYTES here. Same stuff for the monthly exploration of the "Peanuts" comic strip, IT'S A PODCAST, CHARLIE BROWN here.

The website also has info and links to just some of the places you can order books by your host. For example, MISERY BANANA: VERY SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY OLD GAMES AND ODD THOUGHTS.

Pick up "Go play some old games. They've missed you." shirts and mugs at zazzle.com/ab_pod_store. 

Become a subscriber and help keep the lights on in the podcast studio by signing up at the Atari Bytes Patreon page. Get episodes early! Get bonus episodes! Good stuff!

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