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Fun projects for your Atari 8-bit home computers and video game consoles

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Category: History

Watch the “Stella at 20” Atari 2600 Retrospective (1-3 hours)

January 23, 2022 moorejh History, Media, Video, Web Resources

Task: Watch the “Stella at 20” Atari 2600 Retrospective Needed: Web Browser Time: 1-3 hours (or more) Introduction The Atari 2600 was launched in 1977 and enjoyed many years of success. For its 20th anniversary in 1997, a group of former Atari employees got together

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Watch “The Magic Room” Documentary about the Atari Summer Camp (30-60 mins)

August 22, 2021 moorejh History, Media, Video

Task: Watch “The Magic Room” Documentary about the Atari Summer Camp Needed: Web browser Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction Atari ran several summer computer camps during the early 1980s and produced a documentary featuring kids at the first one. There are three versions of the film

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Purchase the Book “Art of Atari” (5-10 mins)

June 20, 2021 moorejh Books, History

Task: Purchase the Book “Art of Atari” Needed: Web Browser Time: 5-10 mins Introduction I loved looking at the box art of Atari 2600 games and imagining playing them. Atari did an amazing job with the artwork. As such, I was very excited when the

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Watch Curt Vendel’s Exhibit Presentation at VCF-East (30 mins)

June 12, 2021 moorejh Hardware, History

Task: Watch Curt Vendel’s Exhibit Presentation at VCF-East Needed: Web Browser Time: 30 mins Introduction I was able to attend the Vintage Computer Festival (VCF) East in Wall, New Jersey in 2019. This was a special VCF because it celebrated the 40th anniversary of Atari

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Listen to the Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast (1-2 hours)

May 23, 2021 moorejh Games, History, Media, Podcasts

Task: Listen to the Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast Needed: Web browser Time: 1-2 hours Introduction If you are like me you can’t get enough Atari. Podcasts are one way to satisfy the Atari itch. I have previously posted about the Antic, Floppy Days,

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Read “How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars” by Benj Edwards (5-10 mins)

March 21, 2021 moorejh History, Media

Task: Read “How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars” by Benj Edwards Needed: Web browser Time: 5-10 mins Introduction There have been a number of popular press pieces on various aspects of the Atari story. There is a great piece by

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Explore the Atari History Timeline (10-15 mins)

January 9, 2021 moorejh History, Web Resources

Task: Explore the Atari History Timeline Needed: Web browser Time: 10-15 mins Introduction The history of Atari is fascinating. I always learn something new and important every time I dig into it. Michael Current maintains a web page with a timeline of events in the

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Watch Jay Miner Give a Talk from 1989 (30 mins)

September 26, 2020 moorejh Hardware, History, Video

Task: Watch Jay Miner Give a Talk from 1989 Needed: Web browser Time: 30 mins Introduction Mr. Jay Miner led the design and development of the graphics chips used in the Atari 2600 and the 8-bit computers. This included the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) used

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Watch the Documentary “Once Upon Atari” (2 hours)

September 7, 2020 moorejh History, Media

Task: Watch the Documentary “Once Upon Atari” Needed: Web browser Time: 2 hours Introduction The Atari story from start to finish is an amazing one. Particularly interesting are the stories from the early days of Atari which stem from a very free and open management

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Explore Atari Computer Sales Brochures and Catalogs (10-15 mins)

September 6, 2020 moorejh Hardware, History, Magazines, Web Resources

Task: Explore Atari Computer Sales Brochures and Catalogs Needed: Web browser Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction One of my favorite things to is to explore sales brochures and catalogs for the Atari 8-bit line of computers. Fortunately, my packrat father saved a number of these so

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Read the Book “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” (15-30 mins)

April 18, 2020 moorejh Books, Games, History

Task: Read the Book “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” Needed: The book Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” is ~400-page book written by Darren Doyle and published by Greyfox Books. Much of the book consists of two-page visual layouts of 162 third-party

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Watch Joe Decuir on YouTube (1-2 hours)

August 3, 2019 moorejh Hardware, History

Task: Watch Joe Decuir on YouTube Needed: Web browser Time: 1-2 hours Introduction Joe Decuir was hired by Atari to debug the prototype for the Atari 2600 and then went on to help design and build the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He has had

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Read the Book “Atari Inc.: Business if Fun” (10-15 hours)

July 26, 2019 moorejh Books, History

Task: Read the Book “Atari Inc.: Business if Fun” Needed: “Atari Inc.” book Time: 10-15 hours Introduction This book is a tour de force in Atari stories and history and is a must-have for any Atari enthusiast bookshelf. As Curt Vendel states in the Foreword,

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Listen to the Floppy Days Podcast (1-4 hours)

June 22, 2019 moorejh History, Podcasts

Task: Listen to the Floppy Days Podcast Needed: Web browser Time: 1-4 hours Introduction The Floppy Days podcast was founded by Randall Kindig in 2013 and has been going strong every year for the last six years. Randy’s goal is to cover as many vintage

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Explore Floppy Disk Collections (30-60 mins)

June 9, 2019 moorejh Collecting, Games, History, Software

Task: Explore Floppy Disk Collections Needed: Floppy disks Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction One of my favorite things to do with my Atari home computers is explore the contents of my floppy disk collections. I still have my floppies from back in the day and have

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Read Atari News from the 1970s and 1980s (30-60 mins)

May 27, 2019 moorejh History, Media, News, Web Resources

Task: Read Atari News from the 1970s and 1980s  Needed: Web browser Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction A number of good books have been written about the history of Atari (e.g. Racing the Beam and Breakout). It is a fascinating story of innovation, success, and failure.

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Explore Atari User Group Newsletters (10-15 mins)

May 18, 2019 moorejh History, Newsletters

Task: Explore Atari User Group Newsletters Needed: Web browser Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction I grew up Atari in a small Midwest town and didn’t have access to some of the enriching activities such as calling local Bulletin Board Services (BBS) or participating in local Atari

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Play Spacewar! on a PDP-1 Emulator (10-15 mins)

December 1, 2018 moorejh Games, History

Task: Play Spacewar! on a PDP-1 Emulator Needed: Web browser  Time: 10-15 mins Introduction When Nolan Bushnell started Atari he had inspiration from two major sources. First, he had worked at an amusement park in the 1960s where he was exposed to early coin-operated games

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Advice Books Collecting Competitions Demos Documentary Emulators Events Games Graphics Hardware History Magazines Media Modifications News Newsletters Podcasts Programming Software Sound Troubleshooting Utilities Video Web Resources Welcome

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Antic The Atari 8-Bit Podcast

AtariAge

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Internet Archive

Vintage Computer Center

Copyright (c) 2022 Jason H. Moore, Ph.D.