Atari Corporate History - 2
etx...@garbo.ericsson.se
accurate, if you feel you can make a contribution to it, please send
me any information you've got or write a follow-up.
I've also received replies with some interesting information about
Atari products that (to my knowledge) aren't widely known. I'll add them to
the list later.
I'm doing this research in order to complete a dictionary on video games
and home computers. It's written in Swedish, and it's only for fun, but
I find the Atari stuff particularly interesting. That's the reason to why
I posted this article and the original question.
I'll order the book recommended by some people in replies to the previous
article, the book is called "The Rise and Fall of Atari", many thanks for
this hint. But any observation done by people "out there" is still
interesting, since it may bring up some undocumented facts, opinions etc
on the subject.
Thanks in advance,
Anders Skelander
1972: The company, Atari Inc, is founded by Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell's
intention was to use the name "Syzygy", but since it was already
occupied, he picked "Atari" instead.
1972: ??? The Pong game becomes popular in the arcades.
197X: Pong is released as a home system.
197X: The Atari 2600 is released. The 2600 is based around MOSTEK's
6507 CPU, and offers a ??? * ??? pixel resolution and a, for the
time of release, huge, 128 colour palette. Game size is typically
4 KB to 8 KB.
1978 ??? Atari release there first pinball machine.
1979: The Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers are released. They are
6502-based 1,74 MHz machines with graphics ranging from a 40 * 25
text mode up to 320 * 192 pixel graphics. In lower resolutions it's
possible to use colours from a 128 colour palette, or even
256 colours simultaneously in a special mode. Audio is four-channel
sound based on analog synthesis. The computers had inofficial names
"Colleen" and "Candy".
1980: ??? The production of Atari pinball games is discontinued.
198X: ??? Nolan Bushnell sells Atari Inc to Warner Communications.
1982: The Atari 1200XL computer is introduced with specifications similar
to the 800s, except that ???.
1983: The Atari 600XL and 800XL computers (the XL series) are introduced,
with specifications similar to the 800's. XL replaces 400/800.
1984: Jack Tramiel leaves Commodore and buys Atari from Warner. Atari
is split into Atari Corp (consumer products) and Atari Games
(arcade games).
1985: The Atari 520ST computer is introduced. It's a 68000-based 8 MHz
computer with 512 KB RAM, graphics modes from 320 * 200 pixels
in 16 colours from a 512-colour palette up to 640 * 400 on a
monochrome monitor. Audio is created by a three channel sound
chip using fairly simple analog synthesis. Digital Research's
graphical user interface/operating system GEM is included. The
ST computer has a built-in MIDI interface.
The Atari XE series, compatible with the 400/800/XL series, is
introduced. (65XE, 130XE.)
1986: ??? The Atari 7800 is released. It can run 2600 games, but is
also a vast improvement over the 2600, with impressive video
capabilities in ??? colours and resolution up to ??? * ??? pixel
graphics. Sound is the same as in the 2600.
1987: ??? The Atari XE/GS video game, based on the Atari XE computer
series, is released. It can run old Atari 8-bit computer cartridges,
a few new games are released. A lightgun with some shooting games
are also released.
198X: ??? Atari buys the Lynx from Epyx. The Lynx is a 6502-based (4 MHz)
portable colour video game with a built-in 3.5" colour LCD
screen. Graphics resolution is 160 * 108 ??? pixels in 16 colours
out of a 4096 colour palette. Sound is four-channel mono. Lynx
cartridges can hold up to 256 KB ??? of code, the machine's
internal RAM size is 64KB. The Lynx has remarkable sprite
scaling capabilities.
198X: ??? The 68030-based 16 MHz Atari TT computer is introduced.
198X: ??? A portable ST computer named Stacy is introduced. It's
specifications are similar to the original 520ST computer. Stacy
has a built-in monochrome LCD screen.
198X: ??? A palmtop PC computer, the Atari Portfolio is released. The
Portfolio was developed by XXX in the UK.
198X: ??? The ST-Book (?) is introduced.
1989: The Atari STE series is introduced. The 520STE offers better
graphics hardware than the older ST computer, with hardware
scrolling and a coprocessor for copying chunks of data in
memory, a "blitter" chip. Audio is also enhanced with two-channel,
stereo, 8-bit PCM-sound.
1993: The 68030-based 16 MHz Atari Falcon computer is made available ???
to consumers.
This is a brief list of arcade games made by Atari/Atari Games:
1972: Pong
1976: ??? Breakout
1979: Asteroids
1981: ??? Missile Command
1981: ??? Tempest
1981: ??? Centipede
1983: Pole Position (developed by Namco)
Payson
>197X: The Atari 2600 is released. The 2600 is based around MOSTEK's
> 6507 CPU, and offers a ??? * ??? pixel resolution and a, for the
> time of release, huge, 128 colour palette. Game size is typically
> 4 KB to 8 KB.
[1] MOS Technologies was not the same as MOSTEK if I recall [common mistake]
[2] Horizontal resolution: 160 pixels
Vertical resolution: Standard NTSC non-interlaced [~220 on most sets]
Colors : Eight grays plus eight shades each of 15 hues
[3] CPU: MOS Technologies 6507 @1.19MHz [dot clock / 3]
[4] RAM: 128 bytes of RAM, mapped at $0080 and $0180
[5] ROM: 4K of address space available $F000 to $FFFF
[some cartridges bank-switch to get 8K, although this requires either
more chips or custom silicon. I am not aware of any carts bigger than 8K]
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pay...@cs.wisc.edu | "Je crois que je ne vais jamais voir... | J\_/L
John Payson | Un animal si beau qu'un chat." | ( o o )
Joel Kolstad
[Atari 2600 stuff deleted]
>[2] Horizontal resolution: 160 pixels
...although the way of using them wasn't the standard sprite/bitmapped
background, it was more like sprite/repeated smaller blocky background.
> Vertical resolution: Standard NTSC non-interlaced [~220 on most sets]
...but many games needed more processing time and only changed displays
every other scan line, giving a whole whopping 110 or so lines.
>[5] ROM: 4K of address space available $F000 to $FFFF
> [some cartridges bank-switch to get 8K, although this requires either
> more chips or custom silicon. I am not aware of any carts bigger than 8K]
...and the original cartridges were only 2K (back then, 4K of RAM was
EXPENSIVE!!! :-) ). It'd be interesting to see a list of "good" 2K games.
I remember that Activision's first game, Kaboom!, was pretty good for 2K.
---Joel Kolstad
Ian Farquhar
> [some cartridges bank-switch to get 8K, although this requires either
> more chips or custom silicon. I am not aware of any carts bigger than 8K]
Around 1984-5 or so, Atari had publicised their Sara chip at the CES, which
apparently contained 16K of ROM. Whether this was actually ever used in
a published I don't know.
It is also worth noting that some cartridges also contained small amounts of
RAM to suppliment the meagre 128 bytes in the RIOT chip. As there was no
R/W line to the ROM, this was usually implemented by mapping the read
for these locations to one address, and the write to another. Unfortunately,
this also bit into the small 4K ROM space, which was tight enough already!
BTW, does anyone actually know what the mechanics of the commoner
bank-switching schemes used on the VCS were? I've never actually found
any information on this.
Ian.
Payson
>In article <1993Aug10.1...@cs.wisc.edu> pay...@dr-hibbert.cs.wisc.edu ( Payson) writes:
>
>[Atari 2600 stuff deleted]
>
>>[2] Horizontal resolution: 160 pixels
>
>...although the way of using them wasn't the standard sprite/bitmapped
>background, it was more like sprite/repeated smaller blocky background.
>
was a programmer's spec posted here awhile ago. I did not want to overburden
the net with detail however.
>> Vertical resolution: Standard NTSC non-interlaced [~220 on most sets]
>
>...but many games needed more processing time and only changed displays
>every other scan line, giving a whole whopping 110 or so lines.
>
Well, until Activision appeared, almost ALL games did their processing on
every other scan line. After Activision appeared, almost all of them do it
on every scan line. Also, I think Activision pioneered the hi-res six-digit
scoring. Most games draw on about 180-200 lines, scanning every line except
the old ones [Missle Command does some things every line; others things every
other]
>>[5] ROM: 4K of address space available $F000 to $FFFF
>> [some cartridges bank-switch to get 8K, although this requires either
>> more chips or custom silicon. I am not aware of any carts bigger than 8K]
>
>...and the original cartridges were only 2K (back then, 4K of RAM was
>EXPENSIVE!!! :-) ). It'd be interesting to see a list of "good" 2K games.
>I remember that Activision's first game, Kaboom!, was pretty good for 2K.
>
> ---Joel Kolstad
Stephen H. Landrum
>
>>197X: The Atari 2600 is released. The 2600 is based around MOSTEK's
>> 6507 CPU, and offers a ??? * ??? pixel resolution and a, for the
>> time of release, huge, 128 colour palette. Game size is typically
>> 4 KB to 8 KB.
>
>[1] MOS Technologies was not the same as MOSTEK if I recall [common mistake]
>
>[2] Horizontal resolution: 160 pixels
> Vertical resolution: Standard NTSC non-interlaced [~220 on most sets]
Almost all games used vertical resolution of 192-200 lines. Anything beyond
that gets into the overscan region on some sets (especially older ones).
> Colors : Eight grays plus eight shades each of 15 hues
The last two hues were generally the same as the first two, giving an
actual usable color space of about 104 colors. The PAL version of the
chipset had fewer usable hues than the NTSC version did.
>[3] CPU: MOS Technologies 6507 @1.19MHz [dot clock / 3]
>
>[4] RAM: 128 bytes of RAM, mapped at $0080 and $0180
>
>[5] ROM: 4K of address space available $F000 to $FFFF
> [some cartridges bank-switch to get 8K, although this requires either
> more chips or custom silicon. I am not aware of any carts bigger than 8K]
There were some carts bigger than 8K. I believe that Epyx' Winter Games
was 16K.
--
Stephen H. Landrum VOICE: (415) 813-8909 Domain: slan...@ntg.com
New Technologies Group - a Division of the 3DO Company
2470 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303
Companies interested in 3DO product development should call (415) 572-5289
David Bryan Strutt
I got this from the book Zap! The Rise and Fall of Atari, by
Scott Cohen, McGraw Hill, 1984. The book covers everything up to
mid 1983, when Atari was beginning to shrink. I think Nolan
Bushnell left Atari in 1979.
--
dbst...@acs.ucalgary.ca
Obligatory quote: "the man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors
on his hobnailed boots, lying with his eyes while
his hands are busy working overtime..." Da Beatles!
Dave Hiebeler
> It'd be interesting to see a list of "good" 2K games. I remember that
> Activision's first game, Kaboom!, was pretty good for 2K.
Kaboom is great! It's still one of my very favorite 2600 games.
Very simple, but wonderfully implemented.
--
Dave Hiebeler
Santa Fe Institute, and Thinking Machines Corporation
hieb...@santafe.edu, hieb...@think.com
Payson
>In article <1993Aug10.1...@cs.wisc.edu> pay...@dr-hibbert.cs.wisc.edu ( Payson) writes:
>
>> Colors : Eight grays plus eight shades each of 15 hues
>
>The last two hues were generally the same as the first two, giving an
>actual usable color space of about 104 colors. The PAL version of the
>chipset had fewer usable hues than the NTSC version did.
>
nicely as a color wheel and since they are derived from progressively
shifting the 3.58MHz clock, the hardware to implement them is cheap. I
will grant, however, that adjacent hues tend to be very close; this is to
be expected given that there are so many of them [15 hues is really quite
a lot]. BTW, on my Atari the lightness values are noticeably non-linear:
3 and 4 are far more distinct than 2 and 3, or 4 and 5.
>There were some carts bigger than 8K. I believe that Epyx' Winter Games
>was 16K.
Hmm... California Games wouldn't surprise me at all if it were 16K [though
I'd be disppointed--I gave them so much credit for 4 good events averaging
2K each... :-?] Winter Games didn't seem to have as much good stuff in it.
z_mor...@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
What about the Atari 5200? It was released between the 2600 and the 7800
I believe, not sure exactly when though... Anyone else know?
Rik
Mike Farren
>There were some carts bigger than 8K. I believe that Epyx' Winter Games
>was 16K.
Are you sure you're thinking of 2600 carts? I didn't think Epyx ever
did a 2600 game - although they did lots of 400/800 games, some of which
might have shown up as 7800 games. At least, there were no 2600 games
in the works and no 2600 programmers at Epyx the last time I did work
for them, which was just after Summer Games came out.
Epyx made 400/800 carts with 16K long before this. My own game, Gateway
to Apshai, was 16K.
--
Michael J. Farren far...@netcom.com
Unconnected with Commodore for almost two years, now!
Larry Richardson
|>
|> Epyx made 400/800 carts with 16K long before this. My own game, Gateway
|> to Apshai, was 16K.
|>
|> --
|> Michael J. Farren far...@netcom.com
|> Unconnected with Commodore for almost two years, now!
You did Gateway??? That was a really great game. I just wish it would let
you save your characters to disk! I hated to get down to level 6 and then
die... with no way to restart from level 5.
Larry Richardson
rich...@foghorn.orl.mmc.com
Steven J Tucker
In a previous article, far...@netcom.com (Mike Farren) says:
>slan...@ntg.com (Stephen H. Landrum) writes:
>
>>There were some carts bigger than 8K. I believe that Epyx' Winter Games
>>was 16K.
>
>Are you sure you're thinking of 2600 carts? I didn't think Epyx ever
>did a 2600 game - although they did lots of 400/800 games, some of which
>might have shown up as 7800 games. At least, there were no 2600 games
>in the works and no 2600 programmers at Epyx the last time I did work
>for them, which was just after Summer Games came out.
>
>Epyx made 400/800 carts with 16K long before this. My own game, Gateway
>to Apshai, was 16K.
>
Nope, I have (well, HAD i just sold it) Winter Games for the 2600 (not 7800)
which had scads of events and GREAT graphics for a 2600 game, I cant
say i know how much ROM was in it, but it had to be ALOT more then a
par 2600 game, the graphics were so good, and so many events
Steve
--
"I'm gettin' really good at barely gettin' by..." | Buy/Sell/Trade
Brooks & Dunn | Atari 2600/5200/7800/xl/xe
"..I don't believe that Heaven waits for only | Colecovision/Intellivision
those who congregate..." - Don Williams | And ALL Other Game Systems
Andrew M. Ross
>Are you sure you're thinking of 2600 carts? I didn't think Epyx ever
>did a 2600 game - although they did lots of 400/800 games, some of which
>might have shown up as 7800 games. At least, there were no 2600 games
>in the works and no 2600 programmers at Epyx the last time I did work
>for them, which was just after Summer Games came out.
Yes, Epyx did a few 2600 carts... I have Winter Games and it clearly says 'Epyx'
on the cart and manual. That's not to say that they didn't contract the
carts out to some other company, tho.
If you look at Craig Pell's 2600 cart list, you'll see two or three Epyx
games.
--
Andrew Ross, ros...@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu
Stephen H. Landrum
>In article <1993Aug11.0...@ntg.com> slan...@ntg.com (Stephen H. Landrum) writes:
>>In article <1993Aug10.1...@cs.wisc.edu> pay...@dr-hibbert.cs.wisc.edu ( Payson) writes:
>>
>>> Colors : Eight grays plus eight shades each of 15 hues
>>
>>The last two hues were generally the same as the first two, giving an
>>actual usable color space of about 104 colors. The PAL version of the
>>chipset had fewer usable hues than the NTSC version did.
>>
>On NTSC, at least on my machine, all hues are different; they work very
>nicely as a color wheel and since they are derived from progressively
>shifting the 3.58MHz clock, the hardware to implement them is cheap. I
>will grant, however, that adjacent hues tend to be very close; this is to
>be expected given that there are so many of them [15 hues is really quite
>a lot]. BTW, on my Atari the lightness values are noticeably non-linear:
>3 and 4 are far more distinct than 2 and 3, or 4 and 5.
Well, at least on the early 2600's (pre-1980), hues $e0-$ef and $f0-$ff
were generally the same as the hues $10-$1f and $20-$2f. The exact hues
changed several times over the years.
Stephen H. Landrum
>
>>There were some carts bigger than 8K. I believe that Epyx' Winter Games
>>was 16K.
>
>Are you sure you're thinking of 2600 carts? I didn't think Epyx ever
>did a 2600 game - although they did lots of 400/800 games, some of which
>might have shown up as 7800 games. At least, there were no 2600 games
>in the works and no 2600 programmers at Epyx the last time I did work
>for them, which was just after Summer Games came out.
>
>Epyx made 400/800 carts with 16K long before this. My own game, Gateway
>to Apshai, was 16K.
Yes, I am sure. Epyx did several 2600 carts in 1987-1988. Those carts
were done for Atari, and marketed by Atari.
I worked as an employee for Epyx from November 1983-Feb 1987, and again
from November 1988-November 1990. You were never an employee at Epyx
during the time I was there, but I can certainly believe that you did
contract work for them around 1984. Actually, all but two of the
programmers at Epyx in 1984 were originally 2600 programmers (Epyx
merged with StarPath in November 1983), but Epyx was not doing any 2600
titles at that time. Epyx resurrected the old StarPath 2600
development systems for the Atari work.
Richard M. Venable
dbst...@acs.ucalgary.ca (David Bryan Strutt) writes:
|> The 2600 came out November 1977, and Warner bought Atari in 1976.
|> I got this from the book Zap! The Rise and Fall of Atari, by
|> Scott Cohen, McGraw Hill, 1984. The book covers everything up to
|> mid 1983, when Atari was beginning to shrink. I think Nolan
|> Bushnell left Atari in 1979.
Bushnell was constrained from any direct competition for three years by
terms of the deal with Warner Communications. Consequently, that's
when
he started the Chucky Cheese franchise...
Mike Farren
>Yes, I am sure. Epyx did several 2600 carts in 1987-1988. Those carts
>were done for Atari, and marketed by Atari.
Cool. Always nice to learn unsuspected new things :-)
>I worked as an employee for Epyx from November 1983-Feb 1987, and again
>from November 1988-November 1990. You were never an employee at Epyx
>during the time I was there, but I can certainly believe that you did
>contract work for them around 1984.
I was part of the Connelley Group, which consisted of the original
Epyx software group (minus one or two folks, notably Randy). We broke
off from Epyx proper around 1982, but continued to do contract work
for them through 1984 or so.
>Actually, all but two of the programmers at Epyx in 1984 were originally
>2600 programmers (Epyx merged with StarPath in November 1983)
I'd forgotten that. Makes a lot of sense, then.
Robert C. Merritt <rcmerrit>
Nope, I have both Winter Games and Summer games for the 2600.
They really do exist. But I found them kinda lame. I perfered Activison's
Decathalon.
Rob Merritt
email:rcme...@cbda9.apgea.army.mil**Disclaimer: My opinions are mine alone.
Sysop of Moon Base Tycho BBS. **not of my employer, not of my friends,
(410)391-6291, Running Renegade **and family, and not of a co-worker.
"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be" -unknown