Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

What was the Atari Lynx called before it was a Lynx????

22 views
Skip to first unread message

Daniel Woodard

unread,
Dec 16, 1994, 11:06:49 AM12/16/94
to
I seem to remember reading that Atari bought out some game system, and
renamed it the Lynx. What was it called originally, and who made it? Will
these original models play all of the Atari Lynx games that are available
today?

aeo...@delphi.com

unread,
Dec 16, 1994, 2:11:34 PM12/16/94
to
I believe the Atari Lynx was the Epyx Handy. Just like the Sega Genesis
was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk.

--

Travis Guy - Editor - Atari Explorer Online Magazine + NolesAvPTNGDueSouthX
Please EMail me at: aeo...@genie.geis.com | ttTomPettyGenesisPrF
AEO subscriptions: stzmagazi...@virginia.edu | ewieMoodyBluesBeckei
FTP latest AEOs from rahul.net :pub/wilsont/AEO | folluTG&ShsalCcirEtl
On WWW: http://www.dl.ac.uk/MISC/ATARI/atari.html | fBnalyDeruCCEsrednee
"The Premier Online Resource, Recommended By Atari" + uBMERdyolFnamretteLs

Mark Rathwell

unread,
Dec 16, 1994, 4:25:40 PM12/16/94
to
: I seem to remember reading that Atari bought out some game system, and
: renamed it the Lynx. What was it called originally, and who made it? Will
: these original models play all of the Atari Lynx games that are available
: today?

The Handy and it was made by Jay Miner and RJ Mical who were
working for Epyx at the time.


>> Mark <<


Robert A. Jung

unread,
Dec 16, 1994, 10:36:38 PM12/16/94
to
In article <SA073.128...@getty.onu.edu> SA...@getty.onu.edu (Daniel Woodard) writes:
> I seem to remember reading that Atari bought out some game system, and
>renamed it the Lynx. What was it called originally, and who made it?

"Handy," by Epyx.

>Will
>these original models play all of the Atari Lynx games that are available
>today?

They don't exist. The "Handy" was a prototype Epyx used to sell the
machine to various people. Atari bought the rights, made Lynxes, and sold
'em.

--R.J.
B-)

//////////////////////////////////////|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Send whatevers to rj...@netcom.com | If it has pixels, I'm for it.
--------------------------------------+------------------------------Lynx up!
"You weren't chosen because you are the best pilot in the Air Force. You were
chosen because you are the class clown and frankly, you're expendable."

KennyGS

unread,
Dec 16, 1994, 6:45:16 PM12/16/94
to
In article <5KwUHKG...@delphi.com>, aeo...@delphi.com writes:

<<Just like the Sega Genesis
was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk.>>

You mean Atari missed with Nintendo _and_ with Sega (I heard they were on
good terms with Nintendo when they were offered to market the NES)? Well
just as well, we could all be playing 8bit NES right now...
Still Sailing,
Sir Fransys

STIR...@maine.maine.edu

unread,
Dec 17, 1994, 12:38:39 AM12/17/94
to
If I remember correctly (and probably don't) Atari bought the Lynx off of
Epyx (hence the early Lynx games were from Epyx). I believe that Epyx
offered the Lynx to C= who were to release it as the Handy. For some
reason Atari got the Lynx. Is this even vaguely correct Lynx gurus :-)?
-scott tirrell

Leigh A. Knowlton

unread,
Dec 17, 1994, 9:14:08 AM12/17/94
to
In a previous article, aeo...@delphi.com wrote:

> I believe the Atari Lynx was the Epyx Handy. Just like the Sega Genesis

> was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

All right, Travis, call me stupid. I know a lot of video game trivia (well
a lot for a "normal" person, probably not bery much compared to the people
in this newsgroup), but I have never heard this before. Please tell.

BTW, if this is common knowledge, somebody please shoot me.

--
Leigh A. Knowlton le...@titan.ucs.umass.edu __ __ __ __
-------------------------------------------------------- || /\ || //
If you would hallucinate the comprehension of the matter || //\\ ||<<
more explicitly, I could grasp it to my fullest capacity. ||__| //--\\ || \\

Shane D Shaffer

unread,
Dec 17, 1994, 10:14:50 AM12/17/94
to
In article <3curng$f...@nic.umass.edu>, le...@twain.ucs.umass.edu (Leigh A. Knowlton) writes:
|> In a previous article, aeo...@delphi.com wrote:
|>
|> > I believe the Atari Lynx was the Epyx Handy. Just like the Sega Genesis
|> > was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|>
|> All right, Travis, call me stupid. I know a lot of video game trivia (well
|> a lot for a "normal" person, probably not bery much compared to the people
|> in this newsgroup), but I have never heard this before. Please tell.
|>

I'll let Travis handle the details of the story, the the main thing was
that Sega didn't think it was big enough, etc., to handle a major system release
of the Genesis, so they almost let Atari have it (for a price of course). But
Sega decided to do it themselves, and you know what happened from there.

|> BTW, if this is common knowledge, somebody please shoot me.

Believe it or not, EGM once had this mentioned very briefly (like 1
line). That was in the early days, before it became a piece of crap.

BTW, ever notice how EGM's anti-Atari bias wasn't present in the
beginning, when they were reviewing 7800 and XE games, but then came out in full
force when they started claiming they needed part of the Lynx development system
to take screen shots?


Shane Shaffer atar...@athena.mit.edu

Carts: 2600 300; 5200 48; 7800 38; ADAM 16;APF 8; Colecovision 20; Fairchild 9
Intv. 13; Odyssey2 9; VideoBrain 3; Systems: 2600 2; 2600A 2; 5200 1; 7800 3;
ADAM 2; Colecovision 2;Intellivision 1; Pong type 5; Pinball machines 1
AND 1 ATARI 2600 AUTOGRAPHED BY NOLAN BUSHNELL!!!!!!!!!

backs...@delphi.com

unread,
Dec 17, 1994, 1:04:00 PM12/17/94
to
KennyGS <ken...@aol.com> writes:

>You mean Atari missed with Nintendo _and_ with Sega (I heard they were on
>good terms with Nintendo when they were offered to market the NES)? Well
>just as well, we could all be playing 8bit NES right now...

AND APPLE TOO>
Jobs and Wozinack both left Atari and made the Apple I. Jobs was
a close friend of Nolan Bushnell. He asked Bushnell for money
to market and distribute the 1st PC, but Bushnell declined.
Atari could have been Apple, Nintendo, and Atari all in 1.

Patrick Roelandt

unread,
Dec 17, 1994, 6:50:32 AM12/17/94
to
SA...@getty.onu.edu (Daniel Woodard) writes:

Atari bought the 'Handy' from Epyx and renamed it the Lynx. Both Lynx I &
II play all available games (70 or so).

There was never a Handy on the market.

aeo...@delphi.com

unread,
Dec 18, 1994, 3:05:40 AM12/18/94
to
Shane D Shaffer <atar...@athena.mit.edu> writes:

>In article <3curng$f...@nic.umass.edu>, le...@twain.ucs.umass.edu (Leigh A.
Knowlton) writes:
>|> In a previous article, aeo...@delphi.com wrote:
>|>
>|> > I believe the Atari Lynx was the Epyx Handy. Just like the Sega Genesis
>|> > was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|>
>|> All right, Travis, call me stupid. I know a lot of video game trivia (well
>|> a lot for a "normal" person, probably not bery much compared to the people
>|> in this newsgroup), but I have never heard this before. Please tell.
>|>
>
> I'll let Travis handle the details of the story, the the main thing was
>that Sega didn't think it was big enough, etc., to handle a major system
release
>of the Genesis, so they almost let Atari have it (for a price of course). But
>Sega decided to do it themselves, and you know what happened from there.

This was something I heard of long before I started work with
AEO, and I really don't know of any more details that you do.
I -could- ask around, but I really don't think that I would get
anywhere. It's old news, and neither of the participants would
want to re-open a can of worms.

Besides, it's fun to leave a few things to the imagination. <g>


>|> BTW, if this is common knowledge, somebody please shoot me.
>
> Believe it or not, EGM once had this mentioned very briefly (like 1
>line). That was in the early days, before it became a piece of crap.
>
> BTW, ever notice how EGM's anti-Atari bias wasn't present in the
>beginning, when they were reviewing 7800 and XE games, but then came out in
full
>force when they started claiming they needed part of the Lynx development
system
>to take screen shots?

And now they appear to be softening their stance in regards to Atari.
Time heals all wounds? (Or is it, time wounds all heels?)

Public Image

unread,
Dec 18, 1994, 4:54:59 PM12/18/94
to
aeo...@delphi.com wrote:
: Daniel Woodard <SA...@getty.onu.edu> writes:
:
: > I seem to remember reading that Atari bought out some game system, and
: >renamed it the Lynx. What was it called originally, and who made it? Will
: >these original models play all of the Atari Lynx games that are available
: >today?
:
: I believe the Atari Lynx was the Epyx Handy. Just like the Sega Genesis
: was -almost- the Atari Tomahawk.
:

Okay travis - spill it.

We all know about the NES almost being the AES, but explain this one...

-Scott

: --


:
: Travis Guy - Editor - Atari Explorer Online Magazine + NolesAvPTNGDueSouthX
: Please EMail me at: aeo...@genie.geis.com | ttTomPettyGenesisPrF
: AEO subscriptions: stzmagazi...@virginia.edu | ewieMoodyBluesBeckei
: FTP latest AEOs from rahul.net :pub/wilsont/AEO | folluTG&ShsalCcirEtl
: On WWW: http://www.dl.ac.uk/MISC/ATARI/atari.html | fBnalyDeruCCEsrednee
: "The Premier Online Resource, Recommended By Atari" + uBMERdyolFnamretteLs

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|Scott Call aka Zapo Zapper | Public Image Limited BBS 510-831-3634 |
|VBBS Support/anime stuff | Owner: Atari Jag and Gravis Ultrasound |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeffrey Lee Woodall

unread,
Dec 18, 1994, 5:50:03 PM12/18/94
to
: ----------------------------------------------------------------------

: |Scott Call aka Zapo Zapper | Public Image Limited BBS 510-831-3634 |
: |VBBS Support/anime stuff | Owner: Atari Jag and Gravis Ultrasound |
: ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you own a BETA as well? ----------------------------^


Public Image

unread,
Dec 21, 1994, 7:37:28 PM12/21/94
to
Jeffrey Lee Woodall (jlwo...@unity.ncsu.edu) wrote:
: : ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a BetaCAM

we use it for production :)

-Scott

--

0 new messages