Curt Vendel
Atari Superhero
know me as the founder of Atari 7800.com. I recently regained full control of
Atari 7800.com and have been spending a lot more time on line working with
Atari. A few weeks ago I started signing in to rec.games.video.atari to see
what was up, and to my astonishment I immediately came across a lot of bad
press about Curt Vendel, founder of the Atari Historical Society. I just want
all of the real Atarians out there to know that this is a bunch of flat-out,
grade-A bullshit. Period.
I have known Curt for quite some time now and he is one of the most honest and
vital members in the Atari community, no doubt about it. A long time ago, I
used to think that I was the only one in the world who had this passion for
Atari, and could appreciate every nuance of it's history and heritage.... that
is, until I met Curt. I have never come across someone with so much loyalty and
passion towards Atari and the preservation of its rich history. Curt has done
so much for Atari and all of us as fans in one way or another. Curt took the
initiative and founded the Atari Historical Society, gathering so many vital
people from Atari's past and reuniting them to gather stories, hunt down lost
prototypes, and preserve whatever scrap of Atari history he could manage to
throw together. Curt has been active in the Atari community since the early 80s
even when Atari was still new. Some of you dont seem to get this.... Atari has
been a life-long dedication for Curt ... yet some of you no-talent ass-clown's
throw it right back in his face. Well screw! Curt has saved the VSX, documented
every bit of Atari history he could gather, and brought integrity back to
Atari thru the Atari Historical Society. Without Curt, where would we be? There
are a few other people of high-integrity out there who are doing everything
they can to preserve this rich history that Atari has brought us as well... but
none of them are Curt Vendel.
Without Curt, ....Myself, my website, all of the new products we are pushing to
release... all of it wouldn't mean a damn thing without Curt. I doubt Atari
7800.com would have ever existed without his input, and I can promise you that
if it weren't for Curt giving me advise and helpful input that Atari 7800.com
would have stayed dead and we never would have been able to push for a come
back. I owe Curt an awful lot... I think we all do. He is a man of integrity,
and a loyal asset to the history of Atari.
Most of you in the Atari community appreciate Curt for what he is... but a few
of the no-talent ass clowns have their CX-24's a bit too far up their asses and
apparently get jealous and spiteful over those of us who truly dedicate their
lives to preserving Atari, or who have the good fortune to have an Atari arcade
in our own home, such as Curt.
Atari is about having fun.... its about "innovative leisure" .. relaxing and
having a good time thru technology. It's not about bashing people. It's not
about who is better. And for those of you who wish to ruin the Atari experience
for everybody by hiding behind a brand new email addy and flaming everyone who
ever did anything to the benefit of Atari... your day has come.
If anything I have said pisses you off, please feel free to contact me directly
at jus...@atari7800.com, or AtariSu...@aol.com.
Thank you to all of the *loyal & reasonable* Atari fans out there who make
loving Atari so much fun.
Justin
Atari 7800.com
Tempest
started seriously collecting back in 95. He was a great source of
information and would always take the time to show me new and interesting
things. He also freely gave away prototypes, games, equipment, and other
things that normal collectors would have charged a newbie for. People
always ask me why I jump in to defend Curt when some punk ass clown on the
newsgroups starts to flame him. It's simple, Curt is a great guy, and it
pains me to see someone who has no idea what their talking about causing him
grief. And even though there are members of the Atari community who
continue to give him shit, he continues to be an active member constantly
sharing new and wondrous information and prototypes. That's just the kind
of guy Curt is, and I'll stand by his side to the bitter end. I don't give
my allegiance to just anyone, it takes alot to earn my trust and respect,
and Curt has done it time and again.
So to those continue to mock and flame him I say give it a rest. We don't
all have to get along, but these petty flame wars and arguments are not what
this community is about. And to those who don't know who he is, I say get
to know him. You'll find he's a really great guy.
Tempest
"Atari Superhero" <atarisu...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020118213415...@mb-co.aol.com...
JoeyT
> Curt's role in preserving Atari history is beyond debate.
>
> For instance, he got the only known copy of the final Atari 2600 TIA
> schematics and distributed these for a small fee, which has resulted
> in the schematics being scanned in. This can ultimately lead to a
> portable 2600, or at least insure a hardware-accurate 2600 chip for
> all time should there ever be a need. That's only one of the items
> he's preserved and documented which has helped us understand the full
> scope of Atari's role in computer and console history. And he does
> this without really profitting from it, which is more than I can claim
> for myself with Cyberpunks.
>
> However, Curt's personality is sometimes a problem. He has a very
> thin skin, and can resort to childish revenge tactics when his ego is
> bruised.
>
> But nobody's perfect and it's silly to expect everyone to exercise
> perfect netiquette. Flamewars are part of the nature of usenet and
> any internet veteran has learned not to get embroiled in them because
> they have no ending unless one party is willing to let the other have
> the last word.
>
He's not an Atari-appointed preservationist, he's self-appointed so to
say his actions are "beyond debate" are crazy. Nobody expects him or
the Cyberpunks to do wh;at they do for free, and I don't remember
anyone complaining about the price of the Stella cds so why even bring
that up? It does seem that his personality problems do get him into
trouble alot. I went to Google and read all the old posts about CG99,
and after reading some of his comments in this thread I don't think
hes matured all that much. He looks to old to be in school, so I dont
know what the problem is. Hes certainly helping the hobby by keeping
rare items from the landfill, but the way he deals with some people
may eventually undermine all his efforts. Flame me if you want, but
that's just my .02
USSKEY
I have been made aware of the unkind/unfair remarks made recently against Curt
Vendel on this forum. Even though I have yet to shake Curt's hand (I hope to
very soon) I feel I must speak out in his defense as a champion of the classic
gaming cause and as a decent and generous human being.
I have consulted with Curt on several matters related to our beloved Atari
games, hardware, and history, and have always been greeted with enthusiasm and
openness. Curt has even offered to send Atari-related items for either nothing
or next to nothing, simply in the spirit of the hobby.
I have met many people online, most of them generous and friendly. Curt stands
at the forefront of that group. So if someone has something to say about Mr.
Vendel or any of my fellow Atari enthusiasts....either say something kind or
stick that modem in your Asteroids!
G. Reese
Jerry Jessop
SERENITY NOW........SERENITY Now.......Serenity Now......serenity
now...
Whew, that's better, I almost lost it.
Jerry
Tempest
Tempest
"Jerry Jessop" <je...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:eovp4ug7ipkc1oe8f...@4ax.com...
jmdrake
While I'm sure Curt apprceciates your loyal support, I really don't see
your point. You're acting like a bunch of "spontaneous" Curt bashing
errupted from nowhere. That is simply not accurate. In a thread about
Jeff Minter (another important Atari personality) Curt trashed one of
Jeff's games. Jeff (and others) fired back and a short flame war ensued
which has now fizzled out. No "innocent victims" here. No heros either.
Just YAUF. (Yet Another Usenet Flamewar). Stuff happens. Get over it.
Sean Connery
jmdrake <jmdra...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>While I'm sure Curt apprceciates your loyal support, I really don't see
>your point. You're acting like a bunch of "spontaneous" Curt bashing
>errupted from nowhere. That is simply not accurate. In a thread about
>Jeff Minter (another important Atari personality) Curt trashed one of
>Jeff's games. Jeff (and others) fired back and a short flame war ensued
>which has now fizzled out. No "innocent victims" here. No heros either.
>Just YAUF. (Yet Another Usenet Flamewar). Stuff happens. Get over it.
Indeed. It's over, it's done. This "fallout" certainly makes it seem
like something much larger happened. It's not like he's accused of being
a thief like Tom Harker or anything. While it's nice to actually see
traffic in RGVA, I'd rather the post count go back down to single digits
instead of reading all this nonsense.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linux + DOCSIS1.0 + OpenSSH + GnuPG + Pine + TRN4 = Global 24x7 Shell
I've Got a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts
"Sean Connery" <jns-...@home.comHORMEL> wrote in message
news:a2lern$56u$1...@tron.alex1.va.home.com...
> In article <e20a4a47.02012...@posting.google.com>,
> jmdrake <jmdra...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >While I'm sure Curt apprceciates your loyal support, I really don't see
> >your point. You're acting like a bunch of "spontaneous" Curt bashing
> >errupted from nowhere. That is simply not accurate. In a thread about
> >Jeff Minter (another important Atari personality) Curt trashed one of
> >Jeff's games. Jeff (and others) fired back and a short flame war ensued
> >which has now fizzled out. No "innocent victims" here. No heros either.
> >Just YAUF. (Yet Another Usenet Flamewar). Stuff happens. Get over it.
>
> Indeed. It's over, it's done. This "fallout" certainly makes it seem
> like something much larger happened. It's not like he's accused of being
> a thief like Tom Harker or anything. While it's nice to actually see
> traffic in RGVA, I'd rather the post count go back down to single digits
> instead of reading all this nonsense.
Heh, there's Tom Harker again. Sean, I missed the days when you would bring
him up in every post. Is it too late for you to file a small claims suit
against him?
Tempest
Tempest
"I've Got a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts" <Slartib...@hugh.jass.org> wrote
in message news:3bM38.71$7d....@newshog.newsread.com...
I've Got a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts
news:a2o2qc$8d6$1...@msunews.cl.msu.edu...
> I'm almost afraid to ask... Who's Tom Harker?
Tom Harker was the 4th member of 4play, the original name of the team that
did Battlesphere. He was in charge of the network hardware ("Catbox") and
general business stuff.
From what I understand secondhand, he took a lot of preorders for Catboxes,
cashed checks, but never delivered.
Sean Connery
Check out the old (and still up!) page at www.eta.org/catbox, it has all
the great details on how that lying scumbag con artist thief Tom Harker
ripped off people for at least 30 Catboxes at $75 per.
Russ Perry Jr
> Tom Harker was the 4th member of 4play, the original name of the
> team that did Battlesphere. He was in charge of the network
> hardware ("Catbox") and general business stuff.
I thought he was from ICD, not 4Play...
> From what I understand secondhand, he took a lot of preorders for
> Catboxes, cashed checks, but never delivered.
That's about the gist of it. Luckily, I didn't scammed, but then
again, I don't have a CatBox either.
--
//*================================================================++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 slap...@enteract.com VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================================*//
Mark Santora
kits from Atari. After that he was pretty much gone. That's why 4Play
disbanded and Scatologic was formed. There were problems with Tom (catbox
being the most public) that lead to the group distancing from him.
Mark "Stingray" Santora
"Glenn Saunders" <cybp...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hnil5u4aua6mja5hb...@4ax.com...
On Sat, 26 Jan 2002 13:14:42 -0600, Russ Perry Jr
<slap...@enteract.com> wrote:
>
>I thought he was from ICD, not 4Play...
That's not mutually exclusive. He was part of the Battlesphere team
whether or not 4Play wants to distance themselves from him later or
not.
jah fish
my item, saw them online or their site, beiing sold again, the site
went offline again, no replies to emails ..... and after 6 months
there still wasn't anything in my mail.
i heard they screwed up a few deals and trades.
it wasn't until i got curts email again, that i was finally able to
get my HSC cartridge. (thanx curt for the signed box)
somy 2 cents here ..... curt is a very nice guy! those other atarians
at atari7800.com may have some bitrod problems ;-)
fish
stur...@yahoo.com (JoeyT) wrote in message news:<e4983c56.02012...@posting.google.com>...
Atari Superhero
and out for several months, the website changed hands a few times, and the
whole thing went out the window. I am just now in the midst of assembling a new
Atari 7800.com.
Fish if "Atari 7800.com" owes you anything, contact me directly at
AtariSu...@aol.com. That goes for anyone who has any beefs with the old
Atari 7800.com
Thanks!
Justin
Atari 7800.com
steph.p...@gmail.com
I ordered an USB Atari Joystick on his Syzygy website, he took the money but never sent me what I ordered for.
Shame on him, never buy its products !
Trevor
buttons when the originals turned out to have a flawed design, as well
as a replacement part when I had problems with one. In my experience he
has been a man of integrity.
- Trevor