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  • The Wizard of Id’s WizType

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    [APP2 / ATARI 8-BIT / C64 / DOS]
    [USA] [MAGAZINE] [1984]

    • Electronic Games, November 1984 (#33)

      • Scanned by Jason Scott, via The Internet Archive

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/160809623018/vgprintads-the-wizard-of-ids-wiztype-app2

    At one time there were a variety of software products on the market for teaching you how to type. I’m not sure what that market is like today but in 1984 The Wizard of Id’s WizType by Sierra was one of the better such products out there. It was available for many of the computers available at the type including the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit line, DOS and Apple II.

    Like most software of its type, WizType offered various options including practice, a game and testing. The most interesting in the options in WizType were probably the game, own lesson, and paragraphs.

    The game, along with the theme for all the other sections, was based on The Wizard of Id comic strip. In the game, typing accurately and quickly enough caused the Wizard to zap the spirit from the well. Too slow or inaccurate and the spirit eventually turns into a dragon and breathes fire on the wizard.

    The ‘Own Lesson’ option allowed you to enter words or letter combinations for you to practice. This was useful if you had difficulty with something in particular or were just tired of the provided content.

    Paragraphs provided paragraphs out of various literary works (Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities for example) for you to practice on. It also allowed you to enter and store your own paragraphs for practice. This feature is what really gave WizType longevity.





    Apple ][ Atari 8-bit Commodore 64 Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • Atari 400/800

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    Atari 800 ad from circa 1980

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/160476411501/retrocgads-usa-1980-atari-800

    The Atari 400 and Atari 800 were both introduced by Atari in 1979. The biggest differences between these two machines were:

    • The Atari 400 had a membrane keyboard while the 800 has a full keyboard
    • The Atari 800 had two ROM/cartridge slots while the Atari 400 only had one
    • The Atari 800 had more easily accessible RAM expansion
    • The Atari 800 had additional keyboard and input/output ports.

    The Atari 800 at $1000 cost nearly twice as much as the Atari 400 though it did include a data recorder (essentially a cassette player/recorder for storing and loading data and programs). However, because of the price difference, the Atari 400 outsold the 800 two to one despite the membrane keyboard.

    Originally, the 400 and 800 referred to the amount of system memory each machine had. The Atari 400 was originally going to ship with 4k while the 800 would ship with 8k. Because the cost of RAM was dropping quickly at the time, both ended up shipping with 8k. It wasn’t long before both were being shipped fully expanded (48k for the Atari 800 and 16k for the Atari 400).

    The Atari 400/800 had very advanced graphics and sound capabilities for the time. In fact the Atari 400 was originally marketed as more of a games machine or at least a hybrid games machine/computer. Nothing really came close to these capabilities until the Commodore 64 was introduced in 1982.

    A few important specs of the Atari 400/800:

    • CPU: MOS 6502A at 1.79 MHz
    • RAM: 8K, expandable to 16K (Atari 400), 16K, expandable to 48K (Atari 800) – both later shipped fully expanded
    • Graphics: ANTIC and CTIA/GTIA – 128 colors (16 colors, 8 luminance levels) @ 80 x 192 or 2 colors at 320 x 192, 8 sprites (4 ‘player’ and 4 ‘missile’)
    • Sound: ‘POKEY’ – 4 voices

    Where the Atari 400/800 really had trouble was competing on price. Part of this was a timing issue. In 1979 there were very strict FCC requirements regarding signal interference that led Atari to essentially encase all of the electronics with an aluminum block. Additionally, the Atari 800 was shipping with a full complement of RAM soon after it was released and Atari’s method of RAM expansion, cartridge like modules, was expensive vs. just soldering the RAM on the motherboard. By the time the Commodore 64 was released, Commodore was able to manufacture it at a much lower cost despite being a technically similar or even slightly superior machine. Atari reacted with the XL line but was never really able to catch up. For all the problems Commodore 64 had being taken as a serious computer, Atari’s problems in that regard were much worse. Despite these problems, the Atari 8-bit line of computers was manufactured until 1992.





    Atari 8-bit Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Enter (September 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    enter_issue_10_1984_sep-01

    Enter is a computer magazine that was targeted towards kids and published by Children’s Television Workshop (later Sesame Workshop). What computer loving kid could resist a cover with the Enterprise on it? While it did have some gaming content its emphasis was on education, including programming and general computer use. It covered all of the popular computers of the day that you might find in a home including the Commodore 64, VIC-20, TI-99/4A, TRS-80, Apple II, the Atari 8-bit line, PCs (DOS), Coleco Adam, Timex and possibly others. The September 1984 issue includes:

    Features

    • The Empire’s Computer Secrets – This article is pretty nifty bit of history. Part of it is an interview with Ed Catmull, at the time responsible for many of the computer effects in early Star Trek and Star Wars movies among others. He would later become co-founder of Pixar. In the image below (from this issue of Enter), Ed can be seen showing of some of the computer equipment being used for movie making circa 1984. This article also covers the game coming out of Lucasfilm including Ballblazer and Rescue On Fractalus, both initially developed on Atari 8-bit computers.

    • Rock on the Road – An article about how computers are used to control light shows for various concerts including those of Genesis, Duran Duran, The Police, The Jacksons, ZZ Top, Culture Club, and Van Halen among others. Some specific equipment is covered including Var-Lites which were first used by Genesis.
    • The Write Stuff – An overview of the word processing software available for different computers along with their capabilities. Software covered includes Apple Writer IIe (Apple IIe), Atariwriter (Atari 8-bit computers), Bank Street Writer (Apple, Atari, Commodore 64, DOS), Cut & Paste (Apple IIe, IIc, Atari, Commodore 64, DOS), Easy Script 64 (Commodore 64), Electric Pencil (TRS-80 Models III and IV), Homeword (Apple, Atari, Commodore 64), Leading Edge (DOS), Letter Wizard (Atari), Oniwriter (Commodore 64), Quick Brown Fox (Apple, Atari, Commodore 64, VIC-20, DOS), Smartwriter (Coleco Adam), The Write Stuff (Apple II, DOS), and Wordvision (DOS).
    • Portable Power – An overview of a few of the newer portable computers available at the time. These include the Epson HX-20, NEC 820, Radio Shack Model 100 (I had one of these for a while), and the Olivetti M-10. These weren’t like today’s notebooks. They were typically all in one units with a built-in 4 to 8 line black and white LCD screen above the keyboard.
    • The Making of an Arcade Game – Behind the scenes at Bally Midway factory in Franklin Park, Illinois. This shows the process of assembling a Spy Hunter arcade machine.
    • Contest #4 – A contest involving renaming computer parts in which you could win an Apple IIc.

    Departments

    • Feedback – Readers respond to a previous article about software piracy, a very hot topic at the time.
    • Bits – The news section, this month featuring: the Pac-Van, a mobile arcade that holds 25-30 games that could be rented for birthday parties and such; two students hack the electronic scoreboard at the Rose Bowl; Plaqueman, a new game from Home Computer Software; a sheep shearing robot…and more.
    • Ask Enter – Readers ask about compatibility, how disks work, if games are bad for your TV, and more.
    • Random Access – A high school student complains that while her school does a good job teaching computer programming, that doesn’t mean that you know how to actually use a computer.
    • User Views – Game Reviews
      • The Seven Cities of Gold (Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari) – A graphical adventure game by Electronic Arts that features the exploration of North and South America through 400 years of history.
      • Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (Atari 2600, ColecoVision/Adam, Atari 5200, Atari computers, Commodore 64, DOS) – A sequel to Pitfall. This was an excellent game for the time that I had for my Commodore 64.
      • James Bond: 007 (Atari computers, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Atari 2600) – An action game by Parker Brothers based on scenes from four different Bond films.
      • Gumball (Apple, Atari) – An action/puzzle game in which you must catch different colored gumballs in the correct cart.
      • Bump ‘N’ Jump (Intellivision) – A port of the arcade classic that is part race part destruction derby.
      • Bruce Lee (Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari) – Work your way through the fortress with your martial arts prowess.
      • Zaxxon (Commodore 64) – An excellent conversion of the classic arcade shooter.
      • Boulder Dash (Atari, Commodore 64, DOS) – Somewhat like Dig Dug but with its own unique twists.
    • Software Scanner – Various software reviews.
      • Run for the Money (DOS) – A game in which you have to fix your spaceship but its more about business planning than anything.
      • Peripheral Vision (Commodore 64, Atari, DOS) – Drawing software that works with a light pen.
      • Flight Simulator II (Commodore 64, Apple, Atari) – The original Flight Simulator was written for DOS based machines. The sequel is really an enhanced version of the original for various other 8-bit computers.
      • M-SS-NG L-NKS (Commodore 64, Atari) – An educational fill in the blanks puzzle game featuring classic literature.
      • Coco-Notes (Atari, Commodore 64) – Compose songs by catching notes.
    • Newsbeat – The latest in computer news, featuring the new Commodore 16 and Plus 4; the new Okimate 10 dot-matrix printer; various robots and robot software; new software including Breakdance, Archon II, and more; the Atari 780 Prosystem; the MindLink system; and voice controlled laser discs.
    • Showbeat – Including a preview of a new movie featuring Atari computers, Cloak & Dagger. This movie starred Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.). While some will no doubt argue that this was no E.T., it was a movie I loved as a kid and probably had a bigger impact on me.
    • Pacesetters – An article about One on One featuring Larry Bird and Dr. J as well as the 17-year old programmer that wrote it.
    • Connections – Info on a Commodore 64 music contest, BBSes, new Timex hardware and software, and where you might find out of print books.
    • Pencil Crunchers – A maze created with the help of a computer (Apple II) and a computer related crossword puzzle.
    • Next – What’s coming up next month (‘Life On-Line’, ‘Computers Go To College’, and more).

    Programming

    • BASIC Training – Featuring Micro Mind Reader, a type in program that can read your mind for Apple, Adam, Atari, IBM, TRS-80 Color Computer, and Timex Sinclair.
    • BASIC Recommends – A recommendation for a BASIC programming book: ‘More BASIC: A Guide to Intermediate-Level BASIC Programming’

    …and more!


    Apple ][ Atari 8-bit Commodore 64 Computer Arcana DOS TRS-80 📎and tagged