• Tag Archives Atari 600XL

  • Antic: The Atari Resource, December 1983

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Antic: The Atari Resource, December 1983

    Antic was one of three major Atari 8-bit computer magazines (Ahoy! and ANALOG being the others). It covered both the 8-bit models and later on, The Atari ST as well. In December 1983 the updated and cost reduced 600XL and 800XL models had just been released to compete with the Commodore 64 but they would only be available in limited numbers for this holiday season. That unavailability played a large role in Atari falling so far behind Commodore in terms of sales going forward. The December 1983 issue of Antic includes:

    Features

    • Holiday Greetings
    • AUTORUN.SYS – Build your own in BASIC
    • More Interrupting – Deeper into display lists
    • Anatomy of a Robot – How to create controlled motion with your Atari
    • Automate Your Player/Missiles – Smooth move if you can make it
    • Garbage Collector – Clearing unwanted characters from strings
    • ANTIX Pix Controllers
    • GTIA Sketchpad – Graphics utility for Modes 9, 10, and 11

    Departments

    • Inside Atari – Catch on to Computers
    • Starting Line – Snowflakes
    • LOGO/PILOT – Turtle Sketch Pad
    • Education – Odd Man Reforms
    • In The Public Domain – Worm Squirm and Jackpot
    • Systems Guide – Mission Redux

    Special Section

    • Buyer’s Guide – Hardware, software and accessories
    • I/O Board
    • Help!
    • Product Reviews
    • Listing Conventions
    • Tangle Angles
    • Microscreens
    • Public Domain Software
    • Shopper’s Guide
    • Advertisers List

    …and more!





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  • Antic: The Atari Resource, April 1985

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Antic: The Atari Resource, April 1985

    Antic: The Atari Resource
    Volume 3, Number 12
    April 1985

    Antic was primarily an Atari 8-bit magazine but at times it covered both the Atari 8-bit line and the 16-bit Atari ST. This was the case in April 1985 when the Atari ST had been recently released.

    The April 1985 issue of Antic includes the following:

    Features

    • First Look at the New Super Ataris – A look at the brand new Atari 520ST which included an 8 MHz 68000 (faster than the Macintosh at the time) and 512K of RAM. At the time, a 130ST and 260ST were also planned with lesser memory (128K for the 130ST and 256K for the 260ST) but these never materialized. There were new Atari 8-bit computer as well with the 64KB Atari 65XE and the 128KB Atari 130XE. These had been redesigned to match the aesthetics of the Atari ST.
    • Robot Update – Predictions of a robot meeting you at the door with the newspaper (if that’s not anachronistic I don’t know what is) and cooking dinner among other things in the next 5 to 10 years (still waiting). Current robots at the time include the RB5X and HERO-1. The RB5X could be programmed from many computers, including Atari 8-bit computers, with Tiny BASIC. The article does mention robots that could vacuum in the future and at least we do have those now.
    • Expert Systems – A look at the state of artificial intelligence in 1985.
    • The Eight Queens Problem – Solving a chess problem the brute force way with BASIC on an Atari 8-bit with at least 24K.
    • ’84 Tax Spreadsheet Update – An updated template for SynCalc, a spreadsheet program for the Atari 8-bit, that allows you to do your taxes.
    • Secret Agent – A type in-program that allows you to encrypt/decrypt messages.
    • Dot Matrix Digitizer – How to build a cheap (obviously lo-res and mono) photo digitizer than can then be printed on various dot matrix printers.
    • Spash In Action! – A comparison of ACTION! (a programming language) with BASIC.
    • Speech Editor – A type-in program that gives you a menu driven interface to S.A.M., Atari’s speech synthesizer.
    • Picture Show – This is an enhancement to a previously published graphics utility.

    Departments

    • Communications: Welcome to Antic Online – A new Atari online service available via CompuServe. Some of the things included are news, index to back issues, product review library, user group directory and more.
    • Starting Out: Why You Want DOS 2 – Newer disk drives shipped with DOS 3 which offered improvements but also introduced all kinds of incompatibilities so that most people stuck with DOS 2 until 2.5 came along with the Atari XEs.
    • Profile: Atari’s Founder Goes Robotic – Nolan Bushnell introduces an inexpensive robot (called Andy) that could be controlled with an Atari 8-bit or Commodore 64.
    • Toolbox: Parallel Bus, Revealed – The final part of a four-part series that provides a guide for building and programming a high-speed parallel-bus (PBI) interface.
    • Game of the Month: Maneuver – A type-in strategy game for two players.
    • Bonus Game: Crazy Eights! – A type-in card game.
    • I/O Board – Questions and comments from readers. Topics include Alternate Reality, Typo II, a complaint about a Superman cover and more.
    • Help! – Readers ask for help regarding DOS 3 errors, taxes, Bannetizer (a previous type-in program), and more.
    • Product Reviews – Reviews this month include Whistler’s Brother (Broderbund), Party Quic (Suncom), Serpent’s Star (Broderbund), Space Waste Race (Sunburst), ABCs of Atari Computers (Datamost), G.E. Compu-Mate Data Recorder, Conan (Datasoft) and Up and Down (Sega).
    • Shopper’s Guide – A classified ads style section with ads from various Atari dealers.
    • New Products – A brief look at new and upcoming products including the Okimate 120 printer; Morsecode Master, Reversi Master (New Horizons); R-Link (serial modem interface by Quantum Microsystems); Space Base (astronomical software by Urania Systems); 85- Cables (cables for connecting the Atari 850 interface box to various RS-232 devices); Bank Street Musicwriter; and Run For It (game from Weekly Reader Family Software); U.S. Doubler (disk drive mod from ICD).

    …and more!


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