Gamasutra has released the last in the series of book excerpts from the future Hiive Books publication, this one on the Atari 8-bit computer series, from their "A History of Gaming Platforms" series from authors Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton. Check out the cover feature article here, and look below for images that Gamasutra chose not to use:

As luck would have it, I came across an amazing stash of Panasonic JR-200U (aka, Panasonic Personal Computer or PPC) stuff for about $40 shipped that puts my previous collection for this system to shame. In fact, the only major item not present in this new haul was Wordwatch. There will be no need for me to re-hash what was in the prior "A Long Visual Look at..." as you can just read it for yourself if you haven't already. Since all of the setup stuff is already taken care of, I can get right into this haul and PART 1, which will briefly lead into coverage of one of the interesting games now in my possession (subsequent parts will naturally follow suit in various degrees of detail).

First, here's a photo of the new stash, followed by a few cursory findings, then a preliminary look at the first game:

In lieu of doing this as a traditional Photo of the Week - Know your History! feature, I decided that this extremely obscure, but not particularly valuable vintage personal computer deserved a bit more attention.

I AM 8-BITSometimes I think I'm more intrigued by the video games culture bleeding into other forms of media and seeping deeper into popular culture, than I am in the games themselves. The "I AM 8-BIT" show at Gallery 1988 was referenced in a previous post as being featured in a vidcast elsewhere, but there was not a link in the AA post to the artwork featured. So, here it is:

micro-KIM: Prototype from Briel ComputersBriel Computers, the gentleman responsible for the popular "replica 1" Apple I clone and the in-progress "Altair PC" Altair 8800 modern re-imagining is at it again, this time with the "micro-KIM", a modern clone of MOS Technologies' KIM-1, which was originally created in 1975 by legendary engineer Chuck Peddle, and a pre-cursor of sorts to the rise of Commodore and the PET. Visit the Website for full information and to send Mr. Briel an e-mail expressing your interest in a pre-order (and at a projected $99, it seems like a good deal). I know I did!

The latest from Mr. Briel (typos edited):
"The final prototype is being tested before pre-orders begin. Before production can start on a new project like this, we need a minimum of 10 pre-orders. Soon an email will go out explaining this and the expected wait time. If you want to help get this project off the ground help by being one of the first 10 pre-orders. Once there are 10 pre-orders, the order will go into the board house to make the blank boards and that takes about 4 weeks. Once the boards arrive, kits will be made. The goal is to start taking pre-orders no later than June 30th.

If only 5 people pre-order, that probably won't be enough and if too much time goes by, refunds will be given. However, I don't expect that to be a problem."

One of the descriptions from the Website (typos edited):

Hardball on the Apple IIgsBill Martens, who runs the superb "Virtual Apple 2 - Online disk archive" has informed me that the site now supports Firefox. Previously the Website only supported Internet Explorer. For those not familiar with the Website, it allows you to play Apple II and IIgs games directly in your browser. No fuss, no muss, and it's fairly configurable to boot. As a bonus, the site also gives you access to the ROM images for use in another emulator or for transfer to your real Apple system. While my preferred way is to of course play these games on the real hardware, nothing beats the immediacy of a well functioning browser-based emulator that already has the ROMs, as it's invaluable for quick reference and screenshot captures. Check it out at http://www.virtualapple.org/.

A2 News and Notes December, 2006

INDEX
* Don't Try This At Home!
* Letting Your Fingers Walk
* Software Source
* Apple Internet
* Up For A Challenge?
* Software News
* SignOff

-- Remember in school how fascinating it was to look at those "visible
people" cutaways of the human body, and what things looked like inside
you? Well, if you happen to have access to a high-powered x-ray machine