Monthly Archives: April 2011

Atari Nerd : This Day In Atari History For April 30th

Posted on April 30, 2011 by 8bit_admin

1981 April 30: DataSoft first publicizes Micro Painter for Atari 8-bit computers 1984 April 30: Parker Brothers finalizes prototype of Atari 2600 game Frogger II 1994 April 30: Atari Classic Programmer’s Club announce 8-bit computer products• Loopz: game releases TBA• … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, This Day In Atari History | Leave a comment

8bitrocket InterWeb Mash-Up For Friday April 29th, 2011

Posted on April 29, 2011 by 8bit_admin

A Note From 8bitrocket Hi everyone, I hope you are enjoying our new focus and format as much as we are are enjoying it.  We found it very hard to write lots of in-depth articles because the industry is changing … Continue reading →

Posted in diatribe, Inter-Web Mash-Up | Leave a comment

8bitrocket Daily Inter-Web Mash-Up – Thursday, April 28, 2011

Posted on April 28, 2011 by 8bit_admin

MochiGames.com Game for Today: RobotSockets RoboSockets is a new take (to us anyway) on the  classic falling item/connect/clear game play pattern.  The robots have various connectors that need to be lined-up to get clear them  from the screen.  It’s engaging … Continue reading →

Posted in Inter-Web Mash-Up | 2 Comments

8bitrocket Daily Inter-Web Mash-up – Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Posted on April 27, 2011 by 8bitjeff

The Daily Briefing has been re-named back to the Inter-Web Mash-Up of old. Steve and I have both made it through 6 weeks with the new game development company, and although the hours are long, we are trying to find … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Briefing, Inter-Web Mash-Up | 3 Comments

8bitrocket Daily Briefing – Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Posted on April 26, 2011 by 8bitjeff

New Game Picks From Mochi Games Cactus McCoy : A Western-themed platformer with nice music and neat graphics. Homerun In Bezerkland :  Hit the geek as far as you can. More than a decade ago played this with penguins.  Because … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Briefing, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

8bitrocket Daily Briefing : Monday April 25th, 2011

Posted on April 25, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Top Of Mind Jolt Here some neat new games from MindJolt.com : Green Archer : Aim and shoot arrows are various objects.  Simple and derivative, but intriguing none-the-less. Bi-Plane Bomber :  Addicting, easy to control (and wholly unrealistic, but still…) … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Briefing, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

2010 Easter Games Revisited

Posted on April 24, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Here are links to the 2010 Easter Games we posted last year.  All are simple games with graphics designed by my girls (8bitsteve).

Posted in Easter | Leave a comment

The 8bitrocket Daily Briefing – Sunday, April 24, 2011

Posted on April 23, 2011 by 8bit_admin

First off, Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it. Try out these new Flash Game Distribution games. We liked them the first couple times we played them. – X Missile (once you find the game through all of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Briefing | 4 Comments

8bits in the Attic – Atari (and Intellivision) Treasure Trove

Posted on April 23, 2011 by 8bitjeff

About 12 years ago I realized that I wanted to play my original 1986 Atari 7800, but had no idea where it was. After searching the garage at my parents house, I found the original system in its original box, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, Atari Nerd Chronicles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Our First “Game” Hack, Circa 1981

Posted on April 21, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Last week I pulled out I found an old Choose Your Own Adventure book to read to my girls.   This was one of the original books Jeff and I got from the Scholastic Book club in elementary school.  This … Continue reading →

Posted in 8bitrocket History | 4 Comments

The HTML 5 Canvas (O’Reilly) Table Of Contents

Posted on April 21, 2011 by 8bitjeff

Our book on HTML5 Canvas programming is nearing completion. The Amazon.com info page has not been updated yet with the latest information, so I decided to put it here in case anyone is interested. We are in final revision stage … Continue reading →

Posted in HTML 5 Canvas, HTML5 Canvas Book | 4 Comments

Ode To A Game That Nobody Played

Posted on April 18, 2011 by 8bit_admin

This is an ode to a game that nobody played For the classes and functions and code that I made For the weeks designing how the screen would be laid With Pseudo-3D and traces that were rayed With cool explosions … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, Atari Poetry, Flash Game Development, Game Design And Theory, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Retro Scan Of The Week: Romox Games (1983)

Posted on April 16, 2011 by 8bitjeff

This week’s scan is a Romox microcomputer games advertisement from Analog magazine’s Sept/Oct 1983 issue. The two games featured in the ad are Anteater and Typo (available in cartridge form for the Atari 8-bit, Commodore Vic-20 / 64, and TI … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, Misc Retro Games | 4 Comments

Two Great New Video Game Books You Should Check Out

Posted on April 15, 2011 by 8bit_admin

It appears that we are in a “gaming book” renaissance the likes of which we have not seen since the  since the early parts of the 21st century when Dungeons And Dreamers, Masters Of Doom, and The First Quarter all fascinated us with inside … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Reviews | 3 Comments

Atari Greatest Hits Vol. 2 DS: Atari 400 Emulator In Action

Posted on April 13, 2011 by 8bit_admin

I discovered today that the new DS title Atari Greatest Hits Vol .2 for the Nintendo DS includes an Atari 400 emulator running Atari BASIC.    The emulator is in the extras section, and as far as I can tell, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | 3 Comments

This week’s retro scan and discussion: Killer Rigs – CGW March 2001

Posted on April 9, 2011 by 8bitjeff

Computer Gaming World is now defunct, but during the golden age of PC gaming it was my favorite gaming publication. I consider the golden age of PC games to have started with Wolfenstein 3D (about 1992) and ended just about … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | 13 Comments

Get 100 Atari Classics for the iPhone / iPad for $14.99 USD

Posted on April 7, 2011 by 8bitjeff

The incredibly generous Atari’s Greatest Hits for iOS was released yesterday to the iTunes store. You can have 100 Atari classics for $14.99 or you can purchase various game packs such as the Asteroids pack, Warlords pack, or one of … Continue reading →

Posted in App Store Revolution, Apple, Atari Nerd | 6 Comments

Silverlight Not Dead: Silverlight 5 On The Way

Posted on April 7, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Last year while working at “Monolith” I had a short email argument with some upper management folks about the future of Silverlight.  They were all in a panic that “Microsoft was abandoning Silverlight” , and this was just after they … Continue reading →

Posted in Silverlight | 7 Comments

The Essential Guide To Flash Games Made a Profit! (really)

Posted on April 7, 2011 by 8bitjeff

Essentially because of many of you, our book, the “Essential Guide to Flash Games, Building Interactive Entertainment in As3″, actually paid Steve and I a royalty yesterday (even with that crazy-long title). After receiving a years worth of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Essential Flash Games Book, HTML 5 Canvas, HTML5 Canvas Book | 3 Comments

Watch the New Star Soccer 5 Trailer

Posted on April 3, 2011 by 8bitjeff

It is no secret that I love the football/soccer games from the 80′s and early 90′s. I was a HUGE Kick Off 2 and Kick off Player Manager fan on the Atari ST, but shed the ST for a PC … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

For Those Still Compiling We Salute You : 10 Reasons Classic Game Programmers Matter

Posted on April 2, 2011 by 8bit_admin

A while back, coworker and I were talking today about the recent interview with Steve Woita in Retro Gamer magazine.  We’ve both met Woita ( my co-worker in-person and myself virtually though this site), but my co-worker was blown-away that … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | 1 Comment

8bitrocket.com Joins Up with Oracle-Retro!

Posted on April 1, 2011 by 8bit_admin

The denizens of 8bitrocket.com have  ”beat around the virtual bush” for many weeks about the new “large company” they are working for, and today is the day they can reveal the name: Oracle!  Yes, the world’s largest database company is … Continue reading →

Posted in April 1st | Tagged | 4 Comments