Author Archives: 8bit_admin

Atari Vets “Getting The Band Back Together” To Rock Mobile Games Like’s It’s 1979 All Over Again

Posted on February 3, 2012 by 8bit_admin

Denis Koble, Rich Adam, Ed Logg, Lyle Rains, Bruce Merritt, Tim Skelly, Owen R. Ruben, Ed Rotberg, Bob Smith, and Rob Zdydel are forming a game company named Innovative Leisure, and you should take notice. If you don’t know who … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | 3 Comments

Atari Nerd Fantasy: What If Our Games Had Been Released As Cartridges For A Classic Console (photo)

Posted on February 1, 2012 by 8bit_admin

We were thinking over the weekend that it would be nice to have some kind of physical way to represent the many games we have made over the years. Since most of them have been web games, they are fleeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | 1 Comment

When Social Media Fails

Posted on January 28, 2012 by 8bit_admin

This week I found out that someone I know is in a very bad situation.  Actually, the situation is dire, really horrible, and honestly, unimaginable.    I went to school with this person, and for a couple of years we … Continue reading →

Posted in diatribe | Leave a comment

Star Wars Uncut The Director’s Cut Released : Another Sign Of The Apocalypse?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 331 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

336 Days Left : The Next Sign Of The Apocalypse : Microsoft Adds Achievements For Coding Into Visual Studio

Posted on January 19, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 336 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Sucks, Signs Of Doomsday, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Common, Off-The-Shelf, Dad : Why My Dad Never Joined The Computer Revolution

Posted on January 13, 2012 by 8bit_admin

Jeff and I loved computers as kids, and my dad supported that love as well as he possibly could.  He bought us a our first Atari 800 computer for Christmas 1983, a Gemini 10X printer and 850 interface for our … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

346 Days Left : Next Sign Of The Apocalypse : The Kindle Fire Holding It’s Own Against The Apple iPad

Posted on January 9, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 346 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday | 4 Comments

348 Days Left : Next Sign Of The Apocalypse : Tom Chick Goes Solo

Posted on January 7, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 348 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday | 1 Comment

349 Days Left To Code: Next Sign Of Doomsday : Bob Cringley Quits Writing About Technology

Posted on January 6, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 349 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

351 Days Left To Play: Next Sign Of Doomsday : Adobe Sales Are Up

Posted on January 4, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 351 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on. The next … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday | 1 Comment

352 Days Left To Play: First Sign Of Doomsday : Atari Defends Its’ Intellectual Property

Posted on January 4, 2012 by 8bit_admin

The current Mayan Countdown has us at 352 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on. … Continue reading →

Posted in Signs Of Doomsday | 1 Comment

My Interview With Johnny Wilson (CGW) Live on GameCareerGuide.com

Posted on December 28, 2011 by 8bit_admin

A few months back I got the urge to catch-up with Johnny Wilson, the long-time editor of Computer Gaming World.  I do this from time-to-time.  I get nostalgic about old games or magazines, and then attempt to look-up some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | 3 Comments

spaceport.io Takes some of the Pain Out of HTML5 Game Development By Helping you convert AS3 to HTML5

Posted on December 27, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Wow, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the exciting new APIs, SDKs and platforms emerging for HTML5 game development! We just took a look at Ben Savage’s spaceport.io project today, and it looks really interesting.       … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash to HTML5, HTML 5 Canvas | Leave a comment

Atari Nerd Chronicles: The Best Christmas Ever

Posted on December 25, 2011 by 8bit_admin

  Although I had no idea in early 1981, my brother and I were video game obsessed twins on a collision-course with the pinnacle of ultimate geekdom: computer ownership.    We both loved arcade games and owned an Atari 2600 that … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd, Atari Nerd Chronicles | 2 Comments

The 12 Years Of Atari Christmas 1981-1992

Posted on December 23, 2011 by 8bit_admin

On Christmas ’81 Atari gave to me, a VCS under the Christmas tree   On Christmas ’82 Atari gave to me, two arcade conversions and a VCS under the Christmas tree   On  Christmas ’83 Atari  gave to me three … Continue reading →

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

Atari 80′s Christmas Commercials (More Filler For A Slow Week)

Posted on December 22, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Nothing brings back 8-bit Christmas memories like atrocious video game commercials from the 80′s.  The funny is, we LOVED these commercials.   They represented the mainstream accepting our love of Atari and video games…at least that is how we thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | Leave a comment

Atari History Book Kickstarter Project Launches

Posted on December 21, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel have launched their Kickstarter.com project to help get their massive Atari History book project off the ground.  Here is a video about the project:    

Posted in Atari Nerd | 1 Comment

Image Gallery : From Altair To Nintendo : Christmas Themed Computer And Video Games Ads and Editorial Pages, 1975-1989

Posted on December 20, 2011 by 8bit_admin

When I was growing up, getting into the Christmas spirit usually involved reading my favorite computer and video game magazines and paging through the special Christmas content created just for the holiday. Since the physical magazine era is quickly coming … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari Nerd | Leave a comment

Italian Review of HTML5 Canvas : fantastico!

Posted on December 16, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Here is a review of our book  HTML5 Canvas in Italian.  The  English translation appears to be pretty positive, however, the Italian looks better…so here is a quote in Italian: L’esempio che viene discusso e realizzato è veramente fantastico: un … Continue reading →

Posted in HTML 5 Canvas, HTML5 Canvas Book | 3 Comments

HTML5 Puzzle Game : Color Drop : Game Demo + AS3 vs. JavaScript Code Comparison

Posted on December 16, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Color Drop was game that was featured in our book The Essential guide To Flash Games.  Earlier this month I decided to to see how hard it would be to tackle a similar game for HTML5 Canvas for the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, HTML 5 Canvas, HTML5 Canvas Games | 2 Comments

8bitrocket 5 Year Anniversary : Throwing Up the Past and Top-10 Of Everything We could Think Of

Posted on December 15, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Today is our 5 year anniversary.  It’s been a roller-coaster-ride-kinda-year here at 8bitrocket Towers, with many ups and downs, sharp turns and thrills, but at the end of the ride, we just feel like throwing up. When we started 5 … Continue reading →

Posted in 8bitrocket History | Leave a comment

HTML5 Canvas Christmas Tree Drag And Drop Demo And Tutorial

Posted on December 14, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Here is another demo from DevCon5.  Yesterday we showed you an action game, now we will show you something completely different.  A Drag And Drop style decoration application of the type we produced by the dozens ta Mattel throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, HTML 5 Canvas, HTML5 Canvas Games, Tutorial-HTML5 Canvas, Tutorials | 1 Comment

HTML5 Canvas “1945″ Game Demo

Posted on December 13, 2011 by 8bit_admin

Here is one of the game demos we showed at Devcon5 last week.  This is an action game named 1945.  It uses graphics from Ari Feldman’s Spritelib and music from Musopen.com.   You cannot die in this game.  It’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Games, HTML 5 Canvas | 8 Comments

New Forum Redux

Posted on December 11, 2011 by 8bit_admin

A couple notes about the new forums. 1. the permissions have been updated so registered users can post in all forums 2. Registering requires admin approval now, as the “human spam bots” are causing issues. -8bitsteve      

Posted in 8bitrocket History | 1 Comment

New Forums To Focus On HTML5 Game And App Development (with Flash and Corona too)

Posted on December 10, 2011 by 8bit_admin

We’ve had a lot of requests to start a forum for HTML5 Game and App developers.  Since we use HTML5, Flash, Corona, and other tech too, we decided to try a new forum for all that stuff too. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in 8bitrocket History | 4 Comments