| 11/7/25 |
And now for
something completely different. Thanks to
prototype historian Ken Van Mersbergen we now have
a working image of the Town
and Country Information System. This
program was one of Atari's attempts to expand
outside the realm of video games and turn the
Atari 8-Bit computer line into a general purpose
computer. The Town
and Country Information System is a mall
information kiosk program which displayed the
location of various shops and amenities in the
Town and Country Mall. While the mall may no
longer exist, thanks to the efforts of Ken the
information kiosk program lives on.
|
| 8/4/25 |
Touch Pad Game Update!
Thanks to
generosity of fellow prototype archivist Ianoid,
the two other known Touch Pad Game prototypes (2-9-84
and 2-21-84)
have been archived and shared with the
community. These two new versions are rather
different the earliest prototype and resemble the
game seen in the Slide Show #2 prototype. Be
sure to check out the updated Touch
Pad Game page.
|
| 7/15/25 |
Just when
you think you've seen it all! Recently six
new prototypes were sold on Ebay that appear to be
made for a previously unknown Atari 5200 Touch
Tablet device similar to the CX77 for the Atari
8-Bit computers. Three of these prototypes
are versions of a concept game called Touch
Pad Game while the other three called Slide
Show appear to be ideas for different Touch
Tablet games presented as a slide show.
While only one of prototypes has been archived and
shared (Touch
Pad Game 2-2-84), the seller was kind enough
to describe the other prototypes and provide some
pictures of them in action. Check out the Touch
Pad Game and Slide
Show pages for more details.
Special thanks to Axl Thunder for archiving and
sharing the Touch Pad Game rom!
|
| 7/16/25 |
Summer Atari 2600 Prototype
Updates
Thanks to
the generosity of John Hardie, several new 2600
protos have been archived and made available for
review. First up we have a mid/late WIP
version of Midnight
Magic. This version has all the
gameplay implemented but is missing most of the
music and sounds. Next we have we have a mid-level
WIP version of Pengo. This version (dated
2/28/84) is the missing link between the
earliest version (1/4/84)
and the final version (4/24/84)
and still contains many of the changes found in
the earlier version with some missing features now
added in. Third, we have a near
final version of Saboteur which still sports
a 1983 copyright date. Fourth (fourthly?) we have a prototype for Stargate
which appears to be the same as the
released version.
Finally we have a final version of Night
Driver that was archived by TheRedEye over
at Hidden Palace. Prototypes from this early
era of Atari are rare so they're a welcome
discovery even if they are the final version.
As special bonus, archivist Ken Van Mersbergen has
complied the code for Basketball.
Although the code is the same as the final
release, it's still and important piece of gaming
history.
|
| 3/13/25 |
Thanks
to the efforts of Ken Van Mersbergen we
now have a new WIP version of Blueprint
for the Atari 2600. This particular
version was found the a former Roklan
programmers disks. While fully
playable, this prototype is missing many
features and graphics found in the
released version. Also of note is
that this prototype is only 4K whereas the
released version was 8K.
|
| 1/10/25 |
Fishy Business
What a way
to start the new year! Thanks to some
serious detective work by Ken Van Mersbergen, we
have a brand new 2600 game to look at. Fish
(or at least we *think* that was the name) is a
simple little action game where you control a fish
who must eat everything in sight. While
simple, the game seems very polished and is a lot
of fun. Check out the review here
and download the rom from AtariAge.
Also from Ken we have a new earlier version of Animated
Puzzle and an odd beta of Pole
Position for the Atari 8-Bits. Check
out these new discoveries and start your new year
off right!
|
| 11/8/24 |
AD&D
Tower of Mystery for the Atari 2600 is a
prototype with an interesting
history. Although
it was known to exist and was even shown at CGE
99, it was considered a lost prototype as
the rom never found its way onto the internet
unlike many of the other M-Network
prototypes. It has long suspected that the
rom for ToM (along with several other M-Network
prototypes with problematic copyright issues) was
being safeguarded but could not be released.
This has all changed now that Atari has bought the
rights to the M-Network games and is making them
available to the public for the first time via
their Atari 50: The First Console War
collection. Was it worth the wait? Go
check out the newly updated Tower
of Mystery and see.
|
| 10/7/24 |
Some of you
long time readers might remember when the Atari
5200 Muppet-Go-Round prototype surfaced back in
2010. While pictures were taken, the
prototype was not dumped at that time and was then
was sold and disappeared. As luck would have
it the buyer decided to put the proto up for sale
last month on ebay where it was bought and
properly archived. The rom was then shared
with AtariProtos and we can now do a proper
review. Go check out the newly updated Muppet-Go-Round
page for more details.
|
| 6/15/24 |
Of Banks and Worms
Today we
have two new prototype reviews for the 2600.
First up is Bank
Heist which is a relatively unknown 20th
Century Fox game that's actually a lot of fun and
went through a variety of names before it was
released. Next we have Worm
War I which was one of the earliest efforts
by David Lubar who had a fairly prolific career on
the 2600.
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