"DEAR AGH" (May/June, 1997) From: debever@*.ca Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 Subject: Atari Contact info Hi! Great page tons of cool info on the oldies but goodies. I just was woundering if you could tell me how I could get in contact with atari. I am an arcade owner (well I'm kinda new at this) and was woundering how I could rent thier (atari) arcade machines. I leave in Ontario Canada so please any phone numbers that are for my area are much appriciated. Any way, any help you can send my way would be help full. Les Replies: Your best bet is to contact a local operator in your area to see if he rents games to arcade owners. Most arcade game manufacturers deal either through distributors or large operators and only sell their games. If you'd like further info on this matter, try paying a visit to http://www.atarigames.com and email somebody from that site. ----- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 From: D. White Subject: No ST!?! -CLICK- BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Keita Replies: Yeah, yeah... and what have YOU done, eh? Seriously, though, it is our intent to provide Atari 16-bit computer coverage here at AGH, but not until we shore up the sections that are already up and running. Les, John and myself are huge ST fans and still own several machines each (I own a MegaSTE and Falcon). Since there's only three of us here at AGH and we're saddled with numerous other real-life obligations, please accept our apologies for the delay in ST coverage. ----- From: revi@*.net.il Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 Subject: Space Invaders Perhaps you know where can I get the Space Invaders Game for a pc emulator??? Many thanks in advance, Revital, all the way from Israel John Replies: At this present time, there is no known freeware emulator that supports Space Invaders. If you can be satisfied with playing 2600, 5200 or 8-bit versions of the game, you can download their respective emulators and grab the roms from various emulator sites. Since it's technically illegal to own rom images of games you do not own, we neither advocate or support such practices. Finally, Domark released a commercial version of Super Space Invaders for the PC a few years ago. Perhaps you can find a copy of the game in the discount bins at your local PC software store. ----- Date: Sat, 07 Jun 1997 From: B. Penzone Subject: Cloak and Dagger Hello....I am wondering a few things: A) Do you have access to a Cloak and Dagger machine? If so... Keita Replies: No.. we wish A.1) Would you be willing to sell it? Keita Replies: Whatever gave you the impression that it's for sale is beyond me. The reason we started AGH in the first place is because we LOVE videogames in general and Atari in particular. Unless you're willing to trade us your girlfriend or wife, there is no way in heck we're giving up ANYTHING in our possession. That is, unless you have a mint Major Havoc, Food Fight, Quantum and Star Wars for trade. B) Do you have any pictures of a Cloak and Dagger machine? Keita Replies: No, sorry -- just screenshots. We do our best, and what's there is all we have to offer. ----- From: LWPride@*.com Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 Subject: hi LYNX I would like to know what type of atari LYNX games there are mustlly --- 1) Wrestling 2) Car racing 3) Basketball 4) Baseball 5) Hockey 6) Lacrosse 7) row playing John Replies: 1) None... although Pit Fighter is a fighting game if that counts. 2) Checkered Flag, S.T.U.N. Runner and Super Off Road are good ones. 3) Basketbrawl. 4) Baseball Heroes. 5) Hockey. 6) Are you serious?? 7) If you mean role playing, the pickings are slim. Gauntlet is your best bet, although it's not an RPG in the truest sense. ----- Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 From: lenny@*.com Subject: Congrats! Hi- Just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoy your web site. I'm a 50-year old inveterate gamer, who first bought the 2600 around 1980, and then graduated to the 5200 as soon as it came out. I still have all the old stuff, but haven't played it in years. Always loved Miner 2049, but could never get past a certain screen (I think it was the 5th, but maybe it was the 6th-- it's been a long time). Anyway, thanks for creating such a fun website. I've toyed with the idea of firing up the 5200 one of these days, but if memory serves, my controllers are all shot.My trackball still works, methinks, and I always loved Pole Position. It's obvious you put a great deal of effort into the site. Nice job! Keita Replies: Nothing makes out day more than words of praise or encouragement, and your mail had us grinning ear-to-ear! If your 5200 controllers are making you stand on your head, don't despair. We have a comprehensive 5200 controller maintenance and repair section in our 5200 FAQ elsewhere in AGH. If that doesn't work, drop us another line and we'll see if we can hook you up with a pair. When you do eventually get around to playing your 5200 again, by all means share your experience with the rest of us. Thanks again for the kind words. And yes, Miner is difficult, but aren't most classic games challenging? :) ----- Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 From: ndx@*.edu Subject: Fantastic! I had to write to let you know what a great site you have going here. You guys have the coolest Atari stuff of any site on the web. Les Replies: Thank you for your compliments, it made our day. With AGH, we've only just begun to scratch the surface. As you know, we started up the site in November of 1996, and are still feverishly working to get up to speed. We are tentatively scheduled to unveil a new and improved AGH with over twice the content and a fresh new design. The URL will also change, but rest assured we'll keep you informed. Look for it soon! ----- Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 From: D. Mazurowski Subject: Atari patents Just took a look at your Atari Patents page. Very interesting! Where did you dig this stuff up? BTW, you nade a comment at the end of the abstract for patent #4,496,936, the patent for "Digital-analog conversion for shaft encoders". You said this was probably connected with the Hard Drivin' coin op. However, there are several things wrong with this. 1) Hard Drivin' was manufactured years later, by Atari Games. The patent was granted to Atari Inc. 2) There is nothing about the patent to specifically imply it is connected with Hard Drivin' - in fact, it sounds more like some sort of patent for a track ball or mouse type device. Considering the timing of the patent award, I am guesing it is somehow related to the 5200 trak ball, since this is a digital device for use an a system expecting analog input. Logical? There are several other patents, however, that DO seem directly related to Hard Drivin'. They are: Control device such as a steering wheel for video vehicle simulator with realistic feedback forces (Patent 5,044,956) (That one is almost certainly related, and the timing looks good. The others I list may be too late, but do sound related.) Gearshift for a vehicle simulator having a solenoid for imposing a resistance force (Patent 5,197,003) Shaker control device (Patent 5,203,563) Vehicle simulator including cross-network feedback (Patent 5,299,810) John Replies: Upon further review, the analogy of the patent to Hard Drivin' was indeed way off. We prepared the entire database in one day and rushed it out to the page without looking it over and you're definitely right about it being inaccurate. The aformentioned patent may very well be connected to the 5200 trak-ball as you say. We'll see if we can dig deeper to find the answer. As for the other patents which you claim related to Hard Drivin', I think you hit the nail on the head. ----- From: rekloned@*.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 Subject: your site Awesome! Great site. I loved the picture gallery that shows many boxes of games that never saw the light of day. The Tempest for the 2600 is great, who knew they were thinking of releasing that? Les Replies: Thanks for your e-mail. We are very proud of our extensive gallery of unreleased pictures, and, like yourself, we were blown away when we first found out about Atari's intention to make Tempest for the 2600. It's also worth noting that an early prototype cartridge of 2600 Tempest DOES exist! Hopefully, we'll be able to get our hands on a copy to report back to our readers about it. ----- Date: Wed, 07 May 1997 From: Fredomo@*.com> Subject: Your site! I love your site but.... It needs more Lynx info. And I would really like you to do with the 7800 like you did to the 5200. (Example) Screen shots of 7800 games and info. Later. Keita Replies You're right. We are very much aware that AGH is a bit small in the Lynx, 7800 and computers department. Please be aware, however, that AGH is barely half-a-year old as of right now, and our initial priority was to find a home for the 5200. Since the 2600, computers and Lynx had already been done to death on other pages, we decided to address those systems after completing the SuperSystem home page. Now that we've got the 5200 squared away, keep your eyes peeled for bigger and better things to come from AGH!