GATO for the Atari 7800

Curt Vendell of The Atari History Museum has just released a binary image of a “proof of concept” version of the unreleased GATO for the Atari 7800.

GATO is a WWII-era submarine battle simulation originally designed by Spectrum HoloByte and published by Atari for the Atari 8-Bit line of computers.

Spectrum HoloByte was later purchased by Infogrames, who just recently purchased and are now known as Atari.

Right.

This particular version cycles through a series of four screenshots, and is not a playable game. It is unknown as of this writing whether or not further development was made on the 7800 version of GATO.

Download the binary from this page at AtariAge.com.

MIDI Maze for the Atari 8-Bit

AtariAge announced yesterday the “immediate availability” of the previously unreleased Atari 8-Bit version of MIDI Maze through Sunmark Productions. The cartridge, which includes a manual and a full-color label, is priced at $44.95, prior to the $5.95 charge for standard USPS shipping.

Sunmark.com provides information on which Atari computers MIDI Maze is compatible with, along with a mention that the game can be linked to up to sixteen other computers. Three screenshots are provided: two of the options menus, and one which I’d hesitate to describe as “in-game action.” The information ends here.

Sunmark fails to mention that MIDI Maze was a rather popular title for the Atari ST line of computers. They do not explain that a cult following exists even today, all over the world, and that its fans are so dedicated to the game that modern editing utilities and Windows upgrades have been created. They don’t find importance in the fact that just this past June, Midwest Classic held a special tribute by running MIDI Maze on ten linked Atari ST computers. They fail to inform you that the game’s creators later retooled MIDI Maze into Faceball 2000, a succesful entry into the Game Boy’s library. They don’t bother to mention that MIDI Maze was the first 3D multiplayer shooter in video game history.

Sunmark’s focus, instead, is on how much you’re expected to pay for the game cartridge, what the cartridge looks like, and how to use the cartridge once you obtain it.

It is unknown as of this writing whether or not Sunmark has obtained the intellectual copyrights from Atari for the distribution and sale of MIDI Maze, or for Mean 18 Golf, which is provided for free to the first fifty people who purchase the cartridge.

RoboticParanoia’s Homecoming!

“RoboticParanoia,” Lost Levels forums user and webmaster of ProtoPages.net, has posted a new update to his blog!

In this entry, we learn of Paranoia’s tension and moodiness surrounding his impending Homecoming dance.

The post was made, according to Paranoia, in a “Sad and Tired” mood. Homecoming, said Paranoia, is “Another day to prove to myself that I am a loner. Another day to prove that I am not afraid to be me.”

“But, yeah, you just can’t help feel depressed, when you see loved ones, can you?” he went on to say.

As of this writing, the involvement of Paranoia’s loved ones in his Homecoming dance is unknown. Like most of you, however, I’ll be closely monitoring the saga as it develops!

Oh, and he also posted this page, with exclusive info about an unreleased Vectrex game called Pitcher’s Duel.

I guess.

“Red Vs. Blue” Demo for the Atari 2600

And yet another semi-relevant news byte courtesy of AtariAge.com:

Matt Reichert, who seems to have become the most oft-cited person on our news page, has just released a binary for an Atari 2600 demo nicknamed “Red Vs. Blue.”

“Red Vs. Blue” was developed by Tod Frye as a demonstration to show how many moving sprites could be displayed by the 2600 at once. An impressive twenty-two moving objects are shown in this demo, which more likely than not was incorporated into another Tod Frye production, RealSports Football.

For information on “Red Vs. Blue,” check out Matt’s page here. To download the binary, check out the AtariAge front page.

Dactyl Joust for the Atari Jaguar

Carol Forhan of Songbird Productions has recently uploaded a video clip for an unreleased Atari Jaguar Dactyl Joust.

Dactyl Joust was to be a 3D spinoff of the arcade classic, Joust. The video, which we’re assured is a real beta version running on a real Atari Jaguar, displays what may be the smoothest 3D graphics to ever grace the ill-fated console. For more information on Dactyl Joust, check out this page at CyberRoach. To download the video, click here.

Thanks to AtariAge for the scoop!

PBA Bowling 2001 for the Dreamcast

A reader by the unlikely name of “ShadowofBob” sent me a few screenshots from PBA Bowling 2001, an unreleased game for the Sega Dreamcast.

PBA Bowling 2001 was being developed by Bethesda Softworks, better known perhaps for their Pirates of the Caribbean and Elder Scrolls series of games.

A PC version of the game was released, as well as a 2004 update for the Playstation2.

Check out the shots here, and feel free to comment on this or any other game in our forums.

Modem Wars

I first wrote today’s article well over a year ago. It was my first attempt at video game journalism, and the very inspiration for the web site you’re reading. Ladies and gentleman, the true story behind the Baton Teleplay Modem.