Hey, Pinheads! Don’t biff the bumpers, just nudge the podcast machine – DON’T TILT! – and check out this week’s kick-out hole of an episode before it goes down the drain.  Obviously, this week’s episode is all about golf.  Kidding! Don’t do a panic flip.  Now, let me do a lazarus ball to get these show notes back on track. This week, on episode 113, we’re playing VIDEO PINBALL, Atari’s 1980 port of it’s own 1978 coin-op machine. Is the game (and the story therein) a house ball or a gobble hole? Insert your quarters where indicated and... Read More

Sorry! No show this week. We’ve gone fishin’… Just kidding! In episode 112, we’ve gone fishin’ AND we’re doing a show. How is this possible? Well, obviously we’re playing the 1980 Activision (squee!) game FISHING DERBY. So is playing this game like landing a lunker or is it the one that got away? And why, we wonder, are these fish derby-izing? Unlike the typical fish story, we actually check the facts on this one. Pull up a bucket of chum and join us! Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs “Take a Chance”,... Read More

So…yeah, this month’s episode is a wee bit late. Sorry ’bout that. I had a hard time getting into the podcast studio to finish the editing on the episode, what with all these NO DOGS ALLOWED signs around. I guess that’s what I get for wearing my Snoopy costume as every day wear. But episode 23 is finally here. We’re talking about the Peanuts gang’s second theatrical outing, SNOOPY COME HOME from 1972. Snoopy’s feeling unwanted at home and around town (NO DOGS ALLOWED!). Will the return of a mysterious figure from Snoopy’s past lure him away? We... Read More

We could have phoned in this week’s episode, #111 to be specific. We could have tossed Encounter at L-1 at you. Maybe even L-2 with nary a thought.  Encounters L-3 and 4? Probably good enough. But we here at ATARI BYTES believe that any encounters below L-5 are for chumps, which is why we’ve got for you: ENCOUNTER AT L-5 from Data Age, 1982. No need to thank me. But what do we find on our Encounter at L-5? Tune in to find out… Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs “Reformat”, “Take a Chance”, “Pinball Spring,... Read More

Episode 110 of the podcast is silent…but DEADLY. That is to say, we’re playing DEADLY DUCK, the 1982 20th Century Fox game. It’s sort of like waterfowl nested inside a Space Invaders game and QUACKED everything up. Also, there are brick-wielding crabs and dragonflies armed with bombs. Because why not? What story could I possibly make out of this? Hope I don’t lay a (duck) egg on this one. Listen to find out if I do. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs “Take a Chance”, “Reformat” and “Pinball Spring”.  Atari... Read More

Ding-Ding! In the left corner, weighing in at episode 109, it’s BOXING by Activision, 1980. In the right corner, weighing in at…well, he’s working on it. Gotta get back on that treadmill. It’s PODCASTER BILL. Gentlemen…fight! Dirty tricks and junk-punching totally okay. Our salute to the Olympics concludes this week with an Activision game. We do love us some Activision here on the podcast. Does this game disappoint? Listen and find out. Then hang around the ring for this week’s story devoted to the “sweet science”… Thanks to Kevin McLeod at... Read More

Our salute to the Olympics continues this week in episode 108. Like all elite Olympic athletes, I’ve got a beer and a pocket full of nachos (I hope those are nachos). Why? Because we’re going BOWLING! The 1978 Atari version that is.  You might argue bowling is not an actual Olympic sport. I submit to you that, as with doughnuts being a health food, in my reality Olympic bowling darn well is a thing. In this week’s story: what mystery and intrigue lurks at the other end of the lane?  Grab your balls and join us! Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use... Read More

This month on episode 22, we put Peppermint Patty, who has barely had time to rest since winning musical chairs last month in “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown”, through her paces. First, we explore which came first: the peppermint patty candy or the character. Then, in NO TIME FOR LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (which first aired 3/11/73), a field trip to the art museum puts her feelings for ol’ Chuck on display. (See what I did there?) Next, we have an episode from THE CHARLIE BROWN & SNOOPY SHOW, which originally aired 12/10/83, in which Charlie Brown’s rage at the kite-eating... Read More

As the episode rolls out, the 2018 winter Olympics are underway. The competition! The pageantry! The steroid scandals! To celebrate, we’re leaping off the ski jump into the future to play the 1985 game WINTER OLYMPICS from Epyx FOR THE ATARI 7800!!! If the story WITHIN the game we’ve come up with can be believed (it can’t), the drama and intrigue on the ski jump, bobsled, speed skating rink and biathalon (biathalon? Really?) is NOTHING compared to the thrilling adventure going on behind the scenes. Good thing our old friend, Steve Stetson, superspy, is on the case.  So cinch... Read More

This week on the podcast, we’re going commando! Aren’t you glad this is an audio podcast? Of course, we’re actually referring to this week’s game COMMANDO RAID, a 1982 game from U.S.Games, a division of Quaker Oats. The odor of heavy artillery fire and oatmeal hangs heavy in the air. In this week’s story within the game, we wonder: in the war between the humans and androids, are there any winners? R.I.P. Mort Walker Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs “Take a Chance”, “Pinball Spring” and “Reformat”. Atari... Read More