Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door. Well, that’s assuming they can find the door. It’s like a maze out here. Hasn’t anyone heard of Google Maps? This week on episode 97 we’re playing Exidy’s 1981 game MOUSE TRAP (Well, specifically we’re playing Coleco’s later Atari port of said game) and then we’ll dissect the motives of the titular mouse. Is it really all about the cheddar? Crowd around your podcaster apparatus to listen, but on your way grab a big, gooey bowl of cheese fondue and some delectable items to dip.... Read More

The bomber in Activision’s 1981 game KABOOM! is mad. How do we know? The exclamation point in the title, obviously! That doesn’t stop him from dropping bombs with cartoony lit fuses though. What are you supposed to do? Call the bomb squad? Flee the scene?  Nope. Just get out you buckets of water and start fielding those explosive pop flies. Miss one and bucket water won’t be only thing splattered all over the computer landscape.  Why is all this happening? We’ll blow the lid clean off this mystery. Join us! Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons... Read More

In the Spectravision B-movie pirate serial THE CHALLENGE OF NEXAR…*Show notes interrupted by a note passed to the host by the editor* What? THE CHALLENGE OF NEXAR is an Atari game?** **Yes. Yes, it is. From Spectravision, 1982. But I thought Spectravision was a format 1950s TV was presented in.*** ***You’re fired. Also, there are no pirates in it. Anyway, I guess this is a game where you fly through some sort of colorful space vortex thing and shoot space saucers that look less like saucers and more like an unnamed licensed property, the name of which, in Pig Latin, is Rsta Swar Eti... Read More

EPISODE 19 has it all! Dinner AND a show! Dinner is courtesy of the 1973 holiday classic A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING. Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie and Franklin to Chuck’s house for Thanksgiving, forcing Charlie Brown to face his crippling fear of buttering toast. Snoopy gets his butt handed to him by a lawn chair. Woodstock engages in flagrant bird cannibalism. Ah, holidays! The “show” part of the episode comes courtesy of the “MUSIC AND HEROES OF AMERICA” installment of the THIS IS AMERICA, CHARLIE BROWN series from 1989. Schroeder wants to give a report... Read More

Feeling claustrophobic? Like the walls are moving in on you? No, you’re not coming down from one too many espresso shots. You just have SQUEEZE BOX fever! And you know what they say about fevers: starve a cold and feed a fever, right? Like, maybe, you could feed it some Quaker oats, which would be appropriate since a division of that company, U.S. Games, released SQUEEZE BOX in 1982. And it’s our focus in episode 94. In the game, you’re a prison inmate, desperate to escape as the walls literally squeeze in on you. Don’t worry, though, this isn’t one of those lame prisons... Read More

As Jimmy Buffett sang, “I like mine with lettuce and tomato. And hot dogs. And ice cream. And pickles. Not the purple ones though. Eatin’ my pickle in paradise!” (Parrotheads send your angry emails now.) The 1982 Telesys game FAST FOOD recalls a more innocent era – high calorie snacks. Parachute pants. Urkel. We know the mission in the game is to gobble as much food as you can (We Americans do love our excessive consumption!) and we know WHAT to eat. (Hold the purple pickle!). But do we know WHY we eat? Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of... Read More

This week’s episode of ATARI BYTES, number 92 for those keeping score, is all about Benjamin Franklin. Well, not really. But thanks to this week’s co-host, my kid Henry, there is a long digression from talking about the 1983 Data Age game FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER to talk about the mechanics of the founding father’s famous key-on-a-kite-string experiment. Just a little extra info for you, our faithful listeners, at no extra charge. You’re welcome. Getting back to the game, what lurks in the creepy depths of Dr. Frankenstein’s castle? Any why is it so angry? How... Read More

EPISODE 91: SPACE JOCKEY, 1982, from U.S. Games, looks a lot like a game made by a company that mostly just makes oatmeal. ’cause it is! But we’re playing it anyway.  Why so much space? Who, exactly, is this “jockey” of which the game speaks? Are YOU the jockey? Am I the jockey? There’s not a single horse in this thing, so why do we even need a jockey. I’m so confused.  Thanks this week to Speck for the use of (a portion of) the song “I Don’t Care Anymore”. Thanks also to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs... Read More

Way back in episode 12, we covered the Atari 2600 classic POLE POSITION. Now that you’ve been circling the block in your Formula I racer all this time, we’re finally ready in episode 90 to hit the track (or should I say tracks? There’s FOUR of them this time.) again in the Atari 7800 ProSystem pack-in game POLE POSITION II from Namco, 1983.* *If you need to make a potty stop first, I totally understand. Get me a Snickers while you’re in the gas station.* *This week’s episode sponsored by M&M Mars** **No, it’s not. I can dream though. Here’s the TV... Read More

The usual giddy joy at dropping a new episode of the podcast is dampened a bit this time with the news of the loss of Charles M. Schulz’s home and Craig Schulz’s home in the horrendous wildfires ravaging California. While the property (including much valuable Schulz memorabilia) was lost, thankfully, Jean Schulz was evacuated safely. Our hearts go out to the Schulzes and all of California.  But the show goes on. And it’s a good one. Episode 18 features my conversation with Andrew Farago, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and the author of the new book THE COMPLETE... Read More