Page 13 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #2

Last August, many new and impressive products made their debut at the Classic Gaming
Expo ‘99 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Stella At 20 Volume 2 Once Upon Atari Vols 1 & 2

“Stella at 20” is a video docu- Yars’ Revenge creator, Howard
mentary that tells the tale of the Scott Warshaw (interviewed on
Atari 2600 - “The Little Engine That page 35), has created an informa-
Could,” told by the programmers tive and often hilarious account of
who created the games. his days working at Atari.
Cyberpunks Entertainment has Featuring numerous interviews
excelled in producing this docu- Stella Gets a New Brain with such characters as Todd Frye
mentary. The video’s packaging, (2600 Pac-Man), Rob Fulop (2600
which looks exactly like an Atari Missile Command), and even
2600 game box, combined with The Cyberpunks have re- Nolan himself, Warshaw has pro-
crisp editing creates a slick presen- released “Stella Gets a New duced the perfect video time cap-
tation. Brain” (at last!) and it has definitely sule about life at Atari.
Volume 2 of the series takes a been worth the wait. Volume 1, titled “House of Video
more “nuts and bolts” approach to Remember the Arcadia/Starpath Games,” captures the spirit of what
how the games were created, and Supercharger? It was a device that it was like to work on a day to day
as a result, can get a bit technical. attached to an Atari 2600, enabling basis at Atari. You’ll learn about
The programmers often talk com- one to play graphically enhanced floating frogs, wall walking, and
puterese with each other instead of games via audio tape. Over time, when ceiling sprinklers attack!
explaining to the viewer in layman’s the games’ tapes wore out and re- Volume 2, titled “The Enemy
terms how the games were pro- placing them became difficult due Within,” tells war stories of the pro-
duced. to their rarity. The Cyberpunks grammers vs. management and
While it’s fun to place faces with have digitally recorded the games the pitfalls of destitute program-
the programmers’ names, I would onto CD’s, so they can once again mers suddenly hitting the lottery.
hope future volumes include a be enjoyed with your Super- Warshaw shows off his docu-
more lighthearted look at what charger. mentary making skills by keeping
went into making the games so Games include Phaser Patrol the interviews interesting, fun, and
much fun to play. and Dragonstomper, as well as at a roller coaster pace. For more
harder to find games such as Party information, visit www.scottw.com.
Go to http://cyberpunks.atari.org/ Mix, Sword of Saros, and Survival
for details. Island.
But wait! There’s more! The CD
doubles as a CD-Rom for your
computer, which gives you access
to many extras. Stella scans,
Stella project notes, Atari promo
sheets, 2600 development tools,
Atari type fonts, homebrew games,
and even a song titled “Atari 2600”
can be found. Go to http://
cyberpunks.atari.org/ for det ails.
Nolan speaks out in Once Upon Atari
Classic Gamer Magazine Winter 2000 13