ANTIC Episode 131 - Brad's 30K Brain

ANTIC Episode 131 - Brad's 30K Brain

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… we discuss the newly announced THE ATARI800XL and give our opinions, we talk about Hamster power, and Brad now has only 30K for his brain, plus a whole lot more!

READY!

Recurring Links 

Floppy Days Podcast 

AtariArchives.org 

AtariMagazines.com 

Kay's Book "Terrible Nerd" 

New Atari books scans at archive.org 

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge 

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge 

Interview index: here 

ANTIC Facebook Page 

AHCS 

Eaten By a Grue 

Next Without For 

What we've been up to

• FujiGrid - https://www.savetz.com/fujigrid/ 

• Newsbytes - https://www.savetz.com/newsbytes 

• Updated AtariMagazines.com, AtariArchives.org, FlightSimBooks.com 

• VCF Midwest - https://www.vcfmw.org 

• Jeri Ellsworth - 1027 printer ribbon - https://www.jeriellsworth.com/ 

• Atari BBS - https://www.southernamis.com/ 

• Thom and Fujinet team - https://fujinet.online/ 

• Jason Moore - https://atariprojects.org/ 

• TACO/John Hardie - https://www.facebook.com/groups/29814905254/user/1615493844/ 

• John Zielke (AtariBasics/Atari Insights) - https://ataribasics.com/ 

• SpartaDOS X User Guide - https://retronics.eu/?a=item&id=360&l=en 

• Peter Jennings, Microchess interview on Floppy Days - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-167-interview-with-peter-jennings-microchess-and-visicorp 

• Mean Hamster Power Engine for XL/XE has arrived! - ziggystar - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393445-mean-hamster-power-engine-for-xlxe-has-arrived/ 

• TeensyROM and NFC for C64 - https://github.com/SensoriumEmbedded/TeensyROM 

Recent Interview Shows

• ANTIC Interview 463 - Steve Bryson, game programmer - https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-463-steve-bryson-game-programmer 

• ANTIC Interview 464 - Walt Klappert, Atari Advanced Development Group -  https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-464-walt-klappert-atari-advanced-development-group 

• ANTIC Interview 465 - Vince Wu, The Learning Phone (Atari PLATO Terminal) -  https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-465-vince-wu-the-learning-phone-atari-plato-terminal 

• ANTIC Interview 466 - John Victor, Program Design Inc. -  https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-466-john-victor-program-design-inc 

New & Updated Hardware

• THE ATARI800XL:

  • https://atari.com/pages/800xl 

  • https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/the-atari-800xl-returns-with-a-faithful-but-modern-retro-games-ltd-redesign-classic-8-bit-home-computer-revamp-sports-mechanical-keyboard-and-hdmi-connectivity

• Antonia2 run - Simius - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/382122-antonia2-interest/page/8/#comment-5884400 

• New shine-through XE key caps sets - GROUP BUY PRE-ORDER - screamingattheradio - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393071-new-shine-through-xe-key-caps-sets-group-buy-pre-order/ 

• An Atari 130XE rebuilt as a laptop - Tavis Hord, Sideburn Studios:

  • https://sideburn.com/lab/xebook/ 

  • Full specifications, configuration options and reservations are at xebook.sideburn.com 

New & Updated Games

• King's Quest and other Sierra adventures for Atari 800 Released! - ziggystar:

  • https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393029-kings-quest-for-atari-800-released/ 

  • Download and supported games - meanhamster.com/games/agi-64 

  • AGI-ANTIC game demos on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF0OkYGMhHA 

• Doom for the A8PicoCart - ziggystar (John Swiderski, President, Mean Hamster Software Inc.) - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393244-doom-for-a8pico-cart/  

• Elite For The Atari 8-Bit -- FireBird Version Has Been Completed And Is Released! - reifsnyderb (Brian Reifsnyder) - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393094-elite-for-the-atari-8-bit-firebird-version-has-been-completed-and-is-released/ 

New & Updated Software

• Chleba - https://github.com/viktorcech/chleba 

• Atarijam - https://github.com/marspa73/atarijam 

• BMA8 - A Bare-Metal Atari 8-bit Emulator for Raspberry Pi: 

  • https://www.reddit.com/r/atari8bit/s/osKWnaXj57 

  • github.com/serkantanriverdi/bma8 

Publications

• ABBUC Magazine - https://www.abbuc.de 

• Atari Insights - AtariBasics.com 

• GOTO10 substack: https://www.goto10retro.com/p/apx-forth-a-surprise 

Contests

• 6th ATASCII Compo (2026):

  • https://forums.atariage.com/topic/393223-6th-atascii-compo-2026/ 

  • As always you can check https://logiker.com/ATASCII for details

Upcoming Shows

• 2026:

  • VCF Montreal - November 7-8 - Champlain College Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lambert, QC - https://cvcfed.org/vcf-montreal-2-0/ 

• 2027:

  • Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-21 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ 

  • VCF East - April 2-4 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ 

  • Midwest Gaming Classic - April 23-25 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ 

  • VCF Southwest - June 25-27 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ 

  • VCF SE July 16-18 - Atlanta - https://gameatl.com/ 

  • Event page on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub 

YouTube Videos

• The Story Of: 5 More Unreleased 8-bit Atari Computers - Laird's Lair - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZco04YXcw 

• ATARI's 800XL Is BACK—with a Working Cartridge Slot! - GenXGrownup - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEAWFPvMfyI 

• Sierra Classics On The C64 & Atari - This Week In Retro 288 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5tsmDt7kvY 

• Top 25 Atari 8bit Games not on the C64 - Into the Vertical Blank - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVs14K7qKZ8 

New at Archive.org 

• https://archive.org/details/space-atari - 494 issues of St. Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts newsletter! (thanks @Phlod on discord) 

• https://archive.org/details/198501-computer-shopper-x-1oc/ 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-february-1989/ 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-september-1986/ 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-october-1988/ 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-november-1987 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-march-1987 

• https://archive.org/details/computer-shopper-may-1986/ 

New at Github

• On the 8-Bit:

  • https://github.com/N4t0-tech/Atari-Juego-Kaiju-SUPPA-ROBOTTO 

  • https://github.com/peterkaczorowski/ORCA-Atari-Snippets 

  • https://github.com/grzes71/atari-music-composer

  • https://github-com.translate.goog/grzes71/atari-music-composer?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp 

  • https://github.com/slaapliedje/gem4xe 

  • https://github.com/grzes71/jabberwocky 

• Atari stuff moved to web?:

  • https://github.com/MarcinZukowski/a8ext 

  • https://github.com/jcoffey-dev/lemonade 

  • https://github.com/Quaerendir/Heartlight 

  • https://github.com/Quaerendir/TheJet 

  • https://github.com/Quaerendir/FAC 

  • https://github.com/prcoder-1/ATARI-WorldKarateChampionship-SDL-port 

  • https://github.com/Setech-pl/setech-arcade 

• FloppoScope - https://github.com/0ldStaph/FloppoScope 

Feedback

• https://estore.wacom.com/en-us/wacom-cintiq-24-touch-dth246k0a.html