Spectrum Computing

From the team that produced the C64 Mini, C64 Maxi and the Amiga Mini:

Does look cute

Headline by the Register that made me laugh -

"The Atari400; the only PC with a keyboard so dreadful it challenged the ZX80, now even less usable"

Turtle_Quality wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:45 pm Headline by the Register that made me laugh -

"The Atari400; the only PC with a keyboard so dreadful it challenged the ZX80, now even less usable"

Based on the previous efforts, Retro Games Ltd will release the Mini first and then later the full-sized version with a working keyboard (if there is enough demand).

I pre-ordered, never owned an Atari 8-bit computer back in the day so great opportunity to check out some classic games.

I did try the Atari 400 keyboard at a computer fair before the Spectrum was released, and the Register's comment seems to be pretty fair. So I wonder if Retro Games would try to replicate that keyboard experience should they ever release a full size version.

With most machines around at the time, they were associated with some game that really showed what it could do - ZX81 ; 3d Monster maze, BBC Micro ; Elite, VIC20 ; Gridrunner, Spectrum ; Manic Miner... I don't remember any of that with the Atari 400, either from friends at school or from the computer press. Checking now online, it may be Mule and Star Raiders are the games to try. Star Raiders apparently is the reason the A400 was a computer not a console (the game needed keyboard input)

Another (slightly more positive) article about the Atari 400 mini

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01 ... -platform/

Turtle_Quality wrote: ↑Thu Jan 18, 2024 1:41 pmChecking now online, it may be Mule and Star Raiders are the games to try.

These games are a real heavy hitters, alongside Seven Cities Of Gold and Miner 2049 er, plus a bunch of decent arcade ports. I think Atari 400/800 had the strongest lineup of all the micros (well, maybe bar Apple II) up till 1983, maybe even a little bit into 1984.

I have an 800XL and it's a nice machine - very similar to a C64, in a lot of ways. I use a Raspberry Pi 1 as disk drive for it.

It was a shame that the Atari 8-bit software started tailing off a lot earlier than the C64 or Spectrum, as it was well capable of having decent conversions of the later games.

It also had some really stinky conversions, for no good reason. Jet Set Willy, springs to mind.

Here's a review of the finished product. Seems it is compatible with the Atari 5200, 800XL and a few more Atari models (not the 2600/VCS though)

https://www.timeextension.com/reviews/a ... elcome-one

Is this from the same company that was at the centre of the Vega debacle?

arjun wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:21 am Is this from the same company that was at the centre of the Vega debacle?

No. It's from the company that was formed by some of the people involved in the original Vega project, but it was a separate company they set up to produce other retro console revivals. The act of them setting that company up, according to both the warring parties at the time, seems to have been the issue that caused everything to break down with the Vega+.

This company does have a decent history of bringing their various products to market. It sometimes seems like it may be better to wait for the second iteration of each of their products.

[Edit: They've teamed up with the organisation that wears the skin of Atari to get the licence and bring this one to market.]

Nope, it's Atari S.A. www.atari.com

I don't get the mini computers with non-working keyboards - this one is pretty ugly, too.
C64 breadbin was just about fair enough, although with working small keys it would have been much better.

Might as well use one of the hacked mini consoles - the Playstation Classic was great value when it was available under £30.

Incidentally the C64 mini is currently under £40 on Amazon.

I'm with you there @Pobulous. I can understand the appeal of the C64 Maxi, and Amiga Maxi (If it appears), but not the mini ones.

As a slight aside, from a BASIC programming perspective I've never had a huge amount of love for the Atari 8bit range. To get anymore than 5 colours on screen at one time you seem to really need to drop the resolution hugely. Unless I'm reading the table below incorrectly.

4 colours is usual for most games, but you can change the colours every line without tying up the CPU.
On top of that, you have sprites, which can add extra colours.
You also have over 100 colours to choose from, so the 4-colour mode is more flexible than on the Amstrad.
It can look and sound fantastic in the right hands.

I think it suffered a lot from the best talent jumping to the C64 in the mid-80s - so the game library feels a bit more dated than the C64 and Spectrum.

Also check out Bosconian from 2020 for how good the low-res mode can look:

Thanks @Pobulous,

So the PMGs (I think that's the phrase Atari use) are colour independent of the normal mode restrictions?

There's 4 player "sprites" and 4 missile "sprites"
The 4 missile sprites can combine to be a 5th player.

Each player is one colour, or 3 colours if 2 players are combined, and these are different colours to the rest of the graphics.
Multiplexing is possible.

Pobulous wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 3:44 pm I have an 800XL and it's a nice machine - very similar to a C64, in a lot of ways. I use a Raspberry Pi 1 as disk drive for it.

It was a shame that the Atari 8-bit software started tailing off a lot earlier than the C64 or Spectrum, as it was well capable of having decent conversions of the later games.

It also had some really stinky conversions, for no good reason. Jet Set Willy, springs to mind.

One of my old schoolfriends had an 800XL in the mid-80s. It was certainly quite impressive, but he really struggled to get hold of software for it.