¢VCS FUTURA¢¢by Stuart Murray, NOSAUG.¢¢¢TRIBUTE¢¢ This issue's VCS Futura is dedicated to Jay Miner, who sadly died in June 1994. Jay was one of the head designers of the chips that went into the Atari VCS. He also helped design the ANTIC, POKEY and GTIA chips that created the basis of the Atari 8-bit. Jay left Atari to make a new machine, which evolved into the Amiga.¢¢¢2600 VCS?¢¢ The "2600" comes from Atari's model number for the system, CX2600. "VCS" stands for Video Computer System.¢¢¢THE VCS RAP¢¢ Back in the late 1980s, when the VCS was re-released as the 2600 Jr., Atari produced a commercial which featured a VCS rap. Altogether now...¢¢ "It's the video system with classics galore¢ from Space Invaders to cars that roar¢ A real hip joystick controls the screen¢ Solaris is hot and Midnight Magic is mean¢ And one more thing, it's got a special low price¢ Under fifty bucks¢ Fifty bucks?¢ Yes! Now isn't that nice?¢ The fun is back, oh yes sir-ee¢ It's the twenty-six hundred from Ah-tar-ri"¢¢ Not exactly KRS-One is it? Let's hope that Atari never set up a record label!¢¢¢HORROR CARTS¢¢ Wizard Video released Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre as VCS cartridges in the USA. Violence on your VCS!¢¢¢INSIDE THE VCS¢¢ The 2600 VCS is an 8-bit machine with a 6507 processor. A 6502 compiler can be used to write software for the VCS. Yes, that's right - with Assembler and an EPROM burner you could write new software for the VCS! Now there's an idea!¢¢¢DAVID CRANE¢¢ Remember that strange looking guy who brought us Pitfall and Decathlon? David Crane originally worked for Atari (he programmed three cartridges and was on the design team for the Atari 800) but lack of recognition led to a move to Activision. There he programmed many classic titles. In 1987, David left Activision and joined Absolute Entertainment where he is still writing software today. Here is his role of honour:¢¢For the ATARI 2600:¢¢ATARI¢- Outlaw¢- Slot Machine¢- Canyon Bomber¢¢ACTIVISION¢- Dragster¢- Fishing Derby¢- Laser Blast¢- Freeway¢- Grand Prix¢- Pitfall¢- Decathlon¢- Pitfall II¢- Ghostbusters (concept only)¢¢ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT¢- Skateboardin'¢¢For the C64:¢¢ACTIVISION¢- Ghostbusters¢- Little Computer People¢- Transformers¢¢For the Atari 7800:¢¢ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT¢- Super Skateboardin'¢¢For the NES:¢¢ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT¢- A Boy and his Blob¢¢For the Gameboy:¢¢ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT¢- The Rescue of Princess Blobette¢¢For the SNES:¢¢ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT¢- Amazing Tennis¢¢¢FOUR PLAY WITH YOUR VCS!¢¢ A number of VCS cartridges include 4-player options: Breakout, Super Breakout, Video Olympics, Street Racer, Casino, Warlords, Summer Games and Winter Games.¢¢¢CARTS OF THE MOMENT¢¢ My favourite 2600 cart just now is Beamrider (Activision). For the 7800, it has to be Impossible Mission (Epyx / Atari). You can't beat a true classic!¢¢¢¢Happy VCSing!¢¢Stu.¢
