That's hilarious. God bless the old Atari who wanted to sue the world. The irony now of course is that Atari no longer own Battlezone's IP. Rebellion managed to grab it when Atari went bankrupt in 2013.
I think that's an Irish thing (they tended to run these travelling fairs). Lots of superstitions around anything "green", being displayed in a negative light. Like a giant alien bug head maybe.
I recall similar superstitions in the world of car racing. A green NASCAR car is a big no-no.
I love how the makers of these cabinets filled in the creative blanks that the graphics on screen couldn't possibly do. This is an extreme example of that concept, but Atari were masters at it.
Sadly, it's the other way around now. Videogames are delivered with minimal packaging, or digital download only.
Not to state the bleedin' obvious, but I will - the point of the UX is that the site adapts to the device being used. And it adapts well. The large image on the left in desktop mode is certainly different, but I like the execution personally.
Incorrect sir. The whole point of wanting to save this machine, and emulate the code is so that it will 100% be made public. As the article states, this will happen when the time is right.
Restoration just requires logic for the most part. before switching on a game that's sat somewhere for 30 years, start with power. Is the machine getting 240v (or 120 depending where you are). Then check the transformer/power brick - is it doing its job converting 240v AC to DC voltages. Measure those. Is the monitor getting power and working. Then you can plug in your PCB (assuming it's not corroded to hell). Then go from there. There's so much info out on the web these days, someone has usually documented most problems you're likely to come across.
Many of the cabinets are now in use, either in classic arcades here in the UK or in the hands of collectors. Most have been restored and are now fully functional.
Well to be fair, all there is to go on at this point is that document. The blog is pitched at a wide audience and is meant to be a "light" entertaining read, rather than something in depth and technical. But agreed, it would be interesting to know the exact process of "extracting" the coded message. The point of the article is that it was there (or to your point, it was claimed in court that it was there!), rather than how it got there. Bottom line - it did the trick.
Completely agree. What makes these old arcade machines (Western games included) are the uniqueness of the controls. Trackballs, Spinners, 360 joysticks, thrusters, yokes all added to the immersion. These are the things that connected players to arcade cabinets and the games. Today's androgynous joypads just don't do that.