Jack Tramiel failed to save Atari.

On Oct 31, 8:50 am, la... DeleteThis @portcommodore.com wrote:
> On Oct 31, 3:24 am, "Mr. Maddog" <MrMaddog... DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

> The 64 blew the atari out of the water with the sound and graphics,
> sure the Atari had four voices, which were OK and the graphics had
> more colors but you could not use to many of them in one place all at
> once

Depends on what game. I've seen plenty to make the argue for either.
For example, the Atari version of Rescue on Fractalus is superior in
everything (sound, graphics, gameplay). Even though the C-64 came out
3 years after the Atari 800, its specs matched up pretty good (and by
1983 the 800XL came with 64K memory stock):

Atari 800
http://www.vintage-computer.com/atari_800.shtml

C-64
http://www.vintage-computer.com/commodore64.shtml

The one area that the C-64 *should* win flat out is sound, but (as
with the graphics), the quality of the games usually came down to the
programmer, and today's 8-bit programmers continue to push the
hardware beyond what most felt were "impossible" (much like some of
today's VCS/2600 programmers).



>
> As an example here's Donkey Kong for the 64http://www.c64gg.com/Images/D/Donkey_Kong_Nin.ss.gif
>
> And Donkey Kong for the Atari:http://www.backntime.net/Atari%20Computers/8bit/Emulators/800Win_DK.jpg
>


Bad links. Try these:

Atari
http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/atari8bit/donkeykong.gif

C-64 (Atarisoft)
http://www.gamebase64.com/game.php?id=2260&d=18&h=0

C-64 (Ocean)
http://www.gamebase64.com/game.php?id=2261&d=18&h=0

Arcade
http://www.klov.com/images/11/1181242103213.png

Granted, none of the ports are arcade-perfect. The graphics in
Ocean's version are the most accurate, but in this case, the sound f/x
in the Atari 800 version are by far the best (both C-64 versions have
horrible sound f/x). Plus the C-64 Atarisoft version is agonizingly
slow to play (for some reason my ViceC64 emulator refuses to recognize
the controller with Ocean's version, so I can't tell how it plays).

The Atari version actually plays too fast (again, this might be an
emulator issue), and yeah, the damn ape is on the wrong side of the
screen on the first level Plus it's missing all the little extras
(like the opening sequence, or the ending sequence on the rivet
screen). But if you're trying to make a case that the C-64 is
superior, Donkey Kong isn't the game to use
 >> Stay informed about: Jack Tramiel failed to save Atari. 

On Nov 1, 7:24 pm, jt august <starsa....RemoveThis@net.att> wrote:

> ALSO, there is an program floating around out there that was a digitized
> audio clip of Van Halen's Girl You Really Got Me Now. It had to disable
> the video to ensure the sound played fluidly, but it did sound very
> good. I never saw that sound trick executed on the C=64. I don't think
> you could manipulate the SID fast enough to pull it off.
>
> jt

There's a clip of it on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRQ9Csb_Er0

There's also a few threads over in comp.sys.atari.8bit (just do a
search for "van halen"). I remember getting a copy of this back in
the day from a software catalog ("Marrs" or something like that),
which is long gone, and I don't have a copy on my PC (if anyone has
it, can they send me a copy?). It might have also been available from
Antic's catalog at some point. I know were were at least a dozen or 2
digitized song samples at the same time the Van Halen clip appeared.
 >> Stay informed about: Jack Tramiel failed to save Atari. 

In article <1194754354.181306.32200 RemoveThis @o80g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
"super_stonic@yahoo.com" <super_stonic RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Nov 1, 7:24 pm, jt august <starsa... RemoveThis @net.att> wrote:
>
> > ALSO, there is an program floating around out there that was a digitized
> > audio clip of Van Halen's Girl You Really Got Me Now. It had to disable
> > the video to ensure the sound played fluidly, but it did sound very
> > good. I never saw that sound trick executed on the C=64. I don't think
> > you could manipulate the SID fast enough to pull it off.
> >
> > jt
>
> There's a clip of it on Youtube:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRQ9Csb_Er0

Thanks for the URL. Best way to prove the point was the actual
demonstration. Now, could the C=64 do that? Of course, compared to
today's Macs and Windoze, this is pathetic. But keep in mind that it
was on an 8-bit 6502 at 1.8 Mhz. And DA/AD technology was in its
infancy.

jt
 >> Stay informed about: Jack Tramiel failed to save Atari.