Into the Vertical Blank: Generation Atari

In this episode, Steve and Jeff have a frank discussion about what they collect and why they collect Atari.  Also includes a couple segments from Steve's "Fultonbot's Atari Quest" blog series, as well as an impromptu live remote visit to their favorite retro game store. 

In this epiosde of Into The Vertical Blank: Generation Atari, Steve and Jeff celebrate the magazine that started it all. The first publicaion in the USA that was strictly devoted to video and electronic games.  The brothers bring you two stories of thos glories magazine, each featuring a different issue of that impacted their childhood in a remarkable way.  Digital Press Landing pages for Electonic Games Magazine Scanned Issues

What were some of hidden factors that led to the fall of Atari and the  golden age of classic video game consoles?  Did the world at large really understand video games at all?  In this episode we set out to prove, through the lens of some truly awful products and ideas, that the industry might have killed itself. The back pages and new products sections of Electronic Games magazine in 1982 and 1983 were filled with all sorts of products, services and offers that were d...

Steve and Jeff provide two new stories about wanting to work for, with, or somehow adjacent to classic Atari. The pair also answer feedback, to explain recent Irata, and give some responses to their favorite podcasts.  Tony Longworth’s incredibly melodic industrial grunge track “Into the Vertical Blank” again accompanies this episode, along wit...

This week we are inspired by  one of our all-time a favorite podcasts This American Life.  Taking a cue from Ira Glass’s often copied, but never duplicated style, we have collected three new stories on single topic: Going Going, Gone. Our first “Going” story from myself, Steve, called “Surprise Box” is about a seaside arcade that is destined to close forever.  Our next &ldq...