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ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

By: Randy Kindig Kay Savetz Brad Arnold
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Retrocomputing podcast about the Atari 8-bit line of personal computers Politics & Government
Episodes
  • ANTIC Interview 463 - Steve Bryson, game programmer

    ANTIC Interview 463 - Steve Bryson, game programmer
    Aug 30 2026

    Steve Bryson, game programmer

    Steve Bryson was a programmer for EPYX and The Connelley Group, where he ported many games to various 8-bit systems. He ported Dragonriders of Pern, an action/strategy game based on the Anne McCaffrey novels, to Atari and Commodore 64. He ported Jumpman to the Apple II, and Lower Reaches of Apshai, Upper Reaches of Apshai, and Temple of Ra to the C64.

    This interview took place on August 5, 2026.

    Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/SdK56W9bd6Y

    Steve's personal web site: https://www.stevepur.com

    Randy Glover, Jumpman interview: https://www.savetz.com/antic-interviews/transcripts/i171/i171-transcript.html

    Tom Zimmerman, AMY chip interview: https://www.savetz.com/antic-interviews/transcripts/i431/i431-transcript.html

    Jon Freeman, Freefall Associates interview: https://www.savetz.com/antic-interviews/transcripts/i070/i070-transcript.html

    Dragonriders of Pern at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/a8b_Dragonriders_of_Pern_The_1983_Epyx_US

    Dragonriders of Pern at AtariMania: https://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-dragonriders-of-pern_1723.html
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    50 mins
  • ANTIC Interview 462 - Bob Fraser, APX Insomnia, Supersort, De Re Atari

    ANTIC Interview 462 - Bob Fraser, APX Insomnia, Supersort, De Re Atari
    Aug 15 2026
    Bob Fraser, APX Insomnia, Supersort, De Re Atari Bob Fraser worked at Atari for four years: he worked on the early CX70 light pen, helped write the specs for an unreleased database manager for the Atari 8-bits. and later moved into Atari's Games Design Research Group under Alan Kay, where he experimented with 3-D graphics. He wrote a chapter of De Re Atari — chapter 7, all about sound — and two applications that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Supersort, a data sorting routine; and Insomnia, a sound editor.

    Supersort was APX catalog number 20030, and was for sale starting with the first APX catalog, summer 1981. Insomnia was catalog number 20073 and was available about six months later in the winter 1981 catalog.

    The CX70 light pen: it's rare — according to AtariWiki, it was only offered by Atari for a few months in 1981. After our interview, Bob sent me his: prototype #2. He also sent me a lot of floppy disks (around 70) which I was able to get the data off of. They include many of his 3-D rendering demonstrations, source code for an early version of the Ballsong demo, several early versions of Mike Lorenzen's MEDIT text editor, light pen software, internal development tools, and more. I've put them all online, have fun digging through them.

    This interview took place on June 10, 2026.

    Video version of this interview

    Download Bob's disks, and conversation about them

    Supersort in the summer 1981 APX catalog

    Supersort at Atarimania

    Insomnia in the winter 1981 APX catalog

    Insomnia at Atarimania
    De Re Atari

    CX70 Light Pen at AtariWiki

    CX70 discussion at AtariAge

    Invest like a Billionaire by Bob Fraser

    Dale Yocum interview

    Chris Crawford interview

    Douglas Crockford interview
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    25 mins
  • ANTIC Interview 461 - James W. Burley, APX Data Base/Report System

    ANTIC Interview 461 - James W. Burley, APX Data Base/Report System
    Aug 2 2026

    James W. Burley, APX Data Base/Report System

    James W. Burley is the programmer of Data Base/Report System, which was sold by Atari Program Exchange beginning with the Summer 1982 APX catalog. It was catalog number 20134 with a price of $22.95. APX sold it for about a year, through the Summer 1983 catalog.

    APX awarded Data Base/Report System first prize for new software in the "Business & Professional Applications/Personal Finance & Record Keeping" category: for that, James was awarded an Atari Star plaque and $2000 prize. (He received the plaque, but says he never received the money.) The software may have also been sold by Main Street Publishing.

    Here's what the APX catalog had to say:

    Data Base/Report System by James W. Burley
    Recommended for experienced data base users/Written in BASIC and machine language

    If you've ever used a data base manager on a large computer system, you'll appreciate the many features of DATA BASE/REPORT SYSTEM. This general-purpose system for ATARI 800 Home Computers creates and maintains records having up to ten units of information ("fields"), with a maximum field length of 100 characters and a maximum record length of 255 characters. The total number of records you can store varies with record key size, a key being the unique identifier for each record) and available computer memory. Generally, you can store about 1300 records having a five-character key on a system with 40K of memory.

    You use the main program to create a new file; add, update, and remove records; sort the file; and print reports. Auxiliary programs reorganize the data files to free unused diskette space; redefine the file by adding fields, modifying field sizes, or changing field headings; delete old files; and print special reports.

    ... These and other features make DATA BASE/REPORT SYSTEM a really versatile data base management system for your ATARI 800 Home Computer.

    REVIEW COMMENTS: You need some data base knowledge to use the program; it's a bit complex, but all the features are worthwhile. The print formatting and file reorganization features are very useful. The sort and search routines, written in assembly language, work quickly.

    In 1983, Antic magazine featured the program as one of the "Ten Best from APX". In 2024, Wade at the Inverse ATASCII podcast did a deep dive into Data Base/Report System: check the show notes for the link to that review, which includes dozens of screenshots, sample print output, and information about the database's file format. Wade gave the software a rating of 5 out of 8.

    As of this recording, the Atari community doesn't yet have a scan of the APX manual for Data Base/Report System: if you have a copy, let me know, or scan it and upload it to Internet Archive. The Main Street Publishing version — both disk and manual — are also not preserved.

    This interview took place on May 22, 2026.

    Data Base/Report System at AtariMania

    Data Base/Report System in the APX Summer 1982 APX catalog

    Antic Magazine - February 1983 - Ten Best from APX

    Inverse ATASCII reviews Data Base/Report System
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    25 mins
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