The Ahl Collection: April 2019

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Atari's Lynx Handheld, Full-Color Arcade Action In Stores By Thanksgiving

From The Ahl Collection

Here are about twenty pages of Atari Lynx market material and photographs from November, 1989.

Atari at Times Square -- Sam Tramiel (L), president of Atari Corporation, and Leonard Tramiel, vice president of software development, watch the first Atari ads for the Lynx system as they flash on the Times Square sign outside the hotel, where the system was officially launched. The SpectraColor sign was part of an intensive launch campaign to develop instant consumer awareness of the system and product name recognition.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Nintendo Power Reaches Million Subscribers Mark

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is a January 7th, 1989 Nintendo News Release announcing that Nintendo Power Reaches Million Subscribers Mark.

Friday, April 26, 2019

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is a two-page, color brochure from 1983 about the Commodore BX256-80 computer.

Commodore B128/256-80 Brochure

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is a two-page, color brochure from 1983 about the Commodore B128/256-80 computer.

From The Ahl Collection

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Some time in the the spring of 1990, David Ahl was fired as publisher of the Atari Explorer magazine. According to Dave,

"Atari was also irritated with me because I insisted on running objective, honest reviews and refused to edit out things that were critical of Atari. The publishing contract was given to our senior editor, John Jainschigg, who happily published whatever Atari wanted. John, with the remainder of our staff and Atari PR people, managed to produce 5 issues of Atari Explorer in 1991 and 1992 before Atari threw in the towel entirely."

This Death of Atari Explorer memo, undated, but likely written in the spring of 1990, from David Ahl to Jim Fisher outlines the winding down of Atari Explorer from Ahl's point of view.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Bally News Releases and Information

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is almost 30 pages of Bally info. It includes the Bally Astrocade, computer system, software, games, and even pinball.

From The Ahl Collection

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Here are 20+ pages of Activision News Releases announcing various games, including their first games.

There is also a nice 8 x 10 black and white photo of the Activision team.

The label on the back of the photo states:

ACTIVISION'S FOUNDING GROUP - PRESIDENT JIM LEVY (foreground) and SENIOR DESIGNERS (left to right) BOB WHITEHEAD, DAVID CRANE, LARRY KAPLAN AND ALAN MILLER.

Crappy Comic Art And Puzzle Pages Weasel Memo

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is the Crappy Comic Art And Puzzle Pages Weasel memo from John Jainschigg to Sam Tramiel dated July 25th, 1990.

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is an August 5th, 1989 memo from David Ahl to Jack Tramiel and Sam Tramiel outlining an 18 step plan to Save Atari.

"Drop the ... 8-bit lines." WHAT?

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Original Atari Explorer Spring 1990 Editorial

From The Ahl Collection

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Were you an avid reader of the Atari Explorer magazine? Did you read the editorial by John B. Jainschigg on page 6 of the Spring 1990 issue?

Well, as it turns out, the original editorial What Ever Happened to the March/April Issue? by Betsy Staples was censored and quashed by Atari.

If I come across a better source document, I will rescan it.

Atari Explorer Ransom Letter

From The Ahl Collection

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Humorous Atari Explorer ransom letter from spring 1990. Created by Atari Explorer/Atarian publisher David H. Ahl due to slow payment of the printing costs by Atari for the final issue of Atarian magazine

One April 24th, 2019, I asked David Ahl about this:

Hi Dave, Among your papers, I found an Atari Explorer ransom letter. Any insight on who created it? Mack Printing or someone at you company as a joke? I read in some of the legal documents that Atari wasn't paying the printer for the last issue of Atarian, and that the printer was holding Atari Explorer as ransom until they got paid. Regards, Bill

His reply

Bill: Okay, I confess. I made up that ransom letter. Obviously, we did not send it to Atari since you have the original. What you read is absolutely correct. Nintendo and Sega were devastating Atari's video game business and they didn't want to pay for the 3rd issue of Atarian so we (Betsy and me) along with Mack Printing forced the issue. In return for this, my company, SBI, lost the Atari magazine contract. Atari was also irritated with me because I insisted on running objective, honest reviews and refused to edit out things that were critical of Atari. The publishing contract was given to our senior editor, John Jainschigg, who happily published whatever Atari wanted. John, with the remainder of our staff and Atari PR people, managed to produce 5 issues of Atari Explorer in 1991 and 1992 before Atari threw in the towel entirely. Dave

There is more detail in this Tramiel cross examination.

Atari Vs. Nintendo March 10, 1992 Tramiel Cross

From The Ahl Collection

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March 10, 1992 Tramiel cross examination during Atari Corporation vs. Nintendo of America lawsuit.

Testimony touches on the demise of Atarian magazine, and the bad blood between Atari and Atarian magazine publisher David Ahl.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Atari Games Corporation And Tengen Inc V. Nintendo

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is the February 14th, 1989 lawsuit between Atari Games Corporation And Tengen, Inc., versus Nintendo of America.

CP/M Module Leads Trio Of Advanced Expansion Devices For Atari Home Computers

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is a June 5th, 1983 Atari Press Release announcing CP/M Module Leads Trio Of Advanced Expansion Devices For Atari Home Computers.

The "Trio of Advanced Devices" mentioned in the press release include:

The Atari 1060 CP/M Module
The Atari 1090 XL Expansion Box
The Atari 1064 Memory Module for the Atari 600XL

While the 1064 would find its way to retail shelves, both the 1060 and the 1090 would ultimately be cancelled.

Here are some photos of the Atari 1090 XL Expansion System, on loan from Curt Vendel and the Atari History Museum, that I had on display in my Atari XE Exhibit at Vintage Computer Federation's Vintage Computer Festival East 2019 at the InfoAge Science And History Center in Wall, NJ.

Cosmos Programmable Game System - The Inside Story

From The Ahl Collection

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Here is some sales information on the Atari Cosmos Programmable Game System, including The Inside Story.

A label on the back of the black and white photo states that

COSMOS^TM - THE THIRD DIMENSION^TM IS A REVOLUTIONARY NEW GAME SYSTEM THAT COMBINES BREATHTAKING 3 DIMENSIONAL HOLOPTIC^TM IMAGES, SOPHISTICATED LED GAME PLAY AND THE MOST INNOVATIVE SOUND EFFECTS AVAILABLE IN AN ELECTRONIC GAME.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Atari Personal Computer Systems

From The Ahl Collection

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This is a binder titled Atari Personal Computer Systems providing information on all of the hardware and software for the Atari 400/800 at launch. The included Atari Software Catalog is dated 1981.

The package contains information on the Atari CX70 Light Pen unicorn.

It also has information on Atari 815 Dual Disk Drive, two double density disk drives in one huge package. I've written about this product in a post about the Atari Accountant software package.

Atari Adds Missile Command To Its Video Computer System Game Library

From The Ahl Collection

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This is a (circa March) 1981 Atari Product Release announcing that Atari Adds Missile Command To Its Video Computer System Game Library.

No date on document.

Atari Asteroids Background Information - The Asteroids Phenomenon

From The Ahl Collection

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Atari press release regarding Atari Asteroids Background Information - The Asteroids Phenomenon.

No date, but references the "current" record holder from January 31, 1981.

Atari Video Computer System Retailer Confidential Price List 1981

From The Ahl Collection

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Atari Video Computer System Retailer Confidential Price List - Effective January 1, 1981 to June 1, 1981

Introducing The Atari 400 Personal Computer System

From The Ahl Collection

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An Atari brochure, Introducing The Atari 400 Personal Computer System, describing details of the Atari 400 personal computer system.

No date stamp, but likely 1979-ish.

The Atari 400 games library to include:

Business Simulations
Fur Trader
Stock Market Simulation
Space Adventure (possibly Star Raiders)
Superman
Superbug Driving Game
Game of Life (possibly Video Easel)
Firetruck
Four Player Tank

New Features, Tougher Play In New Asteroids Deluxe Game From Atari

From The Ahl Collection

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A March 23rd, 1981 Atari Product Release announcing New Features, Tougher Play In New Asteroids Deluxe Game From Atari.

This is for the Asteroids Deluxe arcade cabinet from Atari's Coin Operated Games Division.

Introducing The Atari 2600 Computer

From The Ahl Collection

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An early 1983 Atari press release, Introducing The Atari 2600 Computer - A Powerful Computer For The Atari 2600 VCS Console, announcing the pending mid-1983 release of the soon to be named Graduate Keyboard/Computer add-on for the Atari VCS/2600.