|
POKEY
POKEY, an acronym for Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, is a digital I/O chip designed by Doug Neubauer at Atari, Inc. for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was first released with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 in 1979 and is included in all later models and the Atari 5200 console. POKEY combines functions for reading paddle controllers (potentiometers) and computer keyboards as well as sound generation and a source for pseduo-random numbers. It produces four voices of distinctive square wave audio, either as clear tones or modified with distortion settings. Neubauer also developed the Atari 8-bit killer application ''Star Raiders'' which makes use of POKEY features. POKEY chips are used for audio in many arcade video games of the 1980s including ''Centipede'', ''Missile Command'', ''Asteroids Deluxe'', and '' Gauntlet''. Some of Atari's arcade systems use multi-core versions with 2 or 4 POKEYs in a single package for more audio channels. The Atari 7800 console allows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
POKEY Chip On An Atari 130XE Motherboard
POKEY, an acronym for Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, is a digital I/O chip designed by Doug Neubauer at Atari, Inc. for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was first released with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 in 1979 and is included in all later models and the Atari 5200 console. POKEY combines functions for reading paddle controllers (potentiometers) and computer keyboards as well as sound generation and a source for pseduo-random numbers. It produces four voices of distinctive square wave audio, either as clear tones or modified with distortion settings. Neubauer also developed the Atari 8-bit killer application ''Star Raiders'' which makes use of POKEY features. POKEY chips are used for audio in many arcade video games of the 1980s including ''Centipede'', ''Missile Command'', ''Asteroids Deluxe'', and '' Gauntlet''. Some of Atari's arcade systems use multi-core versions with 2 or 4 POKEYs in a single package for more audio channels. The Atari 7800 console allows a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 8-bit Family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 central processing unit, CPU at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator ''Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB. While using the same internal technology, the Atari 800 was sold as a high-end model, while the 400 was more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one of the first consoles with backward compatibility. It shipped with a different model of joystick from the 2600-standard CX40 and '' Pole Position II'' as the pack-in game. Most of the announced titles at launch were ports of 1981–83 arcade video games. Designed by General Computer Corporation, the 7800 has significantly improved graphics hardware over Atari's previous consoles, but the same Television Interface Adaptor chip that launched with the 2600 in 1977 is used to generate audio. In an effort to prevent the flood of poor quality games that contributed to the video game crash of 1983, cartridges had to be digitally signed by Atari. The Atari 7800 was first announced by Atari, Inc. on May 21, 1984, but a general release was shelved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Neubauer
Doug Neubauer is an American integrated circuit designer, video game designer, and programmer best known for the logic design on Atari's POKEY chip and designing and programming the 1979 video game ''Star Raiders'' which became the killer app for the Atari 8-bit family. The POKEY chip is one of three custom coprocessors created for the Atari 8-bit computers. POKEY handles potentiometer (paddle) controllers and the keyboard—the name is a combination of "POtentiometer" and "KEYboard"—as well as generating four channels of 8-bit audio. It also serves as the audio chip in many arcade games, such as ''Missile Command'' and ''Centipede''. Games Wanting to create an action-oriented game inspired by ''Star Wars'' and ''Star Trek'', Neubauer designed ''Star Raiders'' in eight to ten months while working for Atari, Inc. He reported that it took him six months to reach the highest player level during development. In the early 1980s Neubauer moved from Atari computer line to the Atar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game ''Super Breakout'' which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively. The CPU and the graphics and sound hardware are almost identical to that of the Atari 8-bit computers, although software is not directly compatible between the two systems. The 5200's controllers have an analog joystick and a numeric keypad along with start, pause, and reset buttons. The 360-degree non-centering joystick was touted as offering more control than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Raiders
''Star Raiders'' is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released as a cartridge by Atari in March 1980. The game is considered the platform's killer app. It was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST. The game simulates 3D space combat between the player's ship and an invading fleet of alien "Zylon" vessels. ''Star Raiders'' was distinctive for its graphics, which, in addition to various map and long range scan views, provided forward and aft first-person views, with movement conveyed by a streaming 3D starfield as the player engaged enemy spacecraft. While there had already been target-shooting games using the first-person perspective (including 1978's '' Cosmic Conflict''), ''Star Raiders'' had considerably higher quality visuals and more complex gameplay. It inspired imitators throughout the 1980s as well as later-generation space combat simulation games incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari SAP Music Format
SAP is a file format that stores music data from Atari 8-bit computers that uses the POKEY sound chip. Most popular tunes were written between 1981-1987. The format is similar to the SID, SPC or NSF formats, in that it is a music data format which is supported by a player, which emulates the central processing unit and sound hardware of the original hardware in order to play music. SAP files can be played by a SAP player or plugin, currently available for a wide variety of platforms. For instance, on the Macintosh platform, VLC version 2 and above, both on PowerPC and Intel architectures, can play SAP files. In addition, tools exist to convert SAP files to other formats.{{cite web, title=Atari SAP Music Archive, url=http://asma.atari.org/, publisher=Atari SAP Music Archive, access-date=30 March 2020 References External linksSAP Format Specification [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari System
{{citations, date=January 2015 Atari System refers to two arcade system boards introduced in 1984 for use in various arcade games from Atari Games. Two versions of the board were released, Atari System 1 and Atari System 2. Atari System 1 The ''Atari System 1'' was Atari Games' first upgradeable arcade game hardware platform. Introduced in 1984, the System 1 platform was used for the following games: *'' Marble Madness (1984)'' *'' Peter Pack Rat (1985)'' *'' Road Runner (1985)'' *'' Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985)'' * ''Relief Pitcher'' (1986) (unreleased prototype) (Note: In 1992 Atari Games released a different game titled ''Relief Pitcher'' which used completely different hardware) *'' RoadBlasters (1987)'' The hardware used a large circuit board with a Motorola 68010 main CPU running at 7.159 MHz, a MOS Technology 6502 sound CPU running at 1.789 MHz, a system ROM, text and graphics display hardware, and control interfaces. Two large edge-card connectors a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballblazer
''Ballblazer'' is a futuristic sports game created by Lucasfilm Games and published in 1985 by Epyx. Along with ''Rescue on Fractalus!'', it was one of the initial pair of releases from Lucasfilm Games, ''Ballblazer'' was developed and first published for the Atari 8-bit family. The principal creator and programmer was David Levine. The game was called ''Ballblaster'' during development; some pirated versions bear this name. It was ported to the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and MSX. Atari 5200 and Atari 7800 ports were published by Atari Corporation. A version for the Famicom was released by Pony Canyon. Gameplay ''Ballblazer'' is a simple one-on-one sports-style game bearing similarities to basketball and soccer. Each side is represented by a craft called a "rotofoil", which can be controlled by either a human player or a computer-controlled "droid" with ten levels of difficulty. The game allows for human vs. human, human vs. droid, and droid vs. droid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asteroids Deluxe
''Asteroids Deluxe'' is a vector graphic multidirectional shooter released in arcades in April 1981 by Atari Inc. as the sequel to ''Asteroids''. It was followed by ''Space Duel'' in 1982 and ''Blasteroids'' in 1987. Key changes in ''Asteroids Deluxe'' were designed to combat the saucer-hunting strategy of ''Asteroids'', which allowed experts to play for extended periods. These modifications also made it significantly more difficult than the original. Ports of ''Asteroids Deluxe'' were released for the BBC Micro in 1984 and the Atari ST in 1987. Gameplay Like in the original ''Asteroids'', the objective is to score points by destroying asteroids and flying saucers. The player controls a ship that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. When shot, larger asteroids break apart into smaller pieces and fly in random directions, while the smallest asteroids are destroyed when hit. ''Deluxe'' replaces the hyperspace feature with shields which deplet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-pass Filter
A high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency. The amount of attenuation for each frequency depends on the filter design. A high-pass filter is usually modeled as a linear time-invariant system. It is sometimes called a low-cut filter or bass-cut filter in the context of audio engineering. High-pass filters have many uses, such as blocking DC from circuitry sensitive to non-zero average voltages or radio frequency devices. They can also be used in conjunction with a low-pass filter to produce a bandpass filter. In the optical domain filters are often characterised by wavelength rather than frequency. High-pass and low-pass have the opposite meanings, with a "high-pass" filter (more commonly "long-pass") passing only ''longer'' wavelengths (lower frequencies), and vice versa for "low-pass" (more commonly "short-pass"). Descripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potentiometer
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. The measuring instrument called a potentiometer is essentially a voltage divider used for measuring electric potential (voltage); the component is an implementation of the same principle, hence its name. Potentiometers are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on audio equipment. Potentiometers operated by a mechanism can be used as position transducers, for example, in a joystick. Potentiometers are rarely used to directly control significant power (more than a watt), since the power dissipated in the potentiometer would be comparable to the power in the controlled load. Nomenclature There are a number of terms in the electronics industry used to describe certain types of potentiometers: * slide pot or slider pot: a potentiomete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
