Antic (magazine)

''Antic'' () was a print magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and later the Atari ST. It was named after the ANTIC chip in the 8-bit line which, in concert with CTIA or GTIA, generates the display. The magazine was published from April 1982 until June/July 1990. ''Antic'' printed type-in programs (usually in BASIC), reviews, and tutorials, among other articles. Each issue contained one type-in game as "Game of the Month." In 1986, ''STart'' magazine was spun off to exclusively cover the Atari ST line.

Its main rival in the United States was ''ANALOG Computing'', another long-lived magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit line. Multi-system magazines ''COMPUTE!'' and ''Family Computing'' also served Atari 8-bit owners with type-in programs.

Starting in 1984, the catalog for Antic Software was bound into issues of ''Antic''.

History

NASA programmer Jim Capparell was an early Atari 8-bit owner. He quit his job on 15 January 1982 to found a magazine for the computer. Companies such as On-Line Systems, Broderbund, and Synapse Software agreed to purchase advertising in the new publication, and Capparell's staff distributed the first issue of 30 pages at the March 1982 West Coast Computer Faire. The first issue of ''Antic'' was published in April 1982. While it began as a bimonthly magazine, within a year it had gone monthly.

By Christmas 1983 the magazine was 148 pages, but in 1984 Antic saw advertising sales drop by 50% in 90 days. The Antic Software catalog, bound into each issue, contained public domain software, re-released products from the Atari Program Exchange after it folded, and original titles. It helped the company avoid bankruptcy, and in 1985 it started ''II Computing'' for the Apple II series.

Antic started selling games and application software under the name Antic Software after the Atari Program Exchange was closed by Atari, Inc. The Antic Software catalog was bound into issues of the magazine and included former APX titles.

In 1985 ''Antic'' began ''ST Resource'', a section of the magazine devoted to the Atari ST line. In 1986 it began ''STart '' magazine for the computer. The daughter magazine would outlive its parent by about a year. When ''Antic'' ended, it continued as a section of ''STart'', appearing in six more issues. A magazine for the Amiga, the primary competitor of the Atari ST, was published from 1989 until 1991 under the name ''Antic's Amiga Plus''.

The last issue of ''Antic'' was June–July 1990. All told, 88 issues and a "Best of" book were published.

TYPO

A utility called ''TYPO'' ("Type Your Program Once," a play on typographical error) was used to verify that programs were typed in correctly that generated set of check-sums for different portions of the lines of code, but it didn't help users find exactly which line had the error. ''TYPO'' was later succeeded by ''TYPO II'', a smaller, faster program that generates a checksum two letter code for each Atari BASIC line entered in a program. By comparing each line's checksum with that printed in the magazine, the reader could be sure they typed the BASIC source correctly before entering the next line of code.

Versions of ''TYPO'' were also published and used (with permission) by ''Page 6'' magazine. ANALOG magazine also used a two-letter checksum code for their type-in programs they offered and was interoperable with Antic's TYPO II.

References

External links

''Antic''
at the Classic Computer Magazine Archive
*
The ''Antic'' Magazine Library
at the Centre for Computing History

{{Authority control

Defunct computer magazines published in the United States
Atari 8-bit computer magazines
Magazines established in 1982
Magazines disestablished in 1990
1982 establishments in the United States
1990 disestablishments in the United States