World Of Atari 98

George Crissman reports...

Wizztronics was selling a no-solder, plug-in Falcon card allowing the use 
of TWO IDE-style drives. Since IDE is much cheaper than SCSI, this can 
make a lot of storage available at a low price. Cost of the card (show 
special) is US$39.95. I have one and will be trying it out.

Homa Systems House was offering quotations for the Milan Computer, with 
payment and delivery to occur after the hardware had been reviewed by 
Homa. A lost-in-transit Milan was supposedly followed up by an 
air-freighted Milan, but neither machine arrived in time for display. 
Bummer! Concerns about "FCC type acceptance" (need for USA sales) were 
minimized, since the Milan will be packaged in an RF-compliant box.

Running Design Team was sharing a booth with Centek, showing the Centek 
Falcon accelerator and demonstrating the game "Running" for the Falcon.

Wizztronics was also demonstrating a working Lynx-to-television adapter, 
allowing one to view the game on a much bigger screen than the one 
built-in. Production is expected to commence soon.

The improved GEM/TOS system contemplated by Wizztronics is part of a 
larger goal to infiltrate the high-end video market, currently the realm 
of US$12,000 machines by Silicon Graphics. "A $4,000 Falcon with it's 
superior user interface would do a much better job than the SGI machines," 
noted Steve Cohen of Wizztronics.

Battlesphere for the Jaguar is COMPLETE. It will be ready for shipment as 
soon as negotiations with Hasbro (owner of the Jaguar encryption rights, 
needed for mass marketing) are completed. Availability is expected to be 
via mail order.

The Battlesphere tournament used four Jaguars networked together. One of 
the winners -- a former Atari employee responsible for Frogger -- won a 
copy of Frogger (updated)!

The charitable organization "Salvation Army", present in the dealer area, 
reported generous donations exceeding US$1200.00 from showgoers.

Feedback on Atari Computing magazine was VERY positive. Excellent work on 
the Papyrus articles, they have been well-received. Some concern was 
expressed about The Upgrade Shop (still around? still doing upgrades? 
etc.). A common comment: "with all the electronic methods of information 
distribution, there's still something important about a paper magazine in 
your hand." Issue #10 was on sale and selling very well.

Although the show was heavily biased towards classic gaming (2600, 5200, 
7800), Atari computer buffs were well-served by Running Design Team (from 
Germany), Best Electronics, Systems For Tomorrow, Emulators Inc (Darek 
Mihocka), B&C ComputerVisions, STeve's, and Wizztronics.

Classic gaming enthusiasts were also well-served with many other companies 
catering to their needs. Guest speakers concentrated on classical video 
gaming in their presentations.

At the auction held Sunday, a rare (in the US, anyway) Atari STbook sold 
for a rumored US$350.00.

As a first-year show, it went fairly smoothly. Future shows are likely to 
include gaming from other platforms and expand into the game machines of 
today. Although gaming will be the important topic of the show, both Atari 
and (possibly) Amiga computers are to be incorporated in the growing 
process to best represent all enthusiasts.