Atari Party 2014

Saturday, June 14th, 10am-4pm

Sunnyvale Public Library

Photos

Unless otherwise credited, photos by Bill Kendrick. Click thumbnails to see larger versions.
Last updated: 2014-08-12 10:22:06

Pre-Show

Bill Kendrick's woodgrain 4-switch VCS (2600) dismantled for dusting & testing.
Bill Kendrick's SIO2PC adapter (on top of an 800XL computer) being repaired at Davis Makerspace.
Most of the games Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.

The variety of controllers Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.
Hand-helds and plug-n-play systems Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.
Signs and game "quick references" made for past Atari Parties.

Asteroids hologram for Cosmos that Dan Kramer is bringing.
Photo: Dan Kramer
Atari 7800, 8-bit, and 5200 items Dan Kramer is bringing (including many Trak-Balls).
Photo: Dan Kramer

Set-Up Night

Bill Kendrick's Atari Lynxes, Gameboy Advance SPs, Sony PlayStation 2, Atari 8-bits, and some Atari STs and their owner, Philip.
Dan Kramer and his Atari rareities, 5200s and Trak-Balls, and Digital Game Museum's Atari Flashback systems.
Bill's Atari 7800 and Nintendo Entertainment System, and Keith's Atari Jaguar.

Show Day

People start showing up right after the library opens.
A huge crowd fills the Sunnyvale Library's "Program Room" (where the video game consoles and computer systems are set up) to listen to Dan Kramer talk about designing the Atari home Trak-Ball controllers.
An SNK NeoGeo controller rebuilt to work with an Atari 5200 game console.

THe NES playing Tengen's port of Atari Game's Gauntlet, an Atari 2600 built into an "ENCOM" (fictional company from the 1982 film TRON case) with light-up joysticks, and a Jaguar playing Doom.
Conrad's Atari 400 home computer (with after-market keycaps placed on its membrane keyboard) running the LOGO programming language (popular in elementary schools in the 1980s).
Bill's Atari 2600 playing Atari's home version of their arcade game Battlezone.

Above: Conrad's Atari XEP80 80-column text display device. Below: Atari 800XL running Atari DOS in 80-column mode.
Atari 5200 game cartridges of popular early 1980s arcade games.
A recent conversion of Activision's Atari 2600 game Seaquest, running on an Atari 8-bit home computer.

A prototype cartridge of Xari Arena, an unreleased 2-player Trak-Ball game for the Atari 5200, brought by Dan Kramer.
A prototype of an unreleased dual-controller holder for the Atari 7800, useful for playing Robotron: 2084, brought by Dan Kramer.
Bill's NES playing Mindscape's release of Atari Games' 720°.

Atari Games' late 1990s arcade game San Francisco RusH: 2048 playing on a Sony PlayStation 2.
Mark Birsching, an organizer of the California Extreme arcade show, who brought the upright arcade games to Atari Party, playing an emulated version of Asteroids on Bill's Atari 800XL.
Choosing a classic Atari arcade game on the Sony PlayStation 2.

Pac-Man Arcade, a recently-released arcade-accurate version of NAMCO's Pac-Man, on Bill's Atari 1200XL home computer. (It was based off of Atari's 1983 home computer version of Ms. Pac-Man.)
Gauntlet II running on one of Philip's Atari ST, with four joystick controllers connected.
More of Philip's Atari STs.

A 'demoscene' demo running on an Atari ST.
Trak-Balls brought by Dan Kramer.
An Atari 2800 VCS, brought by Dan Kramer.

More Atari items brought by Dan Kramer.
Dan "Trak-Ball Man" Kramer himself.
Warhawk on Damien's Atari 600XL

Tengen's port of Atari Games' arcade Tetris, on Bill's NES.
Conrad's SIO2SD/PC Combo device, allowing an Atari 8-bit home computer to read floppy disk images and program files off of both an SD memory card, or a PC via USB cable.
Conrad's The!Cart cartridge connected to an Atari 8-bit home computer, a flash cartridge capable of holding 128MB of data.

Battlemorph on the Atari Jaguar, up on the projection screen.
Close-up of Conrad's Atari 400 with after-market keycaps.
An ATR8000 interface for the Atari 8-bit (allowing connection to standard disk drives, parallel printers, and serial devices, as well as running the CP/M operatng system), and an Atari-branded calculator, both brought by Conrad.

A U-JACK, a USB powering device that connects to an Atari 8-bit's SIO (serial I/O) port, brought by Conrad.
The rare cocktail PONG, brought in my Digital Game Museum.
Arcade games brought to the show by Mark. Shown: Star Wars and Tempest.

Centipede arcade unit, brought by Mark.
A special edition of the work-in-progress game for the Atari 8-bit home computer, AtariBLAST!, on Bill's 800XL. Donated by Paul Lay and Harvey Kong Tin.
Dan Kramer doing his presentation.

Bill's son thinking hard about Chip's Challenge on the Atari Lynx handheld.
A couple playing Combat on an Atari 2600.
Atari 5200s playing popular arcade games Defender and Pac-Man.

Asteroids Emulator, a real emulator of the 1979 arcade game, released recently for Atari 8-bit home computers.
Castle Crisis, a semi-recent clone of the classic Atari arcade game Warlords, for the Atari 8-bit.
NAMCO's arcade hit Dig-Dug on the Atari 7800.

Capcom's Commando (licensed by Data East), on the Atari 7800.
Left: Two children who kept returning to Damien's Atari 600XL and firing up Joust. Right: Human Canonball for the Atari 2600 playing on a Flashback.
Xari Arena, an unreleased prototype game for the 5200, brought by Dan Kramer.

Super Stario Land on an Atari ST. (Photo by Jason Scott)
Signs at the entrance to the Program Room. (Photo by Jason Scott)
THE END of Missile Command. (Photo by Jason Scott)

Enjoying Atari 2600/VCS games. (Photo by Jason Scott)
A box of what accounted for 'violent games' in the early 1980s. (Photo by Jason Scott)
Playing Super Sprint arcade game on PlayStation 2. (Photo by Jason Scott)

Pac-Man Arcade homebrew on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Jason Scott)
Al Alcorn doing his presentation for a filled room. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Playing Gauntlet on an Atari ST. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

The library's welcome sign. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Picking a game off of an SD card, on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Dan Kramer showing off his t-shirt. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Losing Space Invaders on the Atari 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party volunteer Ben Ullmark. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Video gaming family. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Dan Kramer's prototype Atari 2800 and 2600Jr.(Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Dan Kramer showing his prototype Atari 5200 Trak-Ball rig (right), and the final product (left). (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Donkey Kong on a top-loading Nintendo Entertainment System. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Posing with a CX-80 (later model for Atari 8-bit and 2600) Trak-Ball. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Some in-house t-shirts from Atari from the early 1980s that Dan Kramer brought. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Leaning on Pac-Man for the Atari 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

2014 show's coordinators — Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick, Sunnyvale Public Library librarian Rachel Collier, and Digital Game Museum executive director Judith Haemmerle — posing with DGM's cocktail PONG. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Pac-Man on a 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Digital Game Museum's board of directors chair Jeff Lin, posting in front of their display. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Atari Party volunteers Jamie and Dan DeVriend. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party volunteers Jamie DeVriend, Mark Birsching (also a coordinator of California Extreme), and Digital Game Museum volunteer docent Crissy Gugler. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Posing with a The Boss joystick. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Playing Star Raiders on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Starting a game of Tempest. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Game cartridges resting on an Atari 2600. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Sunnyvale librarians. Atari Party's main contact and co-coordinator, Rachel Collier, on the right. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Centipede and Star Wars arcade uprights. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Playing Star Wars arcade. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Having a round of Warlords on an Atati 2600. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Sporting a "Portland Retrogaming Expo" shirt. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Digital Game Museum's cocktail PONG, taking a rest. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Bill Kendrick, founder of Atari Party, with his youngest son, doing a Master Blaster impersonation. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Lynx handhelds getting some use — both portrait and landscape mode. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Gauntlet on the Nintendo Entertainment System. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
An Atari Jaguar up on the projection screen. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party volunteer Philip Louie, posing with one of his Atari STs. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Atari employee from the 1970s and early 1980s, Jerry Jessop (center), with his wife Karen. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
A small stack of Atari 2600 games. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
An Atari Jaguar and games. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Atari Party volunteer Jeremy Holloway. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Huge audience watching Al Alcorn's talk. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
A varietyof Ataris: Flashback 4 (Super Breakout), Flashback 1 (Air-Sea Battle), 600XL (Joust), Flashback 2 (in its menu). (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Atari Party 2014 co-coordinators, Bill Kendrick (Atari Party) and Judith Haemmerle (Digital Game Museum), playing PONG. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick, and California Extreme co-coordinator (and the person who brought arcade games to Atari Party 2014), Mark Birsching. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Arcade games! (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

More arcade games! (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Arkanoid 2: The Revenge of Doh on an Atari ST. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Posing with some geeky t-shirts. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)

Other Photos

"Sunnyvale Atari Party" at Flickr, by wickerman (Dave Beaudoin)
"Atari Party 2014 Prep" at Facebook, by Digital Game Museum
"Atari Party 2014 @ Sunnyvale Public Library" at Flickr, by Geoffry Smith II

Atari Party in the News

"Atari party draws young and old to honor Sunnyvale's gaming heritage", San Jose Mercury News, 2014-06-14
"Old and New School Gamers Find Joy at Atari Event", KGO ABC 7 News, 2014-06-14
ANTIC: The Atari 8-bit Podcast, Episode 12, 2014-06-23 (includes an interview with Atari Party organizer Bill Kendrick)
An Interview With Bill Kendrick On His Atari Parties! 2014-07-16

Flyers and Banners

Black & White 8.25" × 11" printable flyer (PDF)
Sunnyvale Library's "Lobby Poster" (JPEG)

Atari Party Home | Digital Game Museum | Sunnyvale Public Library | Email Bill Kendrick
"Atari" is a registered trademark of Atari, Inc. All other trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners.
Atari 8-bit screen font, "Atari Chunky Classic", by Mark Simonson. Atari cartridge-label-style font, "MumboSSK Bold", author unknown.

Announcement mailing list

Bill Kendrick's woodgrain 4-switch VCS (2600) dismantled for dusting & testing.	Bill Kendrick's SIO2PC adapter (on top of an 800XL computer) being repaired at Davis Makerspace.	Most of the games Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.
The variety of controllers Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.	Hand-helds and plug-n-play systems Bill Kendrick is bringing to the event.	Signs and game "quick references" made for past Atari Parties.
Asteroids hologram for Cosmos that Dan Kramer is bringing. Photo: Dan Kramer		Atari 7800, 8-bit, and 5200 items Dan Kramer is bringing (including many Trak-Balls). Photo: Dan Kramer

People start showing up right after the library opens.	A huge crowd fills the Sunnyvale Library's "Program Room" (where the video game consoles and computer systems are set up) to listen to Dan Kramer talk about designing the Atari home Trak-Ball controllers.	An SNK NeoGeo controller rebuilt to work with an Atari 5200 game console.
THe NES playing Tengen's port of Atari Game's Gauntlet, an Atari 2600 built into an "ENCOM" (fictional company from the 1982 film TRON case) with light-up joysticks, and a Jaguar playing Doom.	Conrad's Atari 400 home computer (with after-market keycaps placed on its membrane keyboard) running the LOGO programming language (popular in elementary schools in the 1980s).	Bill's Atari 2600 playing Atari's home version of their arcade game Battlezone.
Above: Conrad's Atari XEP80 80-column text display device. Below: Atari 800XL running Atari DOS in 80-column mode.	Atari 5200 game cartridges of popular early 1980s arcade games.	A recent conversion of Activision's Atari 2600 game Seaquest, running on an Atari 8-bit home computer.
A prototype cartridge of Xari Arena, an unreleased 2-player Trak-Ball game for the Atari 5200, brought by Dan Kramer.	A prototype of an unreleased dual-controller holder for the Atari 7800, useful for playing Robotron: 2084, brought by Dan Kramer.	Bill's NES playing Mindscape's release of Atari Games' 720°.
Atari Games' late 1990s arcade game San Francisco RusH: 2048 playing on a Sony PlayStation 2.	Mark Birsching, an organizer of the California Extreme arcade show, who brought the upright arcade games to Atari Party, playing an emulated version of Asteroids on Bill's Atari 800XL.	Choosing a classic Atari arcade game on the Sony PlayStation 2.
Pac-Man Arcade, a recently-released arcade-accurate version of NAMCO's Pac-Man, on Bill's Atari 1200XL home computer. (It was based off of Atari's 1983 home computer version of Ms. Pac-Man.)	Gauntlet II running on one of Philip's Atari ST, with four joystick controllers connected.	More of Philip's Atari STs.
A 'demoscene' demo running on an Atari ST.	Trak-Balls brought by Dan Kramer.	An Atari 2800 VCS, brought by Dan Kramer.
More Atari items brought by Dan Kramer.	Dan "Trak-Ball Man" Kramer himself.	Warhawk on Damien's Atari 600XL
Tengen's port of Atari Games' arcade Tetris, on Bill's NES.	Conrad's SIO2SD/PC Combo device, allowing an Atari 8-bit home computer to read floppy disk images and program files off of both an SD memory card, or a PC via USB cable.	Conrad's The!Cart cartridge connected to an Atari 8-bit home computer, a flash cartridge capable of holding 128MB of data.
Battlemorph on the Atari Jaguar, up on the projection screen.	Close-up of Conrad's Atari 400 with after-market keycaps.	An ATR8000 interface for the Atari 8-bit (allowing connection to standard disk drives, parallel printers, and serial devices, as well as running the CP/M operatng system), and an Atari-branded calculator, both brought by Conrad.
A U-JACK, a USB powering device that connects to an Atari 8-bit's SIO (serial I/O) port, brought by Conrad.	The rare cocktail PONG, brought in my Digital Game Museum.	Arcade games brought to the show by Mark. Shown: Star Wars and Tempest.
Centipede arcade unit, brought by Mark.	A special edition of the work-in-progress game for the Atari 8-bit home computer, AtariBLAST!, on Bill's 800XL. Donated by Paul Lay and Harvey Kong Tin.	Dan Kramer doing his presentation.
Bill's son thinking hard about Chip's Challenge on the Atari Lynx handheld.	A couple playing Combat on an Atari 2600.	Atari 5200s playing popular arcade games Defender and Pac-Man.
Asteroids Emulator, a real emulator of the 1979 arcade game, released recently for Atari 8-bit home computers.	Castle Crisis, a semi-recent clone of the classic Atari arcade game Warlords, for the Atari 8-bit.	NAMCO's arcade hit Dig-Dug on the Atari 7800.
Capcom's Commando (licensed by Data East), on the Atari 7800.	Left: Two children who kept returning to Damien's Atari 600XL and firing up Joust. Right: Human Canonball for the Atari 2600 playing on a Flashback.	Xari Arena, an unreleased prototype game for the 5200, brought by Dan Kramer.
Super Stario Land on an Atari ST. (Photo by Jason Scott)	Signs at the entrance to the Program Room. (Photo by Jason Scott)	THE END of Missile Command. (Photo by Jason Scott)
Enjoying Atari 2600/VCS games. (Photo by Jason Scott)	A box of what accounted for 'violent games' in the early 1980s. (Photo by Jason Scott)	Playing Super Sprint arcade game on PlayStation 2. (Photo by Jason Scott)
Pac-Man Arcade homebrew on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Jason Scott)	Al Alcorn doing his presentation for a filled room. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Playing Gauntlet on an Atari ST. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
The library's welcome sign. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Picking a game off of an SD card, on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Dan Kramer showing off his t-shirt. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Losing Space Invaders on the Atari 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Party volunteer Ben Ullmark. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Video gaming family. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Dan Kramer's prototype Atari 2800 and 2600Jr.(Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Dan Kramer showing his prototype Atari 5200 Trak-Ball rig (right), and the final product (left). (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Donkey Kong on a top-loading Nintendo Entertainment System. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Posing with a CX-80 (later model for Atari 8-bit and 2600) Trak-Ball. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Some in-house t-shirts from Atari from the early 1980s that Dan Kramer brought. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Leaning on Pac-Man for the Atari 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
2014 show's coordinators — Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick, Sunnyvale Public Library librarian Rachel Collier, and Digital Game Museum executive director Judith Haemmerle — posing with DGM's cocktail PONG. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Pac-Man on a 5200. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Digital Game Museum's board of directors chair Jeff Lin, posting in front of their display. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party volunteers Jamie and Dan DeVriend. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Party volunteers Jamie DeVriend, Mark Birsching (also a coordinator of California Extreme), and Digital Game Museum volunteer docent Crissy Gugler. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Posing with a The Boss joystick. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Playing Star Raiders on an Atari 800XL. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Starting a game of Tempest. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Game cartridges resting on an Atari 2600. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Sunnyvale librarians. Atari Party's main contact and co-coordinator, Rachel Collier, on the right. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Centipede and Star Wars arcade uprights. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Playing Star Wars arcade. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Having a round of Warlords on an Atati 2600. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Sporting a "Portland Retrogaming Expo" shirt. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Digital Game Museum's cocktail PONG, taking a rest. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Bill Kendrick, founder of Atari Party, with his youngest son, doing a Master Blaster impersonation. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Lynx handhelds getting some use — both portrait and landscape mode. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Gauntlet on the Nintendo Entertainment System. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	An Atari Jaguar up on the projection screen. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Party volunteer Philip Louie, posing with one of his Atari STs. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari employee from the 1970s and early 1980s, Jerry Jessop (center), with his wife Karen. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	A small stack of Atari 2600 games. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	An Atari Jaguar and games. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party volunteer Jeremy Holloway. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Huge audience watching Al Alcorn's talk. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	A varietyof Ataris: Flashback 4 (Super Breakout), Flashback 1 (Air-Sea Battle), 600XL (Joust), Flashback 2 (in its menu). (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
Atari Party 2014 co-coordinators, Bill Kendrick (Atari Party) and Judith Haemmerle (Digital Game Museum), playing PONG. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Atari Party founder Bill Kendrick, and California Extreme co-coordinator (and the person who brought arcade games to Atari Party 2014), Mark Birsching. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Arcade games! (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)
More arcade games! (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Arkanoid 2: The Revenge of Doh on an Atari ST. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)	Posing with some geeky t-shirts. (Photo by Geoffrey Smith)