Showing posts with label 1982. Show all posts

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Mr. Do! (Arcade)

Mr. Do! is an arcade game that was released by Universal in 1982. Game play is somewhat similar to Dig Dug. In Mr. Do! you play the role of a circus clown who digs tunnels and collects cherries while avoiding or defeating red monsters called creeps. Progressing to the next level can be accomplished in various ways. You can collect all of the cherries, destroy all the creeps, collect a diamond, or collect all the letters to spell EXTRA which you do by scoring enough points. Creeps can be defeated by digging under apples to crush them or by throwing your "power ball" at them.

Mr. Do! was very popular at the time of its release leading to a quick sequel, Mr. Do!'s castle. That game actually started life as a non-Mr. Do! game but was modified to reap the benefits of Mr. Do!'s popularity. Interestingly, the game is somewhat similar to Dig Dug and the games were released at almost the same time. Both were popular games at the time though Dig Dug seems to be the more widely recognized today.

Mr. Do! was ported to a wide variety of systems, including the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Neo Geo, and Game Boy Color. The arcade version also found its way to the Wii Virtual Console in 2010.

Friday, October 31, 2025

PC Magazine (August 1982)

The IBM PC was a year old when this issue of Pc Magazine was on the stands. Going by page count, which was over 225 pages for this issue, there was already a ton of advertising behind PC products. The August 1982 issue of PC Magazine includes:

PC Magazine (August 1982)

Friday, September 13, 2024

Byte (November 1982)

Byte was probably the best general computer magazine of the 1980s. Many of the early issues could be huge with this one coming in at over 600 pages. The IBM PC had only been introduced the previous year and it was not yet clear that it would set the standard for personal computers. The November 1982 issue includes:

Features

The Third NCGA and the Future of Computer Graphics - A look at the then current state of computer graphics. NCGA stands for National Computer Graphics Association. At the time, even things like color output were a novelty for the average user.

Tronic Imagery - A behind the scenes look at computer graphics in Tron. Tron was one of the first movies to make extensive use of computer graphics and it was extremely impressive for its time.

Build the Circuit Cellar MPX-16 Computer System, Part 1 - The MPX-16 is a single board computer that you could build yourself from scratch with the information provided in this series of articles. It includes an 8088 processor and IBM PC compatible bus and is capable of running CP/M-86. This was definitely an advanced project. It would be interesting to know how many people actually built these (vs. buying one which was also an option).

Problem Solving with Logo - Converting a PL/I graphics design to an Apple II using Apple Logo.

Build a Video Digitizer - Instructions for building a $50 interface that allows you to capture video still images in three colors (black, white and gray).

Computer Animation with Color Registers - An animation tutorial using BASIC on the Atari 400/800.

Victor Victorious: The Victor 9000 - A review of the Victor 9000. It features an 8088 processor, 128K of RAM, two 612K floppy drives, and high resolution monochrome monitor for $4995. It came with both CP/M-86 and MS-DOS. Expansion was expensive. Another 128K of RAM would set you back $800. A 10 MB hard drive cost $4495.

An Interview with Chuck Peddle - Chuck Peddle is a legend in early computer design. Not only was he the chief designer of the Victor 9000, but he also worked on the design of the Motorola 6800 and was the chief architect of the MOS 6502 family of chips which were used in the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Apple II, Atari 400/800, and other computers. He also designed the PET.

JETSET - A type-in flight simulator written in TRS-80 Model II BASIC.

_{Table of Contents from the November 1982 issue of Byte}

Reviews

The Graphics Magician - Animation software for the Apple II.

Cambridge Development Lab's High Resolution Video Graphics System - A high resolution display system for S-100 based computers. High resolution in this case meant 640x482.

Executive Briefing System - You could think of this as PowerPoint for the Apple II. It's designed to create charts and graphics for presentation purposes.

Nucleus

Editorial: Deus ex Machina of the Technological Age - A look at the fast growing field of microcomputers and portable computers.

Letters - Letters from readers about Digital Research's licensing policies, computers in social sciences, archaeology and microcomputers, and more.

Ask BYTE - Questions answered about running the Apple II+ on battery power, the TRS-80 Pocket Computer, leaving computers on, CP/M User's Groups, using cassettes with computers, and more.

_{Back cover of the November 1982 issue of Byte}
Read more:

https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/09/13/byte-november-1982/

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Puck Monster (1982)

Source: Activision Fun Club News - Winter 1982

Before the Game Boy came along, individual handheld games were fairly popular toys. In the early 1980s, these were LED based and the batteries didn't lat all that long, at least by modern standards. The types of games available in this format were pretty varied. However, it was quite popular to clone other popular games of the time. Puck Monster was really just a slight variation on Pac-Man.

Pac-Man was an extremely popular game and there were a huge number of clones and knock-offs in various forms. I still own one that I believe was produced by Tandy/Radio Shack called Hungry Monster that I received for Christmas in 1982. I haven't played this particular game but I always though Hungry Monster was quite fun despite being a clone. Puck Monster looks very similar.

While some handheld games can command premium prices, a lot of times knock-offs like these can be had for a reasonable amount. I really love the look of LED games, especially compared to the later black and which LCD based games that came along. You should be able to find a Puck Monster in reasonable condition for a reasonable price if you are patient anyway.

The ad above is from the Winter 1982 issue of Activision Fun Club News which was a newsletter published by Activision in the U.K. It seems odd to me that Activision was running a contest to give away a product not created by Activision but I'm sure there must have been some deal behind it.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Electronic Games, May 1982

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Donkey Kong, Star Hawk, Dungons & Dragons

via pinterest.com

Reviews of Coleco's Donkey Kong table top and hand held versions of Dungeons & Dragons and Starhawk from Mattel. From the November 1982 issue of Electronic Fun