GEnie: Dateline: Atari! (Sep.04,1993)
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 02/19/94-09:41:56 PM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: GEnie: Dateline: Atari! (Sep.04,1993)
Date: Sat Feb 19 21:41:56 1994
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 2 - Issue 15 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 4 September 1993 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
||| Dateline: Atari!
||| Captured and Edited by: Ron Kovacs
/ | \ Courtesy: GEnie
------------------------------------------------------------------
<[Host - Lou] ST.LOU> Welcome to the First Anniversary Edition of
Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie. This evening we have not selected a
specific topic. Instead the topics of discussion will be your choice.
No doubt Bob will provide us with the latest news on Atari computers
and game machines. The last few conferences have been dedicated to
those topics and I expect there is still great interest in developing
and marketing those products.
We also have some special giveaways to celebrate the anniversary
edition of this conference. Sometime during the evening Bob will post
a skill-testing question. If you answer correctly, you may be one of
the winners of Atari Works - the integrated application, MultiTOS or
SpeedoGDOS. Just a quick note... only paying customers are eligible
for the prizes :-) Without further ado............. Here's Bob!
<BOB-BRODIE> Paying customers only!!!!
Good evening everyone! And it's a great pleasure to gather together on
the eve of this long weekend. I hope that you have a chance to enjoy
being with your loved ones, relax and just enjoy the long weekend. I
know that here at Atari, we're all looking forward to it.
It is with great joy that I look back at our last year together in
this setting! Here on our official online service, GEnie, we had
wonderful series of monthly conferences!! We've had quite a series of
events to share. In addition to being able to visit with you
personally, I've been privileged to have as special guests Eric Smith,
the author of MultiTOS, Pradip Fathepuria, author of Atari Works, and
James Grunke, Director of Atari Music. In the very near future, we'll
be scheduling another special CO to discuss in greater detail our
exciting new 64 bit home entertainment system, the Jaguar!!!
I'd like to take this opportunity to that Darlah Potechin and her
entire staff of sysops for making the Atari RTs on GEnie THE PLACE TO
BE for all Atari owners! Without their help and support, our efforts
to support our customers online wouldn't be nearly as effective as
they are. Further, I'm grateful that she lets me have these monthly
events! Not every sysop is as supportive of real time conferences as
Darlah, and as the contract holder of the RT, it really is up to her
if we have these events. Thanks, Darlah! I'm grateful for your
support!!! I also appreciate the hosts of these real time events, as
they make sure that things are always "going the right way" and keep
the flow in tow! <grin> Lou, Brian, and Mike...thank you!!!
As a part of the commemoration of the one year anniversary of
Dateline: Atari, tonight we're going to be giving away a number of
Atari products! The way that we'll do this is that I'll include in my
opening remarks some key information that you'll have to repeat later
on in the CO. The first one with the correct answer will have his
choice of our prizes! We're giving away one copy of Atari Works, two
copies of MultiTOS, two copies of SpeedoGDOS, and as SPECIAL EXTRA
BONUS, I've added a copy of our latest Lynx offering, Lemmings to the
prize list! First correct answer picks first, second second, and so
on. So pay attention, and get those capture buffers open! <grin>
Let's begin our time together tonight discussing the BEST handheld
game system on the market; the Atari Lynx! We just gotten two more
games in stock: Lemmings and Jimmy Connors Tennis. Approval has been
given to start manufacturing on two more titles, Malibu Bikini Beach
Volleyball, and Ninja Gaiden III. Lemmings is an excellent conversion
of the popular computer game, brought to life with the superb color of
the Lynx. It's really a fun game!! At our house, my 11 year old has
always been semi-interested in the Lynx. When I brought home Lemmings,
he couldn't put it down for hours!!! I guess that's one of the highest
endorsements I can give it: it captivates the interest of Brian Andrew
Brodie. <grin> Truly a fun game, and reviewers have their copies on
the way to them now. Jimmy Connors Tennis is a title that is full of
all kinds of exciting digitized sound, one of the largest games that
we've produced to date (4 megs!). This is an excellent tennis game,
filling a niche in our line up of sports titles for the Lynx!
One of the titles that I know where anxious to get going on for the
Lynx is Eye of the Beholder. Work is progressing along with that
title, and I'm hopeful that we'll see that title in time for
Christmas. That pretty much covers all the things going on regarding
the Lynx. One of the questions that I'll be asking tonight is which
Lynx game has my son's attention, and the answer is LEMMINGS! Be sure
to pay attention when we ask that question during the RTC! You don't
have to take the Lemmings game if you win...you can pick from any one
of the prizes available at that time!!!
On the Jaguar front, we're overwhelmed at the amount of attention that
the Atari Jaguar is garnering. Retailers and the media alike are
excited at the views that they've seen of our 64 bit home
entertainment system. As seems to be ALWAYS the case in the Atari
market, while we've projected the Jaguar to be a home entertainment
system, the rest of the world is coming up with all kinds of things
that they want to do with the Jaguar!! There has been interest in
using it as a main board in coin-operated video arcade games from a
number of companies. A number of people believe that the Jaguar has
enough power to finally be able to start the promise of Virtual
Reality. And of course, the techies among us want to know everything
about everything, why it is, how it is, and how can they get it.
I've gotten contacts from potential developers ranging from self
described "brilliant, but poor college students", and some of the
greatest names in gaming. The video game magazines are virtually
camping out on our doorstep.. I'm getting to know the people from
GamePro by their voice on the phone! <grin> For those of you that
haven't seen a lot of the information on the Atari Jaguar, please take
a look at the recent issue of Atari Explorer Online Magazine, Special
Jaguar Edition. It's here in the libraries of GEnie as file
AEO_SE_J.ZIP, and includes some GIF format pictures to give you some
screen shots from the Jaguar.
The entire staff at AEO, lead by publisher Mike Lindsay, editor Travis
Guy, and news editor Ron Kovacs have put a tremendous amount of effort
into making this a terrific resource for everyone interested in the
Jaguar. Congratulations, guys!!
For those of you that have taken the time to download and check out
the GIFs and Targa pictures from AEO, thanks for your comments!! We
will be putting out some more pictures later on, but we want to be
certain that we don't step on the toes of the game magazines by giving
away too much before they publish, either!! But rest assured there
will be more Targa files uploaded. And naturally, they will be on
GEnie, our official online service FIRST!
We're now just a few weeks away from one of my favorite events of the
year, The Southern California Atari Faire!! This year Faire
Chairperson John King Tarpinian will once again be putting on the best
fest in the West at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. GEnie will be
there, as will a host of other notables, including Bill Rehbock from
Atari. In addition to attending the show, Bill will be hosting a
developer conference held in conjunction with the Glendale Show. Be
sure to check in category 11 for the latest updates to the show vendor
list!!!
Well, I think I've gone on just about long enough now! I'm really
excited to be here, and lets get started with some questions!!!! My
apologies for the typos, I got home late due to heavy traffic.
<[Graham] B.STEVAN> 1) Do you have any info yet on higher end Falcons?
2) Do you have any release dates on Atari's 14MB RAM board? 3) Does
Atari have any plans for LDW Power? 4) Do you have a name yet for the
new service manager you mentioned at the last RTC? 5) How is Atari
handling VARs right now (with regard to the Falcon)? I'd also like to
encourage Atari to contract IBM to produce the Falcon. Right now we
have to pay 3.9% duty to bring the Falcon into Canada since it is made
in Taiwan. If it could be made in the US we could avoid this duty, and
would be able to offer the Falcon at a lower price.
<BOB-BRODIE> OK, On the higher end Falcons, not at this time. As I've
said in the past, I've seen the plans, and I think you will be pleased
with what we've got in the works. Our service manager is named Jim
Jackson, and he has years of quality control and service experience. A
real first rate professional, and very famililar with dealing with
manufacturing in the Far East. Re the 14 meg boards, Sorry. I forgot
to check on that issue, but until ours is available, please use the
very excellent board from Chro- Magic Software, the Ram Gizmo. Works
great, and is a very nice product indeed. RE LDW, we're kicking around
a number of ideas with it. Our deal that we were working on with a
developer fell through, so we're looking at other options right now.
Regarding VARs we have no specific VAR program per se at this point on
the Falcon. We simply confirm that they are in fact VARs, and then we
treat them just like a normal dealer in terms of ordering, etc. I
appreciate your input on the manufacturing, we'd love to be a totally
US produced company as soon as it is practicial to do so.
<B.AEIN> Any news on the GE SOFT speed up board? Will dealers like
Toad get Jag's to sell for the holidays? Any promo deals for Falcons?
How about advertising the Jag in movie theathers with trailers? Pro
Logic surrond on Jag?
<BOB-BRODIE> Please gang...ONE question. We haven't firmed up our
plans for sales to dealers like TOAD yet but I suspect that they will
be able to purchase Jaguars after the holidays. We don't plan on
opening up mail order until after the initial roll out in NY and San
Francisco. The advertising for the Jaguar will primarily be
television.
<P.CHAMBERLA2> We've been working on the design spec for the worlds
first and only digital signal processing, solar powered flashlight.
We want to know when we can expect to see the falcon developers kit we
ordered more than 6 weeks ago.
<BOB-BRODIE> Please send email here on GEnie to Mike-Fulton and cc
Ataridev on the mail. I don't handle developer orders, and since I'm
(for a change) doing this RTC from home rather than the office, there
isn't any way for me to check on it for you tonight in real time.
Sorry. Mike has already left the office as well, as we were having
some maintence done in the building.
<RHETT> Why should I develop for the Jaguar, when Sega and Nintendo
have shown themselves to be top-notch marketers? What can you offer
developers to tempt us away from those companies? Superior technology
doesn't always sell best, as we've seen.
<BOB-BRODIE> There are two big reasons why, Rhett. First, the real
thing that sells entertainment systems is quality software. And as a
developer, you will have more power at your disposal with the Jaguar
than with ANY OTHER SYSTEM ON THE MARKET, period!!! That means that
you will be able to create games for the home in a fashion that before
you only dreamed about being able to do. The Jaguar has the power to
make games unlike ANY of the systems that Sega and Ninetendo have. As
a developer, you also know that the price is a prime consideration of
these systems. Neo Geo had (or should I say has) a very nice system as
well, but it is simply too expensive to be a success in the home
market. We feel that the price of the Jaguar is agressive enough, and
the technology is so far advanced that we will have some of the finest
games available on the planet. While I am not familiar with your
company, and I'm not in a position to release names tonight, I can
assure you that we have some of the finest names in gaming that are
coming on board to develop for the Jaguar.
<R.HALL49> Personally, I feel that the Jaguar trounces the competition
into dust. So recently when Denny Atkin-formerly of Computes Amiga
Resource had a conf. on the Amiga Roundtable, I asked him to compare
the CD32 to the Jaguar...He replied that he thought the 2 machines
were aimed at different markets...(strange!) Anyway from the close
relationship that you have with the developers how much superior do
THEY think the Jaguar is? <BOB-BRODIE> Every developer that has seen
the system is very excited. There are admittedly "camps" in these
meetings. The bean counters tend to take a look at Atari, the company,
and question how much real support we will give the system. The
programmers and technicians can't wait to get the system in their
hands, especially after they hear that there is NO OPERATING SYSTEM to
get in their way. They get to write directly to the hardware! They all
love that!!
<K.CAVAGHAN2> Hi Bob, I know I'm going to sound like a broken record
but when could we see some (any???) ads for the present systems
including the Lynx? I haven't even seen any ads in the comics lately!
<BOB-BRODIE> Kent, we had a promotion proposed for the summer, but we
have decided to hold off and make a big push for the Lynx at the same
time as we will do the Jaguar roll out. I'm sure you will be pleased
with the ads that we will be running then. Titles are starting to come
out at a better pace, too.
<J.TORRES17> I love the LYNX and cant wait to get Lemmings (I'll have
my cousin in NY send me a Jaguar... :> ) But around here (tampa)
NOBODY seems to carry the LYNX anymore! (Toys R us, etc.) Any deals
with companies to keep the Jaguar and LYNX on the shelves. I've got
$1000 in the LYNX now. (and can't wait for Lemmings!)
<BOB-BRODIE> The Lynx is set to be back on the shelves of Electronic
Boutique very, very soon. In fact, it should have already have
happened by now. Re the Lynx/Jaguar combo, there is no question that
we will be using the Jaguar as a leverage tool to also place the Lynx
in the stores. But we also have to be mindful that the entire handheld
business is just 17% of the total video game market. So we're not
going to be shipping Lynxes in to the stores on a 1:1 basis with the
Jaguar. BTW, we haven't had a single retailer tell us they DON'T want
to do business with us on the Jaguar...they have ALL told us that they
want to sell the product.
<SAM-RAPP> Bob, I can no longer buy Lynx games here in the
Chattanooga, TN area. A Service merchandise ad I recieved today
featured the LameBoy for $44.95, on sale from $49.95. What is the
current pricing on the Lynx?
<BOB-BRODIE> The current price on the Lynx is $79.96, Sam. Like I just
told the previous questioner, you will be able to purchase them in
Electronic Boutiques again, very, very soon.
<D.ELLIS16> Thanks Bob for being here! Any word on Blackmail the voice
mail program for the Falcon? I saw a picture of the Jag in the paper..
Great Job to the entire team ! Really looking forward to seeing
production line units ;-) Thanks again!!!
<BOB-BRODIE> Dale, last I heard of Blackmail, they were awaiting the
approval of the FCC to market the program. I saw them at a conference
that I attended back in May, and they were still wrestling with that
problem.
<D.VICHA> Glad to have you here bob. With RAM prices going up, How are
Atari prices for Falcon and Jaguar going to be affected.
<BOB-BRODIE> We don't envision a change. For one thing, the increases
in RAM prices were pretty artificial anyway. There was a report that a
major factory was destroyed in an earthquake in Japan, but that turned
out to be an epoxy factory...not a chip site. So, most of the increase
has been temporary. Locally, we've been very encouraged by two events,
#1) The big, big comeback that US semiconductor companies are making
against their Asian competitors. They really are doing a great job of
getting back into the competitive standpoint. And #2) we have
benefitted from Apple's problems. As a result of their sales slump,
they have cancelled some huge orders for parts (like DRAM), which
naturally made the product available to other companies!
<ORA.TECH> Along with the push for the Jaguar, will there be any
advertising or other means of getting the word out about the Falcon?
The market needs to see a large number of units in the hands of those
other than Atari die- hards.
<BOB-BRODIE> Right now, the plan is for the Jaguar to get the big
push, and then we'll take some of the funds from the Jaguar's success
and put it toward the Falcon. The reason we have changed our mind and
gone this way is that PC sales, across the board are really poor.
There are a handful of companies that are making any money in the
hardware business right now. However, we are still committed to the
Falcon. We believe in it, and intend to support it.
<S.LAPHAM1> I'd love to upgrade my '86 vintage 1040 to a Falcon but
refuse to sell my SLM605for a big loss then spend 100's more for
another laser. Any word on being able to hook up an SLM to a Falcon
(and why were SLM owners abandoned)?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Scott, the interface for the SLMs has not materialized
yet. And I confess to not knowing what the problem is. Bill is just
back from Europe, and I haven't had a chance to discuss this issue
with him. The reason for the change is that we wanted to bring the
system more in line with the standards that the rest of the computing
world was using, so we eliminated the DMA port. At some point in time,
every peripheral becomes obsolete. We also did away with the floppy
disk port, which made useless every external floppy disk drive ever
made.
<C.CASSADAY> Any news on the next batch of TT's; changes; TOS updates;
RAM configurations? (with only one question mark, that should count as
one question.
<BOB-BRODIE> I asked about this before I left the office tonight,
Chris. And I KNEW that someone would ask about this!! :) But I wasn't
able to get a definitive answer about how many, when, what, etc. I can
tell you that we're continuing to work on MultiTOS, and have another
beta rev going thru testing now. It's stable enough that it is in use
in the office. I don't have a time frame on it being released, or cost
at this point.
<AEO.MAG> Bob, AEO has received a tremendous amount of feedback from
our readers on the Jaguar Issue, and on the screenshots. (They want
more!) Many of the letters have been coming from Europe asking if and
when Atari plans to market the Jaguar over there. Do you have an
answer for these very interested (potential) customers?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Travis, we have plans to sell the Jaguar in the first
half of 1994 in Europe, going first to London, then Paris, and
Frankfurt with our European lanuch of the Jaguar. I've gotten a lot of
wonderful compliments about the AEO Special Jaguar Edition as well,
and I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks for your efforts
in making this such an outstanding issue. I'm particulary grateful
that AEO is a magazine that has a balanced editorial staff, that is
such a pleasure to work with. Unlike a certain other online magazine
which is piloted by an obsessive, overbearing, vindictive, self
centered ego maniac.
<K.KOZORIZ> Any chance of a 14 meg, no HD config Falcon?
<BOB-BRODIE> Kevin, not directly from us, no. But it would be an easy
system to create by purchasing a one meg no HD Falcon, and then
installing the Chro-Magic RAM Gizmo.
<L.LOZO1> Hi bob i am a dealer in australia, i met you 2 years ago at
the vancouver atari fair. Over 6 years i have been an atari dealer. I
don't agree you can critcize apple, may be years ago you could not any
longer. The Ste was late, The TT was Late, The stacy was late, The not
book we never saw, The falcon was late, Why Should i remain an atari
dealer or anyone for that matter? P.S. what about my atari dealers
access to genie? (I've requested this for over 1 1/2 years!
<BOB-BRODIE> Hello Lucas, of course I remember meeting you, both here
at the office, and it the airport on the WAY to the Vancouver show. I
did not criticize Apple, I merely pointed out that they were
cancelling their orders for certain parts, and that had impacted the
prices of those parts.
Re your GEnie access, I gave that to you, but if you do not go in to
the dealer category at least once a month, you will automatically LOSE
that access. That is not something that we have set up, it is simply
the way that GEnie's software operates. And for the most part, the
information in the dealer topic is for US/Canadian dealers. They deal
directly with us in Sunnyvale, while you are to conduct all of your
business with our office in North Ryde. If you want back in, I'll set
you up, but all of your questions about pricing etc are going to be
referred to our office in OZ. I'm not 100% up to speed on what they're
pricing/policies are there. I believe in the last year they have
primarily focused on selling the Lynx, and have become profitable in
the process there. This is in marked contrast to most of our
subsidiaries that have operated in the red for the last several years.
//// Editor's Note: At this point a drawing was held. This part has been
//// edited out of the transcript. The winners, and their prizes were:
////
//// <C.CASSADAY> Atari Works.
//// <D.SHORR> SpeedoGDOS.
//// <C.WAWRZYNIAK> MultiTOS.
//// <R.PERRY4> Speedo.
//// <B.CONNOLLY1> Lemmings.
//// <D.VICHA> MultiTOS
<BOB-BRODIE> Congratulations to the winners!
<[Host - Lou] ST.LOU> OK back to the conference.
<E.BAIZ> Are there any CD Rom games being developed for the Jaguar?
<BOB-BRODIE> Ed, the initial games that we are working on are
cartridge products. The CD will be available next year.
<C.S.SMETON> So, Is there any chance of a keyboard attachment for the
Jaguar, so that us application devs will have something to develop
software for? ;-)
<BOB-BRODIE> Hmmmm, I'm not aware of any plans for that, Charles. But
there will be a DSP expansion port, that is envisioned as being
something that interactive media (including modems) could take
advantage of.
<[Jeff] J.WHITE99> And a gracious good evening to you, Robert. Have
you guys decided where you want the booth to end up after the San
Diego show next week?
<BOB-BRODIE> I believe that we will want it to be in Glendale, home of
the Southern California Atari Faire, version 7.0. We'll be putting it
up on the stage to showcase the Falcon, and perhaps some video tape
displays that will give the attendees a look at some of the
capabilities of the Jaguar.
<S.OLSON2> While I plan to purchase a Jaguar asap I am underwhelmed by
the targas released, will these be touched up in any way? Also what
happened to Battlezone 2000?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Steve, well, I'm sorry that you didn't like the pics.
We have gotten all kinds of reactions to them, like Travis from AEO
indicated earlier, including mail from Europe that was high praise for
the pics. We've also heard from some people like you that didn't care
for them. Which ones didn't you like?
<S.OLSON2> PrimariMostly the Kasumi ninja ones...they seemed bland...
especially the one with the two fighting...the title screen shot
seemed alright
<BOB-BRODIE> Ah, right. Those are very preliminary shots. Please bear
in mind that part of what gets lost in these pictures is the motion,
and of course, the sound. It really is a terrific game but I agree
that the still shots didn't do it justice. Releasing the pics was a
tough decision. A lot of people here were opposed to it, because of
the mixed reactions that we knew would occur. Especially because the
way the pics looks isn't entirely in our control. Seeing them in ST
low rez on a stock ST really doesn't do them justice. On the other
hand, on a Falcon030 in true color mode, they look terrific. They were
also previewd on a Mac, with a SuperMac video board, and they looked
terrific there too. Anyway, the pictures are not retouched in any way.
They are the real thing.
<H.HAMMOUD> Hi Bob. I joined late so I hope that this was not covered
yet. Are there any plans to hook a Falcon up to the Jag? (I think it
would produce a pretty interesting animal, don't you? :) ) Also, will
the CDrom drive work on other Atari computers?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hmmm, not directly, Hassen. It does sound like a very
interesting idea though. I'll pass that idea along. Re the CDROM,
no...it is designed to fit onto a special spot on the case of the
Jaguar, and plug into the cartridge port. And it also has a "pass
through" cartridge port to allow you to play cartrdige based games
while you have the CD Rom unit installed.
<C.WAWRZYNIAK> Thanx Lou. Hi Bob! Thanks for the prize! Will games for
the Jaguar be designed like the card type for the Lynx or a box type
of cartridge? Battery backed games are appealing. Especially for the
RPG games.
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Chris, my pleasure...you're welcome! The Jaguar games
are designed to be cartridges, the idea of battery backed systems has
been discussed, and is possible.
<J.VOGH> Bob, how do you view the Nintendo/SGI system announced for
late 95? If it ever makes it to market, will the Jaguar compete and
can the Jaguar be easily upgraded so that in will blow the
Nintendo/SGI away if it ever comes to market (i.e. can the clock rate
be increased, memory expanded etc.). BTW I want Star Raiders for the
Jaguar! What type of monitor does the Jaguar RGB port work with?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi James, well I view the Nintendo/SGI announcement as an
attempt discourage, cause fear, and place uncertaintity in the
marketplace. It isn't a real product, they haven't even signed the
agreement so far as we know. SGI is a terrific company, but they are
not known for making inexpensive systems, which is what needs to be
done for a home based system. Most of the analysts here in the Silicon
Valley have decried it as a FUD announcement...if it shows up in a few
years, they're going to be WAY WAY WAY, behind us. Not a good position
to be in.
Re the monitor, the Jaguar is incredibly versatile in the way that it
handles video. There are plans to have an accessory that will handle
composite RGB output.
<J.TORRES17> Is there an editor for SpeedoGDOS drivers & Fonts. It
doesn't seem to support my HP 500C in color mode. BTW does Works do
color pics?
<BOB-BRODIE> Joe, the fonts are a propreitary format from BitStream.
They don't produce an editor, they just make more fonts. Re the
driver...hmmmm I thought that there was a 500C driver! Works doesn't
do Color pics though at this time.
<D.KAUFMAN> MTOS v. Geneva: Comments? Opinions? Recommendations?
(Three question marks, one question.) (-; Hi, Bob from sweltering,
humid, sweaty NYC.
<BOB-BRODIE> MTOS vs. Geneva, why choose...you can use BOTH at once!
Really, my friends at Gribnif, Rick and Dan, are talented programmers
with yet another great product. From the talks that I had with Rick on
the phone, there is no reason to choose, as Geneva really replaces the
AES, not TOS.
<R.HALL49> I heard the Simarils was going to do a 65,000 color 16 bit
sound version of Ishar 2 for the Falcon...from a hardware standpoint
can the Falcon move this type of game well and are they probably using
the DSP to do it?
<BOB-BRODIE> I haven't had a chance to talk to Bill Rehbock about
this, but if they were going to do a 16 bit sound version of the game,
yes, the DSP would be the way to do it...and I think it can handle it
very well.
<D.ELLIS16> How about a comment on the production schedule for the
Jaguar roll-out. Are we still on schedule? Really looking forward to
both the Jaguar and the Falcon But have to get the money first.
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, we are still on schedule. We have just done the
first pilot production run, and Sam Tramiel is in North Carolina to be
there as the first units come off the line. I know what you mean about
having to get the money first, the economy here in California
continues to be horrible!!!
<G.ROUSH> Why is the Falcon at the rate of 16 MHZ? Why not put in a
faster one like the rest of the competition? And how many software
companies are bringing out new programs?
<BOB-BRODIE> Gary, the reason that we used a 16Mhz 030 was because of
the way that our system works. We don't just rely on the CPU in order
to make the system work. We have an DSP chip, DMA, and FPU chip that
are all available to take the workload off of the CPU. We have in fact
discussed using a Jaguar chipset as a card for other products,
including a PC card.
<R.WHITMAN2> Will Atari be making a 24 bit (Jaguar based) graphics
card for The falcons pds???
<BOB-BRODIE> We're considering it, but we haven't committed to it yet.
<[Host - Lou] ST.LOU> Well, that wraps up our Anniversary Edition of
Dateline Atari! Many thanks to Bob and Atari Corp. for providing the
prizes. Congratulations to our lucky winners. Don't forget to send
your addresses in email to BOB-BRODIE.
Join us on Saturday, September 18 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (7 EST, 6
CST, 5 MST) for a special Glendale RTC live from the Glendale Show.
Our guests will be Bob Brodie, Glendale Coordinator John King
Tarpinian, and ZNET/AEO writer Ron Kovacs. Goodnight everyone and
thanks for coming.
<BOB-BRODIE> Thanks for coming tonight, everyone. I'm grateful, as
always to have the opportunity to participate on this network where
the staff and system have taken a strong stance to ensure that you
have the _BEST_ of everything at your disposal to serve your computing
needs. I'm also proud to be associated with these people, both as
professionals, and friends. Be sure to read our next issue of AEO, it
will be in the libraries this weekend. Good night.
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
