Media1291 Videos

About This Episode As a kid, what could’ve been better than a new toy and a tasty snack? How about a new toy FOR FREE WITH your tasty snack? In this episode, we remember all those cool toy surprises that were packed into the food we pestered our parents to buy. Hear more of our […]

About This Episode We head to the theatre for the new Ryan Gosling sci-fi adventure film currently crushing it at the box office, discuss upgrades & accessories to bring MagSafe features to older phones, and test-drive that new 80%-scale crowdfunded pinball machine from Wonderland Amusements. (May contain some explicit language.) Patreon » patreon.com/genxgrownupDiscord » GenXGrownUp.com/discordFacebook […]

About This Episode On August 3rd, 1983, less than a year before the release of Purple Rain, the attendees of a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre, in Minneapolis, were witnesses to history. On that night, in the very first live performance by Prince and the newly minted Revolution, the public heard for the […]

About This Episode Four decades ago, a rookie developer working for a pinball company was tasked with creating a new video game in order to break into the booming market. The result was an isometric action puzzler starring a fuzzy orange hero with a filthy mouth. In this backtrack, we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of […]

About This Episode GenXGrownUp had a great time at the 2022 Southern Fried Gaming Expo in Atlanta, GA. While there we had the additional treat of interviewing the creator or Q*bert, Warren Davis! He speaks about creating Q*bert, what it was like working in the arcade industry in the ’80s, his book, and much more!  […]

Independent Atari 2600 Homebrew in 2026! Release details Atari 2600 128KB Cartridge compatible with 2600,7800,2600+,7800+ (latest FW) Launch edition limited to 220 NTSC and 10 PAL60 copies First release July 7th.: 100 NTSC and 6 PAL60 copies - SOLD OUT Second release 8/30: 100 NTSC and 4 PAL60 copies Final 20 launch edition copies will be sold at PRGE '26 (+ anything left from eBay) Video Launch edition contents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCihNzb9--o Sold on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/usr/retronextphase Game details Action-adventure game, starts with mainly puzzles, then increasingly adds more platforming 110+ unique screens spread over 4 levels excluding additional screen variations Unlock codes to start directly at that level found in the level intro screens Points system: in each level you can achieve a max of 250 points. Each level has optional 10 bonus objects worth in total 100 points (see manual for full details) 4th bonus level is unlocked after achieving at least 650 points. Requires starting at level 1 as each level has a max of 250 points Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsyrFNDqazk Development details Background Developed Championship Rally for Atari Lynx in 2000 which was published by Songbird Productions Always wanted to create another game but never had time until early 2025 when I retired from Microsoft I had no experience with 2600 programming and was curious to see how it worked. Ramp-up time was a few months which included creating a custom 2600 screen editor Game design goals: Create a unique, modern-feeling game that blends game elements I loved from 80s games to create a varied experience (graphic adventures, platforming/exploration, puzzle games) Must have a basic story to make it more engaging. Text display was added right from the beginning Game should take at least 4 hours to complete and more to find all optional objectives for replay incentive There must be a payoff for completing the game: added end screen with ranking Try to avoid unrealistic object graphics and sounds as much as possible on 2600. For example: Bats and spiders should not be half the height of your character height Jumping should make a sound when you land, not when you jump up Keep it authentic: no hardware enhancements (e.g. ARM in cart) Game development details 100% written in assembler in VS Code + Atari Dev Studio ROM size is 128KB in Superbank format. This format is a regular bankswitch format without any hardware enhancements. RAM size is regular 128 bytes (includes the stack) and basically about same as to first original cartridges for 2600 except with a lot more ROM To push the Atari 2600 graphics to the limit, I created a custom screen editor that can calculate automatically the instructions for a given graphics block (kernel) and it checks whether it fits in a scanline Created a sound pattern step sequencer tool for the intro and end screen music I coded the game and designed the puzzles, graphics I did together with my wife Sandra Hanssen. She also created the box design and stickers Development time was about 10 months for the game development excluding about 4 months in ramp-up and creating tools #indiegame #atari #retrogaming #genxgrownup - SHOP http://genxgrownup.com/amazon http://GenXGrownUp.com/merch - PODCAST http://GenXGrownUp.com/pod - SUPPORT US https://patreon.com/genxgrownup - WEB & SOCIAL http://GenXGrownUp.com/discord https://twitch.tv/genxgrownup http://fb.me/GenXGrownUp https://bsky.app/profile/genxgrownup.com https://www.tiktok.com/@genxgrownup https://www.instagram.com/genxgrownup/ http://GenXGrownUp.com