THE 8TH PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD SHOW
Atari will be giving the 520ST its official
European launch at the PCW Show at Olympia in what will be possibly
the biggest display Atari has yet arranged in the U. K. Jack Tramiel
thinks it is important - he will be there on the opening day.
Turn right through the main doors of Olympia and you
will come to the first of Atari's THREE massive stands demonstrating
not only the 520ST but the 130XE range and plenty of software. The
display, with almost three times more floor space, should far outdo
any other manufacturer. Details of exactly what Atari will be
showing were not available at the time of writing but there is no
doubt that you will find more of interest at this year's show than
ever before. One major innovation is that third party software houses
will be demonstrating their software on one of the Atari stands and
will give owners the chance to see the very latest software for both
the 8-bit and ST machines.
Rumours in the trade say that over 100 new software items will be
unveiled. Among those to look out for either on Atari's stand or
elsewhere are
* Chipsoft with a new database for the 8-bit
range called MICROBASE + which can be interlinked with Atariwriter and
has an average search time for any record of just 5 seconds. Also to
be shown will be an Integrated Accounts package for the ST.
* English Software who will be showing their
latest releases and their first program for the ST.
* Level 9 with Red Moon promising 'something
special' for the Atari version and 'possibly' their first release for
the ST.
* Database Publications who, as well as Atari
User, should have the first of several software releases.
* Precision Software with Superscript for hands
on testing as well as SuperType - a new typing trainer.
* Llamasoft with live demos of Colourspace
accompanied by the best in rock music and 'possibly' early
developments for the ST. Also, not to be missed, Jeff Minter's very
own psychedelically painted 130XE! The only one of its kind!
Plus ... who knows? There are bound to be a number
of companies introducing software for the ST who have never written
for Atari before. Atari say that over 100 development packages have
been sold in the U.K. and many software houses previously 'unknown' to
the Atari world are preparing to support the ST and XE in a big way.
PCW 85 is not to be missed. Maybe the prototype for
the first Atari User Show? The show is held at Olympia and opens to
the public from 6th September to 8th September.
BOUNTY BOB STRIKES BACK - CHEAPLY!
After a long wait and a shock £50 ROM from the
U.S.A (see letters issue 16), Bounty Bob Strikes Back was released by
U. S. GOLD in late July on 64k cassette for just £9.95 or 48k disk
for £14.95. The cassette version will only run on the 800XL or 130XE
because of the massive amount of code originally contained in the 40k
ROM. 400/800 owners who feel peeved by a 64k cassette should bear in
mind that a game of this size would not normally make it to cassette
at all and Geoff Brown of U. S. Gold told us that Big Five had no
intention of releasing any version other than the ROM. The cassette
and disk versions are only available via U.S. Gold in a rare deal that
gives U. K. owners an advantage over the U.S. for a change.
Bounty Bob may have been a long time striking back
but U. S. Gold promise that their future Atari releases will appear at
the same time as Commodore versions.
MORE FROM LUCASFILM
Hot on the heels of the (final) official versions of
Rescue on Fractalus and Ballblazer come two new games from Lucasfilm
and Epyx scheduled for U.S. release in the autumn.
KORONIS RIFT is a strategy game set in the future in
which you are a techno-scavenger searching for artifacts left behind
by a coalition of races that once inhabited the galaxy. You discover a
weapons testing ground and drop on the surface of Koronis to scavenge.
The rift is a huge Grand Canyon like chasm through which you must fly
but the game features also a deal of strategy to reach this far. One
of the Lucasfilm team describes the play as 'much the same as a text
adventure'. The animation is similar to Rescue on Fractalus but also
includes incredible GTIA animation produced by Jim St Louis who was
responsible for the robot and spacecraft on Atari's demo disk.
The second game is EIDOLON which takes you back in
time to the 19th century. The Eidolon is like a magic time machine in
which you explore an immense cavern on a voyage of discovery. This one
is said to use animation techniques never before used in home
computers of the kind used for current commercial cartoons. Certainly
two to look out for.
GRAPHICS AND KUNG FU!
English Software will shortly be releasing a new
Graphics Arts package for use on 48k systems. They say it includes all
of the features of existing graphics programs with the added ability
to lift and place individual images from within a picture. This is the
one feature that makes many of the dedicated graphics computers so
powerful and it will be interesting to see on the ATARI.
For those with less artistic inclinations English
Software have announced what they say is 'the first Atari Kung Fu game
programmed in the U.K'. Requiring 48k it will pit two Kung-Fu experts
against each other in one or two player combat. The game is entitled
CHOP SUEY and will retail at £8.95.
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