Atari Age was a mag put out by Atari from about 81-83, cost one dollar for a years subscription, and was mainly propaganda for their merchendise. But what did we know? We were kids and ate this stuff up! I still had these hanging about (I never throw ANYTHING away), so I decided to put them up for your enjoyment. Have fun...



V.1 I.3 September/October 1992
Inside Your VCS: The guts of a cartridge, with blowup of an IC

Important Announcement: Club Store discounts on all carts

Letters: Holding down the start button in Space Invaders for double- shots, why are the contests void in Ohio?, programmer signature on Yar's Revenge (answer: RTFM, we're not gonna tell ya).

Atari International: Atari is videogame of the '84 Olympics, meet Captain Atari (a hero in Europe [like David Hasselhoff!

News: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sesame Street games coming.

Arcade: Kangaroo.

Sneak Peeks: Summer '82 CES presentations -- RS & SQ games, Frog Pond, the 5200 demonstrated plus details about a trakball and 2600 adapter for it, and "Atari also confirmed that the 5200 will _talk_ to us soon" sometime in 1983.

Christmas catalog: Notable are the hat & scarf with Breakout pattern, and the Astroscan Newtonian telescope -- $229.95.

Cart ads: Star Raiders; RS Baseball, Football & Volleyball.

Article: SwordQuest info, contest, t-shirts, starting with EarthWorld.

Article: The panic of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast.

Contest: Seen in a Sign (make words out of "ATARI GAMES").




V.2 I.2 May/June 1983
Inside Your VCS: The humble trakball.

Ads: Atari Safari (Jungle Hunt & Kangaroo) calendar, Video Cube two- pager, Atari Safari carts & tote bags, "A Letter From Dr. Lee Salk" newsletter, the $9.95 cart collection, trakballs, Atari Club.

News: SwordQuest EarthWorld solution, Atari Youth Advisory Board, fun at Club Med, Dr. Salk helps design games "that focus on teaching human values," Atari brings multimedia shows to schools.

New Cart Report: Atari Video Cube (a club exclusive which "may never be released to the general public!"), Kangaroo, Jungle Hunt.

Article: Puzzles of all sorts.

Arcade: Food Fight! and the high scores were upped (Asteroids -- 41M, Missile Command -- 80M in 48 hours, blah!).

Letters: Readers tell AA how to get the Defender easter egg but AA won't reveal, a kid can't wait for Dig Dug, what does "software" mean?, and what's this "*531" in the middle of the screen when I hold the Select switch down in Vanguard? (answer: program initialization)

Contest: Harvey's Dilemma (rearrange letter fragments).

Sneak Peeks: "Keyboard Will Turn Atari VCS Into Powerful Home Computer." In Fall 1983 Atari was going to put out a 56-key typewriter that snaps into the cartridge slot, and was going to turn the VCS into a real computer -- 8k RAM, Microsoft BASIC, expandable to 32k with cassette or disk drive, printer, modem, and access to Compu- Serve and The Source. Pic shows keyboard on VCS.




V.1. I.5 January/February 1983
Make your own left-handed joystick!

Captain's Log: Steve can't get over having the exclusive distribution rights to CC six months before it hits the public market.

Letters: What does the fuji mean?, is the light cycle scene of the movie Tron based on the game Surround?, will there be a voice synth for the VCS? ("At this time, the answer is no."), and tell us more about the Atari Camps.

New Cart Report: Vanguard, Ms. Pac-Man, Phoenix, SwordQuest FireWorld, Crazy Climber.

Arcade: Millipede, Pole Position.

Sneak Peeks: "the first hit game ever programmed by a woman", Kangaroo, new controllers for the VCS, Krull, five Sesame Street games.

Cart ads: FireWorld & contest, Ms. Pac-Man, two-pager for Crazy Climber, Phoenix, Vanguard.

Article: "Climbing The Walls"

Contest: Get E.T. Home and win a 5200!

Ad for 5200 and 10 carts.

Clubhouse: Joystick repair kit.

Your Turn: How to cheat at Superman.




V.2 I.1 March/April 1983

Inside Your VCS: How they make game consoles.

Your Turn: Eliminating baiters in Defender by shooting at them. Centerpiece: Phoenix poster.

Captain's Log: Steve tells us that Crazy Climber "is not currently on the schedule for general release."

Letters: Why not add a high scores section?, how do you join the Atari Club?, and what kind of education does a game designer need (answer: either have a Ph.D. or just be a closet hacker).

News: Call Atari Customer Service and they'll send you info on how to win Raiders of the Lost Ark, introducing the 1200XL, another summer at Atari Computer Camp, and 1 year service contracts.

New Cart Report: RS Tennis, RS Soccer, Centipede, Galaxian.

Sneak Peeks: Jungle Hunt, Pengo, Sorcerer's Apprentice; Oh No, There Are Gonna Be Peanuts Cartridges, Charlie Brown!; coming to the 5200 are Tempest, and Quantum vector image hardware in summer '83.

Cart ads: Galaxian, Real Sports series (with baseball cap), Crazy Climber, Centipede.

Arcade: Quantum and Xevious, plus all-time high scores. [Must take real determination to ply Asteroids 53 hours (40M) or Missile Command 45 hours (64M)... and Ken Vance of Las Vegas needs a life! m3]

5200: Fifteen games.

Contest: Centipede shoot.

Clubhouse: Atari system carrying case.

Article: Guinness Book of unusual sports records.



From V.1 I.2 July/August 1982 issue
Inside Your VCS: Guided tour of a VCS's hardware.

Atari International: Pac-Man skis the Matterhorn, Kuwait plays Dodge 'Em, pic of soccer great Pele and kids in "I (heart) Atari" t-shirts -- "Pele Visits Middle East As Atari Goodwill Ambassador."

From The Editor: An invitation to contribute to the magazine.

Letters: The programmer's sig in Missile Command on level 13, where does the name Atari come from?, will the Atari hurt my TV?

News: Atari Force comics, tie-in with McDonald's, new stuff in the Store, new service speeds game repairs; EPROM report on Math Grand Prix, Berzerk, and Demons To Diamonds; and Sneak Peeks...

Sneak Peeks: Home -- 17 cartridges planned for 1982, the RealSports line. Arcade -- Dig Dug.

Have you played Warlords today? Order it now and get paddles for $10!

Cart ad: Berzerk.

Article: Secret codes.

Merchandise: Digital watch, sports wallet, earrings, Game Center Organizer, tennis gear, bumper stickers, Pac-Man TV tray, fuji kite, polo shirt, mug, keyrings (fuji, Berzerk, Pac-Man), beach towel, tote bag, backpack, and the infamous I (heart) Atari pendant worn by the cute girl in a blue shirt

Contest: Break this code and win an Atari 400 & a Frisbee.