''Antic'' was a print
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
devoted to
Atari 8-bit computers and later the
Atari ST
Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...
. It was named after the
ANTIC chip in the 8-bit line which, in concert with
CTIA or GTIA, generates the display. The magazine was published by Antic Publishing from April 1982 until June/July 1990.''Antic'' printed
type-in programs (usually in
Atari BASIC), reviews, and tutorials, among other articles. Each issue contained one type-in game as "Game of the Month." In 1986, ''
STart
Start can refer to multiple topics:
* Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air
* Starting lineup in sports
* Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race
* S ...
'' magazine was spun off to exclusively cover the
Atari ST
Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...
line.
Its main rival in the United States was ''
ANALOG Computing'', another long-lived magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit line. Multi-system magazines ''
COMPUTE!'' and ''
Family Computing'' also served Atari 8-bit owners with type-in programs.
Starting in 1984, the catalog for
Antic Software was bound into issues of ''Antic''.
History
NASA programmer Jim Capparell was an early Atari 8-bit computer owner. He quit his job on 15 January 1982 to found a magazine covering the 8-bit systems.
On-Line Systems,
Broderbund, and
Synapse Software agreed to purchase advertising in the new publication, and Capparell's staff distributed the first issue of 30 pages at the March 1982
West Coast Computer Faire. The first issue of ''Antic'' was published in April 1982. While it began as a bimonthly magazine, within a year it had gone monthly.
By Christmas 1983 the magazine was 148 pages, but in 1984 Antic saw advertising sales drop by 50% in 90 days. The
Antic Software catalog, bound into each issue, contained
public domain software, re-released products from the
Atari Program Exchange after it folded, and original titles. It helped the company avoid bankruptcy, and in 1985 it started ''II Computing'' for the
Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
.
In 1984, after the
Atari Program Exchange was closed by Atari, Inc., Antic started selling former APX games and application software under the name ''APX Classics from Antic'' and solicited new submissions as
Antic Software. The Antic Software catalog was bound into issues of the magazine.
In 1985 ''Antic'' began ''ST Resource'', a section of the magazine devoted to the
Atari ST
Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...
line. In 1986 it began ''
STart '' magazine for the computer. The daughter magazine would outlive its parent by about a year. When ''Antic'' ended, it continued as a section of ''STart'', appearing in six more issues. A magazine for the
Amiga, the primary competitor of the Atari ST, was published from 1989 until 1991 under the name ''Antic's Amiga Plus''.
The last issue of ''Antic'' was June–July 1990. All told, 88 issues and a "Best of" book were published.
TYPO
A utility called ''TYPO'' ("Type Your Program Once," a play on
typographical error
A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesettin ...
) was used to verify that programs were typed in correctly that generated set of check-sums for different portions of the lines of code, but it didn't help users find exactly which line had the error. ''TYPO'' was later succeeded by ''TYPO II'', a smaller, faster program that generates a
checksum two letter code for each
Atari BASIC line entered in a program. By comparing each line's checksum with that printed in the magazine, the reader could be sure they typed the BASIC source correctly before entering the next line of code.
Versions of ''TYPO'' were also published and used (with permission) by ''
Page 6''. ''
ANALOG Computing'' also used a two-letter checksum code for their type-in programs they offered and was interoperable with ''Antic''s ''TYPO II''.
References
External links
''Antic''at the Classic Computer Magazine Archive
*
The ''Antic'' Magazine Libraryat the
Centre for Computing History
{{Authority control
Defunct computer magazines published in the United States
Atari 8-bit computer magazines
Magazines established in 1982
Magazines disestablished in 1990
1982 establishments in the United States
1990 disestablishments in the United States
Computer magazines published in the United States