wsm (11/10/82)
NEW PRODUCT RUMORED!!!!! Whilst purchasing games at a computer store in NYC, the subject of trackballs was raised. Some of you may have heard of or seen the WICO trackball, which is really a joystick emulator (you roll the ball up, it sends pulses along the up line, etc). I was informed that Atari itself was coming out with a track-ball for the 400/800 as well as one for the new 5200. My comment at that point was, "It would sure be nice to be able to use it with Missile Command(tm), but since it is totally different from a joystick, I guess we'll be forced to buy a new version of the game to use the ball." The salesman then told me, "No, the Missile Command cartridge already HAS a 'track-ball' option built into it. All you will need to do is hit CONTROL-T to put the game into 'track-ball mode'!" I have tried it, it really does switch input modes! The stick no longer works, but the ball is apparently not going to be simply two paddles, because they don't work either. The arcade Centipede(tm) also uses a track-ball, but CONTROL-T on that cartridge doesn't appear to do anything. Maybe there's another 'switch character'? Not afraid to leak rumored products, Walt Morris BTL-MH ...mhtsa!mh3bs!wsm