[FAQ] Atari Lynx Frequently-Asked Questions
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From: rjung@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx, rec.games.video.atari
Subject: [FAQ] Atari Lynx Frequently-Asked Questions
Date: 7 May 2000 00:12:26 GMT
Message-ID: <8f2cda$pds$1@slb3.atl.mindspring.net>
Summary: FAQs about the Atari Lynx hand-held video game system

Archive-name: games/video-games/atari/lynx
Posting-Frequency: monthly

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||| Atari Lynx "Frequently Asked Questions" File! Updated: 5/1/2000
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Created by Darius Vaskelis, who saw the need and filled it.
Maintained by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com)

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This file is not maintained by, overseen by, endorsed, or otherwise associated with Atari Corp. or any of its subsidiaries. It's just a
collection of questions and answers, with a few news tidbits thrown in.

This file is posted on a monthly basis to rec.games.video.atari, alt.games.lynx, news.answers, and rec.answers around the first of the month.
The latest version of this file is also available on the world-wide web at http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/atari/Atari.shtml. It is maintained by
Robert Jung at rjung@netcom.com on the Internet. Send corrections, news, updates, comments, questions, or other stuff to that address. All mail is
welcome!

Updates since the last publically posted FAQ have a percent sign (%) in the first column.

Robert tries to get the latest news and information into this FAQ; however, he's only human, and might miss something important due to real-life demands.
Feel free to send in news tidbits and announcements to rjung@netcom.com for inclusion in this FAQ.

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Q. What was the Atari Lynx?

A. The Lynx was the world's first hand-held color video game system. Sold by Atari, the Lynx offered true multi-player competition, built-in 3D and
distortion graphic effects, reversible controls, and fast arcade action.

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Q. What was included when you bought a Lynx?

A. The Lynx was available in two packages:

Originally, the Lynx "Deluxe Package" included the Lynx unit, a copy of the CALIFORNIA GAMES game card, a carrying case, a ComLynx cable, and an
AC adaptor. Later the adaptor was replaced with six AA Alkaline batteries. The Lynx "Base Package" came with only the Lynx but no
accessories.

Near the end of the Lynx's retail life, some stores were selling a "maximum" Lynx package, consisting of the Lynx itself and four games. It
was primarily a clearance/liquidation move, and is no longer available.

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Q. What happened to Atari, anyway?

A. The trials and tribulations of Atari could fill a small book (and, in fact, once did). To summarize VERY briefly, the history of Atari is as
follows:

1972 Atari Inc. founded by Nolan Bushnell from a $250 investment. Pong arcade game becomes a smash sensation.
1976 Atari Inc. sold by Bushnell to Warner Inc. for $28 million.
1980 Atari Inc. posts record sales. $2 billion profits annually. Atari occupies 80 offices in Sunnyvale, CA.
1983 Decline of video games and irresponsible spending by Atari Inc. results in record losses ($536 million, up to $2 million daily).
1984 Warner divides Atari Inc. Home division (Atari Corp.) is sold to Jack Tramiel.
1985 Atari Corp. releases Atari ST home computer.
1989 Atari Corp. releases Atari Lynx, the world's first color hand-held video game system.
1993 Atari Corp. releases Atari Lynx, the world's first 64-bit home video game system (see the Atari Lynx FAQ).
1994 Atari Games becomes Time-Warner Interactive.
1996 Time-Warner Interactive (Atari Games) sold to WMS.
1996 Atari Corp. announces reverse merger with JTS Corporation.
1996 Atari Corp. and JTS connsumate deal on July 31 1996.
1998 Hasbro acquires the rights to Atari Corp.'s name and properties
1999 Hasbro releases their rights to the Jaguar to the public; Atari is reborn as their new home video game label.

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Q. What was the relationship between the Atari Lynx and Epyx?

A. The Lynx was originally conceived by Epyx in 1987. It was called the "Handy" at that time. Two creators of the system, Dave Needle and R.J.
Mical, were also members of the Amiga design team. Atari bought the rights to the Lynx and to Epyx's library of titles, and the rest is
history. Epyx no longer has any connection with Atari or the Lynx.

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Q. What are the specifications of the Lynx?

A. Physical dimensions:

Size: 9.25" x 4.25" x 2" (10.75" x 4.25" x 1.5" for original Lynx)
Screen: 3.5" diagonal (3.25" x 1.88" approx.)
Speaker: 2" diameter

Buttons: Two sets of fire buttons (A and B)
Two option buttons (OPTION 1 and OPTION 2)
Pause button
(OPTION 1 + Pause = Restarts the game
OPTION 2 + Pause = Flips the screen, which allows the Lynx controls to be reversed)
Power on light (Not on original Lynx; indicates unit is on)
Power on button
Power off button
Backlight button (Not on original Lynx; turns off the screen,
but does not turn off the game. This saves electricity use when a game is paused)
Joypad: Eight directional
Controls: Volume
Brightness
Ports: Headphones (mini-DIN 3.5mm stereo; wired for mono on the original Lynx)
ComLynx (multiple unit communications)
Power (9V DC, 1 A)
Game card slot
Battery holder (six AA)

For the technically minded, the Lynx has two basic chips that form a cooperative set of co-processing subsystems that maximize the Lynx's
performance by sharing the work of executing a game program. These chips are called Mikey and Suzy.

Mikey (16-bit custom CMOS chip running at 16MHz)
- MOS 65C02 processor running at up to 4MHz (~3.6MHz average)
8-bit CPU, 16-bit address space
- Sound engine
4 channel sound
8-bit DAC for each channel
(4 channels x 8-bits/channel = 32 bits commonly quoted)
Atari reports the range is "100Hz to above the range of human hearing"; spectrum analysis shows the range may go as low as 32Hz.
Stereo with panning (mono for original Lynx)
- Video DMA driver for LCD display
4096 color (12-bit) palette
16 simultaneous colors (4 bits) from palette per scanline (more than 16
colors can be displayed by changing palettes after each scanline)
- System timers
- Interrupt controller
- UART (for ComLynx)
- 512 bytes of bootstrap and game-card loading ROM

Suzy (16-bit custom CMOS chip running at 16MHz)
- Blitter (bit-map block transfer) unit
- Graphics engine
Hardware drawing support
Unlimited number of high-speed sprites with collision detection
Hardware high-speed sprite scaling, distortion, and tilting effects
Hardware decoding of compressed sprite data
Hardware clipping and multi-directional scrolling
Variable frame rate (up to 75 frames/second)
160 x 102 "triad" standard resolution (16,320 addressable pixels) (A triad is three LCD elements: red, green, and blue)
Capability of 480 x 102 artificially high resolution
- Math co-processor
Hardware 16-bit multiply and divide (32-bit answer)
Parallel processing of single multiply or divide instruction

The Lynx contains 64K (half a megabit) of 120ns