Source: System 
Current state: Unstable
Space Invaders on Atari 2600 10 March 1980
Jon Tannahill : 218,870 points
5 Likes
Looks like the missing aliens in the screenshot add up to 55 points.
3 Likes
Bottom blocks as a 7-bit read (bright high, dull low):
1010101 0010011 1111101
1010100 0100000 1000011
1010010 0000011 1111011
1101001 1101010 1100110
1000010 0101001 1010100
1010001 0000110 1100010
1000101 1111111 1111111
Flipped:
0101010 1101100 0000010
0101011 1011111 0111100
0101101 1111100 0000100
0010110 0010101 0011001
0111101 1010110 0101011
0101110 1111001 0011101
0111010 0000000 0000000
Can’t get a decent read as 7-bit, punched tape, nor padded/weird reads.
Click for outputs (for the very bored):
7-bit, MSB:
| Block | Order | Raw chars | School code |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | v> | UTRiBQE |
UYSbIQF |
| B1 | ^> | EQBiRTU |
FQIbSYU |
| B1 | v< | U.%K!EQ |
U.%R!FQ |
| B1 | ^< | QE!K%.U |
QF!R%.U |
| B3 | v> | }C{fTb. |
}N{aYi. |
| B3 | ^> | .bTf{C} |
.iYa{N} |
| B3 | v< | _ao3.#. |
_mv3.#. |
| B3 | ^< | .#.3oa_ |
.#.3vm_ |
Tap: Row-major, tape moves down, each row = 7-bit frame:
| Frame | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | U |
DC3 |
} |
| 1 | T |
SPC |
C |
| 2 | R |
ETX |
{ |
| 3 | i |
j |
f |
| 4 | B |
) |
T |
| 5 | Q |
ACK |
b |
| 6 | E |
DEL |
DEL |
Tap: Row-major, with LSB on left (punched tape edge convention):
| Frame | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | U | d | _ |
| 1 | NAK | STX | a |
| 2 | % | ` | o |
| 3 | K | + | 3 |
| 4 | ! | J | NAK |
| 5 | E | 0 | # |
| 6 | Q | DEL | DEL |
Tape: Column-major, tape moves right, each column = 7-bit frame (top = MSB):
| Col | Bits | Char | Col | Bits | Char | Col | Bits | Char | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1111111 |
DEL |
7 | 0001001 |
TAB |
14 | 1111111 |
DEL |
||
| 1 | 0001000 |
BS |
8 | 0101101 |
- |
15 | 1011011 |
[ |
||
| 2 | 1110010 |
r |
9 | 1000001 |
A |
16 | 1010101 |
U |
||
| 3 | 0001000 |
BS |
10 | 0001101 |
CR |
17 | 1010001 |
Q |
||
| 4 | 1100001 |
a |
11 | 0000011 |
ETX |
18 | 1001101 |
M |
||
| 5 | 0010100 |
DC4 |
12 | 1011011 |
[ |
19 | 0111011 |
; |
||
| 6 | 1001011 |
K |
13 | 1010101 |
U |
20 | 1110001 |
q |
Per-block column-major (top = MSB):
| Col | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | DEL |
TAB |
DEL |
| 1 | BS |
- |
[ |
| 2 | r |
A |
U |
| 3 | BS |
CR |
Q |
| 4 | a |
ETX |
M |
| 5 | DC4 |
[ |
; |
| 6 | K |
U |
q |
Flat stream padding (147 bits → 8-bit):
| Padding | Bytes (hex) | Printable fragments |
|---|---|---|
| Left-pad 5 | 05 52 7F 6A 20 87 48 1F BD 3A B3 42 53 52 88 6C 51 7F FF |
R j H : B S R l Q |
| Right-pad 5 | AA 4F ED 44 10 E9 03 F7 A7 56 68 4A 6A 51 0D 8A 2F FF E0 |
O D V h J j Q / |
Each 21-bit row padded to 24 bits (3 bytes):
| Row | Left-pad (hex) | Right-pad (hex) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 15 49 FD |
AA 4F E8 |
| 1 | 15 10 43 |
A8 82 18 |
| 2 | 14 81 FB |
A4 0F D8 |
| 3 | 1A 75 66 |
D3 AB 30 |
| 4 | 10 94 D4 |
84 A6 A0 |
| 5 | 14 43 62 |
A2 1B 10 |
| 6 | 11 7F FF |
8B FF F8 |
All order + pad + bit combos for B1 (all unique outputs):
| Order | Bit | Pad | Raw | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v> | msb | 7bit/L8 | UTRiBQE |
UYSbIQF |
| v> | lsb | 7bit/L8 | U.%K!EQ |
U.%R!FQ |
| v> | lsb | R8 | .*J.B.. |
.*J.I.. |
| ^> | msb | 7bit/L8 | EQBiRTU |
FQIbSYU |
| ^> | lsb | R8 | ..B.J*. |
..I.J*. |
Weird middle one is likely
0101010
1001001
1111000
0001011
0111000
0000011
0011010
But, some are 2 of 5 pixels to a bit, and it’s warped to not quite fit the 5.
I have red them as 0.
6 Likes
@vector_cmdr, great work!
5 Likes
Anyone want to play some Space Invaders? https://freeinvaders.org/
Here is my current “up-to-date” score
7 Likes
Cleaned up image thanks to @YourBasicMaths on Discord.
This is a two-player game, the left player’s score is 0303, the right player’s score is 1980.
03/03/1980 happens to be the date The Wasp was discovered…
Edit: @BadPunZ on Discord mentioned that a score of 0303 is impossible since everything in the game gives scores in multiples of 5. @the_architect is definitely drawing attention to the numbers 0303 1980, and the only other time we’ve seen those numbers so far was the collection date for The Wasp. The 2016_DATASET post we got The Wasp from is still unstable.
Wasping Titan is real.
13 Likes
lol
- scoreS as in multiple scores? Multiple operators loggin their scores?
- highest : 218 270
- 0303 1980
2 Likes
Do the bottom three images translate into anything? They look a little like 2d arcades (if I got the name right)
2 Likes
On discord, we noticed the odd sprites - I realised they assembed into a data matrix barcode… which reads “ATARI 2600”.
15 Likes
I come home and check in to find we are playing arcade games. Woot! Played this one a lot at the skating rink. 
8 Likes
Who’s awesome? You’re awesome
8 Likes
Anyone got an old atari lying around? 
2 Likes
New link
2 Likes
1 Like
all credits to @Rinha but needed this to understand lol : Bits are inverted then put together.
You’re a genius, @Rinha !
5 Likes
To be honest, I only thought of it because one appeared on the wasp picture!
Rather than trying to tidy up the image, I just drew the parts in MS Paint, then copy–pasted them keeping the solid borders on the bottom and left sides.
8 Likes
Marsh cited this specimen in 1989, and Cicero collected it on 03/03/1980.
https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/ento/?ark=ark:/65665/320447e3d3cc0458ab17826b0a6d787c3
If Marsh wins vs. Cicero, and the years are the scores, it would be 1989 1980.
Edit: Insert Coin is stable. Insert Coin – project-skyscraper
3 Likes