John K. Harvey is a homebrew programmer for the Atari 2600, known on the AtariAge forums as Propane13. He started with Pressure Gauge, a one-button timing test he wrote around 2000 as a college exercise, inspired by a mini-game in Brave Fencer Musashi. Its hidden text demo was his first try at scrolling text on the 2600.
His bigger project was Mean Santa, which he programmed from a design by Tim Duarte of the fan newsletter 2600 Connection. Released in October 2009 to mark the newsletter’s 100th issue, it casts Santa as a burglar who empties houses instead of filling them. Harvey spent more than a year on it and filled the 8K cartridge. The site has both TV formats:
Mean Santa (NTSC), the North American build
Mean Santa (PAL), the European build
Pick one of his games below and give it a go in your browser.
Pressure Gauge is a homebrew Atari 2600 game written by John K. Harvey as a college exercise. It is a pure timing test with a single control: press the button at exactly the right moment. The idea came from a mini-game in the PlayStation title Brave Fencer Musashi. The graphics are just a few coloured bars, but it is the kind of game where you keep pressing Reset for one more try. You can play it here in your browser.
Mean Santa (NTSC) is the North American build of Mean Santa, a 2009 Atari 2600 homebrew in which Santa does the opposite of his usual job: he lands on rooftops, climbs down the chimney and takes everything in the house. Tim Duarte of the fan newsletter 2600 Connection designed it, John K. Harvey programmed it, and the newsletter released it on cartridge. You can play it here in your browser.
Mean Santa is a 2009 Atari 2600 homebrew that turns Christmas upside down: instead of leaving presents, Santa sneaks into houses and takes things away. Tim Duarte of the fan newsletter 2600 Connection came up with the idea, John K. Harvey programmed it, and the newsletter released it on cartridge. It is a short race against the clock and a fun seasonal change from the usual 2600 shooters. This page runs the PAL version, and you can play it here in your browser.