Mike Feinstein was a programmer at General Computer Corporation (GCC), the company that converted arcade games for Atari. He worked on four of Atari’s 1983 arcade conversions on this site, each with a different partner:
Phoenix, with John Mracek: the Amstar shooter, cut down to fit 8 KB but still with its mothership finale; it won an Arkie Award in 1984
Joust, with Kevin Osborn: Williams’ flying-ostrich game, with a two-player mode for working together or fighting
Jungle Hunt, with John Allred: Taito’s rescue adventure across four jungle scenes
Battlezone, credited here with Brad Rice: Atari’s arcade tank game, with the vector graphics swapped for regular 2600 graphics
Pick an arcade conversion below and play it in your browser.
Phoenix is Atari’s 2600 version of the 1980 arcade shooter, made under licence from Amstar Electronics and programmed by Mike Feinstein and John Mracek of General Computer Corporation. It came out in early 1983 and, like the arcade game, mixes very different stages: diving small birds, huge birds that regrow their wings, and an alien mothership. You can play it here in your browser, with nothing to install.
Joust is Atari’s 1983 home version of the 1982 Williams arcade game, programmed for the 2600 by Mike Feinstein and Kevin Osborn of General Computer Corporation. You are a knight riding a flying ostrich, and you beat enemy knights on buzzards by crashing into them from above. Its best feature is the two-player mode, where you can cooperate or fight each other. You can play it here in your browser, with nothing to install.
Jungle Hunt is Atari’s 1983 home version of Taito’s 1982 arcade game. It was programmed for the Atari 2600 by Mike Feinstein and John Allred at General Computer Corporation (GCC). As the explorer Sir Dudley Dashly, you race through four jungle obstacles to rescue your wife, Lady Penelope, from two cannibals. Each scene needs a different skill, which keeps it varied. You can play it here in your browser, with nothing to download.
Battlezone is the Atari 2600 version of Atari’s 1980 arcade tank game, released by Atari in August 1983. You roll across a battlefield hunting enemy tanks, supertanks, fighters and flying saucers, using a radar screen to find targets that are behind you or out of sight. The arcade’s wireframe 3D graphics were beyond the 2600, but the tense hunt-and-dodge gameplay survived the move. You can play it here in your browser, with nothing to install.