Before Prince of Persia, before even Karateka propelled him to game developer stardom, Jordan Mechner wrote Deathbounce — a game similar (maybe too similar) to the arcade smash-hit Asteroids.

Your ‘ship’ must shoot bouncing balls and avoid colliding with them to survive. Only your quick reflexes, trigger finger and an energy shield stand between you and wave after wave of intense balls to the walls action.

(HT Ken Gagne)

Update: Jack’s passing has been confirmed.

Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore Portable Typewriter Company which later became Commodore Business Machines and then Commodore International, has reportedly died.  Though the major news services have yet to pick up on it, posts are beginning to appear on the popular Atari boards and on Twitter.  Tramiel at one point was interested in buying the young Apple Computer, Inc but the deal fell through.  Jack resigned from Commodore in 1984 and later that year, purchased a controlling interest in the Atari home computer and gaming divisions of Warner Communications.

An odd bit of trivia: though both Woz and Tramiel were early movers and shakers in the industry, and their companies were direct competitors in the home computer market, the two didn’t meet until 2007.

The April 2012 episode of Open Apple, the Apple II community’s only co-hosted podcast, is now available.

This month, our hosts chat with world video game record holder and Apple II game critic Brian Picchi, whose YouTube channel showcases the best and worst of Apple II entertainment. It’s a good time to be a convention-goer: registration has opened for KansasFest 2012, the lineup for Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0 has been announced, 8 Bit Weapon played at the Smithsonian’s opening of the Art of Video Games, and Jordan Mechner is keynoting PAX East. Kickstarter continues to be popular for reviving classic franchises, Ewen Wannop updates SNAP and SAFE on a shoestring budget, and Jordan Mechner unearths his Prince of Persia source code. On eBay, we found a rarer-than-the-Apple-1 copy of Akalabeth on cassette, a rare Apple IIGS-specific wristwatch, and a potential CFFA3000 scalper. Finally, we look at some gadgets that are new to us, including old iPads, new iPads, and DSLR cameras.

Find the show on the Open Apple Web site or in iTunes or the Zune marketplace.

Howard Cantin is the artist who laid out the PCB designs for the Apple-1 and the first Apple IIs, as well as several early Atari products for Nolan Bushnell.  Mike Willegal, creator of the Brain Board and the Mimeo 1 Apple-1 replica kit (among other things), interviewed Cantin by phone yesterday.  While the conversation wasn’t recorded or transcribed, Mike has posted extensive notes on his blog.  Definitely worth a read if you’re interested in the design of very early Apple boards.