Hi.

To begin with, I hope that everyone following me on this journey understands that I am not the expert on all things Atari Lynx; there are others out there that I’m sure know the ins-and-outs of the system better than I do (especially in the technical realm, because I’m actually considered a serious danger to society with a soldering iron in my hand); to those folks in this community, I welcome your input and expertise. However, I will say that I have totally immersed myself in the Atari Lynx since I first got one back in February of 2017, and as I have had some experience with podcasting already, I thought I would go ahead and take up the torch.

The introductory episode, EPISODE 00: “Love of Lynx”, covers the history of the console. It also includes details of my own personal experience with the system, brief though it may be, and it outlines my goals for The HandyCast throughout its run.

After that episode, each monthly installment (episodes 01 through 71) covers one officially published Atari Lynx game. I’ve arranged the episode schedule by part number order so that I’m covering the games generally (but not always) in chronological order. There were 62 Atari-published games released during the original run of the Lynx (1989-1995). Every seventh episode will cover one of the nine games released by third-party publishers (Telegames, Shadowsoft, and Beyond Games) during that same time. At one episode per month, my intrepid partner on The HandyCast, Montague Habersham (Monty), and I should finish covering the 71 original-release games, capped by a final wrap-up episode (#72) by September of 2028.

At that point, if I haven’t already done so in special stand-alone episodes of The HandyCast, I’ll decide whether to cover the after-market games (Bubble Trouble, Alien vs. Predator, Krazy Ace Miniature Golf, Centipede, etc.), home brew games (Alpine Games, Weltenschläkter, unnamed, Wyvern Tales, Zaku, etc.) and other self-published and/or prototype titles for the Atari Lynx. Of course, someone else may decide to cover those games in his/her own podcast before I get to them, and that of course is fine with me. For now, I’ll just focus on the list of 71 titles that are generally accepted by the Atari Lynx community to be the original games released during the console’s brief lifetime on the market.

In each episode of The HandyCast (and as Ferg does in each episode of his excellent long-running podcast The Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast), I include vital statistics about that episode’s game; a preview of its gameplay, graphics, and music; a little about the people who worked on it; and a compendium of what reviewers thought of the game, both contemporary with the game’s original release and later on. I also include each game’s cost on eBay (completed sales only) and at retro-gaming retailers such as B & C ComputerVisions and Best Electronics. After all, with vintage video game prices going for big bucks these days, it’s imperative that every collector have accurate pricing information before deciding to add a given Lynx title to the collection, right?

Most importantly, in each episode I include feedback and memories from everyone and anyone in the Atari Lynx community about that episode’s game. I want The HandyCast to be a podcast for EVERYONE, not just for me.

And speaking of the community: I’ve already received suggestions about people in the community or industry whom I might want to interview for the HandyCast. If I can secure these interviews, I plan to post them alongside the original 71 planned games as special stand-alone episodes. My first interview on The HandyCast was a mid-2018 chat with programmer Chuck Sommerville and musician LX Rudis. In mid-2021 Scott Rhoades, veteran Atari 7800 and Lynx manual writer, joined me in a chat as well. And I am currently lining up more interview episodes for release in the near future.

Lastly, I want to make The Handycast a fun experience for our great community, not just an informative one. And even though Monty and I sometimes butt heads intellectually (he’s ever so much smarter than I am), we are still both always committed to helping anyone who doesn’t already own a Lynx to be excited about picking one up and starting their own collection. And, last but not least, we want to inspire those gamers and collectors whom are already Lynx owners to spread the word to those future Lynxters who haven’t yet jumped head-first into playing with and collecting for this amazing system.

Eat. Sleep. LYNX. Repeat.

-Mark Little