Lehigh Valley Press recently published a feature on my Atari 2600 video game Route 22 Rampage, a retro cartridge inspired by the joys and frustrations of driving Route 22 through the Lehigh Valley.
The article looks at the history of the Atari 2600, the surprisingly active modern Atari homebrew community, and how Route 22 Rampage was designed using just 128 bytes of memory. It also covers the hands-on process behind the game—everything from programming in Batari Basic and assembly language to 3D-printing cartridge cases and creating the artwork.
As I joked in the article, the game includes “traffic, potholes and just enough frustration to feel like home,” while still being more fun than the real commute.
The piece also touches on my background in photography, electronics, and film work, and how those interests fed into making a physical cartridge-based game in a mostly digital world.
Read the full article by Dave Howell at Lehigh Valley Press:
https://www.lvpnews.com/20260103/matthew-blum-got-game-with-his-route-22-video-game