Atmospheric Heights No More
John den Hartog - Feb. 22, 1998
Atmospheric Heights had been a very successful Arcade emulation site that had received great media attention and lived a great life. Unfortunately, for the reasons stated below, John den Hartog pulled the plug on his site. This message is archived in rememberance.
Just a few minutes ago I received notice from Pairnet.Com (my 200MB server space sponsor), in which was stated that my files would be password protected for 30 days. Following just that were about 60 mails (and thats within a few hours folks!) complaining about the password protection. Of course, as you might understand, my pages can't handle such restrictions. Add to that, a few days ago my primary harddisk took a beating, destroying all my HTML files, my entire arcade emulation collection and some personal stuff.
This is the end really for Atmospherical Heights. It has been fun while it lasted, but ever since the end of 1997, it was more of a drag than actual fun for me to keep maintaining the pages. I have started yet another careermove, one which obliges me with even more time-consuming activities and responsiblities, leaving me with little to no time to keep up with current updates.
I would like to thank the more than a million visitors and thousands of e-mailers who supported me in the past, it has been a great time indeed. Nostalgia, even in the form we participated in, is a moment in time in which we remember the glorious things of our past. Make sure that nothing can change our perception of that past, and that we can raise a smile of the things of our youth.
Thanks also to all the people who made our nostalgia trip worthwhile, the emulator authors. Even if I focussed a little bit too much on M.A.M.E., all other projects where truly awesome in both design and implementation. Respect is truly due.
To the M.A.M.E. team I would like to say: Thank you for all your efforts, and for letting me join the MAMEDEV team, so that I could keep up with current affairs. This emulator surely dominated my spare time ever since it was first released, and I had the privilege to maintain the very first M.A.M.E. website out there, even if it was unofficial. However, I won't be leaving without nagging about current affairs. Some people within the MAMEDEV team seem to think of themselves as godlike persons, wanting to apply their own rules upon others. Better watch out, your ego might get hurt in the unforseeable future. You are not the only one able to place all the pieces of the puzzle together.
To the scene innovators I would like to say: Keep it up! Those of you still around are doing a tremendous job, informing and supplying the wanting public with a priceless stream of updates and information.
To the scene followers I would like to say: I hope you will one day achieve your goal and reach that hero-like status I enjoyed. Chances are small, but if you have too much free time on your hands, you might be able to reach a planet filled with info wanting people.
To all the lamers out there I would like to say: " Hey you sad piece of shite, now you will have to link off another respected scene-dude for your miserable, not worth to mention, obscure web site. "
Thats it. Peace to all of you out there, anyone reading this has to be a really cool girl or guy, one with one I for once share the same frequency.
Signed the 22nd of February 1998,
John den Hartog.
