ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LIMA
NEWSLETTER MARCH 1991
 
^^^^ NEVER RELEASED OFFICIAL TI
MODULES (addendum)  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^by Mike Wright 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^45 Centerville Dr. 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^Salem, New Hampshire,
03079 
 
This material is a supplement to the
6-part series by Charles Good in
BP&&P.  Part 1, Jan 90, p6; Part 2,
Feb 90, p2; Part 3, Mar 90, p2; Part
4, Mar 90, p5; Part 5, Apr 90, p4;
Part 6, May 90, p5. In particular,
this material partly answers the
question posed in Apr 90, p4, at the
foot of column one:  [Editor's note:
here Charles quotes a published
reference to 3 new ET games scheduled
for release by Looking Glass Software
in the 4th quarter of 1983, mentions
ET AT SEA, and asks "Does anyone know
anything about the other two Looking
Glass ET based educational software
games?"] 
 
One of the largest TI dealers in 1983
was Micro Computers Corporation, 34
Maple Avenue, Armonk, NY 10504. They
produced Microshopper Report, a
catalog of TI hardware and
peripherals. An almost identical
publication was put out by Keystone
Distributing Company, 51 Morgan Drive,
Norwood, MA 02062. I understand there
was a close connection between the two
companies, but am not sure what it
was. 
 
In the summer of 1983, the first issue
of The Family Programmer was published
by The Family Programmer Company, 34
Maple Avenue, Armonk, NY 10504. This
was a 12-page typeset newsletter
printed on quality paper with a
16-page bound-in catalog. (As far as
is known, this was also the last
issue.) 
 
The lead article was: "New Products.
New Texas Instruments Home Computer
Products Announced". It dealt mainly
with the CC-40 and Hex-bus
peripherals, but included a section
on "New Educational Software for
TI-99/4A": 
 
"Also new are three E.T.-based
educational software games, developed
by Looking Glass Software, Inc: 
 
"E.T. And His Adventures On Land for
children ages 3-6, is a graphic
learning game where the player helps
E.T. return home. E.T. and Elliott
learn about characteristics of
various animals as they try to reach
the "mother ship" at the forest,
mountain or desert landing sites. The
game includes two levels of difficulty
and a strategy game packed with action
and colorful animations. (Available
Winter 1983; Price $39.95; Joysticks
recommended.) 
 
"The E.T. and His Adventures In Air
learn-through-play educational game
for ages 7-10 lets the player explore
basic physics concepts and astronomy
terms through activities including a
hot air balloon simulation and space
travel in E.T. and Elliott's space
shuttle. Adventures include mapping
the solar system and various space
challenges in strategy action games.
(Available Winter 1983; Price $39.95;
Joysticks recommended.) 
 
The article includes a scene from E.T.
and His Adventures In Air. E.T. (on
the left) and Elliott are looking out
the window of their spaceship at the
planet Saturn. 
 
This information raises some
interesting questions: 
 
First, the article refers to three
games, but does not include any
information about E.T. in His
Adventure At Sea (described in BB&&P,
Feb 90, p4). As far as is known, this
was the only one of the trio to make
it to the outside world. 
 
Second, it seems that the other two
games must have been finished, perhaps
only in prototype, as The Family
Programmer was able to publish a
picture of one of the screens. 
 
Finally, and this is nit-picking, it
seems strange that the known version
is "E. T. in..." while the others are
listed as "E.T. and...". (The "in" is
correct for the sea version.) Also the
known version has "Adventure" in the
singular, while the others are listed
as "Adventures". 
 
Needless to say, if anyone has any
further information, especially the
games themselves, we would be more
than interested to hear from you. 
.PL 1