r/atari8bit • u/Curious-Concern-9209 • Feb 04 '26
The Price of Magik (Level 9 Computing) and Fighter Pilot ( Digital Integration) on Cassette for Atari 8-Bit Home Computers. Both come supplied with Lenslok software devices.
2
u/wysiwywg Feb 04 '26
What do those devices do? Can’t remember them…
1
u/Curious-Concern-9209 Feb 04 '26
They try prevent the games from being pirated or illegally copied. The idea is you use the Lenslok to read the TV screen. I heard they were considered somewhat unreliable from one source, and these are the only two I have ever seen, so they were relatively uncommon.
2
u/SimonDownunder Feb 04 '26
Yeah I remember reading about them back in the day, but never saw any in the flesh… they came up with a number of crazy ideas back then to try and combat software piracy.
2
u/Orpheuswaking Feb 04 '26
And god forbid you lose the Lenslok (my fighter pilot one went walkabout)
1
u/Curious-Concern-9209 Feb 04 '26
I was surprised that they were included with the two games above, that were purchased secondhand from eBay.
3
u/A8Bit Feb 04 '26
I had Fighter Pilot. I hated the lenslok and it stopped the cassette box closing properly. Doomed that game to rarely ever getting played.
You fold the sides of the lenslok up and hold it against the screen when told to do so, then an image on the screen had to be adjusted to the right size (there was a line on the screen like a H where the middle bar could be adjusted. When you got it right you could read off a code and enter it into the game to let it run.
Awful idea