The Real Story Behind The Hoax
 
Due to the e-mail response 
generated by my 2600 Doom 
hoax, which was featured as 
the "Psycho Hoax of the 
Month" in issue #102 of 
Electronic Gaming Monthly, 
I've created this page to tell 
the story behind the hoax 
and how it all started.
In The Beginning
2600 Doom was originally 
created as a final project for 
a 2D computer imaging class 
I was taking in college. The 
objective of the project was 
to create 3 ad images for a 
product that was either real 
or made up, and apply each 
in a different way. For 2600 
Doom, a magazine ad was 
made along with a actual 
mock box and cartridge.
Having A Little Fun
With the result of the project 
turning out looking quite 
real, I decided to have a little 
fun with it and start a hoax 
in the video game world. 
With the help of my e-mail 
pen pal friend Bill Haslacher, 
news of a release of an Atari 
2600 version of Doom was 
spread across the internet. 
With that, even before being 
featured in EGM, the hoax 
drew quite a response. By 
the way, I ended up getting 
an A for the project.
 How Did You Do That?
The one thing I am asked by 
everybody who has e-mailed 
me on this little hoax is how 
the screen shots for the 
game were created. They 
were made on a Atari 800XL 
8-bit computer in a graphics 
mode that was close in 
display to what a 2600 might show, and then photographed off of a TV. 
That is the secret of why 
they look so real. 
 And That Is It
So there you have it, the real 
story behind the hoax of 
Doom for the Atari 2600 
from the one who actually 
created it. 
James Catalano 
NOTE: While I hated to mark the images, the reason for this is because there have been a
few assholes who have used the original unmarked images to take credit for the hoax saying
that they created them. Marking the images stops anyone from trying to take credit on creating
the images or the hoax. And for those who would ask, don't even bother to ask me to e-mail you
any of the original unmarked images because I won't.
See the "April Doomsday?" feature
on the 2600 Doom hoax at
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E-mail me
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