Year: 1982

Categories
Atari VCS Video Games

Fast Food

  • October 29, 1982

Cosmic CreepsTelesys releases the video game cartridge Fast Food for the Atari 2600 home video game system, just in time for the Christmas buying season. A glut of new releases for the 2600 by the end of the year, many from third-party companies like Telesys, causes some consumer confusion which has unexpected consequences for the entire industry.

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Video Games

Vectrex

  • November 1, 1982

VectrexGeneral Consumer Electronics (GCE) introduces a self-contained vector graphics video game unit, Vectrex. Using its own monitor instead of connecting to a television, Vectrex is an attractive proposition for parents, but the high price tag makes it a luxury item. Toy maker Milton Bradley eventually buys out GCE and takes over manufacture and marketing of Vectrex, and plans add-ons such as a light pen and 3-D glasses.

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Categories
Uncrewed Spaceflight Viking

Viking 1 shuts down

  • November 11, 1982

VikingAfter over six years of continuous operation and data gathering on the planet Mars, the Viking 1 lander – having outlived the power supply aboard its orbiter and now transmitting its observations directly to Earth – is inadvertently silenced during what is intended to be a remote upgrade of its on-board software. Ground controllers are never able to establish contact with Viking 1 again. Its record of continuous operation on another planet is not broken until 2010, when Viking 1 is outlasted by NASA’s Opportunity rover.

Categories
Columbia Crewed Spaceflight Space Shuttle

STS-5

  • November 11, 1982

ColumbiaOn the first fully-operational flight of NASA’s Space Transportation System, Space Shuttle Columbia delivers two commercial satellites to orbit, the Canadian Anik C-3 satellite and an American satellite, SitS-C. Aboard Columbia for this flight is the first four-astronaut crew in NASA’s history, consisting of Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Robert Overmyer, and mission specialists Joseph Allen and William Lenoir. The flight lasts five days before a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.

Categories
Atari VCS Video Games

Cosmic Creeps

  • November 17, 1982

Cosmic CreepsTelesys releases the video game cartridge Cosmic Creeps for the Atari 2600 home video game system, just in time for the Christmas buying season. A glut of new releases for the 2600 by the end of the year, many from third-party companies like Telesys, causes some consumer confusion which has unexpected consequences for the entire industry.

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Video Games

Pac-Man Plus

  • November 18, 1982

Pac-Man PlusStill trying to stem the tide of bootleg copies of Pac-Man in American arcades, Midway releases the coin-op conversion kit Pac-Man Plus, offering arcade operators an inexpensive (and legal) way to “freshen” old Pac-Man machines on-site rather than turning to bootleg enhancement kits, a problem that has been stealing Midway’s market share since Pac-Man became a hit.

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Video Games

Atari sues Imagic over Demon Attack

  • November 20, 1982

Demon Attack by ImagicWith exclusive rights to sell a home version of the cult arcade hit Phoenix under its belt, Atari sues third-party software house Imagic over its space shooter game Demon Attack, which is somewhat similar to Phoenix – too similar for Atari’s tastes. The two companies settle out of court the following January, with Imagic agreeing to omit the “mothership” level from the version of Demon Attack sold for the Atari 2600; the mothership appears in nearly every other edition of the game for other consoles and computers.

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Video Games

The first hint of the crash

  • December 8, 1982

Pac-ManWarner Communications, the parent company of video game manufacturer Atari, issues an earnings statement in which it anticipates losing money in the fourth quarter of 1982. The losses are attributed to product returns and other shortfalls experienced by Atari, despite the acquisition of licenses for home video games based on Pac-Man and E.T. The reaction on Wall Street is immediate, and a massive sell-off of video game related stock leaves the entire industry reeling within a week. The industry is seeing the first hint of the bust that will end the boom years.

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Atari VCS Video Games

Atari sues Coleco over Atari compatibility

  • December 8, 1982

AtariWith sales of the Atari 5200 console already seriously impacted by the rival Colecovision video game system, and perhaps hoping to distract from a potentially alarming earnings statement issued the same day, Atari files suit against Coleco over the first add-on produced for Colecovision: Expansion Module #1, which allows Colecovision owners to play Atari 2600 games (and entices 2600 owners to trade up to Colecovision, since their existing game libraries won’t automatically become useless). Atari sues for patent infringement, while Coleco immediately countersues, claiming that Atari is violating antitrust and monopoly laws.

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Video Games

Games By Apollo folds

  • December 10, 1982

Guardian by Games By ApolloOnly a year old, Texas-based video game software company Games By Apollo folds after most of its programmers defect to form their own company. With most of the games produced by Apollo now going for bargain-basement retail prices, and none of them exactly topping the sales charts, Games By Apollo becomes a prime specimen of a company that formed simply to grab a piece of the Atari VCS fad.

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