With 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.
NBC airs the seventh episode of James D. Parriott’s time travel series Voyagers!, starring Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce. John Anderson guest stars as Abraham Lincoln, and Alex Hyde-White (The Fantastic Four) guest stars as Charles Dickens.
The tenth episode of the science fiction series The Powers Of Matthew Star airs on NBC, starring Peter Barton and Louis Gossett Jr. Tricia O’Neil (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Don Stroid (The New Mike Hammer) guest star in an episode written by former Star Trek cast member Walter Koenig.
Japanese video game maker Namco releases 
Sega releases the arcade game 
Mattel Electronics releases the 
Warner 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.
With 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.
Only 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.
Activision releases 
Activision releases 
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The 
ABC airs the 35th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Norman Alden (Electra Woman and Dyna Girl) and June Lockhart (Lost In Space) guest star.
The 
The 
The 
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