Category: Video Games

The video game wars officially enter a new generation of hardware as Connecticut-based toymaker Coleco unveils the Colecovision home video game system. Packaged with an almost-but-not-quite-arcade-accurate port of the hit game Donkey Kong, and pushed by an advertising campaign focusing on the message of “bringing the arcade experience home,” Colecovision’s best opening gambit may be an “Expansion Module” allowing the use of Atari VCS games on the console, making it possible for Atari owners to step up without having to rebuild their game libraries from scratch.

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Sierra releases the computer role playing game game Ultima II: Revenge Of The Enchantress for the Apple II. Written by Richard “Lord British” Garriott, this is the second volume of the best-selling Ultima series of RPGs, and the first to introduce space travel and science fiction elements into the games’ sword-and-sorcery fantasy setting.

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Coleco releases the LED matrix-driven tabletop version of Donkey Kong in a colorful case with arcade artwork. The game play and graphics are somewhat lacking, but the mini-arcade games tend to sell well since they don’t require connection to the family TV.

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Data East’s food-obsessed arcade game Burgertime debuts in the United States, licensed locally by Midway. Challenging players – who may or may not be old salts at the fast-food business – to work their buns off trying to complete several burgers despite a revolt by the ingredients, Burgertime becomes a hit with seasoned gamers.

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With the words “Prepare to joust, buzzard bait!”, Williams Electronics launches an arcade sleeper hit built on unlikely juxtapositions (medieval knights, jousting with lances, riding on ostriches, over a lake of lava, stalked by pterodactyls). Joust becomes immensely popular for its simultaneous two-player mode, in which one’s buddy can be as much of a liability as any of the computer-controlled enemies. Whispers of movie deals based on the game are briefly heard before the video game industry’s fortunes change at the end of the year.

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Taito America releases the arcade game Change Lanes, designed by Dave Needle, in American arcades. The game is an early mash-up of first-person racing and combat genres, putting players in the driver’s seat of a multi-terrain car that must ram through enemies and avoid missiles launched by aircraft to survive long enough to refuel.

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After a long development process (during which it was briefly known as “Atari Video System X”), Atari introduces its own next-generation video game console, Atari 5200. Dubbed “The Supersystem,” the new console, boasting far better graphics and sound capabilities than the VCS, is hampered by one of the worst controller concepts in video game history. Also not helping the 5200’s chances are the lack of an adapter allowing VCS owners to painlessly transition to the new system, a peripheral already available for the Colecovision. (In keeping with the new system’s name, the VCS is also now marketed as the Atari 2600.)

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Universal (a video game manufacturer unrelated to the Hollywood studio of the same name) introduces a cute arcade action game, Mr. Do!, casting players as a clown with a deadly weapon to use against underground monsters. Mr. Do! leads a revolution in the video game industry not with its game play, but with its form factor: it is sold as a conversion kit which can be plugged into a generic arcade cabinet, a concept which could potentially save arcade operators thousands of dollars by sparing them the expense of having to purchase an entire new machine to swap out games.

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Sega releases the arcade game Tac/Scan in American arcades. The vector graphics coin-op switches rapidly between a traditional overhead view and a first-person view several times during each game, including a sequence in which players are asked to navigate a dizzying warp tunnel.

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Sega releases the arcade game Pengo in American arcades. The game goes through several iterations and revisions related to the legality of music use.

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Desperately trying to keep its coin-op games fresh, Sega releases the arcade game conversion kit Super Zaxxon. The kit updates Zaxxon machines with new graphics and levels, giving arcade operators the chance to put a “new” machine in circulation without purchasing an entire new cabinet.

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Pinball maker D. Gottlieb & Co., via its Mylstar video game division, graces arcades with the qute qreatures of Q*Bert. Though it rakes in quarters abundantly, Q*Bert’s easily recognizable characters briefly prove to be a licensing gold mine, resulting in toys, clothing, children’s books, and even a Saturday morning cartoon. The game is fast-tracked to numerous home video game systems.

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The Learning Company tries on Rocky’s Boots, an innovative educational computer game designed to teach players the basics of circuit diagrams and basic logic by designing virtual machines to kick specific objects on screen. The game is designed by Warren Robinett, a former Atari programmer whose previous claim to fame is the hit game Adventure.

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Konami introduces the arcade game Pooyan in the United States, turning the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf into a life-or-death video game struggle.

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Imagic releases one of its first games for the Mattel Intellivision home video game console, Microsurgeon. With impressive graphics, the game puts players in the bloodstream of sick patient, where they must blast diseased cells with lasers to save the patient. Designed solely for Intellivision, Microsurgeon is a game that Imagic does not plan to port to the Atari 2600.

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Activision releases the Beauty & The Beast cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system, a direct competitor for Coleco’s arcade port Donkey Kong.

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General 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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Konami introduces the arcade game Time Pilot in the United States, where it becomes one of the company’s more prominent sleeper hits. Time Pilot is also licensed to Atari in some regions.

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Still 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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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.

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Japanese video game maker Namco releases Pole Position in the United States by way of American licensee Atari. Quickly gaining popularity in arcades, Pole Position marks one of the first “meta” moments in video games, featuring briefly-glimpsed billboards advertising other games by the same manufacturer.

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Sega releases the arcade game Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom in American arcades. Completely unrelated to the recent television series, the graphically impressive game is designed to be the first in a series, but no further games in the projected series ever materialize.

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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.

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