Atari 2600 Video Game Release Dates for 1982

Text below from The Video Game Update/Video Take-Out (Vol 1, #2 1982)

A brand new company, with former ATARI & INTELLIVISION whiz kids running it! The first games (compatible ONLY with ATARI) have been announced for late April (the graphics are TERRIFIC!)

IA-3000 TRICK SHOT $18.20

IA-3200 DEMON ATTACK $23.60

IA-3201 STAR VOYAGER 23.60

IC-5000 VIDEO ACTION 23.60 [video storage center]

Get your pre-orders in now. These games will be hot!

More cartridges on the drawing board and plans call for cartridges for your INTELLIVISION system by the FALL!!

Another brand new entry to the cartridge makers! U.S. GAMES have some terrific things planned too. Again, only compatible with ATARI at this point but plans for INTELLIVISION compatible cartridges upcoming for Fall. Available in mid-March . . .

VC-1001 SPACE JOCKEY $19.95

VC-1002 HIDE & SEEK $25.50

Planned for May . . .

VC-1003 WORD GRABBER $25.50

VC-1004 COMMANDO RAID $25.50

Text below from The Video Game Update/Video Take-Out (Vol 1, #3 Apr 1982)

SPACE JOCKEY is shipping to us as this newsletter goes out (19.95). Watch our next newsletter for a review. U.S. Games has restructured prices on all other games (prices supercede those in our current MENU). They are:

VC-1002 Hide & Seek 25.50

VC-1004 Commando Raid (summer) 25.50

VC-1003 Word Grabber (summer) 25.50

VC-1005 Missile Intercept (summer) 25.50

VC-1006 Catch (summer) 25.50

VC-1007 The Fly (fall) 25.50

VC-1008 Darts (fall) 25.50

Text below from Videogaming (December 1983, page 25)

In March 1982, Imagic released its first three games, Trick Shot, Star Voyager, and Demon Attack. Demon Attack quickly shot to the top of the bestseller lists and stayed there. Demon Attack money helped Imagic adapt to the changing market . . . for a while. [Note From DAH: Every other source says that these games were released in April. No specific ads seem to appear in newspapers until March 28, 1982.]

Text below from Videogaming Illustrated (August 1982, page 15)

Q: Have there been ideas which Activision has found impossible to conquer, even with its obvious pool of talent?

A: That always happens. But what appears, initially, to be difficult to make work. eventually comes around and does work. Grand Prix, which we released in March, was developed over a year ago. But David (Crane) put it on the shelf and came back to it. You can't say of any particular concept that we have not completed and released that it may not come back around, a solution found to whatever problems plague it during the design.

Text below from New York Times (April 23, 82)

U.S. Games announced earlier this year that it planned to introduce eight video game cartridges that would be compatible with Atari units by the end of this year. It has just released the first one, Space Jockey.

Text below from Billboard (November 6, 1982, page 58)

[TRIVIA: JOURNEY ESCAPE CARTRIDGE CONCEPT BORN IN JUNE OF 1982]

Rice said that because the Journey cartridge concept was born in June, it precluded an earlier release for the pre-Christmas season. However, Rice added, the cartridge would be timely as a result of Atari hardware sales during Christmas. He said surveys indicate that new Atari buyers purchase at least three cartridges during the first two months of ownership.

Rice noted that Data Age will eventually produce the Journey game for both the Coleco and Intellivision systems and is currently negotiating arcade rights. An arcade deal would mark the first time a home game was adapted for arcades instead of the other way around.

Text below from Videogaming Illustrated (February 1983, page 10)

Parker Brothers certainly has had a phenomenal start with The Empire Strikes Back videogame: released in June, it has achieved over thirty million dollars in retail sales. That makes it one of the top grossing home videogames in history.

Text below from Billboard (July 3, 1982, page 10)

In July, the Beverly, Mass. manufacturer will introduce "Frogger," a home version of an arcade favorite, licensed from Sega Enterprises.

Text below from Videogaming Illustrated (August 1982, page 10)

One month after the release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Parker Brothers will ship Frogger, a Freeway-like challenge based on the Sega arcade game.

Text below from The Video Game Update (July 1982)

ATARI

Defender (**** / ****) is now available. We have just seen 4 new games for the 2600. "Frog Pond" (*** ½ / *** - November) [unreleased] is a really cute game for kids as the frogs attempt to catch the flies. Scheduled for July is "Demons To Diamonds" (**½ / **) (formerly "Hot Rox"). In October, Atari will be issuing two new cartridges called "Swordquest" and "Earthworld". (both **½ / *** - we were not able to get hands-on play with them.) These are "Dungeons & Dragons" type cartridges. These two cartridges will come with comic books like "Yars' Revenge" had which will contain clues which might lead you to discovering one of 5 different prizes hidden around the U.S. There will be 4 jewelled vases containing precious stones (each vase valued at $25,000) and one vase (the grand prize) will also have precious stones worth $50,000. It will be up to you to read the clues correctly to lead you to the discovery of any one of the 5 prizes.

. . . .

SOME OF THE OTHER COMPANIES JUMPING INTO GAMES:

Spectravision (Atari-Compatible) initially shipping 2 games---"Planet Patrol" (* / *) & "Gangster Alley" (* / *) within the next few weeks. As you can tell by the ratings, both games are very simple.

. . . .

PARKER BROTHERS (Atari-Compatible)

We were impressed with what we saw. Parker Bros. is committed & obviously has some good designers. First to come, "The Empire Strikes Back" (*** / *** scheduled for 7/1) pits the player's joystick-controlled snow sled against giant imperial walkers. "Frogger" (*** / *** scheduled 8/1) is based on the popular arcade game. You must guide your frogs across a busy highway & a treacherous river. We enjoyed this one.

Plans for the future look promising... "Spiderman" (we did not see cartridge) based on the popular comic strip, planned for October. "Amidar" (did not see) based on the arcade game, scheduled for Nov. In December [delayed until 83] we should see "Reactor" (**** / **** -- cartridge was not in finished form, however), where players are trapped inside a nuclear reactor. And, in the 1st quarter of ‘83, plans include "Super Cobra" (**** / *** -- unfinished cartridge); "Sky Skipper" (did not see); "Tutankham" (**** / ****) a search for lost treasure in a pyramid; & "James Bond Agent 007" (no cartridge shown at show). We feel Parker Bros, will make a positive mark on the games market.

. . . .

M Network

Intellivision has renamed their cartridges for Atari. Formerly called "Breakthrough", they will be released under the name of "M Network". The first games are scheduled for release in July. They are "Baseball" (**/**); "Football" (*½/**), "Astroblast" (**/**) & "Space Attack" (**/**). You will be disappointed if you are looking for Intellivision-quality graphics & play with these games. In our opinion, these are nothing more exciting than anything on the Atari market already. They will have a "Tron" game a little later in the year, with fairly good graphics.

Text below from Arcade Express (August 15, 1982, page 3)

Parker Brothers released "The Empire Strikes Back" for the Atari VCS earlier this summer.

Text below from Arcade Express (August 15, 1982)

NEW ATARI GAMES FOR VCS

"Berserk" [Berzerk] will be published by Atari in August and should be in the stores before the end of the month. This is the home version of the popular coin-op from Stern Electronics that has been wowing the arcaders for the past two years. Just as "Berserk" comes to the VCS, a super deluxe version of this maze shootout called " Frenzy" is going into the arcades.

"Star Raiders" premiere date is September. It will be packaged with a new controller (much in the same way that "Indy 500" was marketed), and is priced at $39.95. The new controller is a keypad type with a disk. Company sources characterize "Star Raiders" as a mindblower, with outstanding visuals and hot play action.

SUPERCHARGER FOR THE VCS

A Supercharger for the Atari VCS is being marketed by Arcadia. This RAM cart plugs into the game slot to increase the graphic resolution capabilities of the VCS, making it possible to move more objects around on the screen simultaneously.

The Supercharger connects to an ordinary tape recorder, and games will be marketed on cassette for about $15 each. Among the releases is a wacky invasion game called "Communist Mutants From Outer Space", and a space pilot game that's said to out do "Star Raiders".

The Supercharger retails for around $70, and comes packaged with one game.

TIGER PLANS VCS CARTRIDGES

Tiger Electronic Toys is one of the newest entrants into the video cartridge sweepstakes! Tiger has formed a videogame cartridge division called Tigervision, for development and marketing of cartridges for the Atari VCS.

Long on the fringes of the electronic game business, Tiger plans to emphasize arcade-style action coupled with superior graphics. "Jawbreaker" has chomping sets of teeth eating candy dots in this maze-chase game. "King Kong" requires the gamer to rescue Faye Wray from Kong by climbing to the top of the Empire State Building, while leaping the bombs Kong throws. In "River Patrol" [delayed until 1984], the gamer steers a leaky boat up the Congo, saving refugees and avoiding obstacles. "Threshold" is a vertical scrolling shootout in space, and "Marauder" requires you to maneuver through mazes while killing or avoiding the robot guards.

Randy Rissman, President of Tiger, says, "Tigervision's cartridges will aim to be among the best in graphic quality and play value."

INTELLIVISION MEETS ATARI

Mattel Electronics has developed a new line of videogame cartridges for the Atari VCS. Mattel claims the new games, named the M Network, are designed to fully utilize the capabilities of the VCS. The M Network games use the themes of Intellivision cartridges, both currently popular games and carts that are soon to be released.

The first M Network cartridges entered distribution in mid-July. Some of the titles to be released in 1982 include "Astroblast", "Space Attack", "Super Challenge Baseball", "Super Challenge Football", and "International Soccer". The company plans 11 M Network games in 1982.

Mattel promises appealing game themes and advanced programming techniques for the new videogame series. Joshua Denham, President of Mattel Electronics, says, "M Network offers owners of Atari VCS units access to markedly improved graphics, gameplay, and extended enjoyment."

FILM MAKER PLANS FOXY GAMES

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation has formed Fox Video Games, Inc., to develop and market a line of cartridges for use with the Atari VCS. Four new games will be marketed in the Fall.

Sirius Software designed four new games for Fox. In "Deadly Duck", programmed by Ed Hodapp, crabs bomb a duck with bricks, and the duck must shoot back with a gun. "Beany Bopper", programmed by Grady Ward, has a stun-fire laser for the gamer to shoot at propeller beany-creatures. In "Worm War I", programmed by David Lubar, gigantic worms terrorize a city. The gamer fights back using a tank. "Fast Eddie", by Mark Turmell, challenges arcaders to gather treasure by climbing up and down ladders to different levels, while evading Sneakers trying to run him down and stomp on him.

Text below from Arcade Express (August 30, 1982)

VIDTEC NAME PHASE-OUT PLANNED

The brand name "Vidtec," seen on the scrolling shoot-out "Space Jockey," will soon be relegated to no more than a minor role, if that. The company, which operates as part: of the Fisher-Price division of Quaker Oats, will henceforth emphasize the name "U.S. Games." The next cartridge from the company will be "Towering Inferno," a firefighting action game in which the player must race through a burning skyscraper to save residents and douse flames.

ENTERTAINMENT GIANT ENTERS VIDEOGAMEDOM

Gabriel Industries, the toy and game division of CBS, Inc., has formed a new unit, called CBS Video Games. CBS, Inc. and Bally Manufacturing Corp. have an agreement which allows CBS Video Games to manufacture, market and develop home video games for the Atari VCS and the Sears Video Arcade.

The first two games, licensed from Bally/Midway, are going to be wowsers: "Gorf", one of the all-time top coin-op games, challenges the gamer to battle robots, ships, lasers and torpedos in a multi-mission space fandango. "Wizard of Wor", the popular dungeon game, calls on the arcader to face monsters in constantly changing mazes.

Both games will be available for Christmas. Industry sources are being close-lipped about future releases, but predict spectacular hits coming in the near future.

COLECO ROLLS VIDEOGAME LINE

Coleco began shipping cartridges for the Atari VCS at the end of July. "Donkey Kong", "Venture" and "Carnival" are the first releases, followed by "Zaxxon" and "Turbo" sometime in September or October. "Mousetrap" and "Smurf" will follow in time to be on the shelves before the Christmas buying season.

COLECO RECAPTURES DONKEY KONG CARTS

Coleco's new cartridge for the Atari VCS, "Donkey Kong", has proven to be unplayable on Model #2600 of the VCS. The cartridge works fine on new consoles, but it turned out to be unusable on older versions. (You can tell the difference by the location of the difficulty switch. Older models have the switch in the front of the console.) Even though roughly 90% of the cartridges would represent no problem to the consumer (since most VCS consoles are the newer models), Coleco decided to recall all "Donkey Kong" carts from distribution. "It was just an oversight, and requires only a minor modification in the game to make it work," says Coleco spokesman, Mike Katz. The company felt it was preferable to make the change in all cartridges, rather than waiting for dissatisfied individual customers to return unusable games to the retailers. Mike Katz estimates that the recall will affect tens of thousands of game carts, but promised the corrected cartridges should be back on the market the second week in August. After that, there'll be no problem.

Text below from Videogaming Illustrated (August 1982, pages 7 and 8)

APOLLO, LIKE ITS NAMESAKE, SHOOTS FOR THE VIDEOGAMING STARS!

Despite the downbeat reviews Apollo garnered for Skeet Shoot, its first videogame, no one's going to nap through four cartridges the company recently put on the market. Indeed, like Shakespeare, author of the world's best literature, and who, by the way, was castigated as an "upstart crow" after his own first work was performed—Apollo intends to create classics. Lively, unique, fraught with color and exotica, the newest of the Atari-compatible games suggest that the Texas-based manufacturer is well on its way.

Apollo is a subsidiary of National Career Consultants, a company founded by entrepreneur Patrick Roper. For eleven years NCC has successfully produced and distributed educational and career guidance films to high schools and colleges. Unfortunately, government belt-tightening has limited the funds available to many of NCC's customers and, early last year, NCC had no choice but to cut back on their film operation and branch into other fields. Initially. the firm considered distributing dramatic works on videocassette, but discovered that the major studios and producers of popular entertainment were already committed to other manufacturers. As for creating their own feature-length motion pictures, the high cost of such an undertaking was prohibitive. However, NCC was not unaware of the booming videogame industry; the decision to diversity in that direction was reached in October of 1981, after market research and the obvious growth of the field indicated that there was room for a newcomer.

Roper decided to concentrate solely on software, adding a computer programmer to the existing staff of NCC and rushing the company's first game to the market by December of last year [December 7, 1981]. "All in all, Skeet Shoot wasn't a spectacular game to start off with," concedes Emmitt Crawford, Apollo's director of public relations. He acknowledges that the graphics were flat, little more than a box flinging pellets at a small saucer. To make matters worse, a high percentage of the cartridges had to be recalled due to image roll. But Skeet Shoot managed to cash in on the lucrative Christmas buying season and, more important, made dealers and consumers alike aware of the new company.

One month after the inauspicious debut of Skeet Shoot, the company released the better-conceived, more topical Spacechase. This time, both the graphics and subject were worth writing home about. As commander of three Mark 16 starcruisers, the player is required to beat back alien raiders who, materializing from hyperspace, mercilessly fire neutron missiles and heat-seeking proton missiles as they attack from all sides. With its scrolling planet surface and fast-paced action, Spacechase was an immediate hit. Crawford says it's presently back-ordered to the tune of nearly 200,000 cartridges "and," he marvels, "even Skeet Shoot is still hanging in there," with several thousand orders waiting to be filled as Apollo's production schedule allows.

Today, Apollo has a staff of five programmers plus thirty production people to handle cartridge assembly. To ensure continued prosperity, Apollo has endowed the four new games with an individualistic blend of mystery, fantasy, and even humor, traits which are helping them to secure a following in the marketplace. They plan to release a new game every four to six weeks.

Space Cavern is the trendiest of the games, the saga of an astronaut on a mission to a mysterious planet in a remote quadrant of the galaxy. The pioneer's assignment is to chart a maze-like cave inhabited by a monstrous hydra whose tentacles generate twenty million electron volts. Iridescent eyes appear throughout the game, but the player can never tell until seconds before contact which pair of eyes will materialize into the deadly monster. The space explorer is armed with a pistol which can shoot horizontally and vertically. affording full protection from two aerial nasties and one ground-based creature. A particularly impressive touch is the way the astronaut's skeleton lights up whenever the monster strikes, after which the explorer demolecularizes, ending the game as a pile of dust.

Lochjaw is a slightly more out-of-the-ordinary game, as players send their divers to a Spanish galleon which lies at the bottom of a seabed. As the waters ripple around them, colors trickling through, the divers must enter a yawning hole in the ship and recover a fortune in diamonds, one gem at a time. This is accomplished by navigating through a maze—the one tired motif in this excellent game—where in due course the diver is assaulted by a pair of sharks as well as a saurian relative of the beast from Loch Ness. The sharks travel at random, one considerably faster than the other, while the sea serpent has the capacity to home in on and pursue the diver. To thwart the animals, the diver can have at them with a shark gun or crawl into a shark cage. There is also a cave which acts like a dimensional warp, enabling divers to escape any predator. However, like the hyperspace mode in Asteroids or Astrosmash, there is no way of knowing exactly where the cave will hurl you. Chances are good that it will bear you from one danger quite literally into the jaws of another.

Unquestionably the most charming of Apollo's new games is Lost Luggage. It would not be inaccurate to dub this the first "comedy cartridge": the player is at an airport as the suitcases arrive via conveyor belt. Suddenly, the luggage flies from the carousel and the player must catch it. Miss the suitcase and it opens, spilling all manner of personal effects over the ground.

Last of the current Apollo releases is Racquetball, a faithful recreation of the indoor sport seen from the players' point of view rather than the sidelines.

Apollo maintains that these games barely hint at the novel cartridges and accoutrements soon to appear. Roper informed this magazine that six additional cartridges will be released by December. "No licenses," he reports, "all our own ideas," and Apollo has already made available the first personalized cartridge. For $99.95, you can have Space Chase programmed [ad] so that your initials will flash on the screen when the mother ship is destroyed. It's ideal for businesses, which Crawford indicates have been their biggest client. using the electronically embossed games as premiums. Apollo also expects to release software for Intellivision consoles by mid-1983, and may yet enter the videocassette field using the medium for educational purposes. "We've even briefly considered using videocassettes to offer strategies for our games," Crawford notes. Preparing games for computers is another of Apollos short-range objectives, though they have no plans to enter the arcade field.

The people at Apollo realize they've got to burn the midnight oil if they're going to compete with the giants like Atari and Coleco. Crawford admits the battle will be a rough one, but feels up to the challenge. "We're in good shape because we got in ahead of a number of companies. Even though they're conglomerates and pretty stiff competition creatively, we think there's ample room for everybody. Besides," he observes, "what you need in this business is more than a big budget. You have to have games that people want, and we think we've got just that."

Text below from The Video Game Update (August 1982)

The Atari version of DONKEY KONG has just released while the Intellivision version will not ship until the end of August.

. . . .

M NETWORK

M NETWORK from Mattel (Atari-compatible) has just shipped ASTRO-BLAST, FOOTBALL, BASEBALL (see reviews this issue), and SPACE ATTACK, a space action game which pits you against computer-controlled alien invaders.

. . . .

TIGERVISION

TIGERVISION (Atari-compatible) Two games scheduled for release around August 1 (we have no experience with this company so cannot attest as to whether they tend to meet their release schedules). The first is KING KONG (retail 31.95), in a scenario reminiscent of Donkey Kong, but, from what we saw at the Summer Show, it does not begin to measure up to either the arcade version or the Coleco version of Donkey Kong. Their other new release is THRESHOLD, also scheduled for August 1 (retail 22.95) which has you flying a space attack ship through the galaxy encountering different enemy forces. Watch for reviews of these games in the next newsletter.

Text below from Billboard (Sep 11, 1982, page 3)

Billboard Debuts Vid Game Chart

Starting this issue is Billboard's Video Games chart, designed to help record and tape dealers as well as video retailers track the fastest-growing items at retail, as indicated by the Electronic Industries Assn., which reports sales to dealers nearly doubling each year.

Text below from Arcade Express (September 12, 1982)

PAC-MAN GOBBLES UP SATURDAY T.V.

"Pac-Man", an animated television series, will air on September 25, on ABC's Saturday morning children's schedule. "Pac-Man" will also star in a prime time kiddy holiday special later this year.

The series, long on cute but probably as sensible as most Saturday cartoons, features Pac-Man, Ms. Pac, and Pac-Baby. They live in Pac-land along with the family dog, Chomp Chomp, and Sour Puss, a sly cat. This utopia is threatened by Mezmaron, a meanie who wants all the power pellet trees in the forest. Mezmaron's assistants are the ghost monsters Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, along with a girl-ghost named Sue.

PARKER BROTHERS ROLLS NEW GAMES

The "Monopoly Playmaster" enhances electronically America's favorite boardgame with lights, sounds and visual effects. The Playmaster is said to speed up the game by managing dice rolls, sales and repurchases of property, and bank loans.

A two-week ad blitz started August 23 introduced the "Monopoly Playmaster" in New York and Chicago, with a series of 10-second spots highlighting the features of the unit.

Meanwhile, "Frogger", Parker Bros.' latest cartridge for use with the Atari VCS, has hopped into the stores, and "Spiderman" will be swinging along sometime in November.

"EMPIRE" BIG HIT

Parker Brothers projects $30-million in retail sales of "The Empire Strikes Back" videogame cartridge in its first year. The cartridge, usable on the Atari VCS, will be followed next year by another Star Wars Saga game. The next George Lucas movie in the epic adventure, "Revenge of the Jedi", will be released in May of 1983. The next Parker Bros. game will coincide with the debut of the 20th Century Fox movie.

VIDEOGAMES GO TO THE MOVIES

Three videogame manufacturers benefited from record movie attendances during the 1982 summer season. Activision, Mattel and Atari all bought cinema commercial packages from Screenvision, which has 1600 theater affiliates nationwide.

Activision started it, with ads for "Chopper Command" and "Star Master". Mattel ordered four weeks of two-minute "Tron" ads, run at theaters playing the Disney feature. Atari followed with ads for "Dig Dug", and will begin movie promotions of "Yars' Revenge" in October.

Text below from Arcade Express (September 26, 1982)

M-NETWORK OVERCOMES LAUNCHING PROBLEMS

Retailers found a high number of defective cartridges among the initial shipment of M-Network, Mattel's new series of games for the Atari VCS. Seems the games couldn't be properly inserted into the VCS because of poor construction of the casing. To get them to play, some people cracked open the plastic housing and plugged the program board directly into the entry slot by hand.

Arcade Express talked with Mike Doepke, Mattel's Director of Marketing of M-Network. Mike explained there had been a problem in production of the housing and some batches were shipped before the flaw was corrected. Most of the faulty cartridges went to West Coast dealers who have since been advised by Mattel to return them, so hopefully most are now out of circulation. But anyone who buys a defective game should return it to the retailer or direct to Mattel.

In addition to the problem with the casing, a small portion of the initial ROMS were incompatible with older models of the Atari VCS. Once Mattel engineers realized this, they made the small modification necessary to make the games playable. But a few of the non-compatible games are in circulation. These won't play on the VCS with the difficulty switch in the front of the console, and should be exchanged for playable versions.

The problems were confined to the first four M-Network games, "Astroblast", "Space Attack", "Super Challenge Baseball" and "Super Challenge Football".

ARCADIA TO CHANGE NAME

Arcadia is the company marketing the Supercharger for the Atari VCS, a RAM cart that increases the graphic resolution capabilities of the VCS, making possible games that move more objects on the screen simultaneously. And the Arcadia 2001 is a new videogame system from Emerson Radio Corp. Names too close for comfort, you think? Well, so did they, and Arcadia is going to have to come up with a new moniker. Seems that the Emerson Arcadia 2001 beat the Supercharger onto the retail shelves, and they have first dibs. No word yet on the new name, but watch this space.

SPECTRAVISION ANNOUNCES NEW CARTRIDGES FOR VCS

Spectravision doubled its line of game cartridges for the Atari VCS with the shipment in September of two more titles. "The Challenge of Nexar" is an arcade-style action game that Spectravision's President Josh Kalter says requires constant movement by the arcader. "You can't sit still in this game," says Kalter. "It's really different." The other addition to the line is "Tape Worm". The slithery creature crawls around the screen eating vegetarian prizes while avoiding spiders and birds.

DATA AGE GIVES FREE RECORD

In a unique marketing move, Data Age will provide distributors and retailers with free records to pass out to customers on Sept. 17, 1982. On that date, 3½ minute stereo discs will be given away by dealers to promote the Data Age product line. Data Age has 5 videogames: "Sssnake", "Warplock", "Airlock", "Bugs", and "Encounter at L-5". Elements of each game are contained in the record produced by Craig Hundley, creator of special electronic music for films such as "Star Trek: The Movie", "The Black Hole", "Firefox", and others. The disc, called "Mindscape", is said to "blend the imagery and action of Data Age's first five videogames"

TIRES, PICKLES STAR IN TELESYS PROMOTIONS

Telesys has found a new way to attract attention. This fall, the company is sending boxes of used tires to hundreds of game distributors. Each tire is attached to a note saying, "Enclosed is a 3000-pound gorilla's favorite toy which he has just noticed is missing." The tires, ranging from Toyota to truck-size, introduce "CocoNuts", a game for the Atari VCS which calls on the gamer to avoid thrown nuts with a little help from the gorilla.

Telesys heralded its own entry into the game industry by mailing large satin purple pickles to distributors. The pickles went with "Fast Food", its first VCS-compatible cartridge. Arcaders feed a gobbling mouth acres of burgers, popsickles, shakes, and, of course, pickles.

The third game in the Telesys line, which a company spokesman describes as "non-violent, with broad appeal" is "Cosmic Creeps". Earth is threatened by meanies, and the gamer must get to the space station and hold back the baddies while civilization escapes the doomed planet. All three games should be in the stores by the end of this month.

Text below from The Video Game Update (September 1982)

Availability Update

(Based on projected release dates by manufacturers. May change without notice.)

September

Beany Bopper (Fox)

China Syndrome (Spectravision)

Cosmic Avenger (Coleco) [unreleased]

Cross Fire (Spectravision) [renamed Cross Force]

Deadly Duck (Fox)

Fast Eddie (Fox)

Final Approach (Apollo)

Firefighter (Imagic) [August 1982 according to Activision]

Guardian (Apollo)

Megamania (Activision) [October 1982 according to Activision]

Pitfall (Activision)

Riddle Of The Sphinx (Imagic) [August or September 1982]

Star Raiders (Atari)

Tank Battle (M Network) [probably a working title for Armor Ambush]

Tapeworm (Spectravision)

Venture (Coleco)

Wabbit (Apollo)

Worm War I (Fox)

Note: Any program noted with an “x” indicates it has shipped prior to our going to print. May not be in national distribution yet, however.

. . . .

Arcadia Corp. [Starpath]

Arcadia Corp. is introducing the SUPERCHARGER, a hardware unit for use with Atari's 2600 VCS. It's described as a unit which increases memory capability from 128 bytes to 6272 bytes, which expands its ability for graphic resolution, playfield complexity and game options. The SUPERCHARGER is inserted into the Atari system like a cartridge and has a cable which plugs into a standard audio cassette recorder. Included with the SUPERCHARGER is one game cassette, PHASER PATROL (retail $69.95). Other game cassettes planned for initial release are FIREBALL, SUICIDE MISSION, and COMMUNIST MUTANTS FROM SPACE (all sugg. retail of $14.95). Planned for October are 2 other cassettes, LABYRINTH [Escape From the Mindmaster] and EXCALIBUR [Dragonstomper]. The SUPERCHARGER will be found at a major department stores and other chains such as Zodys through 1982 and will start distribution to specialty video stores in 1983. Plans call for release of 3 cassettes per quarter.

Text below from Video Games (October 1982, page 16)

ARCADIA VIDEO GAMES

Announced in April, the company plans to have four games and its Supercharger unit ready by August. What's unusual about all of this is that the games are recorded on cassette tapes ($14.95 each) and must be played back by first plugging the Supercharger ($69.95) into the VCS, then connecting it to a portable tape player. Not only are the cassettes cheaper, but the graphic resolution is of extremely high quality. Fireball, Suicide Mission, Communist Mutants from Space, Excalibur (not the film) [Dragonstomper], and Phaser Patrol are Arcadia's initial game titles. The last game comes complete with the Supercharger.

Text below from Arcade Express (October 10, 1982)

ULTRAVISION INTRODUCES 32K GAMES FOR ATARI VCS

Ultravision enters the videogame software biz this month with two 32K VCS-compatible cartridges. "Karate" was designed by Joseph Amelio, a man who ought to know. Amelio has 25 years experience in martial arts, and holds a black belt. The expertise he has in that field is carried over into this unusual hand-to-hand combat. The referee starts the match, and two fighters courteously bow to each other. Players score points when their on-screen counterparts land kicks or punches to the opponent's head or stomach. Each match has five two-minute rounds. The on-screen fighters wear white robes and belts that go through color changes to indicate their achievements, from white to red, brown, purple, and finally to the coveted black belt. An unusual dimensional approach allows fighters to move around each other rather than being superimposed as they pass next to one another. "Karate" can be played solitaire or by two gamers.

The second release this month is "Condor Attack", a very fast invasion game described as being for the champs. October brings a strategy action game, "Quest For the Idol", and "Spider Kong", a climbing game. Ultravision expects to market eight games by Christmas, all with superior 32K graphics and arcade-quality sound effects.

HERE COME THE ADULT VIDEOGAMES

"When you score, you score" is the slogan for the Mystique/Swedish Erotica games reaching the market in October. Some of the titles retailing for $49.95 are "Bachelor Party", "Beat'Em & Eat'Em" and "Custer's Revenge" (with a naked general running a desert obstacle course to ravage an Indian maiden). The relatively poor reproduction of body parts on TV screens is said to soften the sexual impact of the games, and the packaging has been subdued in order to make them more suitable for mass retailing. Backers of the venture expect X-rated games to be a huge category, just as live-action movies are a big part of the videocassette industry.

SUPERCHARGER IS A HIT

The Supercharger for the Atari VCS went on sale in 40 Broadway Department Stores in Southern California at the end of August, and the company describes early consumer reaction as "exceptional". The $70 Supercharger, which increases graphic resolution capabilities of the VCS, comes with one game, "Phaser Patrol". Three additional games, "Communist Mutants From Space", "Fireball", and "Suicide Mission" will be marketed this fall for $15 each.

"Consumers came in, took a look, then came back and bought, reports Ken Hall, a spokesman for Arcadia. The Supercharger next goes on sale in Northern California, then Chicago, New York City, and Detroit. It should be in 10 major markets before Christmas.

Meanwhile the company is still seeking a new name, since Arcadia was previously tagged by Emerson for the Arcadia 2001 videogame system. The new moniker should be chosen soon.

Text below from Video Games Magazine (October 1982, page 16)

U.S. Games/Vid Tech.

The company was recently bought by Quaker Oats and, appropriately enough, its first cart challenges you to eat a bowl of cereal before it becomes soggy. (Just kidding.) Space Jockey has been out since January and six more games are expected by the year's end. So far we know that Word Zapper involves spelling in space; Sneak'n Peek is video hide‘n'seek for the pre-school crowd; and Towering Inferno features a burning building (bet you never would have guessed). Commander Raid and Missile Intercept are two of its other titles.

Text below from The Video Game Update (Oct 1982)

Availability Update

(Based on projected release dates by manufacturers. May change without notice.)

October [compiled from Oct 82 and Sep 82 availability updates]

Airlock (Data Age)

Bugs (Data Age)

Coco Nuts (Telesys)

Commando Raid (U.S. Games)

Earthworld (Atari)

Encounter at L-5 (Data Age)

Enhanced Baseball (Atari) [RealSports Baseball]

Failsafe (Atari) [unreleased]

Fast Food (Telesys)

Frogs And Flies (M Network)

Minds Of Minos (Commavid) [Mines of Minos]

Mousetrap (Coleco) [Mouse Trap]

Sssnake (Data Age)

Towering Inferno (U.S. Games)

Warplock (Data Age)

Note: Any program noted with an “x” indicates it has shipped prior to our going to print. May not be in national distribution yet, however.

OUR APOLOGIES

We inadvertently miscredited two cartridges in the September issue. TAPEWORM and CROSSFIRE (renamed CROSS FORCE) shipped in September are by SPECTRAVISION, NOT TIGERVISION. SPECTRAVISION also announces the late Sept. release of a new title, NEXAR (All cartridges are Atari-compatible). [They also miscredited China Syndrome.]

ATARI

Raiders of the Lost Ark has been moved up to a November release to make way for the December release of E.T., another release coming out of the Steven Spielberg deal. The SUPERGAME (5200) is still scheduled for release about mid-October. Quantities will be extremely limited throughout the balance of 1982. The unit will retail for $249.00.

Text below from Billboard (June 26, 1982, page 15)

Data Age will bow five $31.95 list games Oct. 1. They are: "Encounter at L-5," "Warplock," "Sssnake," "Airlock" and "Survival Run." [Survival Run wasn't released]

. . . .

Approximately Sept. 1, Woodman [Telesys] expects to deliver three home video games. Listing for $31.95, they will include: "Fast Food," "Coco Nuts" and "Space Maze."

Text below from Billboard (November 6, 1982, page 3)

The Campbell, Calif.-based company [Data Age] introduced its first five game cartridges Oct. 1.

Text below from Videogaming Illustrated (February 1983, page 7)

DATA AGE

This new company began distributing its Atari-compatible videogames in October. The first five releases were:

Sssnake, in which you must overcome pterodaetyls, trachodons, and other dinosaurs in order to reach an ancient fortress. There, deadly snakes try to invade your hiding place, snakes which you must cut down to size.

Encounter at L-5, not the game we suggested in last issue's You Read It Here First, but a battle between space colonists and invaders from the Megalon Solar System. (Never mind that Data Age places the human colony beyond the orbit of the moon, when L-5 is a point between the earth and the moon. It's easy to become disoriented in space.)

Bugs, a struggle between astronauts exploring subterranean hives on an alien world and the creeping monsters which dwell therein—including the defense-penetrating Super-Drones.

Warplock, more star wars, this time between your space Cruiser and intergalactic pirates.

Airlock, a clever variation of the multi-level game popularized by Donkey Kong, as the captain of a disabled submarine must retrieve keys to free the crew before the craft takes on too much water; all the while, the officer must dodge torpedoes which have come loose from their bays.

Text below from Video Games Player (Fall 1982, page 65)

CALENDAR

[Anything not for Atari VCS has been removed from their list. Also remember that their list is incorrect in places.]

AUGUST

Parker Brothers—The Empire Strikes Back and Frogger.

U.S. Games—Word Zapper and Towering Inferno.

Tigervision—Threshold and King Kong.

Atari—Berzerk.

SEPTEMBER

20th Century Fox—First four games will be Beany Bopper, Deadly Duck, Worm War I and Fast Eddie.

U.S. Games—Commando Raid.

Activision—Pitfall and Megamania.

Apollo—6 new games.

Tigervision—Jawbreaker and River Patrol [delayed until 1984].

Parker Brothers—Spider-Man [Nov or Dec], Amidar [Nov], Super Cobra [Jan 83] and Reactor [Apr 83].

OCTOBER

Mattel's M System debut—Frogs and Flies, Lock 'N' Chase, Dark Cavern, Sea Battle, Armor Ambush, and Tron: Deadly Discs. [The M Network game Sea Battle didn't get released.]

Atari—Earthworld, Fail Safe [unreleased], and Baseball (new version) [RealSports Baseball]

U.S. Games—Maze Chase [Entombed], Squeeze Box, and an untitled game.

NOVEMBER

U.S. Games—Space Jockey [already released in January and March] and Guardians of Treasure [Name This Game].

Atari—Demons to Dragons, Volleyball [October], and Frog Pond [unreleased].

Parker Brothers—Sky Skipper.

DECEMBER

Apollo—six new games.

Atari—Raiders of the Lost Ark and Football (new version). [Raiders was released in November.]

CBS—Wizard of WOR and GORF.

JANUARY

U.S. Games—Weird Bird [Eggomania] and Gopher Attack [Gopher].