The

ARCADE VIDEO-GAME
"Encyclopedia"
1970-1976

copy/paste
by
DaddaRuleKonge
 DaddaRuleKonge

I made this book because I like to have something to do, and I

like doing this sort of stuff. Cataloguing and stuff... This book
(or PDF) is one in a long line of PDFs I have made since 2012.
Arcade machines have never been a part of my childhood as most
machines were few between and cost more than what I usually
had in my pocket at the time. But I have always been fascinated
by the machines (just like Pinball, also something I never really
played), and to learn more of a subject, I make a book...
That’s why I guess.
This book is not a real encyclopedia (that’s why I put “quotation
marks” on the cover), as it will almost certainly include several
errors and wrong facts. But I have tried to make it as accurate as
possible.

This book is a compilation of text and pictures from the internet.

Nothing is written by me, and not one picture is mine.
This is (maybe) the first volume in the the arcade series of books I
hope to make. The first book does include a lot of “wall-of-text”,
but I have tried to make the book well presented and easy to look.
But I must warn you that spelling and grammar errors are present,
since English is not my first language.
I made this book mostly for myself as a learning tool to get more
familiar with the arcade history and games. I have tried to make
the book well presented and easy to look through. But I must
warn you that spelling and grammar errors are present.
If you are happy with the book then please look at some of the
web-sites on the “Reference Guide” page. Find a site that you like
and give them some spending money. Or give cash to something
you believe in. A kickstarter project or something, i don`t know?
If you are annoyed, send an email to me: sennep@hotmail.com
from: Daniel aka DaddaRuleKonge
https://daddarulekonge.itch.io/

NoCopyright © 2018 by DaddaRuleKonge

All rights are NOT reserved. EVERY part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. I do not own anything in this book. You use part of this publication on your OWN
RISK though. As places in this book may have a copyright by the original owner.
 CONTENT
The History of Arcade Video Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 T.V. Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Arcade cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Table Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Tennis Tourney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
JAMMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 TV Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Emulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 TV Pin Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TV Ping Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 TV Ping Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Arcade system board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Volly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Spacewar! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Watergate Caper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Arcade Machines Wimbeldon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
1971 Winner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Computer Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Winner II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Galaxy Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Winner IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
1972 1974
Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Astro Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Computer Space Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Astrohockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Pong Fun Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Attack UFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Star Trek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
1973 Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Astro Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Clean Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Asteroid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Countdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Barrel Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Club Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Pong In-A-Barrel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Coup Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Computer Space 2 Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Coupe Du Monde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Crazy Foot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Crazyfoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Davis Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Elimination/ Quadrapong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Doctor Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Flim-Flam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Gotcha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Fun Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Elepong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Goal Kick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Hockey TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Gran Trak 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Formula K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Gran Trak 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Missile Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Twin Racer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Olympic TV Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Hesitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Olympic TV Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Mini Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Olympic Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 One On One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Paddle Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Pin Pong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Paddle-Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Pong/Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Pong Doubles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Pro Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Pong Tron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Pong Tron II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Qwak! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Pro Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Rebound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Pro Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Spike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Rally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Smatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Space Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Speed Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Super Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Racer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Tankers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Spike It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 TV Flipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Superpong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 UFO Chase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Table Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Video Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Video Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Tank II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Wheels II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Trak 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 1976
TV Goalee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 280 ZZZAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
TV Pinball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
TV-Joker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Air Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Wimbledon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Amazing Maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Wipe Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
1975 Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Alley Rally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Avus 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Anti-Aircraft II (Anti-Aircraft) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Barricade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Avenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Batter Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Aztec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Bigfoot Bonkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Balloon Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 BiPlane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Bullet Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 BiPlane 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Crash ‘n Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Block Buster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Destruction Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Blockade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Demolition Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Bombs Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Drop Zone 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Break Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Electra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Breakout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Fascination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Chase1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Fire Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Ckidzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Flip-Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Clay Buster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Futsball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Cobra Gunship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Goal IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Cops ‘N Robbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Gun Fight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Crashing Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Western Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Death Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Hi-Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Deluxe Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Indy 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Desert Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Jet Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Flipper Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Knock Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Flyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Maneater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Fonz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Pace Car Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Heavy Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Ric-O-Chet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Heavyweight Champ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Hit Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Shark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Indy 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Shark JAWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Interceptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Ski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Steeplechase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Stock Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Knights In Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Street Burners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Lazer Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Super Flipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 LeMans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Meadows 4 In 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Take 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Moto-Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Take 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Night Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Tank III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Nuerburgring 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Outlaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
PT-109 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Quiz Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Ricochet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Road Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Rock’n Bark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Rugby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Sea Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Sea Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Six-Pac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Sky War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Sky War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Sky-Tack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Speed Race Twin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Spitfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Sprint 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Squadron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Starship 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Stunt Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Tank 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Tornado Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
US Billiards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Video Action 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
 The History of Arcade Video Games
8

An arcade game or coin-op is a coin-operated enter- and had volume-controllable sound-effects. That game arcades in North America, for example, more
tainment machine typically installed in public busi- same year, Sega released an electro-mechanical ar- than doubled between 1980 and 1982; reaching a
nesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement ar- cade racing game, Grand Prix, which had a first-per- peak of 10,000 video game arcades across the region
cades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball son view, electronic sound, a dashboard with a racing (compared to 4,000 as of 1998). Beginning with
machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption wheel and accelerator, and a forward-scrolling road Space Invaders, video arcade games also started to
games or merchandisers. projected on a screen. Another Sega 1969 release, appear in supermarkets, restaurants, liquor stores,
The first popular “arcade games” included Missile, a shooter and vehicle-combat simulation, gas stations and many other retail establishments
early amusement-park midway games such as shoot- featured electronic sound and a moving film strip to looking for extra income. Video game arcades at
ing galleries, ball-toss games, and the earliest coin- represent the targets on a projection screen. It was the time became as common as convenience stores,
operated machines, such as those the earliest known arcade game while arcade games like Pac-Man and Space Invad-
that claimed to tell a person’s to feature a joystick with a fire ers would appear in most locations across the United
fortune or that played mechani- button, which formed part of an States, including even funeral homes. The sales of
cal music. The old Midways early dual-control scheme, where arcade video game machines increased significant-
of 1920s-era amusement parks two directional buttons are used ly during this period, from $50 million in 1978 to
(such as Coney Island in New to move the player’s tank and $900 million in 1981, with 500,000 arcade machines
York) provided the inspiration a two-way joystick is used to sold in the United States at prices ranging as high as
and atmosphere for later arcade shoot and steer the missile onto $3000 in 1982 alone. By 1982, there were 24,000
games. In the 1930s the first oncoming planes displayed on full arcades, 400,000 arcade street locations and 1.5
coin-operated pinball machines the screen; when a plane is hit, million arcade machines active in North America.
emerged. These early amusement an animated explosion appears The market was very competitive; the average life
machines differed from their lat- on screen, accompanied by the span of an arcade game was four to six months.
er electronic cousins in that they sound of an explosion. In 1970 Some games like Robby Roto failed because they
were made of wood. They lacked 1932 Ballyhoo piball machine Midway released the game in were too complex to learn quickly, and others like
plungers or lit-up bonus surfaces North America as S.A.M.I.. In Star Fire because they were too unfamiliar to the
on the playing field, and used mechanical instead of the same year, Sega released Jet Rocket, a combat audience. Qix was briefly very popular but, Taito’s
electronic scoring-readouts. By around 1977 most flight-simulator featuring cockpit controls that could Keith Egging later said, “too mystifying for gamers
pinball machines in production switched to using move the player aircraft around a landscape dis- ... impossible to master and when the novelty wore
solid-state electronics both for operation and for played on a screen and shoot missiles onto targets off, the game faded”. At around this time, the home
scoring. that explode when hit. video game industry (second-generation video game
In 1966, Sega introduced an electro-me- In 1971 students at Stanford University set consoles and early home computer games) emerged
chanical game called Periscope - an early submarine up the Galaxy Game, a coin-operated version of as “an outgrowth of the widespread success of video
simulator and light gun shooter which used lights the Spacewar video game. This ranks as the earli- arcades” at the time.
and plastic waves to simulate sinking ships from a est known instance of a coin-operated video game. While color monitors had been used by sev-
submarine. It became an instant success in Japan, Later in the same year, Nolan Bushnell created the eral racing video games before (such as Indy 800
Europe, and North America, where it was the first first mass-manufactured game, Computer Space, for and Speed Race Twin), it was during this period
arcade game to cost a quarter per play, which would Nutting Associates. that RGB color graphics became widespread, fol-
remain the standard price for arcade games for many In 1972, Atari was formed by Nolan Bushnell lowing the release of Galaxian in 1979. Namco’s
years to come. In 1967 Taito released an electro-me- and Ted Dabney. Atari essentially created the coin- Rally-X in 1980 featured multi-directional scrolling,
chanical arcade game of their own, Crown Soccer operated video game industry with the game Pong, and introduced a radar tracking the player position.
Special, a two-player sports game that simulated as- the first successful electronic ping pong video game. Sega’s Space Tactics that year was a space combat
sociation football, using various electronic compo- Pong proved to be popular, but imitators helped keep game allowing multi-directional scrolling from a
nents, including electronic versions of pinball flip- Atari from dominating the fledgling coin-operated first-person perspective. The following year, Nam-
pers. video game market. co’s Bosconian allowed the player’s ship to freely
Sega later produced gun games which re- In the early 1970s to mid 1980s, the era of move across open space that scrolls in all directions.
semble first-person shooter video games, but which greatest popularity and technological innovation for By the early 1980s, scrolling had become popular
were in fact electro-mechanical games that used rear arcade video games, the industry came to what is among arcade video games and would make its way
image projection in a manner similar to the ancient called “the golden age of arcade video games”. to third-generation consoles, where it would prove
zoetrope to produce moving animations on a screen. The golden age was a time of great techni- nearly as pivotal as the move to 3D graphics on later
The first of these, the light-gun game Duck Hunt, ap- cal and design creativity in arcade games. The era fifth-generation consoles.
peared in 1969; it featured animated moving targets saw the rapid spread of video arcades across North The Golden Age also saw developers experi-
on a screen, printed out the player’s score on a ticket, America, Europe, and Asia. The number of video menting with vector displays, which produced crisp
 THE HISTORY OF ARCADE VIDEO GAMES
9
lines that couldn’t be duplicated by raster displays. tem used two Z8002 microprocessors and one Z80 Arcade games at the time affected on the
A few of these vector games became great hits, such microprocessor, along with a Namco 6-channel ster- music industry, revenues for which had declined by
as 1979’s Asteroids, 1980’s Battlezone and Tempest eo PSG sound chip for the sound. $400 million between 1978 and 1981 (from $4.1
and 1983’s Star Wars from Atari, as well as 1982’s Developers also experimented with laserdisc billion to $3.7 billion), a decrease that was direct-
Star Trek from Sega. However, vector technology players for delivering full motion video based games ly credited to the rise of arcade games at the time.
fell out of favor with arcade game companies due to with movie-quality animation. The first laserdisc Successful songs based on video games also began
the high cost of repairing vector displays. video game to exploit this technology was 1983’s appearing. The pioneering electronic music band
Several developers at the time were also ex- Astron Belt from Sega, soon followed by Dragon’s Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) sampled Space In-
perimenting with pseudo-3D and stereoscopic 3D Lair from Cinematronics; the latter was a sensation vaders sounds in their 1978 self-titled album and the
using 2D sprites on raster displays. In 1979, Nin- when it was released (and, in fact, the laserdisc play- hit single “Computer Game” from the same album,
tendo’s Radar Scope introduced a three-dimensional ers in many machines broke due to overuse). While the latter selling over 400,000 copies in the United
third-person perspective to the shoot ‘em up genre, laserdisc games were usually either shooter games States. In turn, YMO would have a major influence
later imitated by shooters such as Konami’s Juno with full-motion video backdrops like Astron Belt on much of the video game music produced during
First and Activision’s Beamrider in 1983. In 1981, or interactive movies like Dragon’s Lair, Data East’s the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. The song “Pac-Man Fever”
Sega’s Turbo was the first racing game to feature a 1983 game Bega’s Battle introduced a new form of reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold
third-person rear view format, and use sprite scal- video game storytelling: using brief full-motion vid- over a million singles in 1982, while the album Pac-
ing with full-colour graphics. Namco’s Pole Position eo cutscenes to develop a story between the game’s Man Fever sold over a million records, with both re-
featured an improved rear-view racer format in 1982 shooting stages, which would years later become the ceiving Gold certifications. That same year, R. Cade
that would remain the standard for the genre; the standard approach to video game storytelling. By the and the Video Victims also produced an arcade-in-
game provided a perspective view of the track, with mid-1980s, the genre dwindled in popularity, as la- spired album, Get Victimized, featuring songs such
its vanishing point swaying side to side as the player serdiscs were losing out to the VHS format and the as “Donkey Kong”. In 1984, former YMO member
approaches corners, accurately simulating forward laserdisc games themselves were losing their novel- Haruomi Hosono produced an album entirely from
movement into the distance. That same year, Sega ty, due to their linearity and, in many cases, depend- Namco arcade game samples entitled Video Game
released Zaxxon, which introduced the use of iso- ing less on reflexes than on memorizing sequences Music, an early example of a chiptune record and the
metric graphics and shadows; and SubRoc-3D, of moves. first video game music album.
which introduced the use of stereoscopic 3D through Some games of this era were so popular that Arcade games also influenced the film indus-
a special eyepiece; they entered popular culture. The first to do so was try; beginning with Space Invaders, arcade games
This period also saw significant advances Space Invaders. The game was so popular upon its began appearing at many movie theaters, while early
in digital audio technology. Space Invaders in 1978 release in 1978 that an urban legend blamed it for a films based on video games were also produced,
was the first game to use a continuous background national shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan, leading most notably Tron, which grossed over $33 million
soundtrack, with four simple chromatic descending to a production increase of coins to meet demand in 1982 which began the Tron franchise which in-
bass notes repeating in a loop, though it was dynam- for the game (although 100 yen coin production was cluded a video game adaptation that grossed more
ic and changed pace during stages. Rally-X in 1980 lower in 1978 and 1979 than in previous or subse- than the film. Other films based on video games in-
was the first game to feature continuous background quent years, and the claim does not withstand logical cluded the 1983 films WarGames (where Matthew
music, which was generated using a dedicated sound scrutiny: arcade operators would have emptied out Broderick plays Galaga at an arcade), Nightmares,
chip, a Namco 3-channel PSG. That same year saw their machines and taken the money to the bank, thus and Joysticks, the 1984 film The Last Starfighter,
the introduction of speech synthesis, which was keeping the coins in circulation). It would soon have and the anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Ky-
first used in Stratovox, released by Sun Electron- a similar impact in North America, where it has ap- ushutsu Dai Sakusen! in 1986.
ics in 1980, followed soon after by Namco’s King peared or is referenced in numerous facets of popu- The golden age cooled around the mid-1980s
& Balloon, which was an early example of multiple lar culture. By 1980, 86% of the 13–20 population as copies of popular games began to saturate the ar-
CPUs, using two Z80 microprocessors, the second in the United States had played arcade video games, cades. Arcade video game revenues in the United
to drive a DAC for speech. Multi-CPUs were used and by 1981, there were more than 35 million gam- States had declined from $8 billion in 1981 and $7
by several arcade games the following year, includ- ers visiting video game arcades in the United States. billion in 1982 to $5 billion in 1983, reaching a low
ing Frogger, which used two Z80 microprocessors The game that most affected popular culture of $4 billion in 1986. Despite this, arcades would
and an AY-3-8910 PSG sound chip, and Scramble, in North America was Pac-Man. Its release in 1980 remain commonplace through to the early 1990s as
which used two Z80 microprocessors and two AY- caused such a sensation that it initiated what is now there were still new genres being explored. In 1987,
3-8910 sound chips. In 1983, Gyruss, known for its referred to as “Pac-Mania” (which later became the arcades experienced a short resurgence with Dou-
stereo sound and musical score, utilized multi CPUs, title of the last coin-operated game in the series, re- ble Dragon, which started the golden age of beat
which included two Z80 microprocessors, one 6809 leased in 1987). Though no one could agree what the ‘em up games, a genre that would peak in popular-
microprocessor, and one 8039 microprocessor, along “hero” or enemies represented (they were variously ity with Final Fight two years later. In 1988, arcade
with five AY-3-8910 sound chips and a DAC for the referred to as ghosts, goblins or monsters), the game game revenues in the United States rose back up to
sound. That same year, the Namco Pole Position sys- was extremely popular. $6.4 billion, largely due to the rising popularity of
THE HISTORY OF ARCADE VIDEO GAMES
10
violent action games in the beat ‘em up and run and billion in 1994 ($21 billion in 2016) was nearly two service, typically snacks and fast food. Referred to
gun shooter genres. After yet another relative de- and a half times the $5 billion revenue grossed by as “fun centers” or “family fun centers”, some of the
cline, U.S. arcade video game revenues had fallen movies in the United States at the time. longstanding chains such as Chuck E. Cheese’s and
to $2.1 billion by 1991, by which time the sales of Around the mid-1990s, the fifth-generation Gatti’s Pizza (“GattiTowns”) also changed to this
arcade machines had declined, with 4000 unit sales home consoles, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nin- format. Many 1980s-era video game arcades have
being considered a hit at the time. tendo 64, began offering true 3D graphics, improved long since closed, and classic coin-operated games
One of the causes of decline was new gen- sound, and better 2D graphics, than the previous have become largely the province of dedicated gam-
erations of personal computers and video game con- generation. By 1995, personal computers followed, ers and hobbyists. In the 2010s, some movie theaters
soles that sapped interest from arcades. In the early with 3D accelerator cards. While arcade systems and family fun centers still have small arcades.
1990s, the Genesis/Mega Drive and Super NES/Su- such as the Sega Model 3 remained considerably In the 2000s and 2010s, arcades have found
per Famicom greatly improved home play and some more advanced than home systems in the late 1990s, a niche market by providing games that use special
of their technology was even integrated into a few the technological advantage that arcade games had, controllers largely inaccessible to home users, such
video arcade machines. in their ability to customize and use the latest graph- as dance games that have a floor that senses the us-
Sega AM2’s Hang-On, designed by Yu Suzu- ics and sound chips, slowly began narrowing, and er’s dancing. An alternative interpretation (one that
ki and running on the Sega Space Harrier hardware, the convenience of home games eventually caused includes fighting games, which continue to thrive
was the first of Sega’s “Super Scaler” arcade sys- a decline in arcade gaming. Sega’s sixth generation and require no special controller) is that the arcade
tem boards that allowed pseudo-3D sprite-scaling at console, the Dreamcast, could produce 3D graphics is now a more socially-oriented hangout, with games
high frame rates. The pseudo-3D sprite/tile scaling comparable to the Sega NAOMI arcade system in that focus on an individual’s performance, rather
was handled in a similar manner to textures in later 1998, after which Sega produced more powerful ar- than the game’s content, as the primary form of nov-
texture-mapped polygonal 3D games of the 1990s. It cade systems such as the Sega NAOMI Multiboard elty. Examples of today’s popular genres are rhythm
was controlled using a video game arcade cabinet re- and Sega Hikaru in 1999 and the Sega NAOMI 2 in games such as Dance Dance Revolution (1998) and
sembling a motorbike, which the player moves with 2000, before Sega eventually stopped manufacturing DrumMania (1999), and rail shooters such as Virtua
their body. This began the “Taikan” trend, the use of expensive proprietary arcade system boards, with Cop (1994) and House of the Dead (1996). In the
motion-controlled hydraulic arcade cabinets in many their subsequent arcade boards being based on more Western world, the arcade video game industry still
arcade games of the late 1980s, two decades before affordable commercial console or PC components. exists, but in a greatly reduced form. Video arcade
motion controls became popular on video game con- Arcade video games had declined in popu- game hardware is often based on home game con-
soles. larity so much by the late 1990s, that revenues in the soles to reduce development costs; there are video ar-
In the early 1990s, the arcades experienced a United States dropped to $1.33 billion in 1999, and cade versions of Dreamcast (NAOMI, Atomiswave),
major resurgence with the 1991 release of Capcom’s reached a low of $866 million in 2004. The gap in PlayStation 2 (System 246), Nintendo GameCube
Street Fighter II, which popularized competitive release dates and quality between console ports and (Triforce), and Microsoft Xbox (Chihiro) home
fighting games and revived the arcade industry to a the arcade games they were ported from dramati- consoles and PC (e.g. Taito Type X). Some arcades
level of popularity not seen since the days of Pac- cally narrowed, thus setting up home consoles as a have survived by expanding into ticket-based prize
Man, setting off a renaissance for the arcade game major competitor with arcades. Furthermore, by the redemption and more physical games with no home
industry in the early 1990s. Its success led to a wave early 2000s, networked gaming via computers and console equivalent, such as skee ball and Whac-A-
of other popular games which mostly were in the then consoles across the Internet had also appeared, Mole. Some genres, particularly dancing and rhythm
fighting genre, such as Pit-Fighter (1990) by Atari, replacing the venue of head-to-head competition and games (such as Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution),
Mortal Kombat by Midway Games and The King of social atmosphere once provided solely by arcades. continue to be popular in arcades.
Fighters (1994–2005) by SNK. The arcades also lost their status as the forefront of Worldwide, arcade game revenues gradually
3D polygon graphics were popularized by new game releases. Given the choice between play- increased from $1.8 billion in 1998 to $3.2 billion
the Sega Model 1 games Virtua Racing (1992) and ing a game at an arcade three or four times (perhaps in 2002, rivalling PC game sales of $3.2 billion that
Virtua Fighter (1993), followed by racing games 15 minutes of play for a typical arcade game), and same year. In particular, arcade video games are a
like the Namco System 22 title Ridge Racer (1993) renting, at about the same price, exactly the same thriving industry in China, where arcades are wide-
and Sega Model 2 title Daytona USA, and light gun game—for a video game console—the console be- spread across the country. The US market has also
shooters like Sega’s Virtua Cop (1994) and Mesa came the preferred choice. Fighting games were the experienced a slight resurgence, with the number
Logic’s Area 51 (1995), gaining considerable popu- most attractive feature for arcades, since they offered of video game arcades across the nation increasing
larity in the arcades. By 1994, arcade games in the the prospect of face-to-face competition and tourna- from 2,500 in 2003 to 3,500 in 2008, though this is
United States were generating revenues of $7 billion ments, which correspondingly led players to practice significantly less than the 10,000 arcades in the early
in quarters (equivalent to $11.3 billion in 2016), in more (and spend more money in the arcade), but they 1980s. As of 2009, a successful arcade game usually
comparison to home console game sales of $6 billion, could not support the business all by themselves. sells around 4000 to 6000 units worldwide.
with many of the best-selling home video games in To remain viable, arcades added other ele- The relative simplicity yet solid gameplay of
the early 1990s often being arcade ports. Combined, ments to complement the video games such as re- many of these early games has inspired a new gen-
total US arcade and console game revenues of $13 demption games, merchandiser games, and food eration of fans who can play them on mobile phones
 THE HISTORY OF ARCADE VIDEO GAMES
11
or with emulators such as MAME. Some classic ar-
cade games are reappearing in commercial settings,
such as Namco’s Ms. Pac-Man 20 Year Reunion /
Galaga Class of 1981 two-in-one game, or inte-
grated directly into controller hardware (joysticks)
with replaceable flash drives storing game ROMs.
Arcade classics have also been reappearing as mo-
bile games, with Pac-Man in particular selling over
30 million downloads in the United States by 2010.
Arcade classics have also begun to appear on multi-
game arcade machines for home users.
In the Japanese gaming industry, arcades
have remained popular through to the present day.
As of 2009, out of Japan’s $20 billion gaming mar-
ket, $6 billion of that amount is generated from ar-
cades, which represent the largest sector of the Japa-
nese video game market, followed by home console
games and mobile games at $3.5 billion and $2 bil-
lion, respectively. In 2005, arcade ownership and
operation accounted for a majority of Namco’s for
example. With considerable withdrawal from the ar-
cade market from companies such as Capcom, Sega
became the strongest player in the arcade market
with 60% marketshare in 2006. Despite the global
decline of arcades, Japanese companies hit record
revenue for three consecutive years during this pe-
riod. However, due to the country’s economic re-
cession, the Japanese arcade industry has also been
steadily declining, from ¥702.9 billion ($8.7 billion)
in 2007 to ¥504.3 billion ($6.2 billion) in 2010. In
2013, estimation of revenue is ¥470 billion.
In the Japanese market, network and card
features introduced by Virtua Fighter 4 and World
Club Champion Football, and novelty cabinets such
as Gundam Pod machines have caused revitaliza-
tions in arcade profitability in Japan. The reason for
the continued popularity of arcades in comparison to
the west, are heavy population density and an infra-
structure similar to casino facilities.
Former rivals in the Japanese arcade indus-
try, Konami, Taito, Bandai Namco Entertainment
and Sega, are now working together to keep the ar-
cade industry vibrant. This is evidenced in the shar-
ing of arcade networks, and venues having games
from all major companies rather than only games
from their own company.

 Arcade cabinet
12
A video game arcade cabinet, also known as a vid- - A power supply to provide DC power to the arcade The sides of the arcade cabinet are usually decorated
eo arcade machine or video coin-op, is the housing system boards and low voltage lighting for the coin with brightly coloured stickers or paint, representing
within which a video arcade game’s hardware re- slots and lighted buttons. the gameplay of their particular game.
sides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s - A marquee, a sign above the monitor displaying There are many types of arcade cabinets, some in
conform to the JAMMA wiring standard. Some in- the game’s title. They are often brightly colored and fact being custom-made for a particular game; how-
clude additional connectors for features not included backlit. ever, the most common are the upright, the cocktail
in the standard. - A bezel, which is the border around the monitor. It or table, and the sit-down.
Because arcade cabinets vary according to may contain instructions or artwork.
Upright cabinets
the games they were built for or contain, they may - A control panel, a level surface near the monitor,
Upright cabinets are by far the most common in
well not possess all of the parts listed below: upon which the game’s controls are arranged. Con-
North America. They are usually made of wood and
- A monitor, on which the game is displayed. They trol panels sometimes have playing instructions.
metal, about six feet or two meters tall, with the con-
may display either raster or vector graphics, raster Players often pile their coins or tokens on the control
trol panel set perpendicular to the monitor at slightly
being most common. Standard resolution is between panels of upright and cocktail cabinets.
above waist level. The monitor is housed inside the
262.5 and 315 vertical lines, depending on the re- - Coin slots, coin returns and the coin box, which al-
cabinet, at approximately eye level. The marquee is
fresh rate (usually between 50 and 60 Hz). Slower low for the exchange of money or tokens. They are
above it, and often overhangs it.
refresh rates allow for better vertical resolution. usually below the control panel. Very often, trans-
Controls are most commonly a joystick for as
Monitors may be oriented horizontally or vertically, lucent red plastic buttons are placed in between the
many players as the game allows, plus action buttons
depending on the game. Some games use more than coin return and the coin slot. When they are pressed,
and “player” buttons which serve the same purpose
one monitor. Some newer cabinets have monitors a coin or token that has become jammed in the coin
as the start button on console gamepads. Trackballs
that can display high-definition video. mechanism is returned to the player. Early coin slots
are sometimes used instead of joysticks, especially
- Printed circuit boards (PCB) or arcade system could be defeated using a piezo-electric gas fire or
in games from the early 1980s. Spinners (knobs for
boards, the actual hardware upon which the game gas oven igniter held against the steel bodywork of
turning, also called “paddle controls”) are used to
runs. Hidden within the cabinet. Some systems, such the cabinet, thus enabling free credits to be obtained.
control game elements that move strictly horizon-
as the SNK Neo-Geo MVS, use a main board with In some arcades, the coin slot is replaced with a card
tally or vertically, such as the paddles in Arkanoid
game carts. Some main boards may hold multiple reader that reads data from a game card bought from
and Pong. Games such as Robotron: 2084, Smash
game carts as well. the arcade operator.
TV and Battlezone use double joysticks instead of
action buttons. Some versions of the original Street
Fighter had pressure-sensitive rubber pads instead of
buttons.
If an upright is housing a driving game, it
may have a steering wheel and throttle pedal instead
of a joystick and buttons. If the upright is housing a
shooting game, it may have light guns attached to the
front of the machine, via durable cables. Some ar-
cade machines had the monitor placed at the bottom
of the cabinet with a mirror mounted at around 45
degrees above the screen facing the player. This was
done to save space, a large CRT monitor would oth-
erwise poke out the back of the cabinet, and possibly
to avoid eye strain from looking directly up-close at
the monitor. To correct for the mirrored image, some
games had an option to flip the video output using
a dip switch setting. Other genres of game such as
Guitar Freaks feature controllers resembling musical
instruments.
Upright cabinet shape designs varies from
the simplest symmetric perpendicular boxes as with
Star Trek to complicated asymmetric forms.
Games are typically for one or two players;
however, games such as Gauntlet feature as many as
four sets of controls.
Pictures from “jammaboards.com”
 ARCADE CABINET
13
Cocktail or table cabinets Candy cabinets Racer Full Scale, in which the player sat in a full size
Cocktail cabinets are shaped like low, rectangular Owing to the resemblance of the plastic to hard Mazda MX-5 road car.
tables, with the controls usually set at either of the candy, they are often known as “candy cabinets”, by Cockpit and environmental cabinets
board ends, or, though not as common, at the nar- both arcade enthusiasts and by people in the indus- These are close relatives to deluxe cabinets except
row ends, and the monitor inside the table, the screen try. They are also generally easier to clean and move the player sits inside the game itself. Examples of
facing upward. Two-player games housed in cock- than upright cabinets, but usually just as heavy as this are games such as Star Wars, Sinistar or Discs
tails were usually alternant, each player taking turns. most have 29” screens, as opposed to 20”-25”. They of Tron.
The monitor reverses its orientation (game software are positioned so that the player can sit down on a
Mini cabinets
controlled) for each player, so that everything seems chair or stool and play for extended periods. SNK
The mini or cabaret is a squatter version of the up-
right-side-up from each perspective. This requires sold many Neo-Geo MVS cabinets in this configura-
right cabinet. It may also have a smaller monitor.
special programming of the cocktail versions of the tion, though most arcade games made in Japan that
Mini cabinets spare bulk and are easier for small
game (usually set by dip switches). The monitor’s only use a joystick and buttons will come in a sit-
children to play than some full-size cabinets.
orientation is usually in player two’s favour only in down cabinet variety. In Japanese arcades, this type
two-player games when it’s player two’s turn, and of cabinet is generally more prevalent than the up- Countertop cabinets
in player one’s favour all other times. Simultaneous, right kind, and they are usually lined up in uniform- Countertop or bartop cabinets are usually only large
4 player games that are built as a cocktail include looking rows. A variant of this, often referred to as enough to house their monitors and control panels.
Warlords, and others. “versus-style” cabinets They are often used for trivia and gambling-type
are designed to look like games, and are usually found installed on bars or
two cabinets facing each tables in pubs and restaurants. These cabinets of-
other, with two monitors ten have touchscreen controls instead of traditional
and separate controls al- push-button controls. They are also fairly popular
lowing two players to with home use, as they can be placed upon a table
fight each other without or countertop.
having to share the same Large-scale satellite machines
monitor and control Usually found in Japan, these machines have multi-
area. Some newer cabi- ple screens interconnected to one system, sometimes
nets can emulate these with one big screen in the middle. These also often
“versus-style” cabinets feature the dispensing of different type of cards, ei-
through networking. ther a smartcard in order to save stats and progress,
or trading cards used in the game.
Deluxe cabinets
Most commonly used for games involving gam-
bling, long stints of gaming, or vehicles, such as
fighting games, flight simulators, and racing games.
These cabinets typically have equip-
ment resembling the controls of a ve-
hicle (though some of them are merely
large cabinets with fair features such as
a great screen or chairs). Driving games
Cocktail cabinet versions were usually released may have a bucket seat, foot pedals, a
alongside the upright version of the same game. stick shift, and even an ignition, while
They were relatively common in the 1980s, espe- flight simulators may have a flight yoke
cially during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, but or joystick, and motorcycle games han-
have since lost popularity. Their main advantage dle bars and a seat shaped like a full-size
over upright cabinets was their smaller size, making bike. Often, these cabinets are arranged
them seem less obtrusive, although requiring more side-by-side, to allow players to com-
floor space (more so by having players seated at each pete together. Some of these cabinets
end). The top of the table was covered with a piece are very elaborate, and include hydrau-
of tempered glass, making it convenient to set drinks lics which move the player according to
on (hence the name), and they were often seen in the action on screen. Sega is among the
bars and pubs. biggest manufacturers of these kinds of
cabinets, while Namco released Ridge
 Restoration
14
Since arcade games are becoming increasingly guishable from original. Some even surpass the orig- usually be obtained via coin-op distributors or parts
popular as collectibles, an entire niche industry has inals in quality. Once these pieces are acquired, they suppliers. spray). Paint used is often just convention-
sprung up focused on arcade cabinet restoration. usually snap right into place. al paint with a finish matching the cabinet’s original
There are many websites (both commercial and hob- If the controls are worn and need replacing, paint.
byist) and newsgroups devoted to arcade cabinet res- if the game is popular, they can be easily obtained.
Wiring
toration. They are full of tips and advice on restoring Rarer game controls are harder to come by, but some
If a cabinet needs rewiring, some wiring kits are
games to mint condition. shops stock replacement controls for classic arcade
available over the Internet. An experienced hobbyist
games. Some shops manufacture controls that are
Artwork can usually solve most wiring problems through trial
more robust than originals and fit a
Often game cabinets were used to and error.
variety of machines. Installing them
host a variety of games. Often af- Many cabinets are converted to be used to
takes some experimentation for nov-
ter the cabinet’s initial game was host a game other than the original. In these cases,
ices, but are usually not too difficult
removed and replaced with another, if both games conform to the JAMMA standard, the
to place.
the cabinet’s side art was painted process is simple. Other conversions can be more
over (usually black) so that the Monitors difficult, but some manufacturers such as Nintendo
cabinet wouldn’t misrepresent the Raster monitors are easier to service have produced kits to ease the conversion process
game contained within. The side art than vector monitors. Normally, un- (Nintendo manufactured kits to convert a cabinet
was also painted over to hide dam- less the main tube is blown, a raster from Classic wiring to VS. wiring).
aged or faded artwork. monitor will provide good display
Of course, hobbyists prefer characteristics with perhaps a few mi- DIY projects
cabinets with original artwork in nor color adjustments. Vector moni- Some cabinets are constructed entirely by hobby-
the best possible condition. Since tors, on the other hand, can be chal- ists to mimic an arcade cabinet using emulators such
machines with good quality art are lenging or very costly to service, and as MAME and a PC to replace the game hardware.
hard to find, one of the first tasks is some can’t be repaired at all (they These home built cabinets have many of the features
stripping any old artwork or paint have dwindled in use since the 1980s of real arcade cabinets (such as a coin box, marquees
from the cabinet. This is done with and parts are hard to come by). Some- etc.). MAME arcade units can combine several ar-
conventional chemical paint strip- times they will have to be replaced cade controls (such as two types of joysticks and a
pers or by sanding (preferences completely, but even finding replace- trackball) in one unit to enable play of many differ-
vary). Normally artwork cannot be ment monitors is difficult since few, ent games.
preserved that has been painted over if any, are produced any longer. Bare Other projects can involve converting a reg-
and is removed with any covering new CRTs are still available from ular single game arcade cabinet into a MAME cabi-
paint. New paint can be applied in some suppliers (vector monitors use net, eliminating the need for building a cabinet.
any manner preferred (roller, brush, the same basic tube as a raster, just At least one company manufactures flat-pack
spray). Paint used is often just conventional paint with different electronics), but as they are bare tubes style cabinet kits made from Medium-density fibre-
with a finish matching the cabinet’s original paint. they usually require the yoke to be removed from board. These remove the need for the hobbyist to cut
Many games had artwork which was silk- the old tube and fitted to the new tube and setting to shape large panels of the material, but still require
screened directly on the cabinets. Others used large up, which isn’t usually a job that can be undertaken assembly, painting and finishing; and fitting out with
decals for the side art. Some manufacturers produce by the amateur arcade collector. Retrofitting other a game-system, controls and display.
replication artwork for popular classic games—each monitor technologies to emulate vector graphics can Bespoke arcade cabinets can also be custom
varying in quality. This side art can be applied over also be done. built to order, allowing the hobbyist to design the
the new paint after it has dried. These appliqués can Some electronic components are stressed by cabinet removing the manual skills necessary for
be very large and must be carefully applied to avoid the hot, cramped conditions inside a cabinet. Elec- putting a cabinet together.
bubbles or wrinkles from developing. Spraying the trolytic capacitors dry out over time, and in many Other projects have involved building DIY
surface with a slightly soapy water solution allows classic arcade cabinets their service life is nearing tabletop cabinets and disassembling the casing of
the artwork to be quickly repositioned if wrinkles or the end. If a game has its original raster monitor, it Game Boy Advance handhelds thanks to the abun-
bubbles develop like in window tinting applications. will usually need to be “re-capped”—that is, some dance of arcade classics compilations such as Nam-
Control panels, bezels, marquees capacitors will need to be replaced so the monitor co Museum and other titles. Some pre-manufactured
Acquiring these pieces is harder than installing them. will deliver a proper image. Due to the size of the arcade cabinets were even introduced for using the
Many hobbyists trade these items via newsgroups or capacitors and the voltages present inside a video iPad as a monitor.
sites such as eBay (the same is true for side art). As monitor, this can be a dangerous activity and should
with side art, some replication art shops also produce only be attempted by experienced hobbyists or pro-
replication artwork for these pieces that is indistin- fessionals. If a monitor is broken, a replacement can
 JAMMA
15
The Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing As- with negative composite sync; single-speaker sound It specifies the retail value of a prize item cannot ex-
sociation, abbreviated JAMMA, is a Japanese trade output; and inputs for coin, service, test, and tilt. ceed 800 yen. In addition, following items cannot
association headquartered in Tokyo. The connector circuitry of some later games, be manufactured, sold, or transferred to arcades as
JAMMA is run by representatives from vari- such as Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) prizes:
ous arcade video game manufacturers, including and X-Men (1992), implement extra buttons, differ- - Tobacco and tobacco-themed items
Namco Bandai, Sega, Taito, Tecmo, Capcom, Kona- ent controller types, or support more players by add- - Alcohol and alcohol-themed items
mi and Atlus, among others. ing extra connectors—or even by utilizing dormant - Drugs, or items containing material that causes
The corporation was renamed after they JAMMA pins. Circuitry designs that overstep the high, dizziness, hallucination
merged with the Nihon Shopping Center Amuse- JAMMA specification in this way are unofficially - Medium containing contents that interferes with
ment Park Operator’s Association (NSA) and the called JAMMA+. proper youth growth or good social order
Japan Amusement Park Equipment Association (JA- - Items for sex, and items resembling sexual organs
PEA). JAMMA Video Standard - Underwear
Before 2012, JAMMA had been organizing The JAMMA Video Standard (JVS) is a newer JAM- - Coupon or similar items
an annual trade fair called the Amusement Machine MA connector standard designed for contemporary - Item violating food safety laws
Show for many years. In 2013, they began collabo- USB peripherals. The standard specifies communi- - Counterfeit brand or counterfeit character items, or
rating with the Amusement Machine Operators’ Un- cation protocols and physical interfaces for periph- items violating intellectual property
ion (AOU), who had their own trade show, to pro- eral devices. - Item causing physical or mental harm (e.g., weap-
mote a new event: the Japan Amusement Expo. ons)
Connector standards - Life forms violating the spirit of animal protection
JAMMA is the namesake of a widely used wiring
standard for arcade games. An arcade cabinet wired
to JAMMA’s specification can accept a motherboard
for any JAMMA-compatible game. JAMMA intro-
duced the standard in 1985; by the 1990s, most new
arcade games were built to JAMMA specifications.
As the majority of arcade games were designed in
Japan at this time, JAMMA became the de facto
standard internationally.
Before the JAMMA standard, most arcade
PCBs, wiring harnesses, and power supplies were
custom-built. When an old game became unprofit-
able, many arcade operators would rewire the cabi-
net and update the artwork in order to put different Per the first edition of the JVS, published in 1996,
games in the cabinets. Reusing old cabinets made a peripheral devices connect to a dedicated I/O board.
lot of sense, and it was realized that the cabinets were The main board connects to the I/O board via an
a different market from the games themselves. The USB Type-A to USB Type-B interface cable, and
JAMMA standard allowed plug-and-play cabinets peripherals connect to the I/O board via USB-A.
to be created (reducing the cost to arcade operators) JAMMA published the second edition of the
where an unprofitable game could be replaced with JVS on 17 July 1997, and the third edition on 31
another game by a simple swap of the game’s PCB. May 2000. The third edition adds support for AS-
This resulted in most arcade games in Japan (outside CII and Shift-JIS output; device drivers for second-
racing and gun shooting games that required deluxe ary and tertiary input devices; a device driver for a
cabinets) to be sold as conversion kits consisting of mahjong controller; and recommended values for
nothing more than a PCB, play instructions and an SYNC-code timing.
operator’s manual.
The JAMMA standard uses a 56-pin edge Amusement Machine Prize guideline
connector on the board with inputs and outputs com- The Amusement Machine prize guideline is a guide
mon to most video games. These include power in- for the type of prize that should be provided by ar-
puts (5 volts for the game and 12 volts for sound); cade operator. The standard was enacted in 1 No-
inputs for two joysticks, each with three action but- vember 2004. Megalo City 29-inch 15KHz JAMMA arcade machine.
tons and one start button; analog RGB video output (Based on the look of Sega’s New Versus City cabinets)
 Emulators
16
Video game console emulators are programs that al- systems (X/MAME), Macintosh (MacMAME and be purchased and assembled (with optional PC and
low a personal computer or video game console to later MAME OS X) and Windows (MAME32). MAME preinstalled).
emulate another video game console. They are most Since 24 May 2001 with version 0.37b15, the main Although MAME contains a rudimentary
often used to play older 1980s-era video games on development occurs on the Windows platform, and user interface, the use of MAME in arcade game
2010s-era personal computers and more contem- most other platforms are supported through the cabinets and home theater PCs necessitates special
porary video game consoles. They are also used SDLMAME project, which was integrated into the launcher applications called front ends with more
to translate games into other languages, to modify main development source tree in 2006. In addition, advanced user interfaces. Front ends provide vary-
existing games, and in the development process of different versions of MAME have been ported to ing degrees of customization – allowing one to see
“home brew” DIY demos and in the creation of new other computers, game consoles, mobile phones and images of the cabinets, history of the games and tips
games for older systems. The Internet has helped in PDAs, and at one point even to digital cameras. In on how to play, and even video of the game play or
the spread of console emulators, as most - if not all - 2012, Google ported MAME to Native Client, which attract mode of the game.
would be unavailable for sale in retail outlets. allows MAME to run inside Chrome. The information contained within MAME is
Major releases of MAME occur approxi- free for re-use, and companies have been known to
MAME mately once a month. Windows executables in both utilize MAME when recreating their old classics on
MAME (originally an acronym of Multiple Arcade 32-bit and 64-bit fashion are released on the official modern systems. Some have gone as far as to hire
Machine Emulator) is a free and open source emula- web site of the development team, along with the MAME developers to create emulators for their old
tor designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game complete source code. Smaller, incremental “u” (for properties. An example of this is the Taito Legends
systems in software on modern personal comput- update) releases were released weekly (until version pack.
ers and other platforms. The intention is to preserve 0.149u1) as source diffs against the most recent ma- Since 2012 MAME is maintained by then
gaming history by preventing vintage games from jor version, to keep code in synchronization among MESS project leader Miodrag Milanović.
being lost or forgotten. The aim of MAME is to be a developers. The MAME source code is developed On May 27, 2015 (0.162), the games console
reference to the inner workings of the emulated ar- on a public GitHub repository. This allows those and computer system emulator MESS was integrat-
cade machines; the ability to actually play the games with the required expertise & tools to build the most ed with MAME.
is considered “a nice side effect”. Joystiq has listed up-to-date version of the code and contribute en- In May 2015, it was announced that MAME’s
MAME as an application that every gamer should hancements in the form of Pull Requests. developers were planning to re-license the software
have. The architecture of MAME has been exten- under a more common free and open source license,
The first public MAME release (0.1) was on sively improved over the years. Support for both away from the original MAME-license. MAME
February 5, 1997, by Nicola Salmoria. The emula- raster and vector displays, as well as multiple CPUs developer Miodrag Milanovic explained that the
tor now supports over seven thousand unique games and sound chips, were added to MAME in the first change is intended to draw more developer interest
and ten thousand actual ROM image sets, though not six months of the project. A flexible timer system to the project, allow the manufacturers of games to
all of the supported games are playable. MESS, an to coordinate the synchronization between multiple distribute MAME to emulate their own games, and
emulator for many video game consoles and com- emulated CPU cores was implemented, and ROM make the software a “learning tool for developers
puter systems, based on the MAME core, was inte- images started to be loaded according to their CRC32 working on development boards”. The transition of
grated upstream into MAME in 2015. hash in the ZIP files they were stored in. MAME has MAME’s licensing to the BSD/GPL licenses was
pioneered the reverse engineering of many undocu- completed in March 2016. With the license change,
The project was started by the Italian programmer mented system architectures, various CPUs (such most of MAME’s source code (90%+) is available
Nicola Salmoria. MAME traces its roots to an earlier as the M6809-derivative custom Konami CPU with under a three-clause BSD license and the complete
emulator project called Multi-Pac, but the name was new instructions) and sound chips (for example the project is under the GNU General Public License
changed as more and more games started to be emu- Yamaha FM sound chips), and MAME developers version 2 or later.
lated within the MAME framework. In April 1997, have been instrumental in the reverse engineering of On Feb 24, 2016 (0.171), MAME embedded
Salmoria stepped down for his national service com- many proprietary encryption algorithms utilized in MEWUI front-end (and developer joined the team),
mitments, handing stewardship of the project to fel- arcade games. Examples of these include the Neo providing MAME with a flexible and more full-fea-
low Italian Mirko Buffoni for a period of half a year. Geo, CP System II, CP System III and many others. tured UI.
In May 2003, David Haywood took over the job of The popularity of MAME has well since
the coordinator. From April 2005 to April 2011, the The MAME core coordinates the emulation of sev-
broken through to the mainstream, with enthusiasts
project was coordinated by Aaron Giles. Angelo eral elements at the same time. These elements rep-
building their own arcade game cabinets to relive the
Salese stepped in as the new coordinator. In 2012, licate the behavior of the hardware present in the
old games, and with companies producing illegal de-
Miodrag Milanovic took over. The project is sup- original arcade machines. MAME can emulate many
rivative works of MAME to be installed in arcades.
ported by hundreds of developers around the world different central processing units (CPUs) and asso-
Cabinets can be built either from scratch or by taking
and thousands of outside contributors. ciated hardware. These elements are virtualized so
apart and modifying a genuine arcade game cabinet
At first, MAME was developed exclusively MAME acts as a software layer between the original
that was once used with the real hardware inside.
for MS-DOS, but it was soon ported to Unix-like program of the game, and the platform MAME runs
Cabinets inspired by classic arcade games can also
 EMULATORS
17
on. MAME supports arbitrary screen resolutions, re- and encoded into digital files that can be read by Portability and genericity are also important to
fresh rates and display configurations. Multiple em- MAME. MAME does not support the use of external MAME. Combined with the uncompromising stance
ulated monitors, as required by for example Darius, analog devices, which (along with identical speak- on accuracy, this often results in high system require-
are supported as well. er and speaker enclosures) would be required for a ments. Although a 2 GHz processor is enough to run
Individual arcade systems are specified by 100% faithful reproduction of the arcade experience. almost all 2D games, more recent systems and par-
drivers which take the form of C preprocessor mac- A number of games use sound chips that have not ticularly systems with 3D graphics can be unplay-
ros. These drivers specify the individual components yet been emulated successfully. These games require ably slow even on the fastest computers. MAME
to be emulated and how they communicate with sound samples in WAV file format for sound emula- does not currently take advantage of hardware ac-
each other. While MAME was originally written in tion. MAME additionally supports artwork files in celeration to speed up the rendering of 3D graphics,
C, the need for object oriented programming caused PNG format for bezel and overlay graphics. in part because of the lack of a stable cross-platform
the development team to begin to compile all code 3D API, and in part because software rendering can
The stated aim of the project is to document
as C++ for MAME 0.136, taking advantage of ad- in theory be an exact reproduction of the various
hardware, and so MAME takes a somewhat purist
ditional features of that language in the process. custom 3D rendering approaches that were used in
view of emulation, prohibiting programming hacks
Although a great majority of the CPU emu- the arcade games.
that might make a game run improperly or run faster
lation cores are interpretive, MAME also supports
at the expense of emulation accuracy. Components Owning and distributing MAME itself is legal in
dynamic recompilation through an intermediate
such as CPUs are emulated at a low level (meaning most countries, as it is merely an emulator. Compa-
language called the Universal Machine Language
individual instructions are emulated) whenever pos- nies such as Sony have attempted in court to prevent
(UML) to increase the emulation speed. Back-end
sible, and high-level emulation (HLE) is only used other software such as Virtual Game Station, a Sony
targets supported are x86 and x64. A C backend is
when a chip is completely undocumented and cannot Playstation emulator from being sold, but they have
also available to further aid verification of the cor-
be reverse-engineered in detail. Signal level emula- been ultimately unsuccessful. MAME itself has thus
rectness. CPUs emulated in this manner are SH-2,
tion is used to emulate audio circuitry that consists far not been the subject of any court cases. Early
MIPS R3000 and PowerPC.
of analog components. coverage of MAME tended to be sensationalist, such
The original program code, graphics and sound data We want to document the hardware. Now a lot of as IGN highlighting the use of MAME among con-
need to be present so that the game can be emulated. people will say; “Where’s your document? You just sole pirates.
In most arcade machines, the data is stored in read- write a bunch of source code.” And yes, that’s true. Most arcade games are still covered by cop-
only memory chips (ROMs), although other devices One thing I’ve learned is that keeping documenta- yright. Downloading or distributing copyrighted
such as cassette tapes, floppy disks, hard disks, laser- tion synced with source code is nearly impossible. ROMs without permission from copyright holders is
discs, and compact discs are also used. The contents The best proof that your documentation is right is almost always a violation of copyright laws. Howev-
of most of these devices can be copied to computer “does this code work”. er, some countries (including the US) allow the own-
files, in a process called “dumping”. The resulting — Aaron Giles, California Extreme 2008 | er of a board to transfer data contained in its ROM
files are often generically called ROM images or chips to a personal computer or other device they
MAME emulates well over a thousand dif-
ROMs regardless of the kind of storage they came own. Some copyright holders have explored making
ferent arcade system boards, a majority of which are
from. A game usually consists of multiple ROM arcade game ROMs available to the public through
completely undocumented and custom designed to
and PAL images; these are collectively stored inside licensing. For example, in 2003 Atari made MAME-
run either a single game or a very small number of
a single ZIP file, constituting a ROM set. In addi- compatible ROMs for 27 of its arcade games avail-
them. The approach MAME takes with regards to
tion to the “parent” ROM set (usually chosen as the able on the internet site Star ROMs. However, by
accuracy is an incremental one; systems are emulat-
most recent “World” version of the game), games 2006 the ROMs were no longer being sold there. At
ed as accurately as they reasonably can be. Bootleg
may have “clone” ROM sets with different program one point, various Capcom games were sold with
copies of games are often the first to be emulated,
code, different language text intended for different the HotRod arcade joystick manufactured by Hana-
with proper (and copy protected) versions emulated
markets etc. For example, Street Fighter II Turbo is ho, but this arrangement was discontinued as well.
later. Besides encryption, arcade games were usually
considered a variant of Street Fighter II Champion Other copyright holders have released games which
protected with custom microcontroller units (MCUs)
Edition. System boards like the Neo Geo that have are no longer commercially viable free of charge
that implemented a part of the game logic or some
ROMs shared between multiple games require the to the public under licenses that prohibit commer-
other important functions. Emulation of these chips
ROMs to be stored in “BIOS” ROM sets and named cial use of the games. Many of these games may be
is preferred even when they have little or no imme-
appropriately. downloaded legally from the official MAME web
diately visible effect on the game itself. For exam-
Hard disks, compact discs and laserdiscs site. The Spanish arcade game developer Gaelco has
ple, the monster behavior in Bubble Bobble was not
are stored in a MAME-specific format called CHD also released World Rally for non-commercial use
perfected until the code and data contained with the
(Compressed Hunks of Data). Some arcade ma- on their website.
custom MCU was dumped through the decapping of
chines use analog hardware, such as laserdiscs, to The MAME community has distanced itself
the chip. This results in the ROM set requirements
store and play back audio/video data such as sound- from other groups redistributing ROMs via the in-
changing as the games are emulated to a more and
tracks and cinematics. This data must be captured ternet or physical media, claiming they are blatantly
more accurate degree.
EMULATORS
18
infringing copyright and harm the project by poten- The license is similar to other copyleft licenses in In 2013 the Internet Archive began to provide aban-
tially bringing it into disrepute. Despite this, illegal requiring that rights and obligations provided in the donware games browser-playable via JSMESS (a
distributions of ROMs are widespread on the inter- license must be remain intact when MESS or deriva- JavaScript port of the MESS emulator), for instance,
net. tive works are distributed. the Atari 2600 game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
In addition to the MESS Licence, The MESS
MAME was formerly distributed under a custom
Team required that: “MESS must be distributed only RetroArch
own-written copyleft license, called “MAME li-
in the original archives. You are not allowed to dis- RetroArch is the reference implementation of the
cense” or “MAME-like license”, which was adopted
tribute a modified version, nor to remove and/or add libretro API. It is free, open source, cross-platform
also by other projects, e.g. Visual Pinball. This old
files to the archive. Adding one text file to advertise software, licensed under the GNU GPLv3.
“MAME license” ensures the source code availabil-
your web site is tolerated only if your site contrib- It is described as a front-end for emulators,
ity, while the redistribution in commercial activities
utes original material to the emulation scene.” The game engines, video games, media players and other
is prohibited. Due to this clause, the license is in-
MAME license required source code be included applications, designed to be fast, lightweight, port-
compatible with the OSI’s Open source definition
with versions of MESS that are modified from the able and without dependencies.
and the FSF’s Free software definition. The non-
original source, while the MESS legal page states RetroArch runs programs converted into dy-
commercial clause was designed to prevent arcade
that when distributing binary files “you should also namic libraries called libretro cores, using several
operators from installing MAME cabinets and prof-
distribute the source code. If you can’t do that, you user interfaces such as command-line interface, a
iting from the works of the original manufacturers
must provide a pointer to a place where the source few graphical user interfaces (GUI) optimized for
of the games. The ambiguity of the definition “com-
can be obtained.” gamepads (the most famous one being called XMB,
mercial” lead to legal problems with the license.
While MESS was available in both binary a clone of Sony’s XMB), several input, audio and
In March 2016 with version 0.172 MAME itself
and source code forms, the restrictions on commer- video drivers, plus other sophisticated features like
switched to common free and open source software
cial exploitation cause it to fall outside of the Free dynamic rate control, audio filters, multi-pass shad-
licenses, the BSD and GPL licenses.
Software Foundation’s definition of free software. ers, netplay, gameplay rewinding, cheats etc.
Similarly MESS was not considered to be open RetroArch has been ported to many plat-
MESS source software if appraised according to the criteria forms. It can run on several PC operating systems
Multi Emulator Super System (MESS) is an emu- of the Open Source Definition. (Windows, OS X, GNU/Linux), home consoles
lator for many game consoles and computer sys-
Generally the emulation only includes raw hardware (PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360, Wii U, etc.), handheld
tems, based on the MAME core and now a part of
logic, such as for the CPU and RAM, and special- consoles (PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, etc.), on
MAME. MESS emulates portable and console gam-
ized DSPs such as tone generators or video sprites. smartphones (Android, iOS, etc.), embedded sys-
ing systems, computer platforms, and calculators.
The MESS emulator does not include any program- tems (Raspberry Pi, ODROID, etc.) and even on
The project strives for accuracy and portability and
ming code stored in ROM chips from the emulated web browsers by using the Emscripten compiler.
therefore is not always the fastest emulator for any
one particular system. Its accuracy makes it also use- computer, since this may be copyrighted software. Formerly known as SSNES, initially based on pseu-
ful for homebrew game development. Obtaining the ROM data by oneself directly donymous programmer byuu’s libretro predecessor
As of April 2015 MESS supported 994 from the hardware being emulated can be extremely libsnes, it began its development in 2010 with Hans-
unique systems with 2,106 total system variations. difficult, technical, and expensive, since it may re- Kristian “themaister” Arntzen committing the first
However, not all of the systems in MESS are func- quire desoldering of integrated circuit chips from the change on GitHub. It was intended as a replacement
tional; some are marked as non-working or are in circuit board of the device they own. The desoldered to bsnes’s Qt-based interface but it grew to support
development. MESS was first released in 1998 and IC is placed into a chip reader device connected to more emulation “cores”. On April 21, 2012, SSNES
has been under constant development since. a USB or serial port of another computer, with pin was officially renamed to RetroArch to reflect this
MAME and MESS were once separate ap- sockets on the reader specifically designed to match change in direction.
plications, but were later developed and released to- the chip package shape in question, to perform a On February 16, 2016, RetroArch became
gether from a single source repository. MAMEDEV memory dump of the ROM to a data file. one of the first ever applications to implement sup-
member David Haywood maintained and distrib- Removal of a soldered chip is often far easier port for the Vulkan graphics API, having done so on
uted UME (Universal Machine Emulator) which than reinstalling it, especially for extremely small the same day of the API’s official release day.
combined much of the functionality of MAME and surface mount technology chips, and the emulated On November 27, 2016, the Libretro Team
MESS in a single application. More recently, on device in question may be effectively destroyed be- announced that, alongside Lakka (LibreELEC-based
May 27, 2015, MESS was formally integrated with yond recovery after the ROM has been removed for RetroArch operating system), RetroArch would be
MAME and became a part of MAME. reading. on the Patreon crowdfunding platform to allow pro-
However, if one has a working system, it is viding bounties for developers who fix specific soft-
MESS was distributed under the MAME Licence, far easier to dump the ROM data to tape, disk, etc. ware bugs and to cover the costs for matchmaking
which allowed for the redistribution of binary files and transfer the data file to one’s target machine. servers.
and source code, either modified or unmodified, but
disallowed selling MESS or using it commercially.
 EMULATORS
19
On December, 2016, GoGames - a company con-
tracted by video game developer and publisher Sega
- approached the RetroArch developers with the in-
tention of using their software in their SEGA Forev-
er project but ultimately the cooperation didn’t come
to fruition due to licensing disagreements.
Its major features include:
- Advanced GPU shader support - A multi-pass post-
processing shader pipeline allows efficient use of
image scaling algorithms, emulation of complex
CRT, NTSC video artifacts and other effects;
- Dynamic Rate Control to synchronize video and
audio while smoothing out timing imperfections;
- FFmpeg recording - Built-in support for lossless
video recording using FFmpeg’s libavcodec;
- Gamepad abstraction layer called Retropad.
- Gamepad auto-configuration - Zero-configuration
needed from the user after plugging a gamepad in;
- Peer-to-peer netplay that uses a rollback technique
similar to GGPO;
- Audio DSP plugins like an equalizer, reverb and
other effects;
- Advanced savestate features - Automatic savestate
loading, disabling SRAM overwritting, etc.;
- Frame-by-frame gameplay rewinding at the press
of a button;
- Button overlays for touchscreen devices like smart-
phones;
- Thumbnails of game boxarts;
- Low input and audio lag options;
- Automatically build categorized playlists by scan-
ning directories for games/ROMs;
- Multiple interfaces including: CLI, XMB (opti-
mized for gamepads), GLUI/MaterialUI (optimized
for touch devices) and RGUI (available everywhere);
- ROM/ISO scanner able to create playlists.
- Libretro database of cores, games, cheats, etc.
- OpenGL and Vulkan API support.
RetroArch can run any libretro core. While Retro-
Arch is available for many platforms, the availabil-
ity of a specific core varies per platform.
RetroArch has been praised for the number of sys-
tems and games it can play under a single interface.
It has been criticized for how hard it is to set up, due
to the extensive number of options available to the
user and at the same time praised for the more ad-
vanced features it possesses. On the PC, some users
feel like it is better controlled by a gamepad than a
mouse and keyboard.
 Reference Guide
20

and Killer List of Videogames Most of the information in this book comes either from
at Museum of the Game flyers, manuals and wikipedia. If I have used another
source, a credit will be shown at the bottom of the text. The Golden Age Historian
• Used a lot, for both pictures, info, and as
These are web sites that i use alot for pictures/screen- “A blog dedicated to the history of arcade
a database from what I base this book on.
shots, reference and much of the information. I can video games from the bronze and golden
recommend all of these websites, as they are very ages (1971-1984)”
This is the main place I use for info for
informative and fun to look through. • Used for info and pictures.
this book. I use their “killer-list” as a
If you are the owner of one of these sites and feel that
base for the arcade machines release
i have done you wrong, then please send me an e-mail An extremely well made, researched and
date. Their information may be incor-
and I will make the necessary change to your wish. interesting blog on coin-op machines
rect on several things, but I found this
place was the most comprehensive and and the history regarding them. A very
detailed place to use information from. big recommendation on visiting this site.

https://www.arcade-museum.com/ http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no/

PHOENIX SYSTEM 16 The Arcade Flyer Archive

VIDEO GAME CLASSICS “The Arcade Museum. Detailed Hardware “The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA) is a dig-
information on Arcade Hardware and ital repository for advertisement flyers that
• Used for a few pictures and info. Systems” are used by the coin-operated amusement
• Used for most of the hardware info industry to promote the sales of its games. ”
A personal website by a video game col- • Used for pictures
and pictures. Some info on arcades.
lector. The site include different faqs,
homebrew games (?) and a collection A giant site including absurd amount of
A giant and detailed site on coin-op ar-
site. adverts and flyers. I really recommend a
cade machines and their hardware.
look through this superb site!
http://www.ccjvq.com/slydc/ http://www.system16.com/ https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/

VGMRIPS
GAMING HISTORY EMULAB “Welcome to VGMRips,
“A gaming database featuring all coin-op, “The purpose of this wiki and website is The biggest and most active
arcade games, slot machines, home video to be a repository of links and information site for retro Video Game Mu-
games and more...” for all arcade games for which there are sic rips”
• Used for info. no known ROM dump, due to the lack of
• Used for a some info.
original boards from which to obtain the
necessary information. ”
A database on different video games, in- A website detailing music and sound in-
cluding coin-op games. • Used for some info on the Undumped cluded on different video games.
Wiki.

https://www.arcade-history.com/ https://www.emulab.it/index. http://vgmrips.net/wiki/Main_Page

 Corporations
22

ADK American Laser Games Atari, Inc.

Founded July 1980 (as Alpha Denshi) Type Private Founded July 26, 1972
1993 (as ADK) Founded 1989 Founders Nolan Bushnell
Defunct 2003 Founder Robert Grebe Ted Dabney
Fate Closed, properties sold Fate Bought out by Her Interactive Defunct July 1, 1984; 33 years ago
Successor SNK Corporation Headquarters Albuquerque, New Mexico Fate Closed, properties sold
Headquarters Ageo, Saitama, Japan Successor Atari Corporation, Atari Games
Headquarters Sunnyvale, California, United States

ADK Corporation was a Japanese video game pro- American Laser Games was a company based in Al- Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer
duction company throughout the 1980s and 90s. buquerque, New Mexico that created numerous light and home computer company founded in 1972 by
ADK began as a developer of arcade games but is gun laserdisc video games featuring live action full Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Primarily responsi-
best known for their library of Neo Geo titles, main- motion video. ble for the formation of the video arcade and modern
ly produced in the 1990s in partnership with SNK. The company was founded in the late 1980s video game industries, the company was closed and
ADK was founded in July 1980 in Ageo, by Robert Grebe, who had originally created a sys- its assets split in 1984 as a direct result of the North
Saitama, Japan. At the time, it was known as Alpha tem to train police officers under the company name American video game crash of 1983.
Denshi or Alpha for short. Originally a producer of ICAT (Institute for Combat Arms and Tactics) and Atari was named after Japan’s centuries old
audio and telecommunications equipment, Alpha later adapted the technology for arcade games. Its classic, Go. The term “atari” is used by Go players to
first ventured into video games in 1980 with two ar- first hit game was Mad Dog McCree, a light gun politely inform their opponent that they are about to
cade titles: Dorachan by Craul Denshi and Tehkan’s shooter set in the American Old West. By mid-1995 be overrun. The company was created in 1972 with
Shogi, a basic Japanese chess game. Dorachan was they were recognized as the leading company in the money earned by Bushnell’s first game Computer
recalled shortly after release due to unlicensed usage medium of laserdisc-based arcade games. Almost all Space. While this initial game was not considered
of the fictional character Doraemon. arcade games released by the company were light to be a success financially, it seeded the ideas for
Despite an inauspicious start, Alpha con- gun shooters and a number of them also had an Old the game Pong, which would become the first gam-
tinued to develop arcade games in 1981. Janputer, West theme. ing classic the gaming industry would see. By most
published by Sanritsu Giken, was one of the earliest Later, the company turned toward compact gaming historians, this is considered to be the true
arcade Mahjong titles and helped Alpha to establish disc technology to release its games. Ports of its ar- birth of the gaming industry.
themselves in the industry. In 1983, Alpha expanded cade titles were released for the Sega CD, CD-i and Several financial problems would eventually
into sports games with their self-published Exciting DOS computers equipped with CD-ROM drives. lead to the sale of Atari to Warner Communications
Soccer and two Champion Baseball titles for Sega. The company was particularly supportive of the in 1976 for $28 - $32 Million (est .).
Alpha would produce several more games for Sega 3DO, not only releasing versions of its games for the In 1977 Atari was able to release what would
through the mid 1980s while continuing to publish console, but also offering a modified version of the become their lasting legacy, the Atari 2600.
others on their own. 3DO platform as an upgrade kit for existing arcade In July of 1984, a $240 million deal was
Alpha Denshi began developing games al- video game cabinets, supporting compressed video struck between Atari and ex-head of Commodore,
most exclusively for SNK hardware in 1987. In versions of their games at a lower cost. In 1995, Jack Tramiel, and all of Atari was sold except for the
1990, SNK was developing a new unified video American Laser Games released Mazer for the 3DO small coin-operated arcade business, Ataritel. Warn-
game platform for both the home and arcades. home market and Orbatak (3DO-powered) for the er retained the arcade division, continuing it under
In 2000, ADK released its last video game ti- arcade - their first and only in-house non-Full mo- the name Atari Games and eventually selling it to
tle, Dynamite Slugger, and was primarily focused on tion video based games. Namco in 1985. Warner also sold Ataritel to Mit-
developing content for Japanese i-mode-based mo- American Laser Games lasted until the mid- subishi.
bile devices. After their bankruptcy, SNK Playmore to-late 1990s, by which time it had begun making Atari would eventually be renamed Atari
bought up ADK’s relinquished intellectual proper- “games for girls” for the PC under the moniker Her Corporation and would never be able to regain con-
ties. To this day, ADK characters are still known to Interactive, beginning with McKenzie & Co. The trol of the console market, or have the same amount
occasionally appear in SNK Playmore games. company eventually closed its doors and was bought of clout that they had during the peak of the 2600’s
out by Her Interactive. popularity.
“giantbomb.com”
 CORPORATIONS
23

Atlus Bally Manufacturing Banpresto

Type Kabushiki gaisha Founded January 10, 1932 Type Kabushiki gaisha
Subsidiary Founder Raymond Moloney Subsidiary
Founded April 7, 1986 (Atlus Co., Ltd.) Defunct 1995 Founded April 1977
September 5, 2013 (Sega Dream Corp.) Fate Acquired by Hilton April 1, 2008 (B.B. Studio)
Headquarters Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan Headquarters Chicago Headquarters Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
Parent Sega Industry Interactive entertainment Parent Bandai Namco Holdings
Employees 210 (2017)

Atlus Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer, Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Enter- Banpresto Co., Ltd. is a Japanese toy com-
publisher and distribution company based in Tokyo, tainment, was an American company that began as pany, and a former game developer and publishing,
and a subsidiary of Sega. It is best known for devel- a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Build-
oping the Megami Tensei, Persona, Etrian Odyssey expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, ing in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The current iteration of the
and Trauma Center series. and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels company was formed on April 1, 2008, with the fo-
Atlus began in April 7, 1986 as a video game in 1995. Its brand name is still used by several busi- cus on the toy consumer business.
developer of computer games for other companies. nesses previously linked to Bally Manufacturing, The original company was founded April
In January 1987, Atlus started selling amusement most notably Bally Technologies. 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd.. During the 1980s
equipment. It expanded into the sale of karaoke The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was it worked mainly as a subcontractor for Sega and
equipment in March 1989. Atlus released the first founded by Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, its arcade division, and the company was renamed
video game under its own name in 1989: Puzzle Boy when Bally’s original parent, Lion Manufacturing, Coreland in 1982. It started to be partially owned by
for the Game Boy. established the company to make pinball games. The Bandai in 1989, when it gained its current name. It
Atlus started in the arcade industry in the company took its name from its first game, Ballyhoo. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Nam-
1990s by manufacturing its first arcade video game, Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to co Holdings in March 2006.
BlaZeon, in 1992. In 1995, Atlus launched Print Club dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over Banpresto has created a variety of Japan-
Arcades in partnership with Sega. In its goal to fur- 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the only video games, most notably the Super Robot
ther increase its presence in the amusement industry, decade. In the late 1960s, Bally became a publicly Wars series. Other projects include anime tie-in
Atlus acquired the manufacturer Apies from Yubis traded company and made several acquisitions, one games such as the Slam Dunk basketball games and
Corporation in 1999. Atlus suffered from deficit fi- being Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game Tenchi Muyou! Game Hen. Banpresto also made
nancial results in both 1999 and 2000. To address the company from Schiller Park, Illinois. the Another Century’s Episode series, a collabora-
issue, Atlus established a management reform plan During the 1970s and early 1980s, Midway tion with FromSoftware, and the Compati Hero se-
in 2001. In its restructuring efforts, Atlus sold two became a primary source of income for Bally as it ries of games which crosses over the Ultraman, Ka-
subsidiaries (one of them being Apies) to their re- became an early arcade video game maker and ob- men Rider and Gundam franchises. Banpresto also
spective employees as part of a management buyout. tained the licenses for three of the most popular vid- makes several varieties of mechanical prize-winning
On 30 August 2010, Index Holdings an- eo games of all time: Space Invaders, Pac-Man and games. As Coreland, the company has produced a
nounced its merger with Atlus. Although fans were Ms. Pac-Man. Also in the late 1970s, Bally made an number of games for Sega, including Pengo, 4-D
concerned about the company’s future, CEO Shinichi entry into the growing market for home computer Warriors and I’m Sorry.
Suzuki said that Atlus would continue to provide the games. The Bally Professional Arcade, as the ma- Banpresto’s video game operations were ab-
“finest quality game experiences possible” and the chine was called, had advanced features for the time. sorbed into Bandai Namco Games on April 1, 2008.
merger “further strengthens the foundation of Atlus, These included a palette of 256 colors and the ability As part of the merger, two of Banpresto’s subsidiar-
both in Japan and here in the United States.” After to play 4-voice music. ies, Pleasure Cast Co. Ltd and Hanayashiki Co. Ltd,
the dissolution, the name Atlus continued as a brand In 1995, Bally Entertainment was purchased became Namco subsidiaries. Banpresto itself now
used by Index Corporation for video game publish- by Hilton Hotels Corporation. Later the casino re- focuses on its prize machines business.
ing until 2013. Atlus in its current incarnation was sorts division of Hilton Hotels became Park Place
founded as Sega Dream Corporation in September Entertainment, (later Caesars Entertainment) and in
2013, a new shell corporation established by Sega. 2005 was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment.
CORPORATIONS
24

Capcom CAVE Chicago Coin

Founded May 30, 1979 Founded June 15, 1994 Founded 1931
Founder Kenzo Tsujimoto Headquarters Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Founder Samuel H. Gensburg
Owner Tsujimoto family Total assets JP¥ 874,251,193 (2012) Defunct 1977
Headquarters Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan Employees 158 (2012)
Revenue Increase $239.6 million (2014) Subsidiaries
Employees 2,811 (2017) Beads Mania (merged on June 1, 2008)
Mini4WD Networks Co., Ltd. (44.8% stake)

Capcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game develop- CAVE Interactive CO., acronym for “Computer Art Chicago Coin was one of the early major manufac-
er and publisher known for creating multi-million- Visual Entertainment”, is a Japanese video game turers of pinball tables to operate in the coin-operat-
selling franchises such as Mega Man, Street Fighter, company founded in 1994 by former employees of ed amusement industry.
Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Ace Attorney, and Toaplan following its bankruptcy. They are known Sam Gensburg founded Chicago Dynamic
Monster Hunter as well as games based on the Dis- primarily for their “bullet hell” shoot ‘em ups; from Industries after a stint as the co-founder of Chicago
ney animated properties. Established in 1979, it has 1995 up to 2010, CAVE was one of the most pro- Coin Machine Exchange with brother-in-law Sam
become an international enterprise with subsidiaries lific shoot ‘em up developers in the Japanese mar- Wolberg and third partner Lou Koren, a company
in North America, Europe, and East Asia. ket. Alongside this, CAVE has produced a variety of which had a business of trade-ins for coin-operat-
The original companies that spawned Cap- other types games for arcades, home consoles, PCs, ed games. In 1931, Sam Genburg’s brothers Louis
com’s Japanese branch were I.R.M Corporation as and smartphones, also dating back to 1995. Gensburg, David Gensburg, and Meyer Gensburg
well as its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Key staff members include Tsuneki Ikeda had founded Genco as an amusement manufacturer
Ltd., both of which were devoted to the manufac- (director and COO) and Makoto Asada (game de- and Sam decided to enter that business by estab-
turing and distribution of electronic game machines. velopment department head) who left the company lishing Chicago Dynamic Industries with the label
The name Capcom is a clipped compound of “Cap- in 2013. On January 24, 2014, community manager Chicago Coin to use on its products. The company
sule Computers”, a term coined by the company to “Masa-King” announced that the Cave-World Twit- started off by making replacement boards for early
describe the arcade machines it solely manufactured ter and blog were shutting down on February 28, pinball games before creating the table Blackstone
in its early years, designed to set themselves apart 2014, terminating all existing English social media (1933) which was manufactured by a partner named
from personal computers that were becoming wide- presence in the west. Stoner.
spread at that time. The word capsule alludes to how CAVE’s arcade titles have used various ar- Though never a technologically-driven or
Capcom likened its game software to “a capsule cade boards over the years. Earlier titles used a innovative company, Chicago Coin was highly suc-
packed to the brim with gaming fun”, as well as to CAVE-designed board based on a Motorola 68000 cessful in the years preceding and immediately suc-
the company’s desire to protect its intellectual prop- CPU, with later releases moving over to the PGM ceeding World War II. Their pinball table Beam-Lite
erty with a hard outer shell, preventing illegal copies (Poly Game Master) hardware, and then, starting (1935) which featured a lighted playfield sold 5,703
and inferior imitations. with Mushihimesama, onto boards based on the Hi- units and their flipperless game Kilroy (1947) sold
In the first few years after its establishment, tachi SH-3 CPU. CAVE dabbled in PC-based hard- 8,800 units which was the highest selling pinball ta-
the Japanese branch of Capcom had three develop- ware for Deathsmiles II, but switched back to SH-3 ble up until the 1970s. The company also diversified
ment groups referred to as “Planning Rooms”, led for later titles. in later years, creating sports tables and shuffle al-
by Tokuro Fujiwara, Takashi Nishiyama and Yoshiki Since 2006, CAVE has hosted CAVE Mat- leys.
Okamoto, respectively. Later, games developed suri, a yearly festival in which several announce- In 1973, Chicago Coin was one of the many
internally used to be created by several numbered ments regarding company affairs are made. Also, companies who created Pong clones with TV Ping
“Production Studios”, each assigned to different some titles are offered exclusively at this event such Pong. In subsequent years, the company took to li-
games. Starting in 2002, the development process as Mushihimesama Cave Matsuri ver 1.5. censing games from other manufacturers.
was reformed to better share technologies and exper- Within the Guinness World Records, Cave Following subsequent financial trouble, Chi-
tise, and all of the individual studios were gradually holds the record for the “most prolific developer of cago Dynamic Industries sold the assets of Chicago
restructured into bigger departments responsible for danmaku shooters”, having released 48 games in the Coin which were incorporated into the new compa-
different tasks. genre since 1995 as of October 2010. ny Stern Electronics, Inc.
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Cinematronics Data East Enix

Founded 1975 Founded April 20, 1976 Type Kabushiki gaisha
Founders Jim Pearce Founder Tetsuo Fukuda Founded September 22, 1975
Dennis Parte Defunct June 25, 2003 Founder Yasuhiro Fukushima (Active CEO)
Gary Garrison Fate Bankruptcy Fate Merged with Square
Defunct 1987 Headquarters Suginami, Tokyo, Japan Successor Square Enix
Fate Purchased by Tradewest Total equity ¥282.5 million (2001) Headquarters Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Successor Leland Corp. Employees 134 (2002)

Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade Data East Corporation, also abbreviated as DECO, Enix Corporation was a Japanese video game pub-
game developer that had its heyday in the era of vec- was a Japanese video game and electronic engineer- lisher that produced video games, anime and manga.
tor display games. While other companies released ing company. The company was in operation from Enix is known for publishing the Dragon Quest se-
games based on raster displays, early in their histo- 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. ries of role-playing video games.
ry, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display Data East was founded on April 20, 1976 by Enix was founded on September 22, 1975 as
games, which offered a distinctive look and a greater Tokai University alumnus Tetsuo Fukuda. Data East Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese archi-
graphic capability (at the time), at the cost of being developed and released in July 1977 its first arcade tect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima. The
only black and white (initially). game Jack Lot, a medal game based on Blackjack for company initially published tabloids that advertised
Cinematronics Inc. was founded in 1975 by business use. This was followed in January 1978 by real estate.
Jim Pearce, Dennis Parte and Gary Garrison in El Super Break which was its first actual video game. In February 1980, Eidansha Boshu Service
Cajon, California, although early on Parte and Gar- More than 15 arcade games were released by Data created a wholly owned subsidiary for the purpose
rison sold their shares to Tom “Papa” Stroud. Cin- East in the 1970s. of specializing in real estate trading and brokerage.
ematronics’ first games, a Pong clone, a Flipper Ball Data East established a U.S. division in This new subsidiary would take on the name of Ei-
copy and their first original game design, Embargo, 1979, after its chief competitors Sega and Taito had dansha Systems in August 1981. The following year,
were released in 1975, 1976, and 1977, but they already established a market presence. In 1980, Data in August 1982, Eidansha Systems was renamed
were not particularly notable. The company really East published Astro Fighter which became its first Enix Corporation. The name “Enix” is a play on the
began to prosper after the Space Wars game came major arcade title. While making games, Data East words “phoenix”, a mythical bird that is reborn from
into production about a year later. released a series of interchangeable systems compat- its own ashes, and “ENIAC”, the world’s first digital
Space Wars was the first arcade game to ible with its arcade games, notably the DECO Cas- computer.
utilize black & white vector graphics, which ena- sette System which soon became infamous among After a failed attempt of Eidansha Boshu
bled it to display sharp, crisp images. Space Wars users due to technical problems. Data East dropped Service to go nationwide in 1982, its newly estab-
had graphics which were far more detailed than the the DECO Cassette by 1985. lished Enix subsidiary began a foray into the gam-
raster displays of the time. Cinematronics shipped Data East continued to release arcade video ing market by holding a personal computer game
over 30,000 units and was a top seller in 1978. games over the next 15 years following the video programming contest. One of the winners was Love
In 1982, Cinematronics started releasing game crash of 1983. Some of its most famous coin- Match Tennis, created by Yuji Horii. It would go
games which used raster display, such as Naughty op arcade games from its 1980s heyday included to become one of the company’s first PC releases.
Boy and Zzyzzyxx. During this time Cinematronics Karate Champ, Heavy Barrel, BurgerTime, Bump Another winner was the puzzle game Door Door by
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ‘n’ Jump, Karnov and Atomic Runner Chelnov. Koichi Nakamura, which would become one of the
In 1983 Cinematronics released Dragon’s In 1981, three staff members of Data East company’s better known home computer titles. Na-
Lair, one of the first laserdisc-based arcade games. founded Technōs Japan, who then supported Data kamura would stay on board as one Enix’s key pro-
In 1987, Cinematronics was acquired by East for a while before becoming completely inde- grammers.
Tradewest and renamed the Leland Corporation and pendent. The company merged with its competitor
continued to make arcade and PC game software. Most of Data East’s intellectual properties Square in 2003 to form Square Enix, in order to mu-
Tradewest was bought out by WMS in 1994 to be- were acquired in February 2004 by G-Mode, a Japa- tually decrease development costs and to compete
come their console division. nese mobile game content provider. with foreign developers.
CORPORATIONS
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Exidy G.rev General Computer Corporation

Founded 1974 Type Yūgen gaisha Founded 1981
Founder H.R. “Pete” Kauffman Headquarters Japan Founder Doug Macrae
Products Arcade shoot ‘em ups John Tylko
Website grev.co.jp Kevin Curran
Headquarters Massachusetts, United States
Website gccprinters.com

Exidy was one of the largest creators of arcade video G.rev Ltd. , short for G.revolution, is a Japanese vid- The General Computer Corporation (GCC) is a
games during the early period of video games, from eo game developer. The company was founded by printer company formed in 1981 by Doug Macrae,
1974 until at least 1986 (when Chiller was released). former employees of Taito’s arcade division who had John Tylko, and Kevin Curran. The company began
The company was founded by H.R. “Pete” Kauff- worked on G-Darius and RayStorm, and is known as a video game company. They later changed to
man. The name “Exidy” was a portmanteau of the primarily for their arcade shoot ‘em up games. make computer peripherals.
words “Excellence in Dynamics.” G.rev was founded with the mission of de- They started out making mod-kits for exist-
Exidy found competing with larger video veloping arcade shooters, but they realized the cost ing arcade games - for example Super Missile At-
game companies such as Atari, Inc. difficult. The of development was more than their initial invest- tack, which was sold as an enhancement board to
company’s Lila Zinter claimed in 1983 that “Exidy ment capital. To generate revenue, they took on Atari’s Missile Command. At first Atari sued, but
is an innovator, but ... we have a hard time breaking contract work for Taito and Treasure, co-developing ultimately dropped the suit and hired GCC to devel-
through the politics of getting a game a fair chance.” the popular shooter Ikaruga with the latter. This re- op games for Atari (and stop making enhancement
One of Exidy’s efforts aimed at trivia lovers lationship would remain fruitful, with G.rev assist- boards for Atari’s games without permission). They
during the 1980s was the quiz game Fax, a multi- ing again on Gradius V, and Ikaruga director Hiroshi created an enhancement kit for Pac-Man called Cra-
level game housed in a large wooden cabinet that Iuchi assisting on G.rev’s own Strania. G.rev’s first zy Otto which they sold to Midway, who in turn sold
stood about 4 feet high and looked nothing like other independent release was a puzzle game, Doki Doki it as the sequel Ms. Pac-Man; they also developed Jr.
video games of the time period. Much like the 2000s Idol Star Seeker, a Mine Sweeper-like arcade puzzle Pac-Man, that game’s successor.
game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, players game, created with low investment and high returns Under Atari, Inc., GCC made the original
were shown a series of questions with four possible in mind. arcade games Food Fight, Quantum, and the unre-
answers. A point value “clock” ran down to zero af- With the money in place to develop a full- leased Nightmare; developed the Atari 2600 ver-
ter answers were shown, meaning players answering fledged arcade shooter on their own, the team, under sions of Ms. Pac-Man and Centipede; produced over
quicker earned more points for their correct answers. direction of president Hiroyuki Maruyama, set out half of the Atari 5200 cartridges; and developed the
Beginning in 1983, Exidy released a series to develop Border Down a spiritual successor to the chip design for the Atari 7800, plus the first round of
of light gun games, the first and most well known Taito arcade classic Metal Black. Border Down was cartridges for that base unit.
of which was Crossbow. These games were also the met with wide acclaim among shooter fans follow- In 1984, the company changed direction to
first to feature fully digitized sound for all sound ing the release of its Dreamcast port, with particular make peripherals for Macintosh computers: the Hy-
effects and music. Other “C” series games include praise paid to its unique beam mechanics and “bor- perDrive (the Mac’s first internal hard drive), the
Cheyenne, Combat, Crackshot, Clay Pigeon and der system” WideWriter 360 large format inkjet printer, and the
Chiller. Chief designer for these games was Larry Later, G.rev chose to develop for the Taito Personal Laser Printer (the first QuickDraw laser
Hutcherson. Exidy also made two rarely seen mo- X2 hardware, allowing the graphical quality of the printer).
tion cabinet games with vector graphics called Ver- arcade version to match the later Xbox 360 port. HyperDrive was unusual because the origi-
tigo and Top Gunner. G.rev continued to develop on the Taito X2 nal Macintosh did not have any internal interface
In 2006, it was announced that Mean Ham- hardware, releasing Strania: The Stella Machina, a for hard disks. It was attached directly to the CPU,
ster Software acquired rights to develop new Exidy vertically scrolling shooter. For the first time, G.rev and ran about seven times faster than Apple’s “Hard
arcade games. decided to forgo a retail release, instead releasing at Disk 20”.
In 2015, CollectorVision Games acquired Xbox Live Arcade. Presently the company focuses exclusively
rights to the Exidy name and logo. on laser printers.
 CORPORATIONS

27

Genki Gottlieb Gremlin Industries

Type Kabushiki gaisha Founded Chicago, Illinois (1927) Founded 1971
Founded October 16, 1990 (original company) Founder David Gottlieb Founder Frank Fogleman
February 26, 2008 (current company) Defunct 1996 Carl Grindle
Headquarters Nakano, Tokyo Successor Gottlieb Development LLC Defunct 1983
Key people Hiroshi Hamagaki (President) Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States Fate Folded into Bally Manufacturing
Website www.genki.co.jp (en) Headquarters San Diego, California

Genki Co., Ltd. is a Japanese developer of computer Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an Ameri- Gremlin Industries was an arcade game manufac-
and video games. It was founded in October 1990 by can arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Il- turer active from the 1971 to 1983 based San Diego,
Hiroshi Hamagaki and Tomo Kimura, who left Sega linois. The company was initially producing pinball California, USA.
to form the company. The company is best known machines while later expanding into various other Gremlin was founded in 1971 as a contract
for its racing game titles. According to MobyGames, games including pitch-and-bats, bowling games, engineering firm by Harry Frank Fogleman and Carl
the company logo is a picture of Hiroshi Hamagaki, and eventually video arcade games (notably Reactor E Grindle. In 1973 they became a manufacturer of
drawn by his son when he was 3 years old. and Q*bert and, leading to the demise of Mylstar; coin-operated wall games with their first game Play
In its early years, Genki dabbled in a few dif- M*A*C*H*3). Ball (1973). Gremlin joined the video game market
ferent genres, looking for its niche. On one end of Like other manufacturers, Gottlieb first made in 1976 by releasing its first video arcade game enti-
the spectrum, there was Devilish, a game similar to mechanical pinball machines, including the first suc- tled Blockade (1976).
Arkanoid that was released for Sega’s Game Gear cessful coin-operated pinball machine Baffle Ball In 1978, Gremlin was acquired by Sega En-
and Mega Drive systems in 1991. On the other end, in 1930. The 1947 development of player-actuated, terprises Inc. and their games acquired the label of
there was Kileak: The DNA Imperative, a first-per- solenoid-driven 2-inch bats called “flippers” revo- Gremlin/Sega or Sega/Gremlin. Following the Sega
son mecha shooting game for the PlayStation which lutionized the industry. Players now had the ability purchase, Gremlin began to release games from both
was released in 1995. to shoot the ball back up the playfield and get more Sega and other Japanese companies. Among these
Genki found its niche in 1994 with the re- points. The flippers first appeared on a Gottlieb game video games were Namco’s Gee Bee (1978) and
lease of Shutokō Battle ‘94 Keichii Tsuchiya Drift called “Humpty Dumpty”, designed by Harry Mabs. Konami’s Frogger (1981).
King for the SNES—the first in a long-running se- By this time, the games also became noted for their In 1982 the name of the company was
ries of racing games. Shutokou Battle 2 followed artwork by Roy Parker. By the 1970s the company changed to Sega Electronics to better strengthen the
one year later, in 1995, and was also for the SNES. had begun designing their games with longer 3-inch Sega brand name in the United States. In mid-1983
Within the same year, Genki shifted towards flippers, now the industry standard. the arcade assets of the company were sold to Bally
developing 3D games, continuing the Shutokou Bat- Gottlieb was bought by Columbia Pictures Manufacturing and Sega Electronics was shuttered
tle series with Highway 2000 on the Sega Saturn. in 1976. In 1983, after the Coca-Cola Company had soon afterwards.
Genki also produced major titles for both the Play- acquired Columbia, Gottlieb was renamed to Myl- The company still exists as Ages Electronics
Station and Nintendo 64 consoles in the following star Electronics, but this proved to be short-lived. By under CBS.
two years. 1984 the video game industry in North America was Sega released emulated and playable ver-
In 2010, Genki created an alternate reality in the middle of a shakeout and Columbia closed sions of some of the early Sega/Gremlin arcade
game division called Genki ARG, to replace the cur- down Mylstar at the end of September 1984. A man- games as vault material for the Sega Genesis Collec-
rently discontinued Genki Racing Project. This divi- agement group, led by Gilbert G. Pollock, purchased tion for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.
sion was closed in late of March 2012. Mylstar’s pinball assets in October 1984 and con-
The Shutokou Battle series was recently re- tinued the manufacture of pinball machines under a
vived with a Mobage version for mobile phones re- new company, Premier Technology. As a result of
leased in 2017. This is the first Shutokou Battle game this a number of prototype Mylstar arcade games,
after GRP was discontinued. The same year, however, which were not purchased by the investors, were
Genki announced that they were discontinuing the never released. Premier did go on to produce one last
service, to be shut down in late of that year. arcade game, 1989’s Exterminator.
CORPORATIONS
28

Hudson Soft Incredible Technologies Irem

Founded May 18, 1973 Type Private Type Public
Founders Yuji Kudo Founded 1985 Founded 1974 (Irem Corporation)
Hiroshi Kudo Founder Elaine Hodgson (President & CEO) 1997 (Irem Software Engineering)
Defunct March 1, 2012 Richard Ditton (Executive VP) Headquarters Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Fate Merged into Konami Digital Ent. Headquarters Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States Key people Masaki Ono (President)
Parent Konami Employees 200 (2017) Employees 259 (March 2016)
Employees 421 (2011) Parent Eizo

Hudson Soft Co., Ltd, commonly known by its brand Incredible Technologies (IT), based in Vernon Hills, Irem is a Japanese video game console developer
name Hudson, was a Japanese video game company Illinois, is a US-based designer and manufacturer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manu-
that released numerous games for video game con- of coin-operated video games and Class III casino facturer of arcade games as well.
soles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly games, best known for the Golden Tee Golf series. Irem’s ancestor was founded in 1969 by
from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered The company employs over 200 people at its subur- Kenzo Tsujimoto in Osaka Prefecture. Tsujimoto
in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, ban Chicago campus. opened his store in Osaka to sell machines for cot-
Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in Founded in July 1985 by Richard Ditton, ton candy stores. At the time, Tsujimoto was already
the Hudson Building in Sapporo. a NASA software engineer, and Elaine Hodgson, confident in the potential of the game entertainment
Hudson Soft was founded in Toyohira-ku, a biochemist, IT began as a software design gam- and started including the manufacturing of pachinko
Sapporo, Japan on May 18, 1973 by brothers Yuji ing firm. The company started in the basement of machines to his business as early as 1970.
and Hiroshi Kudo. The founders grew up admiring the owners’ home and focused on a wide variety of The success of the store led to the creation in
trains, and named the business after their favorite, work-for-hire entertainment projects, including pin- 1974 of IPM Co Ltd, with Tsujimoto as its president.
the Hudson locomotives (called the “4-6-4”, and es- ball hardware and game programming for Data East. “IPM” stood for International Playing Machine.
pecially Japanese C62). Initially, it dealt with per- In its early years, IT struggled to maintain profitabil- With Breakout and its various clones dominating the
sonal computer products, but later expanded to the ity without a solid hit. video game scene, IPM started to manufacture, sell,
development and publishing of video games, mobile In 1988 IT developed hardware and software and rent arcade hardware cabinets. In 1977, IPM
content, video game peripherals and music record- for its first coin-operated video game Capcom Bowl- partnered with Nanao Corporation of Ishikawa Pre-
ing. Primarily a video game publisher, it internally ing, which used a trackball to simulate the movement fecture to produce CRT monitors for its arcade cabi-
developed many of the video games it published, of a bowler’s toss. A dozen more titles followed in nets.
as well as a few published by other companies. It the 1990s under the brand name Strata Games. Irem is probably mostly known internation-
is known for series such as Bomberman, Adventure In September 1989 at the Amusement and ally for three 1980s arcade games: Moon Patrol
Island, Bloody Roar, and Bonk. Music Operators Association (AMOA) International (1982), Kung-Fu Master (1984), and R-Type (1987).
Hudson Soft made the TurboGrafx-16 in as- Expo the company launched a golf game titled Gold- Irem has been popular in Japan with games like Pho-
sociation with NEC, to compete against Nintendo, en Tee Golf, which used a trackball much like the toboy for the PC Engine and In the Hunt for the ar-
Sega, and SNK, while continuing making games on bowling game, this time to simulate a golfer’s swing. cades.
other platforms, as a second-party developer. The game slowly built a following throughout the As a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Hudson Soft ceased to exist as a company 1990s, and by 1996 IT was producing updates to the and tsunami, Irem canceled the majority of its re-
on March 1, 2012, and merged with Konami Digital game every year. The game celebrated its 20th an- maining video game projects, including Zettai Zet-
Entertainment who was the surviving entity. Despite niversary in 2009 and IT released a new high defini- sumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories and Poncotsu
the demise of Hudson Soft, Konami had intended for tion version of the game in a Showpiece cabinet. Roman Daikatsugeki Bumpy Trot 2. Irem refocused
products and services to continue being developed In the face of declining coin-operated video to become primarily a slot-machine and pachinko
and offered under the Hudson brand. The Hudson game sales, IT looked to diversify its product line. developer, the industry it was in before turning to
website was even initially retained and maintained The company began researching the improvement of video games. Many Irem designers, including pro-
by Konami. In practice, however, there was no sig- Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) or Slot Machine ducer Kazuma Kujo, gathered to form a new com-
nificant action from Konami with the Hudson brand, technology, and in 2008 released the Magic Touch pany called Granzella to continue creating video
save for some re-releases on the Virtual Console. collection of video slot, poker and keno games. games.
 CORPORATIONS
29

Jaleco Kaneko Kee Games

Type Corporation Type Private Founded 1974
Founded October 3, 1974 Founded 1980 Founder Joe Keenan
July 3, 2006 Defunct ca. 2007 Defunct 1978
Defunct May 21, 2014 Fate Defunct Fate Absorbed into Atari
Fate Dissolved Headquarters Tokyo, Japan
Headquarters Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0031

Jaleco was founded on October 3, 1974 as the Ja- Kaneko Seisakusho, also referred to as Kaneko Co. The arcade game market is split into manufacturers,
pan Leisure Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of amusement Ltd., was a Japanese video game publisher founded distributors, and operators; manufacturers like Atari
equipment; its headquarters was in Setagaya-ku, To- in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan by Hiroshi Kaneko. It sell game machines to distributors—who handle
kyo, Japan. In 1982, the company started developing published a number of games both under its brand several types of electronic machines—who in turn
and manufacturing arcade video games. That year, and other companies, such as Air Buster, Nexzr, Sho- sell them to the operators of locations. In the early
the company shortened its brand name to Jaleco and gun Warriors, DJ Boy, Guts’n, and the Gals Panic 1970s, distributors bought games on an exclusive
formally changed its name to Jaleco Ltd. in 1983. series. Although most of the games that Kaneko pro- basis, meaning that only one distributor in each dis-
Jaleco was a video game company whose fo- duced were standard arcade fare, they also earned a tribution region would carry products from a given
cus lay in arcade titles, as well as titles for the NES degree of notoriety for both DJ Boy (for its reputedly arcade game manufacturer, restricting the manufac-
and other popular computer and video game con- racist plot and negative stereotyping) and the Gals turer to only the operators that distributor sold to.
soles of the 1980s and 1990s, most notably the Bases Panic series (the games often bordering on softcore Atari, in 1973 just over a year old and largely based
Loaded series and Carrier. pornography). on their hit first game Pong, felt that as a smaller
In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding The company began business as developer, manufacturer this setup severely limited their ability
company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and split- manufacturer, vendor, trader of electronic machines, to sell arcade games: they could only contract with a
ting its video game operations into a newly created and manufacturing medical equipment. limited number of distributors, who would only buy
subsidiary that took its former name of Jaleco Ltd. In 1982, it began its video game business as a limited number of games per year.To work around
By 2000, Jaleco, still active in the develop- a developer of Taito Corporation’s video games. In this, Atari set up a secret subsidiary company in Sep-
ment of arcade and console video games, hadn’t pro- 1990, Kaneko began to make its own video game tember 1973, Kee Games, which was intended to
duced any hit title in years and was in a struggling under the KANEKO brand. In Summer 1994, Kane- sell clones of Atari’s games, in effect doubling their
state. Its American division Jaleco USA had already ko closed its US branch and cancelled game projects potential reach. The first such game by Kee, released
left the arcade industry in 1993. In 2000, Jaleco was such as Fido Dido and Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill. in March 1974, was Spike, a clone of Rebound.
acquired by Hong Kong company PCCW. Jaleco, In April 2000, Kaneko went through financial restruc- Kee was headed by Joe Keenan, a long-time
renamed PCCW Japan, gave the PCCW Group a turing, and exited video game business except for friend of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Keenan
foothold in Japan. PCCW heavily restructured the maintenance department. The company was moved managed to hire several defectors from Atari, and
company, shutting down Jaleco’s arcade division to Shibuya, Tokyo. In July 25, 2001, Kaneko filed a began advertising itself as a competitor.
and other non-profitable departments to focus on lawsuit against Hitachi Software Engineering over In December 1974, the relationship to Atari
video games for consoles of the sixth generation era. the Super Kaneko NOVA System arcade board, and was discovered by the public. However, Kee’s Tank
PCCW Japan itself acquired on April 2001 the VR-1 demanded 1.52 billion yen for damages. On August game had been so successful that the distributors
Group which included VR-1 Entertainment, a U.S. 12, 2004, Kaneko filed for bankruptcy. However, the wanted to buy the game even without an exclusivity
developer of massively multiplayer online role play- company’s founder, Hiroshi Kaneko, vowed to con- agreement. At the same time, Atari was having fi-
ing games, to bring a more global focus to its cur- tinue. In 2006, a civil lawsuit threatened to officially nancial and management problems, while Joe Keen-
rent and future software endeavors. In 2009, Jaleco close the company. As of September 2007 the fate of an had been very successful managing Kee Games.
Holding sold Jaleco Ltd to Game Yarou. On May the company is unknown, though assumed no longer The two companies merged, with Keenan promoted
21, 2014, Game Yarou was declared bankrupt by the existent. to president of Atari running the business side of
Tokyo District Court. Since then, Jaleco has disap- The last game released by the company was things, and Bushnell focusing on engineering.
peared and its website is no longer active. Gals Panic S3 for the arcade in 2002.
CORPORATIONS
30

Konami MicroProse Midway Games

Type Kabushiki gaisha Founded 1982 (as MicroProse Software Inc.) Founded 1958
Founded March 21, 1969 Founders Bill Stealey 1988 (re-incorporated)
Founders Kagemasa Kōzuki Sid Meier Founder Henry Ross
Headquarters Tokyo Midtown, Minato, Tokyo, Japan Defunct 2003 Marcine Wolverton
Owner Kozuki family (29%) Fate Dissolved by parent company, Micro- Defunct 2010
Employees 5,048 (2017) Prose brand name now owned by The Fate Bankruptcy
Subsidiaries 4K Media Inc. Cybergun Group Successor NetherRealm Studios

Konami Holdings Corporation, commonly referred MicroProse Software Inc. was an American video Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufactur-
to as Konami, is a Japanese entertainment company. game publisher and developer founded by “Wild” ing and Midway) was an American video game de-
It operates as a product distributor (which produces Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982. It developed and veloper and publisher. Midway’s franchises included
and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot published numerous games, many of which are re- Mortal Kombat, Rampage, NBA Jam and NFL Blitz.
machines and arcade cabinets), video game devel- garded as groundbreaking, classics and cult titles, in- Midway also acquired the rights to video games that
oper and publisher company. It also operates health cluding starting the Civilization and X-COM series. were originally developed by Williams Electronics
and physical fitness clubs across Japan. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle and Atari Games, such as Defender, Joust, Robotron
Konami is famous for popular video game simulation and strategy games. 2084, Gauntlet, and the Rush series.
series such as Suikoden, Castlevania, Contra, Dance In the early 1990s, MicroProse attempted to The company’s predecessor Midway Manu-
Dance Revolution, Metal Gear, Pro Evolution Soc- diversify beyond its niche roots as a sim and strat- facturing was founded in 1958, as an amusement
cer, Silent Hill and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Konami is the twen- egy game company. Encouraged by the success of game manufacturer. In 1973 it moved into the inter-
tieth-largest game company in the world by revenue. Pirates!, MicroProse designed further action-strat- active entertainment industry, developing and pub-
The company’s founder and current chair- egy titles such as Covert Action (also designed by lishing arcade video games. The company scored
man, Kagemasa Kozuki, previously ran a jukebox Sid Meier) and Hyperspeed, and experimented with its first mainstream hit with the U.S. distribution of
rental and repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka before the role-playing genre by developing BloodNet and Space Invaders in 1978. Midway was purchased and
transforming the business into a manufacturer of Darklands (in addition to publishing The Legacy: re-incorporated in 1988 by WMS Industries Inc. Af-
amusement machines for video arcades. Their first Realm of Terror). The company invested (and sub- ter years as a leader in the arcade segment, Midway
coin-operated video game was released in 1978, and sequently effectively lost) a large sum of money to moved into the growing home video game market
they began exporting products to the United States create its arcade game division as well as their own beginning in 1996, the same year that it made its ini-
the following year. Konami began to achieve suc- graphic adventure game engine. However, the ar- tial public offering of stock. Midway was ranked the
cess with hit arcade games such as 1981’s Frogger, cade division was canceled after making only two fourth largest-selling video game publisher in 2000.
Scramble, and Super Cobra, many of which were games: F-15 Strike Eagle: The Arcade Game and After 2000, Midway continued to develop
licensed to other companies for stateside release, in- Battle of the Solar System (both of which featured and publish video games for home and handheld
cluding Stern Electronics and Gremlin Industries. high-end 3D graphics but failed to become popular video game machines, but it experienced large an-
The name “Konami” (/koʊˈnɑːmi/; Japanese as they were too different from existing machines), nual net losses and engaged in a series of stock and
pronunciation: [koꜜnami]) is a conjunction of the while the adventure game engine was used for just debt offerings and other financings and borrowings.
names Kagemasa Kozuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, and three games: Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Sumner Redstone, the head of Viacom/CBS Corpo-
Tatsuo Miyasako. Bender, Return of the Phantom and Dragonsphere, ration, increased his stake in Midway from about
On March 3, 2015, Konami announced they before it was sold off to Sanctuary Woods. 15%, in 1998, to about 87% by the end of 2007. In
would be shifting focus away from individual stu- In 1993, the company lost most of their UK- December 2008, Redstone sold all his stock and $70
dios, notably Kojima Productions. Internal sources based personnel and became a subsidiary of Spec- million of Midway debt to Mark Thomas, a private
claimed the restructure was due to a clash between trum HoloByte. The brand was revived in 2007 investor, for $100,000.
Hideo Kojima and Konami. Kojima left Konami when Interactive Game Group acquired it from Atari In 2009, Midway Games filed in Delaware
several days afterwards, re-opening Kojima Produc- Interactive, formerly Infogrames. As of 2010, the for bankruptcy. Warner Bros. purchased most of
tions as an independent company. MicroProse brand is owned by Cybergun Group. Midway’s assets, and Midway settled with Mark
Thomas to relinquish his Midway stock and debt.
 CORPORATIONS
31

Mitchell Corporation Namco Nihon Bussan

Founded February 1, 1960 Type Kabushiki gaisha Founded 1970
Defunct November 20, 2012 Founded 1955 Defunct 2014
Fate All research and development ceased; 2006 (Bandai Namco Entertainment) Fate Intellectual property sold to
technically company is still active Founder Masaya Nakamura Hamster Corporation
Headquarters Suginami, Tokyo, Japan Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan Headquarters Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan
Key people Roy Ozaki (CEO) Parent Bandai Namco Holdings Employees 30
Koichi Niida (Director) Website http://www.namco.co.jp Website www.nichibutsu.co.jp

Mitchell Corporation was a Japanese video game de- Namco Limited is a Japanese corporation that oper- Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game
veloper based in the Suginami ward of Tokyo. Roy ates game centers and theme parks, but is best known manufacturer. The company had its headquarters in
Ozaki served as president, and Koichi Niida served for its previous identity as a video game developer Kita-ku, Osaka. In the past they had also manufac-
as vice-president. Some employees were former and publisher. Namco was a front-runner during the tured and sold yachts.
Capcom and TAD Corporation employees. The golden age of arcade video games. Pac-Man went The company’s founder Sueharu Torii estab-
company was originally established on February 1, on to become the best-selling arcade game in history lished Nihon Bussan in 1970 and the company was
1960, as an import/export business by the father of and an international popular culture icon. Namco is incorporated in 1972.
Roy Ozaki. Ozaki and Niida took over the company also known for creating successful franchises such 1978 saw Nihon Bussan entering the arcade
and began acting as exclusive overseas agents for as Galaxian, Dig Dug, Xevious, Ridge Racer, Ace game market, when they debuted with a copy of the
such video game companies as Visco, Video Sys- Combat, Tekken, Soul and Tales. game Breakout called Table Attacker. The same year,
tem, Seta, Metro, Home Data, and other small video Based in Tokyo, the company started out by Nihon Bussan settled with Taito by paying a license
game manufacturers in the 1980s. Company activity running children’s rides on the roof of a department fee to launch a copy of Space Invaders titled Moon
was suspended on 20 November 2012. store in Yokohama. The business eventually expand- Base. Also in 1979, a business alliance was formed
Mitchell Corporation develops titles for ed throughout the Tokyo area. Nakamura Seisakusho with Namco for a clone of Galaxian by the name of
home consoles, handhelds, Japanese mobile phones, underwent in 1959 a name change to Nakamura Moon Alien. However, Nihon Bussan violated the
the arcade and interactive kiosks located in res- Manufacturing Co, Ltd. Nakamura Manufacturing manufacturing agreement by exceeding production
taurants and other places. Mitchell also distributes Company would later be used to form the acronym of Moon Alien and ended up paying Namco the ex-
printed circuit boards for the arcade/coin-op market. “NAMCO” as a brand name in 1971 which eventu- cess of the license fee. Nihon Bussan continued to
The company also develops video games for other ally became the company’s own corporate name. release successful titles such as the 1980 original
publishers. Since 2004 they have developed games Namco was the industry’s first manufacturer works Moon Cresta and Crazy Climber. The same
only for Nintendo hardware. to develop and release a multi-player, multi-cabinet year, the company issued brochures that listed both
Mitchell Corporation is best known as the competitive game, Final Lap, in 1987. This game al- Moon Base and Moon Alien as original works of Ni-
game developer of Puzz Loop. Copyright and trade- lowed up to eight players to compete when four two- hon Bussan.
mark registration of Puzz Loop was established in player cabinets were linked in a simple network. By As with the arcades, several of Nihon Bus-
December 1999, the same year it was released to 1989, games for the Nintendo Entertainment System san’s titles and themes released for the household
the international coin-op arcade market. Prior to accounted for 40% of Namco’s sales. were Mahjong games. Nihon Bussan’s PC Engine
this, it developed the Pang! series of games, known In 2005, Namco merged with Bandai to form game Sexy Idol Mahjong incorporated undressing
in America as Buster Bros. and distributed there the holding company Namco Bandai Holdings, the elements and used the first “18 years of age or older
by Capcom. Puzz Loop was first released in North third largest video game entity in Japan. In 2006, recommended” software in the home market.
America, as well as Europe, under the title Ballistic Namco’s video game operations absorbed that of In March 2014, Nihon Bussan sold the rights
for the original PlayStation console and Game Boy Bandai’s, and the two companies’ game production of all video games to Hamster Corporation. This was
Color handheld. Infogrames published the PlaySta- assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games. the result of the decision of Sueharu Torii to retire.
tion and Game Boy Color versions in North America From then on, the part of the company that was most Having declined an offer from Hamster to license
in late 1999, while THQ published these same ver- closely associated with the Namco label would be- Nihon Bussan’s games, Torii opted instead to sell
sions for European territories. Tokyo Crash Mobs is come Bandai Namco Games (now Bandai Namco them outright and to take his retirement.
the latest instalment of the Puzz Loop series. Entertainment).
CORPORATIONS
32

Nintendo Nutting Associates Ocean Software

Type Public Founded 1967 Founded 1983
Founded 23 September 1889 Founder William Gilbert Nutting Founder David Ward
Founder Fusajiro Yamauchi Headquarters Mountain View, California Jon Woods
Headquarters Kyoto, Japan Defunct 1998 (Renamed)
Key people Tatsumi Kimishima (President) Fate Acquired by Infogrames in 1996
Revenue ¥489.095 billion (2017) Predecessor Spectrum Software
Employees 5,166 (2017) Headquarters Manchester, England

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational con- Nutting Associates was an arcade game Ocean Software Ltd (also known in the United States
sumer electronics and video game company head- manufacturer based in Mountain View, California, as Ocean of America, Inc.), commonly referred to
quartered in Kyoto. Nintendo is one of the world’s incorporated in February 1967 by William Gilbert as Ocean, was a British software development com-
largest video game companies by market capitali- Nutting. In 1977 the company was purchased by pany, that became one of the biggest European video
zation, creating some of the best-known and top- William “Si” Redd and eventually absorbed into the game developers and publishers of the 1980s and
selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The company Sircoma. 1990s.
Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon. Bill Nutting became involved in the coin- The company started out as Spectrum Soft-
Nintendo was founded as a card company by operated amusement industry when he took over ware in 1983 selling arcade clones for various home
Fusajiro Yamauchi on September 23, 1889. Based in marketing a device called the Knowledge Computer computers including the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and
Kyoto, the business produced and marketed a play- (1964), a trivia game created by the company Edex. VIC 20. Although not named after the ZX Spectrum,
ing card game called “Hanafuda”. The handmade In 1965 the company was purchased by Raytheon the name became confusing and had to be changed
cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired as- and Bill Nutting took over marketing of the machine so the company became Ocean Software. Some of
sistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand. himself. In January 1966 he founded Nutting As- their Spectrum Software games were re-released
In 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo sociates to market the Knowledge Computer and a on Ocean with different titles so the Berzerk clone
Karuta Co., Ltd., doing business as The Nintendo redesigned version of the device called Computer Frenzy was reissued as the Ocean game Robotics
Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues Quiz (1967) created by Richard Ball of Marketing and Missile Attack became Armageddon. Their early
to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes Services. In 1968 the model was redesigned into a releases (Moon Alert, Hunchback, High Noon, Gilli-
its own contract bridge tournament called the “Nin- solid-state version. gan’s Gold, Daley Thompson’s Decathlon etc.) were
tendo Cup”. The word Nintendo can be translated In 1971, Nolan Bushnell sold Nutting Asso- developed in-house, but later in 1984 Ocean Soft-
as “leave luck to heaven”, or alternatively as “the ciates on manufacturing the game Computer Space ware acquired its former Liverpool rival, the defunct
temple of free hanafuda”. (1971). Afterwards, Bushnell wanted a large owner- software developer Imagine, and focus shifted from
By 1963, the company had tried several small ship stake in the company to continue creating games development to publication of games. Also in 1984,
niche businesses, such as cab services and love ho- for Nutting Associates, but left after not being given Ocean struck a deal with Konami to publish their
tels. Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys that opportunity to form Atari Inc. with Ted Dabney. arcade games for home computers.
in the 1960s, Nintendo then developed into a video Nutting Associates continued manufactur- In 1985, Ocean Software managed to secure
game company in the 1970s, ultimately becoming ing video games up until 1977 when the company the first movie licences, such as Rambo, Short Cir-
one of the most influential in the industry and Ja- was sold to “Si” Redd. A new Nutting Associates cuit and Cobra, as well as the TV show Miami Vice
pan’s third most-valuable company with a market company was established in Nevada before being and RoboCop which spent about a year on the top of
value of over $85 billion. Since 1992 Nintendo has absorbed into the larger company Sircoma, a video the charts.
teamed with the Starlight Children’s Foundation poker manufacturer. In 1996, Ocean Software announced to
to build Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment Nutting’s brother, David Judd Nutting, also merge with french publisher Infogrames for £100
units and install them in hospitals. 1,000 Starlight worked in the video game industry. He formed Dave Million. After the merger Infogrames kept Ocean
Nintendo Fun Center units were installed by the end Nutting Associates, a consulting firm that produced as a separate division publishing their own games.
of 1995. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also many of Midway’s games during the 1970s and ear- Ocean later acquired Digital Image Design in 1998
the majority shareholder of Major League Baseball’s ly 80s. and in the same year, Infogrames renamed Ocean
Seattle Mariners. Software to Infogrames United Kingdom Limited.
 CORPORATIONS
33

Rare Raw Thrills Sammy Corporation

Type Subsidiary Type Privately held company Type Kabushiki gaisha
Founded 16 April 1985 Founded 2001 Subsidiary
Founders Tim Stamper Founders Eugene Jarvis Founded November 1, 1975
Chris Stamper Deepak Deo Founders Hajime Satomi
Headquarters Twycross, England Andrew Eloff Headquarters Tokyo, Japan
Parent Microsoft Studios Headquarters Skokie, Illinois, U.S. Parent Sega Sammy Holdings
Employees ≈200 (2008) Employees 25 Employees 1,105 (2013)

Rare is a British video game developer located in Raw Thrills, Inc. is an arcade game entertainment Sammy Corporation is a leading developer and re-
Twycross, Leicestershire. The company was estab- company based in Skokie, Illinois. It is best known tailer of pachinko and pachislot systems in Japan. It
lished in 1985 by Tim and Chris Stamper, founders of for developing arcade games based on films. is also known for publishing a small number of vid-
Ultimate Play the Game. During its early years, Rare Raw Thrills was founded in 2001 by Eugene eo games such as the Guilty Gear, The Rumble Fish
was backed by an unlimited budget from Nintendo, Jarvis, Deepak Deo, and Andrew Eloff. The staff also and Survival Arts series of fighting games. In 2004,
primarily concentrated on Nintendo Entertainment consists of other former Midway Games employees. it merged with Sega to form a new holding compa-
System games. During this time they created suc- Currently the staff runs around 25 employees, most ny called Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.. All the video
cessful titles such as Wizards & Warriors, Battle- of whom have been with the company for the major- game businesses were transferred over to Sega.
toads, and R.C. Pro-Am. Rare became a prominent ity of its existence. Sammy Corporation started in 1975 as Sam-
second-party developer for Nintendo, who came to Early on, the company made games for IGT my Industry Co., Ltd. from the spilt of Satomi Cor-
own a large minority stake of the company. During including Super Times Pay Poker, Multi-Play Black- poration’s manufacturing and marketing divisions
this period, Rare received international recognition jack, and Turbo Reelette with later games involving for amusement arcade machines. In 1978, Sammy
and critical acclaim for games such as Donkey Kong modifications of the Super Times Pay engine. Industry built a factory in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo in or-
Country, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Raw Thrills’ first independent coin-op game der to take advantage of the growing popularity of
Dark, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. was Target: Terror, a light-gun shooter game which video games, specifically Invader games. During
In 2002, Microsoft acquired Rare, who re- was later upgraded to Target: Terror Gold (also this year, it began game machine development.
tained their original brand, logo, and most intel- known as Target: Force) featuring bonus levels, end- In 1982, Sammy Industry started to market
lectual properties. It has since focused on develop- of-round awards, and other performance enhance- and sell pachislot machines. During this time, its
ing games exclusively for Microsoft Studios’ video ments. launched the Empire pachislot machine. In 1988, an
game consoles. Notable releases include Kameo: El- In 2006, Raw Thrills published two titles: American subsidiary of Sammy Industry was estab-
ements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero and Viva Piñata. Big Buck Hunter PRO, developed by Play Mecha- lished in California, USA. In this year, Sammy In-
In 2007, founders Tim and Chris Stamper left the nix; and The Fast and the Furious Superbikes. They dustry expanded its market by venturing into sales
company to pursue “other opportunities” and, in also released a continuation of the successful Big and marketing of video game software.
2010, the company’s focus shifted to the Xbox Live Buck series, Big Buck Safari in three different con- During 2003, Sammy was in talks with gam-
Avatar and Kinect, releasing three different Kinect figurations which included a standard 27” cabinet, ing conglomerate Sega to be part of the Sammy
Sports games. In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay, a a 42” LCD version and an 8’x6’ projected screen company. Despite Sega publicly declining the offer
compilation of 30 games produced by the company Theater version. because the two companies lacked synergies, a take-
to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Rare is currently After the success of their Fast and Furious over occurred in which Sammy purchased a 22.4
working on Sea of Thieves, a multiplayer adventure DRIFT racing title, the company set their sights on per cent stake in Sega from the company’s one-time
game. kart-style racing with Nicktoons Nitro. The game parent company, CSK. Since then, Sega and Sammy
Several key employees left Rare to form featured licensed characters from various Nickelo- became subsidiaries of the aforementioned holding
their own companies, such as Free Radical Design deon cartoon shows. company, with both companies operating independ-
and Playtonic Games. Rare was widely recognised In 2009, Raw Thrills teamed up with Konami ently, while the executive departments merged. Both
by the gaming industry and received numerous acco- and Activision to produce Guitar Hero Arcade. Raw companies are involved in the amusement business
lades from critics and journalists. The company has Thrills engineered the game while Konami and Activ- (Sega with arcade games, Sammy with pachinko
often been described as secretive and seclusive. ision were involved to cover patenting and licensing. machines).
CORPORATIONS
34

Sega Seibu Kaihatsu SNK

Type Kabushiki gaisha Type Public Type Kabushiki gaisha
Subsidiary Industry Video game industry Subsidiary
Founded June 3, 1960 (Nihon Goraku Bussan) Founded 1982 Founded 1978 (Shin Nihon Kikaku Corp.)
Founders Martin Bromley Defunct 1998 (defunct on October 22, 2001)
Irving Bromberg Headquarters Tokyo, Japan 2001 (as Playmore Corporation)
Richard Stewart Key people Hitoshi Hamada Headquarters Suita, Osaka, Japan
Parent Sega Holdings Website seibu-kaihatsu.co.jp Owner Orient Securities Co., Ltd.

Sega Games Co., Ltd., originally short for Service Seibu Kaihatsu Inc. is a Japanese manufacturer of SNK Corporation is a Japanese video game hard-
Games and officially styled as SEGA, is a Japanese arcade games. The company was founded in 1982 at ware and software company, successor to the Shin
multinational video game developer and publisher Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan as Seibu Denshi Inc., but Nihon Kikaku and current owner of the SNK video
headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with offices around changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is game brand and Neo Geo video game platform. The
the world. Sega is known for its multi-million selling currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada. Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation was founded in
game franchises, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Vir- One of their earliest arcade hits was the 1989 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki. Initially called Shin Ni-
tua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Yakuza, and Total War. rail shooter Dynamite Duke, one of the first to fea- hon Kikaku (New Japan Project), the name was in-
The story of Sega start in 1940, where Ameri- ture close combat with long-range shooting. A year formally shortened to SNK Corporation in 1981 be-
can businessmen Martin Bromley, Irving Bromberg, later, Seibu Kaihatsu became best known for their fore becoming the company’s official name in 1986.
and James Humpert formed a company called Stand- 1990 vertical-scrolling shoot ‘em up arcade game SNK is most notable as creator of the Neo
ard Games in Honolulu, Hawaii, to provide coin-op- Raiden, which was successful enough to earn several Geo family of arcade, home, and handheld game
erated amusement machines to military bases. They sequels and spin-offs in its series of titles. In 1991, a consoles, beginning in 1990. The Neo Geo line was
saw that the onset of World War II, and the conse- development department known as Rise Corporation halted in 2001, when financial troubles forced SNK
quent increase in the number of military personnel, was spun from Seibu Kaihatsu. During the late ‘80s, Corporation to close on October 22, 2001. Antici-
would mean there would be demand for something Fabtek bought the rights to internationally distribute pating the end of the company, Kawasaki founded
for those stationed at military bases to do in their lei- Seibu Kaihatsu’s arcade titles outside Japan. Playmore Corporation on August 1, 2001. By Oc-
sure time. After the war, the founders sold that com- In 1999, its arcade division vanished and its tober, Playmore had acquired all of the intellectual
pany and established a new distributor called Serv- official website shut down. It was also rumored that property of the former SNK Corporation. In 2003,
ice Games, named for the military focus. In 1951, they filed for bankruptcy; in fact, Seibu Kaihatsu Playmore Corporation was renamed to SNK Play-
the government of the United States outlawed slot temporarily disbanded itself. Therefore, Fabtek’s more Corporation, to more firmly establish itself as
machines in US territories, so Bromley sent two of international distribution rights expired while clos- the successor to the SNK brand and legacy.
his employees, Richard Stewart and Ray LeMaire, to ing its business. During the same year, they estab- Traditionally, SNK operated primarily as
Tokyo, Japan, in 1952 to establish a new distributor. lished Mahjong Cats, right before the dissolution of a video game developer, publisher, and hardware
The company provided coin-operated slot machines their relationship with adult video game developers manufacturer, focusing on arcade games but also
to U.S. bases in Japan and changed its name again to h.m.p. and Mink to develop adult mahjong video working on console and PC games. In 2004, the
Service Games of Japan by 1953. arcade games. In 2005, the development staff left company started manufacturing pachislot machines,
Sega developed and manufactured numer- Seibu Kaihatsu to apply at MOSS, then bought the which the company leaned heavily into before with-
ous home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001, development rights to the Raiden franchise from drawing from the market in 2015. In 2009, the com-
but after financial losses incurred from its Dream- Seibu Kaihatsu to develop Raiden III and Raiden IV pany also entered an active wave of mobile game de-
cast console, the company restructured to focus on in order to keep the franchise’s fanbase hyped with velopment. Classic SNK franchises like Metal Slug,
providing software as a third-party developer. Sega Seibu Kaihatsu assisting them. Throughout the years Samurai Shodown and The King of Fighters feature
remains the world’s most prolific arcade producer, MOSS have diversified their portfolio outside of heavily in its recent offerings.
with over 500 games in over 70 franchises on more vertical shooters. In 2016, SNK dropped the “Playmore” name
than 20 different arcade system boards since 1981. from its logo and reintroduced its original slogan,
“The Future Is Now”, as a means to signify “a return
to SNK’s rich gaming history.”
 CORPORATIONS
35

Sony Square Stern

Type Public kabushiki gaisha conglomerate Former type Public Founded 1977
Founded 7 May 1946 Founded September 1986 Headquarters United States
Founders Masaru Ibuka Founder Masafumi Miyamoto Key people Gary Stern
Akio Morita Defunct April 1, 2003 Sam Stern
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan Fate Merged with Enix Owner Gary Stern
Employees 128,400 (2017) Successor Square Enix Website sternpinball.com
Employees 888 (2002)

Sony Corporation (often referred to simply as Sony) Square Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game com- Stern is the name of two different but related arcade
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corpora- pany founded in September 1986 by Masafumi Mi- gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufac-
tion. Its diversified business includes consumer and yamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became tured arcade video games and pinball machines from
professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and Square Enix. The company also used SquareSoft as 1977-1985, and was known for 1980s Berzerk. Stern
financial services. The company is one of the lead- a brand name to refer to their games, and the term is Pinball, Inc., founded in 1999, is a creator of pinball
ing manufacturers of electronic products for the con- occasionally used to refer to the company itself. machines in North America.
sumer and professional markets. Sony was ranked Square originated in October 1983 as a com- Stern Electronics was formed when the Stern
105th on the 2017 list of Fortune Global 500. puter game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a family bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin
Sony Corporation is the electronics business power line construction company owned by the fa- in 1977. Chicago Coin’s assets were purchased at
unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, ther of Masafumi Miyamoto, the eventual founder bankruptcy sales forming the core inventory of Stern
which is engaged in business through its four op- of Square Co Ltd in 1986. While at the time game Electronics, Inc.; however, as a separate company,
erating components: electronics (AV, IT & commu- development was usually conducted by only one they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin
nication products, semiconductors, video games, programmer, Masafumi Miyamoto believed that it had amassed.
network services and medical business), motion would be more efficient to have graphic designers, The first two games made by Stern were
pictures (movies and TV shows), music (record la- programmers and professional story writers work- Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by
bels and music publishing) and financial services ing together on common projects. Square’s first two Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their
(banking and insurance). These make Sony one of titles were The Death Trap and its sequel Will: The branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Elec-
the most comprehensive entertainment companies in Death Trap II, both designed by part-time employee tronics’ sales started picking up by the end of 1977.
the world. The group consists of Sony Corporation, Hironobu Sakaguchi and released on the NEC PC- By 1978 they had switched over to fully solid-state
Sony Pictures, Sony Mobile, Sony Interactive Enter- 8801. Despite an initial reluctance to develop for electronics for their games. In 1979, Stern acquired
tainment, Sony Music, Sony Financial Holdings and video game consoles, Square entered the Nintendo the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt See-
others. Famicom market in December 1985 with the porting burg Corporation, and the company became known
Sony began in the wake of World War II. In of Thexder. as Stern/Seeburg. Coincidentally, Seeburg also
1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in a A merger between Square and its competitor owned Williams in the 1960s, when Sam Stern was
department store building in Tokyo. The company Enix was in consideration since at least 2000; how- its president.
started with a capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight ever, the financial failure of their first movie, Final When arcade video games became popular in
employees. In May 1946, Ibuka was joined by Akio Fantasy: The Spirits Within made Enix hesitant to 1980, Stern Electronics produced Berzerk. In 1983
Morita to found a company called Tokyo Tsushin join with a company which was losing money. With Stern became one of many victims of the amusement
Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering the company in its second year of financial loss, industry economic shakeout that occurred. In 1985,
Corporation). The company built Japan’s first tape Square approached Sony for a capital injection and Stern Electronics left the amusement industry. Per-
recorder, called the Type-G. In 1958, the company on October, 8th 2001, Sony Corp purchased 18.6% sonnel from Stern Electronics formed a short-lived
changed its name to “Sony”. stake in Square to bandage their loss. Following venture known as Pinstar, producing conversion kits
Sony has a weak tie to the Sumitomo Mitsui the success of both Final Fantasy X and Kingdom for old Bally and Stern machines. Gary Stern was
Financial Group (SMFG) keiretsu, the successor to Hearts, the company recovered its stability. It was the president of Stern Electronics, Inc, Pinstar Inc,
the Mitsui keiretsu. announced in 2002 that Square and Enix’s previous and Data East pinball.
plans to merge were to officially proceed.
CORPORATIONS
36

Sunsoft Taito Treasure

Type Division Type Kabushiki gaisha ype Kabushiki gaisha
Founded 1978 Subsidiary Founded June 19, 1992
Headquarters Kōnan, Aichi, Japan Founded August 24, 1953 Headquarters Tokyo, Japan
Parent Sun Corporation Founder Michael Kogan Key people Masato Maegawa (CEO)
Website sunsoft.jp/en Headquarters Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Employees 20-30
Employees 609 (2017) Website http://www.treasure-inc.co.jp/
Parent Square Enix Holdings

Sunsoft, stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video Taito Corporation is a Japanese video game devel- Treasure Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game devel-
game developer and publisher. Sunsoft in itself is oper and publisher of arcade hardware and mobile oper, founded by former employees of Konami on
not a company, but instead the brand name of Japa- phones, and an operator of video arcades. It is also June 19, 1992. Treasure is best known for classic-
nese electronic manufacturer Sun Corporation for a former publisher of home video games. Taito is style action games that employ innovative gameplay
its video games operations. Its U.S. subsidiary oper- known for producing hit arcade games, such as Space systems. Their greatest commercial successes have
ated under the name Sun Corporation of America, Invaders, Bubble Bobble, and Arkanoid. It has pro- been games like Wario World and Mischief Mak-
though, as in Japan, games published there showed a duced arcade games all around the world, while also ers, but they are better known for their critical suc-
logo that read only Sunsoft. importing and distributing American coin-op video cesses, such as Sin and Punishment, Gunstar Heroes,
In April 1971, Sun Electronics Corporation games in Japan. Taito owns several arcades in Japan Bangai-O, and Ikaruga. Their first released game
(alternatively called Sun Denshi) was founded in known as Taito Stations or Game Taito Stations. was Gunstar Heroes, although McDonald’s Treasure
Kōnan, Aichi as a manufacturer and vendor of elec- The company was founded in 1953 by a Rus- Land Adventure was developed first.
tronics equipment. sian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan as Treasure is a small, privately held company,
Sun Corporation’s history in video games Taito Trading Company. Taito started out importing consisting of around 30-40 members, though this
began in October 1978 in arcades with two titles: and distributing vending machines. It was also the number is somewhat misleading as they also employ
Block Challenger and Block Perfect. Sun Corpora- first company to distill and sell vodka in Japan. Lat- independent contractors to assist development and
tion had several arcade hits in the early 1980s such er, it began leasing jukeboxes and eventually started sometimes partner with other companies like Sega,
as Arabian, Ikki and Kangaroo. At the time, its ar- to manufacture its own. Taito began producing elec- G.rev and Nintendo to increase the size of their
cade video games were released under its own cor- tro-mechanical arcade games in the 1960s. teams. They have worked on many titles based on
porate name of Sun Electronics Corporation. On August 22, 2005, it was announced that licenses, including Astro Boy, McDonald’s, Bleach
The brand Sunsoft first appeared in the lat- the gaming conglomerate Square Enix would pur- and Tiny Toon Adventures, as well as partnering
ter of the 1980s when Sun Corporation began devel- chase 247,900 Taito shares worth ¥45.16 billion with companies like Sega, Enix and Nintendo to pro-
oping original games and technology for the home ($409.1 million), to make Taito Corporation a sub- duce original properties.
video game console market, with emphasis mostly sidiary of Square Enix. The purpose of the takeover Treasure does not have a rigid hierarchy.
on the Famicom. Sunsoft had gone international at by Square Enix was to both increase Taito’s profit There are not designated “directors” from project to
that time, and it had the publishing might to secure margin exponentially as well as begin its company’s project; all directors also work as programmers, art-
major licenses of the day (such as Batman and The expansion into new forms of gaming (most notably, ists, or composers, and may work on other projects
Addams Family). In the 1990s, Sun Corporation of the arcade scene), and various other entertainment that they are not directing.
America joined forces with Acclaim Entertainment venues. The takeover bid from Square Enix was ac- For the first five years of Treasure, the com-
to handle ad sales rights to Sunsoft’s video games for cepted by previous stockholder Kyocera, making pany produced games exclusively for Sega consoles.
game consoles. Taito an official Square Enix subsidiary. By March, According to a Treasure representative, their first
Finally, in 1995, Sun Corporation of Amer- 2006 Taito became a subsidiary wholly owned by game (Gunstar Heroes) was developed on the Sega
ica heavily restructured in the face of bankruptcy, Square Enix and was delisted from the First Section Genesis for hardware performance reasons, and af-
and all the company’s pending projects were either of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Despite being a sub- ter that they continued developing for Sega consoles
sold to other companies or cancelled. On September sidiary to Square Enix Holdings, the parent company since their fan base consisted of owners of those
14, 2006, Nintendo announced that Sunsoft was a has kept the branding of Taito distinct from Square consoles.
partner on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Enix.
 CORPORATIONS
37

Tecmo Universal Entertainment Corporation Williams

Type Kabushiki gaisha Type Public (K.K.) Type Division
Founded July 31, 1967 Founded December, 1969 Predecessor Williams Manufacturing Company
Defunct April 1, 2010 Formerly Aruze Corporation Founded 1974
Fate Merged with Koei Headquarters Tokyo Headquarters Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Headquarters Tokyo, Japan Website www.universal-777.com/en/ Parent Scientific Games Corporation
Key people Tomonobu Itagaki Website www.wms.com
Parent Koei Tecmo

Tecmo Co., Ltd. , was a Japanese video game cor- Universal Entertainment Corporation, formerly WMS Industries, Inc. is an American electronic
poration founded in 1967. Tecmo is known for the known as Aruze Corporation, is a Japanese manu- gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise,
Star Force, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Deception, facturer of pachinko, slot machines, arcade games Nevada. WMS traces its roots to 1943, to the Wil-
Monster Rancher, Rygar, Tecmo Bowl, Fatal Frame and other gaming products, and a publisher of video liams Manufacturing Company, founded by Harry E.
and Gallop Racer video game series. When it was games. Aruze possesses licenses to both manufac- Williams. However, the company that became WMS
still called Tehkan, the company released arcade ture and distribute casino machines in the American Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams
games such as Bomb Jack and Tehkan World Cup. states of Nevada, Mississippi and New Jersey. The Electronics, Inc.
The company was founded on July 31, 1967 as a company’s corporate headquarters are in Tokyo. Williams initially was a manufacturer of
supplier of cleaning equipment. By 1969, it started Aruze is also the licence holder of the video game pinball machines. In 1964, Williams was acquired
to sell amusement equipment. franchise Shadow Hearts. The company owns 21% by jukebox manufacturer Seeburg Corp. and re-
The origins of Tecmo dates as a company of Wynn Resorts. On November 1, 2009 Aruze Cor- organized as Williams Electronics Manufacturing
specialized in the management of building main- poration changed its name to Universal Entertain- Division. In 1973, the company branched out into
tenance including the supplying of cleaning equip- ment Corporation. the coin-operated arcade video game market with
ment. It was founded on July 31, 1967 as Tehkan Universal Lease Co., Ltd was established in its Pong clone Paddle Ball, eventually creating a
Ltd. with roots dating three years earlier as the Em- December 1969. It later changed its name to Uni- number of video game classics, including Defender
pire Administration Co., Ltd founded in September versal Ltd in Japan and Universal USA in America. and Robotron: 2084. In 1974, Williams Electronics,
1964. The company was renamed Tecmo in 1986. Universal Distributing Company opened as a U.S. Inc. was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary
Tecmo’s first internally developed home video game subsidiary to sell video games direct to operators. of Seeburg. Williams Electronics was sold as an in-
Mighty Bomb Jack was released for the Family Universal’s greatest hit game was “Mr. Do!” in 1982. dependent company during the bankruptcy of See-
Computer in April 1986. Other games include the hugely influential platform burg in 1980.
By the turn of the decade, Tecmo was firmly game Space Panic (1980) and the maze game Lady In 1987, Williams changed its parent name
in the camp of video game consoles. Though still Bug (1981). Cashing-in on the success of laserdisc to WMS Industries, Inc. when it made its public of-
involved in the arcade industry, much of the success video games, Universal released Super Don Quix- fering. WMS is a shortening of Williams, which it
was achieved on the Nintendo Entertainment Sys- ote in 1984, on a new standardized laserdisc video also selected for its NYSE ticker symbol. In 1988,
tem with titles such as Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl game system they called the Universal System 1. it acquired competitor Bally/Midway, which it spun
and the Japan-only Tsuppari Ōzumō. When Sony re- A new game was planned every six months for the off in 1998, together with its video game business.
leased its PlayStation in the 1990s, Tecmo joined the Universal System 1, including an unreleased la- WMS entered the reel-spinning slot machine market
endeavor which set the tone for series such as Dead serdisc adventure game based on Mr. Do!, but the in 1994. It closed its pinball division in 1999.
or Alive, Monster Rancher, Deception and Gallop company stopped producing arcade games in 1985, WMS merged with Scientific Games in Oc-
Racer. and Super Don Quix-ote ended up being the only tober 2013, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of
In 2009, Tecmo merged with Koei to form game released for the system. Universal Distributing Scientific Games. Scientific Games paid $1.5 billion
the holding company Tecmo Koei Holdings and was of Nevada (UDN) was established to begin selling for WMS, and WMS shareholders received $26.00
operated as a subsidiary until its disbandment in ear- Universal’s first slot machines direct to the gaming per share. At the time of the merger, the company’s
ly 2010. In April 2010, Tecmo was dissolved and its industry. In January 2005, the company became a stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Ex-
video game franchises are now published by Koei wholly owned subsidiary of Aruze. change.
Tecmo Games.
 Arcade system board
38
An arcade system board is a dedicated computer sys- Atari did a big mistake at the begining. As a mat- Atari 6502 Black & White Raster (1976-1980)
tem created for the purpose of running video arcade ter of fact, a game without patent has no protection
Atari 6502 Color Raster (1977-1989)
games. Arcade system boards typically consist of a against bootlegers, even if it uses an analog or a
main system board with any number of supporting digital system without software. Atari did not pat- Atari 6502 Vector (1979-1980)
boards. ent PONG until 1973 and many competitors started
The earliest non-microprocessor based ar- making their own version of PONG just a few weeks
cade system boards were designed around codeless after the release of Atari’s game. Some copies are
state machine computers with the main board and nearly same, even so similar that the printed circuit
any support boards consisting of discrete logic cir- board looks identical. However, some other versions
cuits comprising each element of the game itself. were designed from scratch, or at least from basic
The next generation of arcade system boards, with elements of Atari PONG such as sync, paddle and
ball generators. ATARI 6502 B&W RASTER ATARI 6502 VECTOR
the inclusion of microprocessor based technology,
“pong-story.com”
incorporated the game program code directly on the Atari Centipede Hardware (1980-1983)
main system board via game code stored in ROM Atari 6800 Based (1976-1979) Atari Cyberball Hardware (1989)
chips mounted on the main board. The 6800 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed The Atari Cyberball Hardware is an arcade system
Later arcade system boards, including the and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The board used for the games Cyberball and Cyberball
DECO Cassette System, SNK’s Neo-Geo, Cap- MC6800 microproc- 2072.
com’s CPS-2, and Sega’s NAOMI, separated the essor was part of the
system board from the game program itself, akin to M6800 Microcomputer Atari Gauntlet Hardware (1985-1988)
a home video game console and cartridge/CD/DVD/ System that also in- Based upon some of the most elaborate hardware
Hard Disk. This method benefitted both manufac- cluded serial and paral- design in Atari’s history to date, it is the company’s
turers and arcade game owners. Once the system lel interface ICs, RAM, first coin-operated game that features a voice syn-
board was purchased, the owner could switch out ROM and other sup- thesizer chip.
the games at a fraction of the price and with less ef- port chips. A significant design feature was that the Atari Hard Drivin’ Hardware (1988-1993)
fort, and the manufacturers could produce fewer of M6800 family of ICs required only a single five-volt
the costly system boards and more of the less-costly power supply at a time when most other microproc- Atari Missile Command Hardware (1980-1983)
games. essors required three voltages. The M6800 Micro- Atari Kangaroo (1982-1983)
Currently, the company with the record of computer System was announced in March 1974 and
the highest number of original arcade system boards was in full production by the end of that year. Atari Star Wars Vector (1983-1985)
is Sega. The 6800 architecture and instruction set CPU: 2 x 6809 @ 1.5 MHz
were influenced by the then popular Digital Equip- Sound: 4 x Pokey @ 1.5 MHz, TMS5220 @ 640 kHz
Atari ment Corporation PDP-11 mini computer. The 6800 The game features several digitized samples of
has a 16-bit address bus that could directly access 64 voices from the movie. The Star Wars Vector board
PONG (1972-1976)
was used for the games Star Wars and The Empire
Unlike modern video games, PONG did not use a kB of memory and an 8-bit bi-directional data bus. It
Strikes Back.
CPU, nor did it produce graphics with pixels. Every has 72 instructions with seven addressing modes for
object put on the screen was generated by timing cir- a total of 197 opcodes. The original MC6800 could Atari System 1 (1984-1987)
cuits used to encode the video signal and turn it on or have a clock frequency of up to 1 MHz. Later ver- Main PCB: A043096 SYS I LSI MAIN
off depending on its location. The global schematic sions had a maximum clock frequency of 2 MHz. Main CPU: Motorola MC68010L8 [DIP] @ 7.159090 MHz
of PONG can seem complicated, but in fact every In addition to the ICs, Motorola also pro- Sound CPU: MOS Technology M6502 @ 1.789772 MHz
section is not very hard to understand once the main vided a complete assembly language development Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz, 2 x
Pokey @ 1.789772 MHz, TMS5220 @ 625 KHz
operation is understood. Moreover, PONG happens system. The customer could use the software on a
remote timeshare computer or on an Main Rom: 136032
to have one ghost hole Protection Chip: Slapstic 137412-1** - Slapstic F.A.Q.
on the upper left corner in-house minicomputer system. The
Video Resolution: 336 x 240
of the screen where the Motorola EXORciser was a desk-
Colours: 256 colours from a palette of 1024
ball can only pass, and top computer built with the M6800 Pinouts : Atari System 1 Pinouts
it even has a bug in the ICs that could be used for proto- PCB : Original TTL PCB Version
bounce circuitry (the typing and debugging new designs. The Atari System 1 was Atari Games’ first upgrade-
schematic is correct, but The 6800 was popular in computer able arcade game hardware platform. Introduced in
the pcb has a mistake). peripherals, test equipment applica- 1984, the System 1 platform was used for the games:
Top view of the PCB diagram. shows the top view of the
tions and point-of-sale terminals. Marble Madness, RoadBlasters Peter Pack Rat, Road
PCB. The three transistors are shown in red. “revolvy.com”
Runner, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
39
Relief Pitcher. Atari System 1 (1984-1987) Oscillators: 14.31818
The hardware used a large circuit board with Main PCB: A042571 ATARI SYSTEM II CPU Protection Chip: Slapstic 137412-1** F.A.Q.
a Motorola 68010 main CPU running at 7.159 MHz, Main CPU: DEC T11 @ 10 MHz (DEC 21-17311-02) Custom Chip: 8932 137419-104 [40pin DIP, 60H]
a MOS Technology 6502 sound CPU running at Sound CPU: MOS Technology M6502 2.2 MHz Motorola: SOS, ZKZKAE8949, 137550-001 [40pin DIP,
1.789 MHz, a system ROM, text and graphics dis- Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz, 2 110J/120J]
x Atari Pokey @ 1.789772 MHz, Texas Instruments Video resoution: 336 x 240
play hardware, and control interfaces. Two large
TMS5220 @ 625 KHz Hardware Features: Run-length encoded, hardware
edge-card connectors allowed a “cartridge board” to Oscillators: 14.31818 & 20.000 zoom, 256 priority levels
be plugged in; the cartridge board supplied the main VLSI: 645 V D727B, VGC7205-0672, 137304-2002 The Atari G1 is a 16-bit arcade system board manu-
program ROMs, sound program ROMs, graphics [40pin DIP, row 7] factured by Atari Games. Games using this system
ROMs, graphics shift registers, a “SLAPSTIC” copy Other Chips: 8645 137430-001 [40pin DIP, row 6/row 7] board is Hydra and Pit Fighter.
protection chip, a Yamaha YM2151 FM sound gen- Protection Chip: Slapstic 137412-1** - Slapstic F.A.Q.
erator, a POKEY and (for some games) TI TMS5220 Video Resolution: 512 x 384 Atari G42 (1991-1992)
LPC speech synthesis chip. System 1 was capable of Board composition: A main board and a video board, PCB: A049757 FSG42-B
LPC speech synthesis chip. System 1 was capable of with eeproms in both. Main CPU: MC68HC000P12
generating a max resolution of 336 x 240 with 256 Very soon after the introduction of the Atari System Oscillators: 14.31818 & 20.000
colors from a palette of 1024 colors. 1, the Atari System 2 was introduced. The System Sound: Stand-Alone Audio III (6502 @ 1.790 MHz, driv-
2 platform was used for the games: 720°, Paper- ing YM-2151 + OKI 6295 ADPCM)
Converting one System 1 game into another
boy, Championship Sprint, Super Sprint, APB : All Motorola: SOS, 137550-001 [40pin DIP, 12F/18D]
generally required replacing the cartridge board, at- Other Chips: 9151, 137419-104 [40pin DIP, 18J]
traction marquee, control panel, and in some cases Points Bulletin, Accelerator (unreleased prototype)
Other Chips: LC9208, 137665-1020 [44pin PLCC, 3E]
installing additional controls (e.g., foot pedal for and Gremlins (unreleased prototype). Video resoution: 336 x 240
Road Blasters). Probably the most noticeable difference be- Other Features: Run-length encoded, hardware zoom,
Early System 1 boards and cartridge boards tween the System 2 and System 1 games was the fact 256 priority levels
used large numbers of 7400 series TTL chips. These that the System 2 used higher resolution graphics The Atari G42 is a 16-bit arcade system board man-
boards were later replaced by the functionally iden- ics. The video resolution was 512x384 and as such ufactured by Atari Games. Games using this sys-
tical “System 1 LSI Main” and “LSI Cartridge” a medium-resolution monitor was used (System 1 tem board is Road Riot 4WD and Guardians of the
boards, which used ASICs for reduced manufactur- used low resolution). ‘Hood.
ing costs. Atari 68000 Based (1982-1992)
Modular or upgradeable video games were Atari Arcade Classics Hardware (1992)
The Motorola 68000 series (also termed 680x0,
not commonly offered by the major video game com- m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit CISC Atari GX2 (1992)
panies in the 1970s and 1980s, because it was more microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, PCB: A049810 GX2
profitable to sell an entirely new machine. System 1 they were popular in personal computers and work- Main CPU: MC68EC020FG16
and the Japanese JAMMA wiring standard were at- Oscillators: 14.31818MHz
stations and were the primary competitors of Intel’s
tempts to move to a modular solution, though there Sound: Stand-Alone Audio II (6502 @ 1.790 MHz, driv-
x86 microprocessors. They were most well known ing YM-2151 + OKI 6295 ADPCM)
were many smaller companies that sold conversion as the processors powering the early Apple Macin-
kits for competitors’ hardware. Motorola: SOS, 137550-001 [40pin DIP, 3L]
tosh, the Commodore Amiga, the Sinclair QL, the Other Chips: 9220, 137419-104 [40pin DIP, 5L]
The System 1 and its games are noted for the Atari ST, the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, and several
use of “raw” sounding FM Synthesizers for sound The Atari GX2 is a 32-bit arcade system board man-
others. Although no modern desktop computers are ufactured by Atari Games. Games using this system
effects and music: that is, the music many times used based on processors in the 68000 series, derivative
instruments that had the modulation settings turned board is Moto Frenzy, Space Lords and Road Riot’s
processors are still widely used in embedded sys- Revenge.
too high or too low to emulate realistic sounding in- tems.
struments, instead creating a warbly or noisy sound. “revolvy.com” Atari GT (1994)
“system16.com” Atari DUAL 68000 Based (1989-1990) Main CPU: 68020
ATARI SYSTEM 1 Main CPU: 2 x MC68000P8 @ 7.159090MHz Sound CPU & Chip: CAGE Audio System
Sound CPU: 6502 @ 1.7895MHz Video resoution: 336 x 240
Sound Chips: YM2151 @ 3.579MHz, TMS5220 @ The Atari G42 is a 16-bit arcade system board.
650.727 KHz Games using this system board is Road Riot 4WD
Atari G1 (1990) and Guardians of the ‘Hood.
PCB: A047896-01 G1 Atari Cojag (1994-1996)
Main CPU: 68000 (MC68HC000P12F @ 16MHz [DIP]) Main CPU: R3000 @ 33 Mhz (68EC020 @ 25Mhz for
ROM: 136079 Area 51 only)
Sound: Stand-Alone Audio II (6502 @ 1.790 MHz, driv- Graphics Chip: “Tom” @ 26MHz
Motherboard Marble Madness cartridge
ing YM-2151 + OKI 6295 ADPCM) Sound - I/O Chip: “Jerry” @ 26 MHz
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
40
The main CPU of the I/O ASIC, SMC91C94 ethernet controller, ADC0848 8 x instructions.
Cojag board is a R3000 A-to-D converters, The MediaGX CPU was mostly used for
@ 33 Mhz (68EC020 Board composition: Main PCB and Hard Drive. subcompact laptops. It was also used in the CTX
@ 25Mhz for Area 51 Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX fea- EzBook V92C266, Compaq Presario 1220 and 1230
only). It has a video tures. laptops, Compaq Presario 2100 and 2200 desktops,
controller to generate The Flagstaff arcade board are made for the two San Casio Cassiopeia Fiva tablet PC, and many others,
all the video signals Francisco Rush games. as well as in high-performance embedded applica-
needed. It has an ob- Atari Seattle (1997-1998) tions such as the Pinball 2000 arcade pinball system
ject processor which can render sprites or bitmaps, Main CPU: MIPS R5000 @ Either 144MHz/150MHz/ and Atari Games arcade platforms. Sun Microsys-
scaled or straight, in a number of different formats. 192MHz/200MHz (system clock 48MHz/50MHz) tems used MediaGXm in the Dover JavaStation.
It also has a blitter which can do complex object ma- System Memory: 8MB, 512KB Boot ROM.
Graphics: 3DFX FBI with 2MB frame buffer, 3DFX TMU Atari Vegas (1998-1999)
nipulations like rotation, scaling, Main CPU: MIPS RM7000
Z buffering and Gouraud shading. Finally, there is a with 4MB texture memory.
Sound CPU: DCS Sound System (ADSP 2115 @ 16MHz) Graphics: 3DFX Voodoo Banshee Chipset
RISC DSP built into the graphic chip, Tom, which Sound: DCS Sound System
Sound Memory: 4MB DRAM, 32KB Boot ROM.
runs a custom instruction set designed by Atari. The Board composition: CPU board, IO board, 3Dfx Banshee
Other Chips: Galileo GT64010 system controller, Na-
DSP is designed to run in parallel with the main CPU video card and Hard Drive.
tional Semiconductor PC87415 IDE controller, Midway
to handle fancy graphics. The sound - I/O Chip is a I/O ASIC. Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX Ban-
“Jerry” @ 26 MHz. Board composition: Main PCB and Hard Drive. shee features.
It has several timers and is connected to a Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX fea- Atari Denver (1999-2003)
pair of 16-bit DACs. These are controlled by another tures. Main CPU: MIPS RM5000
RISC DSP, related to the one in Tom, that is gener- There are actually 4 Graphics: 3DFX Voodoo 3 Chipset
ally used to play sounds. It is also responsible for all types of Seattle board Sound: DCS Sound System
the I/O with controllers and other parts of the sys- systems, with vary- Board composition: CPU board, IO board and Hard
tem. ing speeds. They will Drive.
“system16.com” Games that use the board include the two San Fran-
interchange but if a
Atari Playstation (1996) cisco Rush 2049 games.
200Mhz game is on a
Atari Phoenix (1996) 150 Mhz board, it will run slow during high process-
Main CPU: MIPS R4700 @ 100MHz (50MHz system ing moments. This system was also used by Midway. Bally
clock) “system16.com” Bally Sente Sac 1 (1984-1987)
System Memory : 4MB, 512KB Boot ROM.
Atari Media GX (1998) Main CPU: M6809 @ 1.25 MHz
Graphics: 3DFX FBI with 2MB frame buffer, 3DFX TMU
Hardware : Cyrix Media GX PC with Daughter Board. Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
with 4MB texture memory.
Sound CPU: DCS Sound System (ADSP 2115 @ 16MHz) The MediaGX CPU is an x86 compatible processor Sound chip: 6 x CEM3394
Sound Memory: 4MB DRAM, 32KB Boot ROM. that was manufactured and designed by Cyrix and Bally Sente Sac 2 (1987)
Other Chips: Galileo GT64010 system controller, Na- later after merger manufactured by National Semi- Main CPU: 68000 @ 8MHz, M6809 @ 1.25 MHz
tional Semiconductor PC87415 IDE controller, Midway conductor, and was introduced in 1997. The core is Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
I/O ASIC. based on the integration of the Cyrix Cx5x86 CPU Sound chip: 6 x CEM3394
Board composition: Main PCB and Hard Drive.
core with hardware to process video and audio out- Sentec Sac 2 are used for the game Shrike Avenger.
Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX fea-
tures.
put (XpressRAM, XpressGRAPHICS, XpressAU-
The game using this board is Wayne Gretzky’s 3D DIO). BrezzaSoft
Hockey. Whether this processor belongs in the fourth
Crystal System (2001–2003)
or fifth generation of x86 processors can be consid- CPU: ADC SE3208 32bit RISC CPU @ 43 MHz
Atari Flagstaff (1996-1997) ered a matter of debate as the processor was based Video and Sound: Magic Eyes VRender0 Chip
Main CPU: MIPS R5000 @ 200MHz (system clock on the 5x86 (a scaled down version of the Cyrix Memory: Main - 8MByte, Texture - 8Mbyte, Frame -
50MHz) 6x86). While the 5x86 was intended to compete with 8Mbyte, Data - Programmable
System Memory: 8MB, 512KB Boot ROM. the Intel Pentium line, the 5th generation x86, it was Interface: JAMMA
Graphics: 3DFX FBI with 2MB frame buffer, 2 x 3DFX
designed to interface with a 4th generation (80486) VRender0 Notes: The Magic Eyes VRender0 chip con-
TMU with 4MB texture memory.
motherboard and had tains:
Sound CPU: CAGE Sound System (33MHz TMS32C031
only the 486’s instruc- - CPU Core ADC SE3208
@ 33MHz)
tion set, lacking the ab- - 32 channels wavetable synth (8bit linear, 16bit linear
Sound Memory: 8MB ROM, 512KB Boot ROM.
and 8bit ulaw sample format)
Other Chips: Galileo GT64010 system controller, Na- ility to run software re-
- Custom 2D video rendering device (Zoom in/out, Rota-
tional Semiconductor PC87415 IDE controller, Midway quiring Pentium’s new
tion, Shading, Texture Mapping, Alpha-Blending - all MS
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
41
Direct X compatible) CP System II (1993–2003) keys. This is known to hobbyists as the “suicide bat-
- All associated I/O Main CPU: 68000 @ 16 MHz tery”. It is possible to bypass the original battery and
of the processing work Sound CPU: Z80 @ 8 MHz swap it out with a new one in-circuit, but this must
is done by the “Magic Sound Chips: Q Sound @ 4 MHz be done before the original falls below 2V or the
Eyes VRender0”, a Color Palette: 32 bit keys will be lost.
large IC in the middle Total On Screen Colors: 4096
Consequently, the board would just die any-
of the PCB. Colors per tile: 16 (4 bits per pixel)
way, meaning even if used legally it would not play
Object Number: 900 (16 x 16 pixels)
Brezzasoft Crystal Sy- after a finite amount of time (Unless a fee was paid
Scroll Faces: 3
stem is an arcade system released by Brezzasoft in Resolution: 384 x 224 to Capcom to replace it).
2001, shortly after the SNK went bankrupt. It was Maximum Rom Capacity: 322 Megabits Due to the heavy encryption, it was believed
coined the “Ultimate 2D Rendering Game Machine”, The CP System II or CPS-2 is an arcade system for a long time that CP System II emulation was next
poised to replace the SNK Neo Geo MVS. The main board that Capcom first used in 1993 for Super Street to impossible. However, in January 2001, the CPS-
PCB is small (approx 6” square) and contains only a Fighter II. It was the successor to their previous CP 2 Shock group was able to obtain unencrypted data
few components. All of the processing work is done System and Capcom Power System Changer arcade from the original ROM images, making emulation
by the “Magic Eyes VRender0”, a large IC in the hardware and was succeeded by the CP System III possible, as well as restoring cartridges that had been
middle of the PCB. hardware in 1996. erased because of the suicide system.
“system16.com”
The earlier Capcom system board, the origi- In January 2007, the encryption method
nal CP System, while successful, was very vulner- was fully reverse-engineered by Andreas Naive and
Capcom able to bootleggers making unauthorized copies of Nicola Salmoria. It has been determined that the
Capcom Commando Hardware (1985-1988) the games. In order to rectify the situation, Capcom encryption employs two four-round Feistel ciphers
CPU: Z80 (Different speed per game) took the CP System hardware (with QSound) with with a 64-bit key. The algorithm was thereafter im-
Sound CPU: Z80 (Different speed per game) minimal changes and employed encryption on the plemented in this state for all known CPS-2 games in
Sound Chip: 2 x YM2203 (Different speed per game) program ROMs to prevent software piracy. Due to MAME.
the encryption, the system was never bootlegged un- In April 2016, Eduardo Cruz, Artemio Ur-
Capcom Section Z Hardware (1985-1987)
CPU: Z80 @ 6 MHz til unencrypted program data became available. bina and Ian Court announced the successful reverse
Sound CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 4 MHz The CP System II consists of two separate engineering of Capcom’s CP System 2 security pro-
Sound Chip: 2 x YM2203 @ 1.5 MHz (+ MSM5205 @ parts; the A board, which connects to the JAMMA gramming, enabling the clean “de-suicide” and res-
384 kHz on some games) harness and contains components common between toration of any dead games without hardware modi-
all CP System II games, and the B board, which con- fications.
CP System (1988–1995)
tains the game itself. The relationship between the A CP System III (1996–1999)
The CP System or CPS is an arcade system board
and B board is basically the same as that between a Main CPU: Hitachi SH2 @ 25 MHz
developed by Capcom that ran game software stored
home video game console and cartridge. Storage: SCSI CD Rom, RAM and Flash ROM.
on removable ROM cartridges. More than two doz-
CPS2 was colour coded, these were to define RAM: SIMMs on the left will physically hold 16M of data
en arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Cap-
the regions they were intended for, they were as fol- each (each has 8x 16M Flash ROMs, there’s 4 SIMMs
com shifted game development over to its successor,
lows; plugged in on this board). The SIMMs on the right will
the CP System II. physically hold 8M each (there’s 4 Flash ROMs on each
Green: Japan
After a number of arcade game boards de- board and there are 2 SIMMs plugged in)
Blue: U.S.A. and Europe
signed to run only one game, Capcom embarked OSC: 60MHz. 42.9545MHz, XTAL 3.6864MHz
Orange: South America
upon a project to produce a system board that could The CP System III was first used by Capcom in 1996
Grey: Asia
be used to run multiple games, in order to reduce with the arcade game Red Earth. It was the second
Yellow: All (Rent version)
hardware costs and make the system more appealing successor to the CP System arcade hardware, fol-
Black: All in one unit
to arcade operators. lowing the CP System II. It would be the last propri-
Grey and Orange game boards require the main ‘A’
The system was plagued by many bootleg etary system board Capcom would produce before
board of matching color to work. Green and Blue
versions of its games. In particular, there were so moving on to the Dreamcast-based Naomi platform.
boards are totally interchangeable meaning Green
many bootleg versions of Street Fighter II, that they The CP System III features a security mecha-
game boards will work on a Blue ‘A’ board and visa
were more common in some countries than the of- nism; games are supplied on a CD, which contains
versa. A Yellow case shows a game is the rent version
ficial version. The CP System hardware was also the encrypted game contents, and a security car-
and these were made to fit ‘A’ boards as required.
utilized in Capcom’s unsuccessful attempt at home tridge containing the game BIOS and the SH-2 CPU
The B boards hold battery-backed memory
console market penetration, the CPS Changer, a do- with integrated decryption logic, with the per-game
containing decryption keys needed for the games to
mestic version of the CP System similar to the Neo- key stored in battery-backed SRAM. When the CP
run. As time passes, these batteries lose their charge
Geo AES. System III board is first powered on, the contents
and the games stop functioning, because the CPU
cannot execute any code without the decryption of the CD are loaded into a bank of SIMMs on the
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
42
motherboard, where it is executed. The program The CAVE CV1000 is the third generation arcade CD Express
code is then decrypted at run time via the security hardware from Cave. The CAVE CV1000 hardware Cubo CD32 (1995-1999)
cartridge. The security cartridge is sensitive to any was used in all arcade games released by Cave from The CUBO CD32 is an arcade machine, based
sort of tampering, which will result in the decryption Mushihimesama in 2004 through DoDonPachi SaiD- around the Amiga CD32. Apparently it was designed
key being erased and the cartridge being rendered aiOuJou in 2012, with the exception of Deathsmiles and made by an Italian firm based in Milan called
useless. Games become unplayable when the battery II. The CAVE CV1000 is also known as Cave SH-3 CD Express.
inside the security cartridge dies. The lone excep- hardware, due to the arcade system being powered The CD32 contains additional expansion
tion is Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, which uses a by a Hitachi SH-3 CPU. There were two versions boards which are used to interface with the controls
default set of decryption keys that are written to dead of the CAVE CV1000: the CV1000-B, which is the of the arcade unit. The Arcade unit configures it-
cartridges on boot. original PCB first released with Mushihimesama, self by the means of the keyboard port and the coin
In June 2007, the encryption method was and the CV1000-D with more RAM, first released mechanism is translated into the control pads left
reverse-engineered by Andreas Naive, making emu- with DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu. and right keys.
lation possible. After the release of DoDonPachi SaiDaiOu- Only a small number of games were devel-
Jou, Cave would no longer produce games for the oped for the Cubo CD32, mostly with italian locali-
Cave CAVE CV1000. Future releases would be be for the zation. Amongst the software specifically produced
NESiCA x Live system, which requires a Taito Type for the CUBO CD32 is Candy Puzzle, and Italian
Cave 1st Generation (1994–2001)
X² or Taito Type X³. black jack game and a french 10000 question photo
CPU: MC68000
Sound CPU: Z80 [Optional] CAVE CV1000 PCBs are able to be reinitial- quiz.
Sound Chips : YMZ280B or 1 or 2 OKIM6295 + YM2203 ized to factory default settings. This will also reset “bigbookofamigahardware.com”
/ YM2151 [Optional] saved high scores on games that have no reset high
CAVE 1st Generation Hardware, also known as score function, like Mushihimesama and Espgaluda Data East
CAVE 68000 Hardware, is the first arcade hardware II.
To reinitialize a PCB, users must: DECO Cassette System (1980–1985)
used by Cave. CPU: M6502 @ 750 kHz, M6502 @ 500 kHz, I8X41 @
The CAVE 68000 was a popular hardware Remove the battery.
500 kHz
board used by many companies besides Cave. Other If using U10, short Pin 9 (DO) a GND. If using U13, Sound: 2x AY-8910 @ 1.5 MHz
companies that used the hardware include Atlus and short the fourth pin from the right on the bottom row Video Resolution: 240x240
Namco. to a GND. Users only need to short one of the two until
Most Cave-developed games on this hard- pins, not both. The DECO Cassette
ware feature the bizarre legal warning While shorted, power on the PCB until the EEP- System was intro-
ROM test. duced in Decem-
Cave Variant PolyGame Master (2002-2003) “arcadeotaku.com”
The PolyGame Master (PGM) is an arcade system ber 1980 by Data
Cave CV1000D (2008–2012) East. It was the first
board released in 1997 by the Taiwanese company
The CV1000-D is a direct upgrade of the Cave standardised arcade
IGS. The PGM was developed in order to compete
CV1000B board, the main differences seem to be; system that allowed arcade owners to change games.
with the likes of SNK’s Neo Geo MVS system in
Chip U1: IS42S32400D 128Mb SDRAM @ 166mhz The arcade owner would buy a base cabinet,
Taiwan. It was succeeded by PGM2 in 2007, and
(standard SH3 has MT48LC2M32 64Mb SDRAM). while the games were stored on standard audio cas-
PGM3 in 2012.
Chip U4: 32Mbit Spansion S29JL032H (standard settes. The arcade owner would insert the cassette
Certain later games, released by CAVE,
SH3 has a 16Mbit Spansion S29AL016D. and a security dongle into the cabinet. When the
came on a single dedicated board and utilizes a cus-
No Lithium Battery. cabinet was powered up, the program from the tape
tomized BIOS programmed by CAVE.
“arcadeotaku.com” Cave PC Based (2009) would be copied into the cabinet’s RAM chips; this
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.60GHz, process took about two to three minutes. After this,
Cave CV1000B (2004–2007) the game could be played freely until the cabinet was
1024KB L2 Cache
CPU: Hitachi SH-3 CPU, 133 Mhz Clock rebooted.
GPU: Radeon 3200 (built into the motherboard)
Sound Chip: Yamaha YMZ770C-F
RAM: 2048MB (2GB) It was revolutionary for its time, but arcade
Other Chips (Based on Ibara): Altera Cyclone
800MHz DDR owners complained about the potential unreliability
EP1C12F324C8 FPGA (i think used as Video-DSP and
Motherboard: of the cassettes (which could be demagnetized eas-
SD-RAM Controller), K9F1G08U0A 128M x 8 Bit NAND
ASUS M3A78-EM ily), as well as the medium’s standard load times.
Flash Memory, 1x MX29LV160BBTC-90 Flash Memory
Socket AM2+/AM2,
and, 2x MX29LV320ABTC-90 Flash ICs (space for up
Micro ATX format
to 2 more Flash ICs is not used), 1xMT48LC2M32B2-6
SDRAM, and 2x MT46V16M16. LA4708 Audio amplifier.
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
43
DECO Laserdiscs (1983-1985) Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (with VRAM sharing) Gaelco GG-1v (1998)
The DECO Laserdisc was launched by Data East in Video: Integrated S3 UniChrome Pro AGP graphics with
MPEG-2 decoding acceleration Gaelco 3D (1996–1998)
1983 , and use Laserdisc technology to host interac-
tive movies with great visual quality for the time, VideoResolution: 15/31k Gaelco PowerVR Based (1999-2002)
but with a very limited gameplay, because the im- Audio: VIA VT1618Cidec 192KHz/32bit 8 channel AC’97
Network: RJ-45 10/100Mbps ethernet Gaelco PC Based (2003–2005)
ages are videos previously recorded, and not graph-
Video I/O: JAMMA output; D-Sub 15-pin X 2/composite
ics generated in real time. terminal/terminal ICE
The system has a central M6502 processor. S-Video (able to connect simultaneously). Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE) has
For the audio, the M6502 is intended, along with Sound I/O: JAMMA output/ left/right voice output terminal X 2 been a manufacturer of amusement and arcade
two AY-8910, and the Laserdisc reader was either Input: Operators are able to add buttons with JAMMA input games since 1982. Today, ICE carries one of the
the Sony LDP-1000 or the Sony LDP-1000A. USB: Two USB 2.0 ports largest product ranges in the coin operated industry.
Three titles created by Data East: Bega’s Bat- Power: JAMMA supply 12V 5A; or special power supply
tle/Genma Taisen, Cobra Command/Thunder Storm adaptor with AC100-240V 50/60Hz 1.7A VP101 (2002-2004)
and Road Blaster/Road Avenger . Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Embedded
Flash Disk: 512MB/1GB/2GB International Games System
DECO 8-bit (1986-1988) Examu, formerly known as Yuki Enterprise, is a PolyGame Master (1997–2005)
DECO 16-bit (1987-1990) Japanese video game company created in 2007 who Main processor: Motorola 68000, running at 20 MHz
mostly produces fighting games for arcades and Sound processor: Zilog Z80, running at 8.468 MHz
DECO 32-bit (1991-1995) home consoles. Initially, they developed games for Sound chip: ICS2115; 32 channel PCM
DECO Simple 156 (1993–1996) their own arcade system board called eX-BOARD, Protection chip: ARM7 ASIC with internal code, running
CPU: ARM @ 28MHz to then release their games almost exclusively on at 20 MHz
Audio: YMZ280B @ 14MHz Taito’s NESiCAxLive arcade delivery system. Sup- Hardware features: 1 scrolling 8×8 tiles 4bpp scrolling
port for eX-BOARD ceased in December, 2013. tilemap, 32×32 tiles 5bpp scrolling tilemap with line-
DECO MLC System (1995–1996) scroll, arbitrary size 5bpp sprites, zoom and shrink ca-
Fuuki pabilities
There are avid collectors who seek out DECO cabi-
The IGS PolyGame Master is an arcade system re-
nets and cassettes, but that’s a tricky machine to col- FG-2 (1995–1996) leased by IGS in 1997. Designed to rival the SNK
lect for. As operators complained about failing tapes Main CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 16 MHz
Neo Geo MVS, it borrows many design elements
only months after the original purchase... 30 years Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 6 MHz
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2203 @ 4 MHz + Yamaha from the MVS, such as a cartridge system. Later
can be even more devastating to this analog media.
YM3812 @ 4 MHz + OKIM6295 @ 1.056 MHz on in the IGS PGM life cycle, some games were re-
Additionally, you need the security dongle to make
Fuuki FG-2 System is a 16-bit Arcade System manu- leased in both cartridge form and single PCB form,
the games function. Finding all of these separate
factured by Fuuki. similar to the MVS single PCB games.
components is no easy task when the cabinets have
IGS also allowed Cave to release games on
been dormant for decades. FG-3 (1998–2000) a custom single PCB version of the PGM, known as
Collecting for DECO requires a lot of com- Main CPU: Motorola 68EC020 @ 20 MHz the CAVE IGS PGM Hardware.
ponents just to get a single game running. Of course Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 6 MHz “wiki.arcadeotaku.com”
video game collecting is a labor of love! For those Sound Chip: Yamaha YMF278B @ 33.8688 MHz +
without such tenacity, many of the DECO games can Yamaha YMF262 @ 14.260547 MHz (Integrated in the PolyGame Master 2 (2007–2011)
be enjoyed via emulation on MAME. OPL4) Main processor: IGS036 (differs per game, internal code)
“8-bitcentral.com” Fuuki FG-3 System is a 32-bit Arcade System manu- Graphic processor: IGS037
factured by Fuuki. Sound chip: Yamaha YMZ774-S
Eolith Protection chip: R5F21256SN (extra MCU for protection
and IC Card communication)
Eolith System (1998–2001) Gaelco Media: ROM (Custom program ROM module (KOV3
Eolith 16-bit (1999) Gaelco are one of the only companys outside of the only))
“big boys” who develop and use their own custom The IGS PolyGame Master 2 is the successor to the
Eolith Vegas (2002) hardware instead of using generic systems. They’re IGS PolyGame Master, released in 2007.
Eolith Ghost (2003–2005) all slightly different and seem to evolve from game IGS PGM and IGS PGM 2 games are not in-
to game, even if nothing much is known about them terchangeable. Only Oriental Legend 2 was released
individually. in Japan and instead of a motherboard/cartridge
Examu
combo, it is an all in 1 PCB without card reader
eX-BOARD (2008-2010) Gaelco GAE1 (1994) functionality.
CPU: Fanless Via C7 NanoBGA2 Gaelco GAE2 “wiki.arcadeotaku.com”
Chipset: Via CN700, VT8237R Plus
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
44
PolyGame Master 3 (2012) Irem M-62 (1984-1986) Irem M-90 (1991)
Main processor: Dual Core Intel Atom Processor CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz
Chipset: Intel D525 + ICH8M Sound CPU: M6803 @ 894.886 kHz Sound: Uses M72 sound hardware.
RAM: 2 GB Sound Chip: 2x AY-3-8910 @ 894.886 kHz, 2x MSM5205 Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz
Resolution: 31KHz @ 384 kHz Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz
Media: SD Card (capacity max to 1 GB) The Irem M62 hardware, is a 8-bit arcade system Video: NANAO GA-25 (2 tilemaps and sprites)
board manufactured by Irem. There is 1 video chip, a NANAO GA-25, it produces
IGS PC Based (2004–)
2 tilemaps and sprites.
Irem M-63 (1984-1985)
Incredible Technologies CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz Irem M-92 (1991-1994)
Sound CPU: i8039 @ 533.333 kHz CPU: V33 @ 9 MHz, V30 @ 7.159090 MHz
Incredible Technologies 8-bit Hardware (1988-1992)
Chip: 2 x AY-3-8910 @ 894.886 kHz Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz, GA20 @
CPU: M6809 @ 2MHz
The Irem M63 hardware, is a 8-bit arcade system 3.579545 MHz
Sound CPU: M6809 @ 2MHz
board manufactured by Irem. Other Chip: GA21, GA22
Sound FM Chip: YM2203 @ 4MHz or YM3812 @ 4MHz
(depending on game)
The M92 is made from a
Irem M-72 (1987-1990) top and bottom board, the
Sound ADPCM Chip: MSM6295 or DAC (depending on CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz
game) top (main) board is com-
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz
mon across the games, but
Incredible Technologies 32-bit Hardware (1992-2002) Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz
the bottom (game) board
CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz or MC68EC020 @ 25MHz (de- Irem M-73 (1991) can vary game to game.
pending on game) The sound cpu and the sprite
Sound CPU: M6809 @ 2MHz Irem M-75 (1988)
CPU: Z80 @ 3.579645
chip are on the game board rather than the main
Sound Chip: Ensoniq ES5506 @ 16MHz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579645 board and can differ between games. Each game has
Incredible Technologies Eagle Hardware (1999-2005) Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579645 an encrypted sound cpu. Hardware abilitys include 3
scrolling playfields, 512 by 512. Each playfield can
Incredible Technologies PC Based Hardware (2005-) Irem M-77 (1988) enable rowscroll, change shape (to 1024 by 512), be
CPU: Z80 @ 3.579645 enabled/disabled and change position in VRAM.
Interpark Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579645
NEXUS 3D (2006-2007) Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579645 Irem M-97 (1992-1993)
CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz
CPU: 32bit RISC Microprocessor(ARM920T CPU core) Irem M-81 (1989-1990) Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz
Main Memory: 128MBytes(Maximum 256MBytes) DDR- CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz
SDRAM Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz
Supports Multiple Screen Resolution: 320x240, 640x480, Irem M-107 (1993-1995)
Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz
800x600, 1024x768, etc. CPU: V33 @ 14 MHz, V30 @ 7.159090 MHz
Similar base hardware to M72, but all with slight dif-
Rendering Performance : 100 Millions Pixels Per Second Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz, GA20 @
Fill Rate, 1 Millions Triangles Per Second Rendering, ferences. It seems to be an more integrated version.
3.579545 MHz
1434 rectangles per sec(256x256 16bit objects) Irem M-82 (1989-1990) The board is close to M92 hardware, but with 4 play-
Supports MPEG4 SP and MJPEG format of AVI files CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz fields instead of 3 and twice as many colours and
Sound: Internal Audio Engine or External System Avail- Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz
able, TDA1519(Philips) Stereo Power AMP(22 Watt)
sprites.
Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz The last game produced by Irem on arcades
Board Feature: JAMMA Standard
Similar base hardware to M72. the japanese revisions of Dream Soccer ‘94, runs on
Irem Irem M-84 (1989-1991) Irem M92 hardware.
CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz
Irem M-10/M-15 (1979-1980)
CPU: 6502 @ 2.5 MHz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz Jaleco
Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz Mega System 1 (1988-1993)
Irem M-27 (1980-1981) Similar base hardware to M72. Main CPU:
CPU: 6502 Mega System 1-A/Z: Motorola 68000 @ 6 MHz
Irem M-85 (1990)
Sound Chip: AY-3-8910 Mega System 1-B/D: Motorola 68000 @ 8 Mhz
CPU: V30 @ 8 MHz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz Mega System 1-C: Motorola 68000 @ 12 Mhz
Irem M-52 (1982-1983)
Sound CPU:
CPU: Z80 @ 3 MHz (or 4 MHz depending on game) Sound Chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz
Mega System 1-A/B/C: Motorola 68000 @ 7 MHz
Sound CPU: M6803 @ 894.886 kHz Similar base hardware to M72.
Mega System 1-Z: Zilog Z80 @ 3 MHz
Sound Chip: 2 x AY-3-8910 @ 894.886 kHz, 2 x MSM5205
@ 384 kHz
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
45
Sound Chips: Konami Twin 16 (1987-1989) Konami GX400 (1985-1987)
Mega System 1-A/B/C: Yamaha YM2151 @ 3.5 MHz + Main CPU: 2 x 68000 @ 10MHz Main CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 9.216 MHz
2xOKIM6295 @ 4 MHz (Hayaoshi Quiz Ouza Ketteisen Sound CPU: Z80 Sound CPU: Zilog Z80
happens to have the OKIM6295 chips clocked at 2 MHz Sound chip: Yamaha 2151 + 3012, UPD7759C and a Sound Chip: 2x AY-3-8910 PSG or YM2151, VLM5030
instead) 007232 Konami Custom Chip and K007232
Mega System 1-D: OKIM6295 @ 2 MHz
Mega System 1-Z: Yamaha YM2203 @ 1.5 MHz Bubble System (1985) Mystic Warriors Based Hardware (1993)
board Main CPU: MC 68000 @ 10Mhz / G400 BIOS CPU: 68000
Sound CPU: Z80 Video Hardware: 054157 054156 055673 053246 055555
Jaleco Mega System 1 (Also known as Mega System
Sound chip: 2 x AY-3-8910 psg Mystic Warriors-based hardware is an arcade system
1 and as Jaleco Concept Board Mega System 1) is a Interface Harness: Scramble
16-bit Arcade System produced by Jaleco. board used by Konami on several of its 1993 fight-
The Bubble System introduced a unique new form ing games. Since Konami did not use the word sys-
Mega System 32 (1993–1997) of data storage for arcade-style video games. It used tem on most of its arcade hardware, its arcade games
Main CPU: NEC V70 @ 20 MHz bubble memory cartridges, a sort of non-mechanical are usually classified by the type of video and sound
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 4 MHz magnetic storage system. It was said to have a high- chips used (in this case, the hardware is named after
Sound Chip: Yamaha YMF271-F @ 16.9344 MHz er reliability than mechanical floppy disks or tape Konami’s ninja-themed run-and-gun game, Mystic
Jaleco Mega System 32 (Also known as Mega Sys- drives. Konami used a modified version of their new Warriors).
tem 32, Jaleco Motherboard Mega System 32 and G400 BIOS for this project. The main CPU was a
Jaleco Concept Board Mega System 32) is a 32-bit Motorola 68000 at 10 MHz. There was a separate Konami GX (1994–1997)
Arcade System manufactured by Jaleco. Zilog Z80 for sound control, which drove two AY- Main CPU: 68EC020 @ 24MHz
3-8910s, a custom Konami SCC (K005289), and a Sound CPU: 68000 @ 16MHz
Jaleco Tetris Plus 2 (1997-2000) Konami GX is a 32-bit Arcade System. There are ac-
Sanyo VLM5030 speech synthesizer. It had a Scram-
ble wiring harness. tually 2 revisions of GX motherboard, they are total-
Kaneko Bubble Software can be identified by its ly interchangable and the Version 2 motherboard is
Kaneko 16-bit (1991-1995) booting sequence; it displays “WARMING UP just smaller, has 1 fewer custom chips, was cheaper
NOW - PRESENTED BY KONAMI” on screen, ac- to produce, cooler and used less power.
Super Kaneko Nova System (1996–2002) Ver. 1 Motherboard:
CPU: SH2 @ 28.63 MHz companied with a countdown timer and a small mu-
Graphics chips : 54156, 56832, 55555, 53246, 055673, 54338
Sound Chip: YMZ280B @ 16.666 MHz sical tune (called the “Morning Music”). The reason Sound chip: 056800, 2 x 054539 (PCM, 8 Ch) and
Regions are not cross compatible and have their own this was implemented was because bubble memory TMS57002 (effects DSP)
BIOS. The region Regions by color coded cart: must be heated to around 30–40 °C (86–104 °F) for Ver. 2 Motherboard:
White = Japan it to work properly. Graphics chips: 58143, 56832, 55555, 58142, 55673,
Light Blue = Europe Unfortunately, the Bubble System became 58144. (58143 replaces 54156, 58142 replaces 53246,
Dark Blue = USA a commercial failure because it was considerably 58144 replaces 54338. All are completely compatible
Green = Asia more expensive than ROM chip-based boards and with their predecessors, just smaller)
Red = Korean extremely sensitive to electromagnetic fields; which Sound chip: 056800, 058141, TMS57002 (58141 is 2 x
could easily render the game unplayable. Most 54539s on one smaller chip)

Konami games on this system were eventually ported to Konami GQ (1995)

standard ROM chips, and it was discontinued. Still, Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock -
Konami Dual 68000 Based Hardware (1986-1988) Konami has made homages to the Bubble System in 33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In-
Main CPU: 2 x 68000
several games; with the Morning Music being one struction Cache - 4KB
Konami Blades Of Steel Based Hardware (1986-1987) of the playable tracks in Keyboardmania and NOS- Sound CPU: 68000 @ 16MHz
CPU: 6309 TALGIA, and the intro of Konami Classics Series: Sound chip: 2 x 054539 (PCM, 8 Channels) and
Video Chips: 007342 007420 007327 Arcade Hits featuring the song too. TMS57002 (effects DSP)
Games released include; Gradius (ported BUS: 132 MB/sec.
Konami Xexex Based Hardware (1990-1994) OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
Video Hardware: 054157 054156 053247 053246 053251 to ROM chips as Nemesis for overseas distribu-
Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels,
(with a few noted exceptions) tion), TwinBee, Galactic Warriors and Konami RF2 44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects
The games released are all on slightly different hard- (ported to ROM chips as Konami GT for overseas include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to
ware. They share a lot of common components, but distribution). 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments.
they all have their own slight variations. Anyone who still has one of these systems in their Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
possession and still has it working today is incred- Video RAM: 2 Megabyte
Konami Chequered Flag Based Hardware (1987-1992) Sound RAM : 512 Kilobytes
Video Chips: 051960 051937 051316 ibly lucky...
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
46
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Sound CPU: 68EC000 @ 16 MHz 1998. Both products were aimed at professionals
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) Sound chips: Ricoh RF5C400 PCM 32Ch, 44.1 kHz Ster- working in medicine, architecture and sales, not
Sprite Effects : Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, eo, 3D Effect Spatializer. home users. The M2 also became a short-lived ar-
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal Graphics (Custom 3D): 2 x KS10071 (Possibly graphics cade board by Konami. The agreement to develop
line scroll as well: KS10081, K001604) the board was made well in advance of the M2 con-
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 Unknown Chips (possibly sound related): K056800,
sole’s planned release date, with the understanding
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color K056230
Look-Up Tables) that games using the arcade board would be ported
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- Konami M2 (1997–1998) to the home console, similar to the relationship be-
gon engine, MJPEG decoder Main CPU: 2 x IBM PowerPC 602 EMPPC602FB66 tween the PlayStation and Namco System 11. As
Custom ASICs games ran straight from the CD-ROM drive, it suf-
Roms: SCSI Hard-Drive Based
BDA: Memory control, system control, and video/graphic fered from long load times and a high failure rate, so
The Konami GQ System is a 32-bit arcade system control. Full triangle renderer including setup engine, only five games were developed for it; Battle Tryst,
board manufactured by Konami. The board uses the MPEG-1 decoder hardware, DSP for audio and various
Sony PlayStation hardware, with some improve- Evil Night/Hell Night, Heat Of Eleven ‘98, Polystars
kinds of DMA control and port access. Random access of
ments. frame buffer and z-buffer (actually w-buffer) possible at and Total Vice.
the same time.
Konami ZR-107 (1995–1996)
CDE: Power bus connected to BDA and the two CPUs,
CPU: PowerPC 403e 32-bit RISC @ 32 MHz
“bio-bus” used as a low-speed bus for peripheral hard-
3D DSP: Analog Devices ADSP-21062 (SHARC) 32-bit
ware
floating point DSP @ 36 MHz
Renderer capabilities: 1 million un-textured triangles/s
Sound CPU: 68000 @ 8 MHz
geometry rate. 100 million pixels/s fill rate. Reportedly
Sound Chip: K058141 (equivalent to 2xK054539)
700,000 textured polygons/s *without* gouraud shading
2D Graphics: K056832, K058143
or additional effects. Reportedly 300,000 to 500,000 tex-
3D Graphics: K001005, K001006
tured polygons/s *with* gouraud shading, lighting and
Konami Baby Phoenix / GV System (1996–2000) effects.
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - Shading: flat shading and gouraud shading, texture map-
33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- ping, decal, modulation blending, tiling (16K/128K tex-
struction Cache - 4KB ture buffer built-in). Hardware z-buffer (16-bit) (actually
BUS: 132 MB/sec. a block floating point with multiple (4) range w-buffer),
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes object-based full-scene anti-aliasing, alpha channel (4-
Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels, bit or 7-bit) The M2 technology was later used in automated
44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects Resolution: 320x240 to 640x480 resolution at 24-bit teller machines, and in Japan in coffee vending ma-
include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to color chines. In the late 1990s and from 2000 on, the sys-
512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments. Sound hardware: 16-bit 32-channel DSP at 66 MHz tem was also sold in the interactive kiosk market.
Main RAM: 2 Megabytes (within BDA chip) In 2000, PlanetWeb, Inc. began offering software to
Video RAM: 1 Megabyte Media: Quad-speed CD-ROM drive (600 KB/s) allow the M2 to be used as an Internet appliance.
Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes RAM: Unified memory subsystem with 8 MB/s, 64-bit bus
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG resulting in peak 533 MB/s bandwidth, Average access Konami Cobra System (1997)
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, 400 MB/s. Main CPU: PowerPC 603e @ 100 MHz
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Full Motion Video: MPEG-1 Sub CPU: PowerPC 403GA @ 33 MHz
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) Writable Storage: Memory cards from 128 KiB to 32 MiB Graphics CPU (transform & lighting): PowerPC 604 @
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, Expansion Capabilities: 1 PCMCIA port (potentially 100 MHz
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal used for Modems, Ethernet NICs, etc.) Sound CPU: 68EC000 @16 MHz
line scroll Roms: 8x CD Rom LW and Rom Bios Sound Chip: Ricoh RF5C400 PCM 32 Channel, 44.1 kHz
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 The Panasonic M2 was a video game console de- Stereo Output, 3D Effect Spatializer + TMS57002 effects
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color sign developed by 3DO and then sold to Matsushita. DSP
Look-Up Tables) Initially announced as an add-on chip for the 3DO Video Board: Custom IBM OpenGL board based on
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- Interactive Multiplayer, it was later unveiled as a graphics options for the RS/6000 series workstations
gon engine, MJPEG decoder standalone console. The console was cancelled in Video resoution: 640 x 400 Pixels + Mini LCD Screen
Roms: SCSI CD Based Capability
1997, but the M2 technology was incorporated into
Baby Pheonix was the USA designation for this Colours: 16 bit Color x 2
other devices. Raster System: 144 bits/pixel Frame Buffer including 16
hardware. Development kits and prototypes of the ma- bit Color x 2, 8 bit Alpha, 32bit Depth (Floating Point Z-
Konami GTI Club (1996–1997) chine became very valuable pieces among collec- buffers), 12 bit Stencil, 256 Level alpha Blending, Poly-
CPU: PowerPC 403GA @ 64 MHz tors. M2’s technology was integrated in the multi- gon & Wire Frame Rasterization
3D DSP: ADSP-21062 (SHARC) @ 36 MHz media players FZ-21S and FZ-35S, both released in
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
47
Rendering: 1-5 Million Polygons/sec, 50-250 Million Konami NWK-TR (1998–1999) The System 573 is a series of arcade system boards
Pixels/sec, Main CPU: Power PC403e 33MHz by Konami based on the original PlayStation. The
Capabilitys: Anti-aliasing by Subpixel Sampling, Flat Sound CPU: 68EC000 @16 MHz hardware was used primarily for Konami’s Bemani
Shading, Gouraud Shading, Up to 8 Light Sources con- Sound Chip: Ricoh RF5C400 PCM 32 Channel, 44.1 kHz series of music video game arcades, most commonly
sisting of parallel light , point light, & spot light, Linear Stereo Output, 3D Effect Spatializer the Dance Dance Revolution series introduced in
Fog, Exponential Fog, Particle Emulation, 6 Clip Planes, Video Boards: 4 x 3DFX Chips (2 for PixelFX and 2 for
1998. The System 573 is available in two variants
Mapping with Perspective Correction, Mipmap Support TexelFX) per board
,Bilinear & Trilinear Filtering, Real-time Texture Load- with analog and digital I/O boards, dubbed the Be-
3D Maths Chip: Analog Devices ADSP-21062 (SHARC)
ing System @ 40 MHz mani System 573 Analog and Bemani System 573
Other: 100meg High Speed Network Communication Control Chip: AMD Mach 111 N676B1 Digital respectively, along with a third variant called
Technically, the Cobra System is an update from the Video resoution: 640 x 400 Pixels the System 573 Satellite Terminal which allows for
Konami Hornet Hardware, but with much more ex- Colours: 16 bit Color x 2 up to 8 cabinets to be networked to a central one.
pensive components, resulting in great graphic im- Raster System: 144 bits/pixel Frame Buffer including 24
Bemani System 573 Analog (1998–1999)
provement. The only game released was Fighting bit Color x 2, 8 bit Alpha, 32bit Depth (Floating Point Z-
System: Based on the PSX based System 573.
Bujutsu: Wu-Shu. buffers), 12 bit Stencil, 256 Level alpha Blending, Poly-
I/O Board: Digital I/O board GX894-PWB (B)A
gon & Wire Frame Rasterization
Analog board gets audio directly from the audio output
Bemani DJ-Main (1997–2002) Rendering: 1-5 Million Polygons/sec, 50-250 Million
on the CD-Rom drive. Sound is also routed differently
CPU: MC68EC020FG25 @ 25MHz Pixels/sec,
through the PCB compared to Digital board.
Custom Chips: 058143, 056832, 055555, 056766, 058141, Capabilitys: Anti-aliasing by Subpixel Sampling, Flat
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock -
and KS10101 Shading, Gouraud Shading, Up to 8 Light Sources con-
33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In-
Sound: Custom Konami Sound Chips for Multiple Sound sisting of parallel light , point light, & spot light, Linear
struction Cache - 4KB
Channels Fog, Exponential Fog, Particle Emulation, 6 Clip Planes,
BUS: 132 MB/sec.
Resolution: 24kHz 512x384 Mapping with Perspective Correction, Mipmap Support
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
Drives: Pop’N Music use 3.5inch IDE-HDD, all other ,Bilinear & Trilinear Filtering, Real-time Texture Load-
Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels,
games use 2.5inch. ing System
44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects
Roms: Program and graphics on EEPROM. Other: 100meg High Speed Network Communication
include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to
The hardware is basically Konami GX with a hard- Konami System 573 (1998–2003) 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments.
drive. Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
Konami Hornet (1998–2000) 33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- Video RAM: 2 Megabyte
CPU: PowerPC 403GA 32-bit RISC @ 64 MHz struction Cache - 4KB Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
Sound CPU: 68000 @ 16 MHz BUS: 132 MB/sec. Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
Sound Chip: Ricoh RF5C400 PCM 32Ch, 44.1 kHz Ster- OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
eo, 3D Effect Spatializer Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels, 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
3D DSP: Analog Devices ADSP-21062 (SHARC) 32-bit 44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
floating point DSP @ 36 MHz include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
Graphics Chips: 3DFX Voodoo 2 Pixel processor with 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments. Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
16meg RAM, 3DFX Voodoo 2 Texture processor with Main RAM: 2 Megabytes line scroll
32meg RAM Video RAM: 2 Megabyte Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
Interface: Jamma + Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG Look-Up Tables)
The board can be run at either 15 kHz (low res) or
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
24 kHz (medium res). It looks very blocky in low gon engine, MJPEG decoder
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
res but means it is backwards compatible with older tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
cabinets. To get the best out of the system it really Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
needs a meduim res monitor as the detail is very im- Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
pressive. There are no roms on the graphics boards, line scroll
and there is a message “downloading data” on boot- Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
up. Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
Silent Scope uses 2 graphics boards instead of the Look-Up Tables)
one, the master board handles the main screen of the Other Features : custom geometry engine, custom poly-
game at medium res, the slave graphics board runs at gon engine, MJPEG decoder
low res and outputs to the gun scope. Roms: CD Based with a ROM key chip.
The board is PSX Based and up to 9 cabinets can be
linked.
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
48
Bemani System 573 Digital (1999–2004) If the default song is ‘Shock’ then it is a 3rd Mix JVC DVD player: DVD background movies.
System: Based on the PSX based System 573. Korea Ver.2. Thist has 16 Korean songs on it, the Toshiba PD chip: Security chip.
I/O Board: Digital I/O board GX894-PWB (B)A drawback is that it’s missing a few songs from both SCSI CD-Rom drive: Program core and ingame graph-
Digital board gets sound in digital format from the CD- 3rd and 2nd Mix. ics.
Rom through the the IDE lead. If the default song is Bakkwo then the board is a IDE Hard Drive: Audio.
Sound is also routed differently through the PCB com- Conversion:
3rd Korea. If you have ever played on a 3rd Mix
pared to Analog board. All games can be converted to latest versions. Up-
Plus, 4th, or 4th Plus you will notice that these are
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - grade kits consist of 2 CD’s, Security Chip, DVD,
33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- the same seven songs on the other mixes.
Lastly if the default song is Upside Down then it’s Hard-Drive, Manual and all associated stickers.
struction Cache - 4KB
BUS: 132 MB/sec. an asian 3rd Mix. Not only are there songs missing Bemani Firebeat (2000–2003)
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes from the real Japanese version but there are 0 Ko- CPU: IBM Power PC 403GCX
Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels, rean songs as well. Graphics System: Konami custom (sprite style chip)
44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects “system16.com” Sound: YMZ280B
include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to Software: DVD Drive, CD-ROM drive & Dongle
Konami TMNT Based Hardware (1988-1991)
512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments. Graphics: Can draw arbitrary sized images from VRAM,
Video Chips : 052109 051962 051960 051937 PROM
Main RAM: 2 Megabytes which is laid out like a 2D texture sheet, also all the im-
Video RAM: 2 Megabyte Konami TMNT 2 Based Hardware (1990-1993) ages are packed 16-bit pixels so there’s no palette.
Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes Video Hardware: 052109 051962 053245 053244 Storage Media:
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG 053251 Beatmania III series: CD-ROM (Program & Data) &
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, 3.5inch IDE-HDD(Audio)
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Konami X-Men Based Hardware (1991-1992) Keyboardmania series: CD-ROM (Program) & CD-
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) Video Chips: 052109 051962 053247 053246 053251 ROM (CD-DA Audio)
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, Bemani Twinkle (1999–2002) Pop’n music series: CD-ROM (Program) & DVD-ROM
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal Hardware: Playstation based but not system 573. (Audio)
line scroll Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - Para Para Paradise 1&1stPlus: CD-ROM (Program) &
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- CD-ROM (CD-DA Audio)
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color struction Cache - 4KB
Look-Up Tables) BUS: 132 MB/sec.
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
gon engine, MJPEG decoder Sound CPU: 68000
Flash Card: Sound Chip: RF5c400
All games used a 32meg flash card for the games pro- Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels,
gram, the exception for this is the “Disney’s Rave” ma- 44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects
chine, which for some reason uses a 16meg flash card, so include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to
if you want to upgrade you need to get your hands on a 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments.
32 meg card. Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
Drummania and Guitar Freaks can actually be linked Video RAM: 2 Megabyte
together for “Jam” sessions. Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
Conversion: Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
The newer versions require some of the roms to be drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
flashed on the mainboard when upgrading the ma- 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Mem cards are compact flash and are packed to
chines. DDR5th Mix was possibly the first to do tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) death, it holds everthing, and is fully transportable
this. Upgrade kits for 5th Mix come with the System Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, across boards through flash cards.
Disc and a security cartridge. To upgrade, Normally, Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal Some cabinets can actually be linked together for
line scroll “Jam” sessions.
for DDR, the system will boot to the CD, check the
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color “system16.com”
security cart, if the cart’s empty, it’ll overwrite the Look-Up Tables)
security cart and prompt a reboot. After the reboot, Display : Display is composite TV so can use unlimited Bemani GSAN1 (2000)
it’ll check the security cart as normal and now as colors, but system uses CLUT due to overlay graphics DanceDanceRevolution KIDS uses completely
it’s been written to will boot up normally. This was, only use 16k colors for background animation and 256 unique hardware, referred to as “GSAN1” after the
among other things, to change the game system code colours for flames and demo. model number silk-screened on the board, as the
so the game would run at 60 fps as opposed to 30 Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- platform was never officially named. The quality of
fps. gon engine, MJPEG decoder both graphics and sound in DanceDanceRevolution
3rd Mix Notes. Storage Media: Combination of CD’s, DVD’s, Roms and KIDS is far worse than any other game in the series
How to tell what version of 3rd Mix the board is: Harddrive with a small ROM cartridge for protection. due to the limitations of this hardware.
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
49
Konami Viper (2000–2005) a Sony Magic Gate card which no doubt has a 16M Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Sec-
CPU: Motorola Power PC XPC8240 @ 200-250MHz flashROM and a secured PIC. Main game is stored ond
Graphics System: 3DFX 355-0024-020 (Equivalent to on a 128M CF card which plugs into the Konami Sound:
3dfx Voodoo3/Avenger) main board. “SPU2+CPU”
Sound: YMZ280B “system16.com” Number of voices: ADPCM: 48 channel on SPU2 plus
ROMS: Flash Card based, some secured, and all control- definable by software
led by an RTC Ram. Konami Bemani Viper (2003–2006) Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable)
Mem cards are compact flash and are packed to CPU: Motorola Power PC XPC8240 @ 200-250MHz I/O Processor:
Graphics System: 3DFX 355-0024-020 (Equivalent to CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU
death, it holds everthing, and is fully transportable
3dfx Voodoo3/Avenger) Clock Frequency: 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz (selectable)
across boards, through flash cards. The only one not Sound: YMZ280B Sub Bus: 32 Bit
transportable so far are Police 24/7 2, and Sogeki. ROMS: Flash Card based, some secured, and all control- Software: Stored on a hard drive plugged into the PS2’s
led by an RTC Ram. hard drive adaptor port.
Konami Python (2001–2005) Mem cards are compact flash and are packed to The hardware is a Playstation 2 (Model SCPH-50000
CPU: death, it holds everthing, and is fully transportable
128 Bit “Emotion Engine” (MB/NH) - Japanese NTSC), with a hard drive and
across boards, through flash cards. The only one not an adaptor board.
System Clock: 300 MHz
transportable so far are Police 24/7 2, and Sogeki.
System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus
Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second Konami Bemani PC Based (2003–) Limenko
Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumula- The hardware has various different PC configura- Power System 2 (2000–2003)
tor x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1) tions. CPU: Hypertone E1-32XN 32bit RISC clocked at 80
Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Ac- MHz 4
cumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1) Konami PC Based (2004–) System Memory: 4Mbyte
Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS Display:
3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons Hyper2D ASIC VDP (Video Display Processor)
Per Second 60 frames per second
Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2 16 bit color, 256 true color
Graphics: 4 simultaneous display processing
“Graphics Synthesizer” DMA data processing palette
Clock Frequency: 150MHz Resolution: 384 x 240
DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second
The Power System 2 is JAMMA compatible. It
DRAM Bus width: 2560 bits
Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32) works of a motherboard containing the arcade sys-
Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Sec- tem, while the games are stored on cartridges. The
ond system uses a central processor Hyperstone E1-
Sound: The hardware is various configurations running 32XN (Risc), and a QSSP QS1000 to manage sound.
“SPU2+CPU” Windows XP embedded with a protection dongle. The hardware can network two terminals of Legend
Number of voices: ADPCM: 48 channel on SPU2 plus Konami Python 2 (2005–2007) of Heroes to allow a game with four players 3 .
definable by software CPU:
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable) 128 Bit “Emotion Engine” Metro Corporation
I/O Processor: System Clock: 300 MHz
CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU Metro System (1992-2000)
System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus
Clock Frequency: 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz (selectable) Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second
Sub Bus: 32 BitConnection Format : JVS Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumula- MicroProse
Hardware is made up of a Konami main board (a tor x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1) MicroProse 3D Hardware (1990-1993)
bit like Viper) containing a couple of Konami chips, Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Ac- Host PCB :
a flashROM, a couple of CPLDs and a heat sinked cumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1) Main processor:
Toshiba TMPR3927. On top of that on another metal Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS 68000P12
platform is a standard PS2 main board (the original 3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons MC68681P (UART)
PS2, old type square board) with the standard PS2 Per Second MC68901P (peripheral)
video cable plugged into it and into the main board, Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2 Numerous PLDs (9 PAL/GALs)
plus a power cable coming from the main Konami Graphics: The Host PCB is where the program CPU is located and
“Graphics Synthesizer” where the game I/O is connected to. The host PCB de-
board into it and a small cable coming from the PS2
Clock Frequency: 150MHz compresses the game objects into RAM on power-up after
front connection board in a tiny connector joining to DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second a self test. The compressed object information is located
a connector on the main board. The front controller/ DRAM Bus width: 2560 bits in the ROMs at locations U69, U70, U71, U93, U94, and
memory card ports are present and in one of them is Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32)
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
50
U95. There is an RS232 port for debugging via an exter- sisting of EPROM program and graphics memory, Wolf Unit (1994-1997)
nal computer, as well as an RS232 port for communica- general purpose SRAM, high speed RAM for video, Main CPU: TMS34010 @ 6.25 MHz
tion to the Audio PCB. a custom video timing generation system, and I/O Sound CPU: ADSP 2105 @ 10 MHz
Dr Math PCB : subsystems and decoding. Sound chip: DCS Sound System.
CPU: AM29000-16 (32bit RISC microprocessor, 4 stage Bally Midway’s MCR games were special
pipeline) X-Unit (1994)
in that most of the games designed required unique Main CPU: TMS34020 @ 10 MHz
Co-processor: AM29C323GC (32x32 bit floating point
multiplier, parallel) controls. This developers expanded the controls ho- Sound CPU: ADSP2105 @ 10 MHz
4 x - SDT7134 (44 pin PLCC, custom CPLDs ?) rizon, rather than limiting themselves to the simple Sound chip: DCS Sound System
MAC1 U173A - SAM448-20 (UV erasable microprogram joystick and button format of the era. MCR games Revolution X use this board.
sequencer) had a lot of controls which one don’t see often on
V-Unit (1994-1997)
MAC2 U166A - SAM448-20 (UV erasable microprogram other games. The description of some of these con-
Main CPU: TMS32031 @ 50 MHz
sequencer) trols follows: Sound CPU: ADSP 2105 @ 10 MHz (ADSP-2115 @
Z85C3010VSC (communications controller, Zilog) Trigger joystick: A joystick which has a button built 16MHz for WarGods)
DS1228 (RS232 port for debug) in. This design left the player with a free hand to Sound chip: DCS Sound System
Numerous PLDs (13 PAL/GALs) work other controls.
Video Generator PCB : Tri-level encoder wheel: This is not only an encoder Killer Instinct Hardware (1994-1995)
CPU - TMS34010 (40MHz graphics system processor) Main CPU: SDT79 R4600-100MS @ 50MHz
wheel that goes left and right, but can be pulled UP
9027EV (VLSI MPG, VGT8003-2148) Sound: DCS Sound System (ADSP-2105 @ 10MHz)
9027EV (custom, VLSI MPG, VGT8007-2105) or DOWN. Basically, the encoder wheel is stable, Storage: Roms for the program and sound, Graphics
BT101KC30 (8-bit digital to analog converter) but the shaft going through the wheel can be pulled streamed directly off of the Harddrive.
6 x - TC110G38AF (custom, 100MW002-320) up or down to press either of two leaf switches.
3 x - SDT7134 (44 pin PLCC, custom CPLDs ?) Bi-directional trackball (roller): A trackball which
4 x - AM2701-50JC (?) had an axis running through it, allowing it to only
SCN2651CC1N28 (communications interface, for debug) go in two directions. Basically just a fancy encoder
DS1228 (RS232 port for debug) wheel.
Number PLDs (13 PAL/GALs) Other examples of unique controls includes Spy
Audio PCB : Hunter’s, Two Tigers’ and Tapper’s set up.
CPU : SC80C31BCCN40 (microcontroller, 11.0592MHz,
8051 family) “Mark Jenison & Clay Cowgill@mikesarcade.com”
upD7759C (speech synthesizer, ADPCM) MCR II (1981-1984)
2 x - SSM2047 (sound generator circuit) Main CPU: Z80 @ 2.5 MHz
DS1267 (digital potentiometer) Sound CPU: Z80 @ 2 MHz
SSM2300 (sample and hold amplifier) Sound chip: 2 x AY8910
LC7528CN Resolution: 512 x 480
YM2151
YM3012 MCR III (1983-1985)
ICL232CPE (RS232 port for communication to Host Main CPU: Z80 @ 5 MHz
PCB) Sound: Individual for each games.
Audio out is stereo Resolution: 512 x 480 Killer Instinct was the first arcade game to use an
Games include; B.O.T.S.S./Battle Of The Solar Sys- internal hard disk drive in addition to the game’s
MCR-68K (1984-1990) ROMs. This allowed it to store massive amounts of
tem, Battle Tank/Super Tank Attack and F-15 Strike Main CPU: 68000 @ 7.6524
Eagle. data thereby giving it the ability to have more de-
Sound: Individual for each games.
tailed graphics than other games of this genre. The
Resolution: 512 x 480
Midway game used pre-rendered sprites for characters, cre-
Y-Unit (1991-1992) ated with Silicon Graphics computers and the back-
Astrocade (1982-1985) Main CPU: TMS34010 @ 6.25 MHz grounds were pre-rendered as a “movie” which
Main CPU: Z80 @ 1.789773 Sound: Individual for each games. simply adjusted frames based on the players’ cur-
Sound: Astrocade
T-Unit (1992-1994) rent location. Killer Instinct’s R4600 processor was
MCR (1981) Main CPU: TMS34010 @ 6.25 MHz clocked at 100 MHz. Unlike most arcade games of
Main CPU: Z80 @ 2.496 MHz Sound CPU: M6809 @ 2 MHz the time, Killer Instinct did not display which ver-
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 2 MHz Sound chip: YM2151 @ 3.57958 MHz, OKI 6295 @ 8 sion number of the game is being played.
Sound chip: 2 x AY8910 KHz, DAC
Resolution: 512 x 480 Midway Seattle (1997-1999)
Mortal Kombat II uses the DCS Sound System (ADSP2105
The MCR CPU Board (Midway part number A084- Main CPU: MIPS R5000 @ Either 144MHz/150MHz/
@ 10 MHz and a DMA-driven DAC).
91399-A968) is a Z-80 based microcomputer con- 192MHz/200MHz (system clock 48MHz/50MHz)
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
51
System Memory: 8MB, 512KB Boot ROM. System Controller: NEC VRC4373 (UPD65907GL-012- Display resolution: 256x224 to 384x264 (horizontal),
Graphics: 3DFX FBI with 2MB frame buffer, 3DFX TMU NMU Rev1.0) 224x256 to 264x384 (vertical)
with 4MB texture memory. IDE Controller: CMD 646U2-402 (KAG2) Refresh rate: 60.60606 Hz (V-sync)
Sound CPU: DCS Sound System (ADSP 2115 @ 16MHz) HPI to PCI Interface: PLX PCI9050 (F99420353) Color model:
Sound Memory: 4MB DRAM, 32KB Boot ROM. ACE Serial Controller: Texas Instruments TL16C552A RGB
Other Chips: Galileo GT64010 system controller, Na- System PLD: Altera Flex EPF6016 (EPF6016TC144-2) Color palette: 224
tional Semiconductor PC87415 IDE controller, Midway Colors on screen: 32
I/O ASIC. Graphite (2001-2002) Background planes:
Board composition: Main PCB and Hard Drive. Main CPU: Intel Pentium III 733MHz Tilemap plane: 8x8 tile sizes, vertical scrolling
Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX fea- RAM: 128MB Bitmap plane: Star generator, vertical scrolling
tures. Graphics Chips: Quantum 3DFX Voodoo 3 Sprite capabilities: Line buffer, 8x8 to 16x16 sizes, 4
Operating System: Windows 2000 Pro Embedded 1-2 colors per sprite, 15 sprites (7 main sprites, 7 shells,
There are actually 4 types of Seattle board systems,
CPU 1 missile) per scanline, 240 sprite pixels per scanline,
with varying speeds, They will interchange but if a Storage: Hard Drive sprite flipping, sprite animation
200Mhz game is on a 150 Mhz board, it will run
slow during high processing moments. The system The Namco Galaxian was an 8-bit arcade game sys-
was also used by Atari. tem board, which was first used by Namco for Gal-
axian in 1979; it was the first board from the compa-
Zeus (1997-1999) ny to use the Zilog Z80 microprocessor (as opposed
Main CPU: TMS320C32 32-bit Floating Point DSP @ to the older Intel 8080). It used specialized graph-
60 MHz
ics hardware supporting RGB color, multi-colored
Graphics Chip: Custom FPGA (Zeus hardware use a
sprites and tilemap backgrounds. Its introduction
more advanced blitter than V-Unit games)
Sound CPU: ADSP-2104 @ 16MHz of colorful tilemap graphics distinguished it from
Sound Chip: DCS-2 Sound System the Taito 8080 monochrome framebuffer system of
Space Invaders. Namco Galaxian also introduced a
Midway Vegas (1998-2000) sprite line buffer system, which was adopted by lat-
Main CPU: MIPS RM7000 er systems such as the Namco Pac-Man, Midway’s
Graphics: 3DFX Voodoo Banshee Chipset The Quantum3D Graphite arcade system was cre- Tron hardware and Sega Z80.
Sound: DCS Sound System (ADSP-2104) ated by Quantum3D to succeed their Quicksilver
Board composition: CPU board, IO board, 3Dfx Banshee and Quicksilver II boards. Like the Quicksilver II, Namco Pac-Man (1980-1983)
video card and Hard Drive. the Graphite board has single side access to have all Main CPU: Z80
Hardware Features: Textured 3D, all normal 3DFX Ban- Sound Chip: Custom 3 channel 4-bit WSG
ports and drives accessible on a single side and is
shee features. Video resoution: 256x224
also based on standard PC hardware. The Graphite
This system was also used by Atari. The Namco Pac-Man was an 8-bit arcade game sys-
board is able to run Microsoft’s Windows 98 or Win-
dows 2000 Professional as an operating system. The tem board that was first used by Namco in 1980; the
Zeus II (1999-2000)
Main CPU: TMS320C32 32-bit Floating Point DSP @ hardware features a 320W power supply with exter- second and third games to run on it, Rally-X and
60 MHz nal access for arcade cabinet peripherals and a steel New Rally-X, were modified to support a larger
Graphics Chip: Custom FPGA (Zeus hardware use a chassis with mounting provisions for tower or shelf color palette and scrolling. Three unauthorized Pac-
more advanced blitter than V-Unit games) integration. Man sequels were later developed by Bally Midway,
Sound CPU: ADSP-2104 @ 16MHz Namco’s old US distributor, on this board between
Sound Chip: DCS-2 Sound System 1981 and 1983 - and after Namco ended its partner-
Mitchell
The differences between ZEUS and ZEUS II is that ship with Bally Midway after the release of Pac-
Zeus II games work at higher resolution (512x400) Mitchell System (1988-1991) Land in 1984, it developed Jump Shot (a basketball
than games running on standard Zeus Hardware simulation) and Shoot the Bull (a darts game) on it,
(400x256) Namco in the following year.
Quicksilver II (1999-2000) Namco Galaxian (1979-1982) Namco Galaga (1981-1984)
Main CPU: Intel Celeron 333/366MHz Main CPU microprocessor: Zilog Z80 @ 3.072 MHz (8- Main CPU: Z80
Motherboard: Intel SE44BX-2 bit & 16-bit instructions @ 450,000 instructions per sec- Sound CPU: Z80
RAM: 64MB ond) Sound Chip: Use the same custom 3 channel WSG (wave-
Graphics Chips: Quantum Obsidian 3DFX Sound chips: form sound generator) as Pac-Man.
Namco custom sound hardware Graphics CPU : Z80
Storage: Hard Drive
Audio channels: One programmable 4/8-bit waveform Other Chips: Custom I/O controller (type 1) which han-
channel, three 4-bit square wave channels, two 17-bit dles the controls. Bosconian also has a second I/O con-
Atlantis (2000) noise channels, one modulated noise pulse channel
Main CPU: NEC VR4310 (D30210GD-167) @ 167MHz troller (type 1) which handles the speech
Graphics chipset: Namco custom video hardware
Sound Chip: Analog Devices ADSP-2181 (KS-133) Video resoution: 288x224
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
52
The Namco Galaga is an 8-bit arcade game system crease recognition among fans of its two predeces- Sound CPU: M6809
board which was first used by Namco in 1981. the sors and boost its sales. MCU: HD63701 (Controls and DAC sound)
fourth and fifth titles to use it, Xevious and its 1984 Sound chips: Namco custom 8 channel 4-bit PSG for
Namco Libble Rabble (1983-1986) sound effects, Yamaha YM3012 2 channel 8-bit DAC for
update Super Xevious, were also modified to sup- Main CPU: M6809 voice, Yamaha YM2151+YM3012 FM chip for music.
port a 129-color palette. Each game uses a differ- Secondary CPUs: 68000 Video resoution: 288x244 pixels (36x28 tiles),
ent video board (Xevious and Super Xevious are of Sound CPU: M6809 3 scrolling 64x64 tilemapped playfields,
course the same). Sound Chip: Namco custom 8 channel WSG 1 scrolling 64x32 tilemapped playfield,
Other Chips: Custom I/O controller (type 2) 2 fixed 36x28 tilemapped playfields.
Namco Pole Position (1982-1983)
Main CPU: Z80 Video resoution: 288x224 Colours: 3 24-bit programmable RGB palette tables, 8
Secondary CPUs: 2 x Z8002 The Namco Libble Rabble, also known as the Nam- bits per color as follows:
Sound CPU: Uses one of the secondarys CPU’s for the co System 16 Universal, is an 8-bit arcade system 127 16-color entries for the sprites,
sound as well board which was first used by Namco in 1983. Its 8 256-color entries for the playfields,
Other Chips: Two custom I/O controllers (type 1) handles alternative name predates the Sega System 16 16-bit 8 256-color entries for the playfields shadow/highlight
the controls and the speech. system board by two years, and it was the first sys- effects.
Video resoution: 256x224 tem board from Namco to use a Motorola 68000 mi- The Namco System 1 (originally known as the Nam-
The Namco Pole Position was an arcade system croprocessor (running at 6.144 MHz), which would co System 87, according to the Namco Museum se-
board, which was first used by Namco in 1982 for make it the company’s most powerful 8-bit arcade ries), is a 8-bit arcade system board which was first
the Pole Position arcade games; it was one of the system board, until the advent of the Namco Thun- used by Namco in April 1987 and was a major en-
first system boards to utilize stereo and quadraphon- der Ceptor system board in 1986. hancement to the previous Namco System 86 arcade
ic sound, and used NVRAM to save its high scores system board; nonetheless, it was less powerful than
Namco Pac-Land (1984-1985) the 8-bit Namco Thunder Ceptor board.
after a machine was turned off. It was also the first
Main CPU: M6809 Yokai Dochuki was the first game to use
arcade system to use 16-bit microprocessors, with Sound/Controls CPU: HD63701 this board; the game’s name translated to English
two Zilog Z8002 processors. It was the most power- Sound Chip: Custom 8 channel programmable 4-bit WSG
ful and expensive arcade system upon release, cost- as “Supernatural Creature Traveller’s Journal”. Two
Video resoution: 288x224
ing $4200. The hardware is capable of pseudo-3D, months later, Namco released Dragon Spirit, which
The Namco Pac-Land was an 8-bit arcade game sys-
sprite-scaling. was one of the most difficult vertical scrolling shoot-
tem board which was first used by Namco in 1984;
ers ever seen for its time period - and this was fol-
Namco Super Pac-Man (1982-1985) the second and fifth games to run on it, Dragon
lowed by the Japan-exclusive Blazer in July, using
Main CPU: M6809 Buster and Sky Kid, are modified to support vertical
isometric perspective, Quester in September, which
Sound CPU: M6809 scrolling, and the third and fourth games to run on
was also Japan-exclusive and represented the com-
Sound Chip: Namco custom 8 channel 4-bit WSG. it, Metro-Cross and Baraduke (also known as Alien
Other Chips: Custom I/O controller (type 2) which han- pany response to Taito Corporation’s Arkanoid, Pac-
Sector), are modified to support a 2048-color palette.
dles the controls. Mania in November, and Galaga ‘88 in December,
Baraduke was also the only game from Namco to use
Video resoution: 288x224 which was the fourth title in the Galaxian series. To-
their programmable sound generators for speech.
The Namco Super Pac-Man is an 8-bit arcade sys- wards the end of the year, it was joined by the more
tem board that was initially used by Namco in 1982; Namco System 86 (1986-1987) powerful Motorola 68000-based Namco System
it was the first board from the company that used Main CPU: 6809 2 system board; the following March, Namco re-
Sub CPU: 6809 leased World Stadium, which was the first in a long
a Motorola M6809 processor (in fact, it used two)
MCU + Sound CPU: HD63705 line of Japan-exclusive baseball games. This was
instead of a Zilog Z80. Sound chips: YM2151 + Namco custom 8 channel pro- followed by Chōzetsurinjin Beraboh Man in May,
Namco Phozon (1983-1984) grammable 4-bit WSG. which was later re-released as Bravoman upon the
Main CPU: 2x Motorola M6809, 1.536 MHz[1] Video resoution: 288x224
TurboGrafx-16, Märchen Maze in July, which was
Sound CPU: Motorola M6809, 1.536 MHz Board composition: Single Board
loosely based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
Sound chip: Custom 8-channel WSG (Waveform Sound The Namco System 86 is an 8-bit arcade system
Bakutotsu Kijūtei in August, which was a sequel to
Generator) board which was first used by Namco in 1986; it was
Baraduke, World Court in October, Splatterhouse in
Video resolution: 224 x 288 the first board from that company to use a Yamaha
November, which was their first game to get a paren-
The Namco Phozon, also known as the Namco YM2151 FM sound chip, and was succeeded by the
tal advisory disclaimer and Face Off in December
Gaplus, was an 8-bit arcade game system board more powerful Namco System 1 (originally called
- and, when it came to 1989, they released Romp-
which was first used by Namco in 1983; the first Namco System 87) arcade system board when the
ers in February, Blast Off in March, which was their
game to run on it (and the one after which it is company went 16-bit in 1987.
sequel to Bosconian, World Stadium ‘89 in July, and
named) was only released in Japan while the second
Namco System 1 (1987-1991) Dangerous Seed in December. In 1990, they released
(and last) game to run on it was a sequel to Galaga
Main CPU: M6809 World Stadium ‘90 in July, Pistol Daimyo no Bōken
(after which it got its alternate name), released in the
Sub/Graphics CPU: M6809 in October, which is the spin-off from Beraboh Man
United States by Bally Midway as Galaga 3 to in-
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
53
and Souko Ban Deluxe in November; they also de- bilities and separate memory map definition 167 (128 PIN PQFP)
velop an unreleased prototype, Puzzle Club. Finally, Final Lap was the first game to use this board, L7A0564 x 2 (100 PIN PQFP)
in 1991, they released Tank Force - which was the and also the first to allow up to eight players to play 157 x 16 (24 PIN NDIP)
sequel to (and is eleven years younger than) Tank simultaneously, when four two-player cabinets were Board 3:
Battalion. linked together; the following year, six more games CPU Board - 3rd PCB (looks very similar to Namco Sys-
tem 2 CPU PCB)
On system 1 boards there is a 3 pin connector using this board were released, which were Assault,
CPU: MC68000P12 x 2 @ 12 MHz (16-bit)
which according to the schematics for Pacmania is a Assault Plus, Ordyne, Metal Hawk, Mirai Ninja and Sound CPU: MC68B09EP (3 MHz)
“3D grass driver”, system16.com assume this actu- Phelios. In 1989, they released Valkyrie no Denset- Sound Chips: C140 24-channel PCM (Sound Effects),
ally means 3D glasses, that were never used. su (the sequel to Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi YM2151 (Music), YM3012 (?)
Densetsu), Dirt Fox, Finest Hour, Burning Force, XTAL: 3.579545 MHz
Namco System 2 (1987-1993)
Four Trax, and Marvel Land - and, in 1990, they re- OSC: 49.152 MHz
CPU: 2 x 68000 @ 12.288 MHz
Sound CPU: M6809 @ 3.072 MHz leased Kyūkai Dōchūki, Final Lap 2, Dragon Saber, RAM: MB8464 x 2, MCM2018 x 2, HM65256 x 4,
MCU: HD63705 @ 2.048 MHz electromechanical Golly! Ghost!, Rolling Thunder HM62256 x 2
2, and Steel Gunner. For Other Chips:
Extra MCU: Namco C68 (not present in
1991, they released Super Sharp PC900 - Opto-isolator
all games)
Sharp PC910 - Opto-isolator
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 @ 3.57958 World Stadium, Steel Gun-
HN58C65P (EEPROM)
MHz FM + C140 24 channel stereo PCM ner 2, and Cosmo Gang the MB3771
sample player Video (which featured char- MB87077-SK x 2 (24 pin NDIP, located in sound section)
The 4 CPU’s are all connected via a acters from a “redemption” LB1760 (16 pin DIP, located next to SYS87B-2B)
central 2KByte dual port SRAM. The machine); in 1992, they CY7C132 (48 PIN DIP)
two 68000s are on one side and the
released Bubble Trouble: Namco Custom:
6809/63705 are on the other side. Each 68000 has its
own private bus area AND a common shared area be- Golly! Ghost! 2, Suzuka 8 Hours, Super World Sta- 148 x 2 (64 pin PQFP)
dium ‘92 (and its Gekitōban variant), Final Lap 3 C68 (64 pin PQFP)
tween the two devices, which is where the video ram/dual
and Lucky & Wild. Then, in 1993, they released 139 (64 pin PQFP)
port/Sprite Generation etc.
Super World Stadium ‘93 Gekitōhen and Suzuka 8 137 (28 pin NDIP)
Standard Graphics Board (there are game specific vari-
Hours 2, and the board was retired after six years. 149 (28 pin NDIP, near C68)
ations):
Board 4:
2 x Static tile planes (36x28 tiles)
4 x Scolling tile planes (64x64 tiles) Namco System 21 (1988-1993) 4th PCB (bottom-most)
Board 1: OSC: 38.76922 MHz
1 x Rotate/Zoom tile plane (256x256 tiles)
DSP Board - 1st PCB. (Uppermost) There is a 6 wire plug joining this PCB with the CPU
128 Sprites (128 Sprites displayable, but 16 banks of 128
DSP Type 1: 4 x TMS320C25 connected x 4 x Namco Cu- PCB. It appears to be video cable (RGB, Sync etc..)
sprites)
stom chip 67 (68 pin PLCC) (Cybersled) Jumpers:
Video resoution: 288x224
DSP Type 2: 5 x TMS320C20 (Starblade) JP7 INTERLACE = SHORTED (Other setting is NON-
Colours: The system has 8192 pens of which 4096+2048
OSC: 40.000MHz INTERLACE)
are displayable at any given time. These pens reference a
RAM: HM62832 x 2, M5M5189 x 4, ISSI IS61C68 x 16 JP8 68000 = SHORTED (Other setting is 68020)
24 bit colour lookup table (R8:G8:B8)
ROMS: TMS27C040 Namco Custom Chips:
2 x Static tile planes (36x28 tiles)
Custom Chips: C355 (160 pin PQFP)
4 x Scolling tile planes (64x64 tiles)
4 x Namco Custom 327 (24 pin NDIP), each one located 187 (120 pin PQFP)
Board composition: Graphics Board and CPU board
next to a chip 67. 138 (64 pin PQFP)
The Namco System 2 is a 16-bit arcade system board 4 x Namco Custom chip 342 (160 pin PQFP), there are 3 165 (28 pin NDIP)MCU : HD63705 (2 MHz)
that was first used by Namco in December 1987, and leds (red/green/yellow) connected to each 342 chip. (12 The Namco System 21 “Polygonizer” is an arcade
a major enhancement for their earlier Namco Sys- leds total) system board unveiled by Namco in 1988 with the
tem 1 arcade system board (which was introduced 2 x Namco Custom 197 (28 pin NDIP) game Winning Run. It was the first arcade board
in April of that same year); it was later succeeded Namco Custom chip 317 IDC (180 pin PQFP) specifically designed for 3D polygon processing.
by the 3D Namco System 21 “Polygonizer” arcade Namco Custom chip 195 (160 pin PQFP)
The hardware went through significant evolution
system board, in 1988. Board 2:
Unknown Board - 2nd PCB (no roms) throughout its lifespan until the last game, Cyber
The Namco System 2 board is a 5 CPU sys- Sled, was released in 1993.
tem. The complete system consists of two boards : OSC: 20.000MHz
RAM: HM62256 x 10, 84256 x 4, CY7C128 x 5, M5M5178 It was in development for over three years
CPU + GRAPHICS. The system is extremely pow- before release, since around the mid-1980s. Accord-
x4
erful and flexible. A standard CPU board is coupled ing to Phil Harrison (in the September 1989 issue of
Other Chips:
with a number of different graphics boards to pro- MB8422-90LP Commodore User), who visited Namco’s Tokyo of-
duce a system. L7A0565 316 (111) x 1 (100 PIN PQFP) fice, Atari’s Hard Drivin’ ran on an earlier, less pow-
There are at least 3 more known variants of 150 (64 PIN PQFP) erful, version of this hardware, stating that Namco
graphics board that all have their own unique capa-
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
54
and Atari Games were sister companies at the time output The Namco System 22 is the successor to the Namco
and that the System 21 was a shared development. Secondary CPU’s: C329 + C137 System 21 arcade system board. It debuted in 1992
This system comprises 4 PCB’s that slot into Custom Graphics Chips: GFX:123,145,156,C116 - Mo- with Sim Drive in Japan, followed by a worldwide
a backplane, which are housed in a metal crate. At tion Objects: C355,187,C347 debut in 1993 with Ridge Racer.
the moment it seems like there are 3 revisions of Sound CPU: C351 The System 22 was designed by Namco with
Control Chip: C160
the hardware, Winning Run was a mass produced assistance from graphics & simulation company
Board composition: Additional “gun” interface board is
prototype for the System, the early games used 5 x used on shooting games (seen on 2nd PCB picture) Evans & Sutherland. Graphical features include
TMS320C20 and later moved to 4 x TMS320C25. The Namco NB-1 is a 32-bit arcade system board texture mapping, Gouraud shading, transparency ef-
The board uses the Namco NB1 sprite system for the which was first used by Namco in 1993; NB-2 has fects, and depth cueing, thanks to the Evans & Suth-
2D graphics. a different memory map, more complex sprite and erland ‘TR3’ chip/chipset, which stands for: Texture
tile banking, and two additional ROZ layers over the Mapping, Real-Time, Real-Visual, Rendering Sys-
Namco NA-1 (1992-1995)
NB-1. Great Sluggers: New World Stadium was the tem. The main CPU provides a scene description to
Main CPU: 68000 @ 12.5 MHz
Sound CPU: C69 (Mitsubishi M37702 with internal bios) first game to use this board - and the following year, the TR3 graphics processing unit and a bank of DSP
Sound chip: C140 (integrated into the “219” custom) Nebulas Ray, Great Sluggers ‘94, J-League Soccer chips which perform 3D calculations.
Video resoution: 304x224 V-Shoot, Point Blank/Gun Bullet, The Outfoxies and A variant of the system, called the Super
Board composition: Main board and Rom board Mach Breakers: Numan Athletics 2 were released on System 22, was released in 1995. The hardware was
The Namco NA-1 is a 16-bit arcade system board it. In 1995, the eighth title for Namco’s long-running largely similar to the System 22, but with a slightly
which was first used by Namco in July 1992, and World Stadium series was released, Super World higher polygon rate and more special effects possi-
was the successor to the Namco System 1 and 2 sys- Stadium ‘95 (which borrowed heavily from that ble. Both Super System 22 and System 22 can render
tem board; the company’s first quiz game, Bakuretsu original Great Sluggers); in the two following years, significantly better graphics, more polygons with
Quiz Ma-Q Dai Bōken, was the first game to use it. it was followed up by Super World Stadium ‘96 and sharper texture-mapping, running in higher resolu-
Three months later, they released F/A (which was Super World Stadium ‘97, the second of which was tion and at a higher framerate compared to the graph-
later renamed, to Fighter & Attacker, for the United the last game to use it. ics capabilities of the original Sony PlayStation, the
States) - and this was followed by Cosmo Gang the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64 video game sys-
Puzzle in November (which became an inspiration Namco System FL (1993-1995) tems, but much less than what the Sega Dreamcast
for Pac-Attack) Exvania in December (which is one CPU: Intel i960-KB 32-bit RISC @ 20 MHz can produce.
Sound CPU: Namco C75 (M37702 based 16-bit) @ According to Namco America the twin seat
of only two Japan-exclusive games from them with
16.384 MHz Ridge Racer arcade unit sold to distribution for
an FBI “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” screen) and Su- Sound Chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup-
per World Court in December (a sequel to Pro Ten- $11,995.00 in 1993.
ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel
nis: World Court, which had five Pac-Mans play- output The hardware:
ing the part of ball boys on its “Namco” court, and Board composition: Single Board - coprocessor and BIOS to handle sound and inputs
the players could send the two on the sides flying The Namco System FL is an arcade system board - a character layer: 64x64 8x8 256 color pixel tiles
through the air!). The following year, they released released by Namco in 1993. «FL» probably refers to - polygons, which are rendered by the DSP coproc-
Emeraldia and Tinkle Pit; the Namco NA-2 is also the initials of the game Final Lap R. This system was essors
backwards compatible with the NA-1. It is not yet exclusively designed for driving games, it had a very The main CPU describes a set of objects in 3d space
known what extra features the NA-2 has apart from short lifespan and was released only two games on by writing a scene description to shared memory.
different MCU code - and the first game to run on it it. Games produced on this arcade board are conven- This includes:
was Knuckle Heads, released in its initial year. The tional driving simulations. Final Lap R was the last - a list of opcodes, transformations, and object pa-
following year, they released an NA-2 version of installment in the Pole Position arcade series. rameters
Emeraldia, Net-tō! Geki-tō! Quiz-tō!!, and Numan - attributes for up to 8 windows
Athletics; two years after that they released Ren’ai Namco System 22 (1993–1995)
CPU: Motorola 68EC020 32-bit @ 24.576 MHz Each window defines:
Jumyō + Nikutai Jumyō X-Day 2 (the sequel to - projection paramaters
Sound CPUs: 2 x Namco C74 (M37702 based 16-bit) @
Yomei Kensaku Sābisu X-Day, so this means that - clipping information
16.384 MHz
they did not release any games on either the NA-1 3D DSPs: 2 x Texas Instruments TMS320C25 16-bit fixed - optional camera viewing transforms
or NA-2 arcade system boards in 1994, which is an point DSP @ 49.152 MHz - priority
unusual occurrence). Sound chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup- - light source data
Namco NB-1 (1993-1997) ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel
The graphics coprocessors take as input:
CPU: Motorola 68EC020 32-bit @ 24.192 MHz output
Colours: 16.7 million colours onscreen - the scene description from the main CPU
Sound CPU: Namco C75 (M37702 based 16-bit) @ - a table of 3d objects encoded in “Point ROMs”
16.128 MHz Features: Texture mapping, Gouraud shading, Translu-
cency effects, Depth-cueing, Up to 240000 polygons/sec. - a single giant 256 color tilemap encoded in texture
Sound chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup-
Board composition: Crate containing many PCB’s ROMs, that the object models reference
ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
55
- parameters for depth cueing (fog effects) meant that all System 11 games were unique to the Namco System 12 (1997–2001)
The coprocessors render the scene and acknowledge particular system board, and could not be swapped Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock-
out with another game. 48MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction
when they are done. The actual number and arrange-
Although the System 11 was technically in- Cache - 4 KB
ment of DSPs can change from game to game, but
ferior to Sega’s Model 2 arcade board, its lower price BUS: 132 MB/sec.
from the main CPU’s point of view it’s talking to a OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
single slave using a consistant API. Aside from the made it an attractive prospect for smaller arcades.
Sound CPU: Hitachi H8 3002
status bits and self tests, communication is strictly According to the June 1995 issue of Edge: Additional Sound Chip: Namco C352 sample playback
one-way. The slave CPU doesn’t report collision “Namco took a significant risk in basing its Tekken Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
detection, for example. The polygon layer consists coin-op on raw PlayStation hardware, consider- Video RAM: 2 Megabyte
of a large number of quads, and the texture source ing that it would be competing directly with Sega’s Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
is a single huge tilemap, with 8 pens per pixel. The Model 2-powered Virtua Fighter 2 ... For once, a Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
part of the master palette that is used is specified per home system can boast an identical conversion of drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
quad. There’s also a set of 2d sprites, which can be a cutting-edge coin-op ... Namco’s research section 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
zoomed but don’t rotate. They have a z coordinate managing director, Shegeichi Nakamura ... explains:
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
that interacts with the zbuffer to decide whether they “When Sony came along we decided to go for a Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
appear in front or behind polygon pixels. Finally, low-cost system—in short, we’ve left the big arcade line scroll
there’s a single tilemap that has priority over eve- stores to Sega and VF2 and Tekken has been sold to Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
rything. smaller arcade centres” ... Namco has a further four Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
titles planned for System 11, all of which are likely Look-Up Tables)
Namco System 11 (1994–1999)
to make the jump to the PlayStation”. Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock -
33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- gon engine, MJPEG decoder
Namco System Super 22 (1995–1997)
struction Cache - 4KB The Namco System 12 is
CPU: Motorola 68EC020 32-bit @ 24.576 MHz
BUS: 132 MB/sec. Sound CPU: Mitsubishi M37710 16-bit @ 16.384 MHz an arcade system board
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes 3D DSPs: 2xTexas Instruments TMS320C25 16-bit fixed released by Namco in
Sound CPU: Namco C76 (Mitsubishi M37702) point DSP @ 49.152 MHz late 1996. In hardware,
Sound chip: Namco C352 Sound chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup- it is an upgrade from
Main RAM: 2 Megabytes ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel Sony’s PlayStation-based
Video RAM: 2 Megabyte output System 11, the MIPS
Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes Additional Chips: Insanely large amount of Namco cus- R3000A microprocessor
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG tom chips. is 50% faster, and the C76 sound processor is re-
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, Colours: 16.7 million colours onscreen placed by the H8/3002. Like the System 11, the Sys-
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Features: Texture mapping, Gouraud shading, Trans-
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) tem 12 used surface-mounted ROM chips, meaning
lucency effects, Depth-cueing, More than 240000 poly-
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, the boards were unique to each game.
gons/sec.
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal Board composition: Crate containing many PCB’s Namco Gorgon/System 22.5 (1997)
line scroll The Namco System Super 22 is very similar to Sys- CPU: R4650 (MIPS III with IDT special instructions) 64-
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 bit main CPU @ 133 MHz
tem 22 hardware, but with some noticable differenc-
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color Sound CPU: H8/3002 16-Bit @ 16.384 MHz
es, slightly higher poly rate and more special effects.
Look-Up Tables) Sound Chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup-
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- It is possible that the 2D part supports rotating as
well, also the crate is physically smaller. ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel
gon engine, MJPEG decoder output
All roms are surface mounted Intel flash roms, with all Namco ND-1 (1995-1996) Graphics Hardware: Namco Custom Texture Mapped
the roms on the mainboard apart from the graphics roms Main processor: MC68000 12MHz Polygons Hardware, 1 text tilemap
which are on a seperate rom board. Sub-processor: HD6413002F16 16MHz (Hitachi H8 mi- I/O: I/O board based on the Namco C78, which is a Re-
The boards are therefore unique to each game and you crocontroller), C416 custom nesas H8/3334 MCU (8-bit version of the H8/3002), the
cannot swap roms from one to another. Other Chipset: MACH210-15 (Programmable logic de- I/O boards’ MCUs are connected to the H8/3002’s serial
The Namco System 11 is an arcade system board re- vice) port.
leased by Namco in 1994. The actual hardware is Sound processor: C352 Custom IC
based on Sony’s PlayStation home console, and thus GFX: YAMAHA YGV608-F Namco System 23 (1997–1999)
many games were ported to that console. The ma- Video out: LM1203N CPU: R4650 (MIPS III with IDT special instructions) 64-
Board composition: Single Board - Surface mounted roms bit main CPU @ 166 MHz
jor difference between the two is that the System 11
The Namco ND-1 16-bit system board was first used Sound CPU: H8/3002 16-Bit @ 16.384 MHz
used surface-mounted ROM chips to store the game Sound Chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup-
data, whereas the PlayStation used CD-ROM. This by Namco in 1995.
ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
56
output I/O: Uses a PIC16Cxx-based I/O board. The I/O boards’ 3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons
Graphics Hardware: Namco Custom Texture Mapped MCUs are connected to the H8/3002’s serial port. Per Second
Polygons Hardware, 1 text tilemap Board composition : Crate of PCB’s Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2
Colours: 16.7 million colours onscreen The Namco System Super 23, like the System 22, is Graphics:
Features: Texture mapping; Gouraud shading; Depth- a more powerful variant of System 23. “Graphics Synthesizer”
cueing Clock Frequency: 150MHz
I/O: I/O board based on the Namco C78, which is a Re- Namco System Super 23 GMEN (1998–1999) DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second
nesas H8/3334 MCU (8-bit version of the H8/3002), the Two games were released for the system; Final Fur- DRAM Bus width: 256 bits
I/O boards’ MCUs are connected to the H8/3002’s serial long 2 (1999) and Gunmen Wars (1998). Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32)
port. Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Sec-
Board composition: Crate of PCB’s Namco System Super 23 Evolution 2 (1999) ond
The Namco System 23 is an arcade system board Only game released for the Super 23 Evolution 2 Sound:
produced and developed by Namco. Announced in was Crisis Zone. “SPU2+CPU”
1996 and released in 1997, it was the last arcade Number of voices: ADPCM: 48 channel on SPU2 plus
Namco System 10 (2000–2006) definable by software
system produced by the company that was based on Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Operating
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable)
their own custom design, as opposed to just a de- performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction Cache - 4KB
I/O Processor
rivative of console hardware. Like the System 22, OSC: 53.693175MHz and 101.4912MHz
CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU
the System 23 also featured a more powerful variant BUS: 132 MB/sec.
Clock Frequency: 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz (selectable)
called the Super System 23. One of the advertised OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
Sub Bus: 32 Bit
features of the System 23 was the “Gashin Strong Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels,
44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects The Namco System 246 is a development of the
Bass System,” which was simply a bass amplifier Sony PlayStation 2 technology as a basis for an ar-
include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to
hooked up to the sound system. It was succeeded by cade system board. It was released in 2001 on its
512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments.
the Namco System 10 in 2000. Main RAM: 2 Megabytes first game Ridge Racer V. Like the Sega NAOMI,
Video RAM: 2 Megabyte it is widely licensed for use by other manufacturers.
Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes Games such as Battle Gear 3 and Capcom Fighting
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG Evolution are examples of System 246-based arcade
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, games that are not Namco products.
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
line scroll
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
Look-Up Tables)
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
gon engine, MJPEG decoder
Roms: Roms and some CD/DVD Based (Drum Master)
The Namco System 10 is an arcade system board
released by Namco in 2000 based on the Sony Play-
Namco System Super 23 (1998–1999) Station hardware. It was preceded by the Namco
CPU: R4650 (MIPS III with IDT special instructions) 64-
System 23 in 1997 and succeeded by the Namco
bit main CPU @ 166 MHz
Sound CPU: H8/3002 16-Bit @ 16.384 MHz
System 246. Namco System 256 (2004–2010)
Sound Chip: Namco C352 32 channel 42KHz stereo sup- Namco System 256 is an upgraded version of 246
Namco System 246 (2000–2008)
ported 8-bit linear and 8-bit muLaw PCM - 4 channel CPU: but the upgrades are unknown (more RAM and fast-
output 128 Bit “Emotion Engine” er CPU speeds likely). This isnt the first time Namco
Graphics Hardware: Namco Custom Texture Mapped System Clock: 300 MHz (and several other companies) have done this, Sys-
Polygons Hardware, 1 text tilemap System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus tem 12 was an “enhanced” version of the standard
Colours: 16.7 million colours onscreen Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second System 11 PSX based hardware.
Features: Texture mapping; Gouraud shading; Depth- Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumula-
cueing tor x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1) Triforce (2005–2007)
Extra Hardware features: System Super 23 games have Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Ac- CPU: IBM Power PC “Gekko”
texture filtering that standard System 23 games don’t cumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1) Sound DSP: Custom Macronix 16bit DSP @ 81MHz
have. Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS Main RAM: Main Memory 48 MB MoSys 1T-SRAM, Ap-
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
57
proximately 10ns Sustainable Latency. Virtua Striker 4 Ver.2006. Triforce can be emulated RAM: 2×512 MB DDR2 800 MHz 1.8V
RAM: Version “A” upgradable RAM modules, up to in software by Dolphin. Video: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT with 512 MB GDDR3
512MB (possibly higher) memory
RAM: Version “B” unknown Namco System N2 (2005–2010) HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 160 GB (ST316031-
Graphics Engine: “Flipper” (Custom ATI/Nintendo) Hardware: PC (Unknown Specification, possibly varies 8AS) with copy protection
Color: 24-bit Color, 24-bit Z Buffer. between games) Operating System: arcadelinux (Debian 4.0 based)
Hardware Features: Fog, Subpixel Anti-aliasing, 8 The Namco System N2 arcade platform runs on an The hardware is PC based and runs on a modified
Hardware lights, Alpha Blending, Virtual Texture Design, nForce2-based motherboard that Nvidia developed. “Arcade Linux” operating system.
Multi-texture, Mapping/Bump/Environment Mapping, It is based on a GeForce graphics card, using the
MIPMAP, Bilinear/Trilinear/Anisotropic Filtering, Real- OpenGL API. It runs a Linux operating system that Namco System 369 (2011–2012)
time Texture Decompression (S3TC), HW 3-line Deflick- appears to be based on Debian etch. Also, according System 369, also known as System 359, is an up-
ering filter. to the boot logo, System ES2 PLUS and System ES3 graded version of the System 357 arcade board. Sys-
The Triforce is an arcade system board developed run Windows Embedded 7 as their operating system. tem 369 are used for Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The
jointly by Namco, Sega, and Nintendo, with the first It runs in an arcade game racing cabinet designed by specifications are the same as Slim model retail PS3
games appearing in 2002. The name “Triforce” is a Bandai Namco Games. consoles, and as such feature a smaller chassis with
reference to Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series Because the N2 is based on PC architecture, less heat.
of games, and symbolized the three companies’ in- development for it and porting from it is relatively Namco System 147 (2010–2011)
volvement in the project. The system hardware is easy and inexpensive. CPU:
based on the Nintendo GameCube with several dif- 128 Bit “Emotion Engine”
ferences, like provisions for add-ons such as Sega’s Namco System Super 256 (2006) System Clock: 300 MHz
GD-ROM system and upgradeable RAM modules. The hardware is based on Sony PlayStation 2 System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus
The Triforce was initially believed to have twice as Namco Super System 256 is the same as regular Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second
much 1T-SRAM as the Nintendo GameCube (48MB Namco System 256 but it has the gun board inte- Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumula-
instead of 24MB), but this was disproven by a tear- grated. tor x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1)
down analysis of a Triforce board. Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Ac-
Namco System 357 (2007–) cumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1)
Hardware: PS3 Based Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS
CPU: Cell 3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons
CPU Notes: Microprocessor consisting of one 3.2 GHz Per Second
PowerPC-based Power Pro- Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2
cessing Element (PPE) and six Graphics:
Synergistic Processing Elemen “Graphics Synthesizer”
ts (SPEs). PlayStation 3’s Cell Clock Frequency: 150MHz
CPU achieves 204 GFLOPS DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second
single precision float and 15 DRAM Bus width: 2560 bits
GFLOPS double precision. Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32)
GPU: RSX Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Sec-
The GPU is based on NVIDIA ond
G70 (NV47) architecture. The GPU makes use of 256
Sound:
MB GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700 MHz with an effective
“SPU2+CPU”
transmission rate of 1.4 GHz and up to 224 MB of the 3.2
Number of voices: ADPCM: 48 channel on SPU2 plus
GHz XDR main memory via the CPU (480 MB max)
definable by software
A few versions of the Triforce exist. The first two are Ram: 256MB Rambus XDR DRAM, clocked at CPU die
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable)
the Type-1 and Type-3 units, the former using an ex- speed.
I/O Processor
ternal DIMM board (same as used on the Naomi and The floating point performance of the whole system (CPU
CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU
Naomi 2) while the latter integrates this component + GPU) is reported to be 2 TFLOPS.
Clock Frequency: 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz (selectable)
inside the metal casing. A custom Namco version ex- The Namco System 357 is an arcade system board Sub Bus: 32 Bit
ists which only accepts custom NAND Flash based based on the Sony PlayStation 3. It was released in The hardware is based on Sony PlayStation 2.
cartridges, which has a different Media board and 2007 as the board for Tekken 6. Unlike its predeces-
supposedly different baseboard. These boards use sor, it has not yet seen widespread adoption by other Namco System ES2 Plus (2012)
the same metal case design as the Type-3 Triforce. manufacturers. System ES2 PLUS run Windows Embedded 7 as
Since 2012, amateur applications have their operating system.
Namco System ES1 (2009–2014)
been released for the Nintendo Wii that enable this Motherboard: Supermicro C2SBM-Q (Intel Q35 + ICH- Namco System ES3 (2013–)
GameCube-derived console to run Mario Kart Ar- 9DO Chipset) System ES3 run Windows Embedded 7 as their op-
cade GP, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, F-Zero AX and CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 at 3.00 GHz erating system.
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
58
Nintendo Systems will result in the game failing to even start. plugged into one of the ten open slots on the Play-
Nintendo Classic (1981) Some dedicated VS. double cabinets were Choice-10’s motherboard.
produced which look like two games butted togeth- Having found success in the home console market
VS. UniSystem and VS. DualSystem (1985-1987) er at an angle. A single motherboard powered both with the NES, Nintendo developed arcade hardware
Main CPU: N2A03 (a 6502 with a few features removed) games on those models.
Sound CPU: Main CPU does sound as well
to run its most popular NES games inside an arcade
The VS. Table, a steel sit down cabinet for cabinet. Dubbed the PlayChoice-10, the machine
Video resoution: 256x240 the VS. DualSystem, nicknamed the “red tent” due
The Nintendo VS. System, officially sold simply as was compatible with the NES, but with some key
to its upper portion’s resemblance to a pup tent, al- differences. An extra CPU controlled the gameplay
the VS. System, was a coin-operated video game low play for up to four players simultaneously. This
platform designed for two-player competitive play timer, game select, and displayed hints for the cur-
cabinet uses the same motherboard as the double rent game on a separate monitor (on single-monitor
using the VS. UniSystem or VS. DualSystem, arcade cabinet referred to above.
system boards based on the Nintendo Entertainment systems, a button would switch between gameplay
Due the fact that these arcades where based and the hint screen). Most normal NES cartridges
System. Many of these stand-up or sit-down arcade on the same CPU used in the Nintendo Entertain-
machines had two screens and controls joined at could not be used; rather, the PlayChoice used spe-
ment System, they can be ported to this system by cial expansion cards containing NES games along
an angle. These games were ported to arcade hard- modifying the console, adding extra memory banks, with an extra 8KB ROM to display hints. Because
ware from existing home DIP switches among other the PlayChoice-10 outputs RGB video using a
video games for the Fam- things. slightly different palette, games did not look exactly
ily Computer and Ninten-
Some games are different the same as they did on the NES. It is in fact possi-
do Entertainment System;
from their Famicom/NES ble to replace the NES PPU with the PlayChoice-10
thus, they could be sold
versions. For example, PPU, allowing it to output RGB natively.
cheaply to arcades in the
VS. Super Mario Bros. is Each machine had a different mix of games
late 1980s. The hardware
considerably more diffic- in it. Instead of a player getting to play one game un-
was introduced in 1984,
ult than Super Mario til it was finished, the player got a fixed time limit to
and ended in 1990.
Bros.; some of the lev- play as many PlayChoice games as they wanted to.
The VS. System was de- els were reused in Su- Nintendo created several variations of the hardware,
signed primarily as a kit per Mario Bros. 2 for the including a standalone PlayChoice unit which only
to retrofit Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Popeye, Family Computer Disk System. The graphics are also had a single available game. By the late 1980s, other
and Mario Bros. machines; as such, they require the different from their Famicom/NES counterparts; for companies developed similar systems. Sega’s Mega-
same special monitor that these coin-ops use. These example, VS. Duck Hunt has more details and ani- Tech and Mega Play hardware was capable of run-
monitors use inverse voltage levels for their video mation sequences than its console counterpart. ning certain Sega Master System and/or Sega Mega
signals as compared to most arcade monitors. Com- Drive/Genesis games. SNK’s Neo Geo was another
Contrary to common belief, VS 10-Yard Fight, VS
mercially available converters allow one to use any cartridge-based system that was made available for
Gong Fight (Ring Fighter) and VS. Hot Smash does
standard open frame monitor with the game. both arcades and home consoles.
not belong to the VS. System since said games run
Almost all the games on the VS. System run
in different hardware, powered by a Zilog Z80 CPU,
on identical hardware powered by a Ricoh 2A03
are not PCB interchangeable and in the case of VS
Central processing unit, the same found in the Nin-
10-Yard Fight and VS Gong Fight, they both lacks
tendo Entertainment System but with the notable
the point in the VS. acronym. The Same goes for VS
exception of special PPUs, or video chips designed
Block Breaker which runs with a different PCB with
for this circuit boards (RP2C04-0001, RP2C04-
a Hitachi SH-2 CPU. The launch titles for the hard-
0002, RP2C04-0003, RP2C04-0004, RC2C03B,
ware were Vs. Mahjong and Vs. Tennis in or about
RC2C03C, RC2C05-01, RC2C05-03, RC2C05-04
February 1984.
and RP2C03B); Each chip contains a different pal-
ette that arrange the colors in different configura- PlayChoice-10 (1986-1991)
tions chosen apparently at random. Most boards can Hardware : Playchoice 10
be switched to a new game simply by swapping the CPU : Z80 @ 4 MHz, N2A03 @ 1.789772 MHz
program ROMs, though the appropriate PPU must Sound Cpu : Custom Nintendo + DAC
also be used; if not, the game will appear with in- Res : 256 x 240, 52 color (Both screens)
correct colors. Several of the later VS. games em- PlayChoice-10 is an arcade machine which can con-
ploy further measures of protection by using special sist of as many as 10 different games previously
PPUs which swap pairs of I/O registers and/or return available only on the Nintendo Entertainment Sys-
special data from normally unimplemented regions tem (NES) home console. The games for this system
of memory. Attempts to run these games in other VS. are in the modular form of circuit boards which are
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
59
Super System (1992-1993) HDD: 16GB SSD 2.5 “ SNK Playmore’s fifth game for the Atomiswave, af-
CPU: Ricoh 5A22 @ 3.58 MHz I / O: JAMMA + JVS ter which SNK moved on to a Taito Type X2 arcade
Raster resolution 256 x 240 RGB (Horizontal) 52 colors The hardware is PC-based with Windows XP. board.
Raster resolution 256 x 240 RGB (Horizontal) In Japan the Atomiswave was able to connect
The Nintendo Super System (NSS) is an arcade Sammy via a special modem to the AW-Net online system
system used to preview Super NES games in the set up by Sammy. The AW-Net was primarily used
United States. It is essentially the Super NES hard- SSV (Sammy, Seta, Visco) (1993–2001)
to play online with other players and to create on-
CPU: NEC V60 32-bit RISC @ 16MHz
ware with a menu interface, similar to Nintendo’s line player rankings. AW-Net was discontinued on
Sound Chip: Ensoniq ES5506 @ 16MHz (mono output)
PlayChoice-10 hardware for NES games, that allows 30 November 2006 following the merger of Sammy
Colors on screen: 33024
players to play select Super NES games for a certain and Sega; the follow-up system was ALL.Net.
SSV was a Joint venture between “S”ammy, “S”eta
amount of time, depending on how many game cred-
and “V”isco to produce a high-quality 32-bit RISC
its they had.
based hardware platform, hence the name.
Triforce (2002-2007)
“see Namco System Board page on Triforce” Sammy Medal Game System (1999–2004)
Sammy Medal Game System is a obscure Japanese
Unnamed Wii-based arcade board (2008) system by Sammy. It’s a cartridge based platform for
CPU: some cute medal games for kids.
IBM PowerPC Broadway CPU @ 729 MHz “lucaelia.com”
90nm Process
32-bit Integer Atomiswave (2003–2009)
64-bit Floating-Point (or 2 x 32-bit SIMD) CPU: Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC CPU (200 MHz 360
64KB L1 Cache (32KB Instruction + 32KB Data) MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS)
256KB L2 Cache Graphic Engine: PowerVR 2 (PVR2DC)
2.9 GFLOPS Sound Engine: ARM7 Yamaha AICA 45 MHZ (with inter- Sega
Graphics and Sound: nal 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channel ADPCM) Sega G80 (1981)
ATI Hollywood @ 243 MHz Main Ram: 32 megs Main CPU: Z80 @ 3.86712 MHz
90nm Process Main Memory: 16 MByte Sound: Various combinations of;
Napa: Graphics Processor with 3MB Embedded Memory Graphic Memory: 16 MByte Pure Discrete Sound
Vegas: Audio DSP and 24MB 1T-SRAM Sound Memory: 8 MByte Speech Board, with i8035 + sp0250
Starlet: ARM9 Processor (I/O, Communication, Security) Media: ROM Board USB Board, with i8035 and hacked up tone generation
CPU External Bus: 64 Bit, 243 MHz, 1.9 Gigabytes per Simultaneous Number of Colors: Approx. 16,770,000 with timers and dacs for volume.
Second Bandwidth (24bits) Board composition : One board
Memory: 24 Megabytes MoSys 1T-SRAM, 64 Megabytes Polygons: 2.5 Million polys/sec Video Resoution (Raster Hardware): 256 x 224
GDDR3 DRAM Rendering Speed: 500 M pixel/sec Video resoution (Vector Hardware): Vector
Only known game released is Tatsunoko Vs Cap- Additional Features: Bump Mapping, Fog, Alpha-Bend-
Sega G80 is an arcade system board released by
com: Cross Generation of Heroes. ing (transparency), Mip Mapping (polygon-texture auto
switch), Tri-Linear Filtering, Anti-Aliasing, Environment Sega in 1981. The G80 was released in both raster
Mapping, and Specular Effect. and vector versions of the hardware.
Psikyo Network: It is possible to connect the systems on the net- Sega System 1 (1983–1987)
Psikyo 1st Generation (1993–1996) work using both 56K modem or broadband connection Main CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
CPU: 68EC020 + PIC16C57 [Optional MCU] using the AW-Net. Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
Sound: Z80A + YM2610 or LZ8420M (Z80 core) + The Atomiswave is a custom arcade system board Sound chip: SN76496 @ 4 MHz, SN76496 @ 2 MHz
YMF286-K and cabinet from Sammy Corporation. It is based on Video resoution: 256 x 224
Custom Chips: PS2001B, PS3103, PS3204, PS3305 Sega’s NAOMI system board (thus it’s common to Board composition: One board
Psikyo SH-2 (1997–2002) see the “Sega” logo on its boot up screen). The At- Hardware Features: 2 layers+sprites, hardware collision
CPU: SH2 @ 28.636350 MHz omiswave uses interchangeable game cartridges and detection
Sound CPU: YMF278B (OPL4) @ 28.636350 MHz the cabinet’s control panel can be easily switched out Sega System 1 is a type of arcade hardware used in
with different control sets, including dual joysticks, various Sega arcade machines from 1983 until 1987.
RCI dual lightguns and a steering wheel. For most of its run it coexisted with Sega System 2
With the retirement of the aging Neo Geo (1985–1988) and as a result had many similar fea-
NEO STANDARD (2011)
MVS system, SNK Playmore chose the Atomiswave tures. In its four-year span it was used in some 20
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo G6950
as its next system to develop games for. In a contract different arcade games, including Pitfall II: Lost
RAM: 2GB DDR3 1333MHz (max 8GB)
Chipset: Intel H55 Express with Sammy, SNK Playmore agreed to develop five Caverns, Wonder Boy, and Wonder Boy in Monster
Video: Geforce 220: 128 bit / 1GB DDR3 games for the Atomiswave system. Metal Slug 6 was Land.
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
60
Sega System 2 (1985–1988) roughly forty games were released on this hardware, Video resolution: 320 x 224
Main CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz making it one of Sega’s most successful arcade plat- Board composition: CPU board + Video board
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz forms. It was produced in two variants, the System Hardware Features: 128 Sprites on screen at one time, 2
Sound chip: SN76496 @ 2 MHz, SN76496 @ 4 MHz 16A and System 16B. tile layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware sprite
Video resoution: 256 x 224 In order to prevent piracy, as well as illegal zooming, 1 road layer and can draw 2 roads at once (i.e.
Board composition: Main board & rom board. for the road splits in Out Run), translucent shadows.
bootleg games, many System 16 boards used an en-
Hardware Features: 2 layers+sprites, hardware collision Sega OutRun is a 16-bit arcade system released in
cryption system. A Hitachi FD1094 chip, containing
detection 1986 for the driving game Out Run (1986). It was
the main CPU as well as the decryption key, was
System 2 is an updated version of the System 1. The also used for Super Hang-On (1987) and Turbo Out-
used in place of a regular CPU.
Sega System 2 had many similar features to System run (1989). It is the second in Sega’s Super Scaler
The System 16’s pairing of a Motorola 68000
1. The only major difference being that System 2 had series of pseudo-3D arcade hardware.
CPU and a Zilog Z80 coprocessor would prove to be
two separate circuit boards instead of one.
a popular and durable arcade hardware configura- Sega X Board (1987–1990)
Sega System E (1985–1988) tion well into the 1990s. Capcom’s CPS-1 and CPS- Main CPU: 2 x MC68000 @ 12.5 MHz
CPU: Z-80B @ 8MHz 2 boards were built on a similar foundation, as was Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
ROM: 32K for code + up to 4 x 32/64K for banks SNK’s Neo Geo hardware. Sega would later use the Sound chip: YM2151 4 MHz & SegaPCM @ 15.625 MHz
RAM: 16K 68000/Z80 combination to power its Genesis/Mega Video resoution: 320 x 224
Video RAM: 64K (2 banks of 16K for each VDP) Board composition: Single Board
Drive home console.
VDP: 2 x 315-5124 (Same as the SMS except the are 2. Hardware Features: 256 Sprites on screen at one time,
Note that the 315-5124 is a TMS9928 VDP combined Sega Space Harrier Hardware (1985–1992) 4 tiles layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware
with a SN76489 sound chip!) Main CPU: 2 x MC68000 @ 10 MHz sprite zooming, 1 road layer, can draw 2 roads at once,
Colors: 64 (32 for each VDP. Each VDP picks its pallete Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz translucent shadows
from a possible 64 colors) Sound Chips; The Sega X Board is an arcade system board released
Resolution: 256 x 192 1st Configuration: YM2151 @ 4 MHz & SegaPCM @ by Sega in 1987. As the third in Sega’s Super Scaler
Screen Scroll: X, Y, partial 15.625 kHz series of arcade hardware, it was noteworthy for its
Audio: 6 tone channels and 2 noise channels 2nd Configuration: YM2203 @ 4 MHz & SegaPCM @
Characters: 8 x 8 (448 definitions per VDP) sprite manipulation capabilities, which allowed it to
31.250 kHz
Sprites: 8x8, 8x16, 16x16 (up to 128 on screen at a time) Video Resolution: 320 x 224 create high quality pseudo-3D visuals. This trend
The hardware is based on Sega Master System. Board composition: CPU board + Video board would continue with the Y Board and the System 32,
Hardware Features: 128 Sprites on screen at one time, before the Model 1 made true 3D arcade games more
Sega System 16 (1985–1994) 2 tile layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware financially affordable.
System 16A
sprite zooming, 1 road layer, translucent shadows Sega Y Board (1988–1991)
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 10 MHz
Sega Space Harrier, also known as Sega Hang-On, Main CPU: 3 x MC68000 @ 12.5 MHz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
Sound chip: Yamaha YM2151 @ 4 MHz & NEC uPD7751 is an early 16-bit system released in 1985, originally Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
ADPCM Decoder designed for the racing game Hang-On and third- Sound chip: YM2151 @ 4 MHz & SegaPCM @ 15.625
Video resolution: 320 x 224 (vertical) person rail shooter Space Harrier (1985). It was also MHz
Colour’s: 4096 used for the racing game Enduro Racer (1986). This Max Colours: 16384 (4bpp - 16 per sprite, which go
Board composition: CPU board + Video board was the first in Sega’s Super Scaler series of pseudo- through a 16->512 indirection table), then selects which
Hardware Features: 128 Sprites on screen at one time, 3D arcade hardware. At the time of its release, this 512 color bank to take from 4096. This is used to do col-
2 tile layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware was the most powerful game system. our rotations (the red-yellow rotation of the lava sprites
sprite zooming, translucent shadows The pseudo-3D sprite/tile scaling in Sega’s from Galaxy force for instance) without changing the
System 16B color palette, also allows it to have sprites that rotate
Super Scaler arcade games were handled in a similar
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 10 MHz colors and sprites that don’t on the same screen, and to
manner to textures in later texture-mapped polygonal get different levels of luminosity as well
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 5 MHz
3D games of the 1990s. Designed by Sega AM2’s Yu Sprite Structure: Uses a linked list of sprites (each sprite
Sound chip: YM2151 @ 4 MHz & Nec uPD7759 @ 640
kHz Suzuki, he stated that his “designs were always 3D includes the number of the next one)
Video resoution: 320 x 224 (vertical) from the beginning. All the calculations in the sys- Video resoution: 320 x 224
Colours: 4096 tem were 3D, even from Hang-On. I calculated the Board composition: CPU board + Video boardBoard
Board composition: Mother board + Rom board (see pic- position, scale, and zoom rate in 3D and converted it The Sega Y Board is an arcade system board released
ture above) backwards to 2D. So I was always thinking in 3D.” by Sega in 1988. Like the X Board before it, the Y
Hardware Features: 128 Sprites on screen at one time, Board was known for its pseudo-3D sprite manipu-
2 tile layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware Sega Out Run Hardware (1986–1991)
Main CPU: 2 x MC68000 @ 12.5 MHz lation capabilities, handled by Sega’s custom Super
sprite zooming, translucent shadows Scaler chipset.
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz
The Sega System 16 is an early 16-bit arcade system Sound chip: YM2151 @ 4 MHz & SegaPCM @ 15.625
board released by Sega in 1985. Over its lifespan, kHz
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
61
Sega System 18 (1989–1992) Sound chip : YM3438 @ 7.670442 MHz, 2 x SN76489 @ Sega System C2 (1989–1995)
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 10 MHz 3.579540 MHz Main CPU: MC68000 @ 8.948862 Mhz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 8 MHz Format : There is an extra bios in the carts and they are Sound chip: YM3438 @ 7.670453, SN76496 @ 3.579545
Sound chip: 2 x YM3438 @ 8 MHz & Ricoh RF5c68 @ not compatible with the Genesis console, Master System Optional Sound Chip: UPD7759 @ 640 kHz
10 MHz (8 Channel PCM chip, remarked as Sega custom console or and Mega Play boards Video resoution: 320x224
315) Cartridge Colour : Red Hardware Features: Linescroll , column scroll and a
Video resoution: 320 x 224 Number of Slots : 8 raster interrupt with 2 bg planes, one with an option win-
Colours: 4096 Machine Operation : When you insert coin, you buy time, dow, a sprite plane and several levels of priority
Board composition: Main board + Rom board the game is finished when your time is up, You can add Board composition: One single Jamma board.
Hardware Features: 128 Sprites on screen at one time, extra coins during the game to buy extra time Sega’s System 14, also known as System C and Sys-
4 tile layers, 1 text layer, 1 sprite layer with hardware Board connector : The board uses custom connector tem C-2, is a Jamma PCB used in arcade games,
sprite zooming, translucent shadows (non-jamma) introduced in 1989. This hardware is based closely
The Sega System 18 is an arcade system board re- The Sega Mega-Tech is an arcade system developed on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis hardware, with the
leased by Sega in 1989. System 18 had a very short by Sega Europe in 1988. It is based on the Mega main CPU, sound processor and graphics processor
run of games but most boards on this hardware were Drive/Genesis video game console hardware, and being the same, but with the addition of the Altera
JAMMA standard. Most of these games also have more or less identical. Its operation ability is simi- EPM5032 and Sega 315-5242 color encoder increas-
the “suicide battery” as associated with Sega’s Sys- lar to Nintendo’s PlayChoice-10, where the credits ing the color palette. The CPU clock speed is slight-
tem 16 hardware. It also contained the VDP used by bought give the user a playable time period rather ly faster (8.94 MHz instead of 7.67 MHz), there is
the Sega Mega Drive console. than lives (usually 1 minute per credit), and can no Z80, and the sound chip is driven by the CPU.
switch between games during playtime. The DAC is also replaced by the NEC µPD7759, the
Sega System 24 (1988–1994)
A few things were omitted, such as the ex- same as the System 16 hardware. 17 known games
Main CPU: 2 x MC68000 @ 10MHz (one for boot, the
second for the game) pansion hardware allowing for Sega Mega-CD or were created for the System C-2 hardware.
Sound chip: YM2151 @ 4 MHz & DAC Sega 32X as these were not developed at this point,
so would not likely be offered as an arcade expan- Sega System 32 (1990–1995)
Video resoution: Medium Res
sion. The PCB for the Mega-Tech also includes the Main CPU: NEC V60 @ 16.107950 MHz (32 bits RISC
Board composition: Mother board + Floppy Disk, CD-
ability to display to a second monitor, which con- CPU)
ROM or Rom Board
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 8.053975 MHz
The Sega System 24 is an arcade system board re- tains a list of the games installed in the machine and
Sound chip: 2 x YM3438 @ 8.053975 MHz + Ricoh
leased by Sega in 1988. It was produced for coin- also displays instructions for controlling the game, 1 RF5c68 @ 12.5 MHz (8 Channel PCM chip remarked as
operated video arcade machines until 1996. Some or 2 player information, and a short synopsis of each Sega custom 315-*)
games released using this hardware include: Bonan- game. The second monitor also displays the time left Max Colours: 16384 (8bpp - 16 colour’s per sprite)
za Bros., Hot Rod, and Gain Ground. for playing. Goes through a 16->512 indirection table, then selects
The System 24 used two Motorola 68000 Since the machine is basically a Mega Drive which 512 color bank to take from 4096. This is used to
processors at 10 MHz. One was for input/output, with timer control for arcade operations, porting do colour rotations (the red-yellow rotation of the lava
while the other was used by the game. The board games to the Mega-Tech was an easy task and so sprites from Galaxy force for instance) without changing
holds 1360 kB of RAM and 256 kB of ROM. It was many games were released, most of them popular the color palette, also allows it to have sprites that rotate
titles such as Streets Of Rage, Revenge Of Shinobi, colors and sprites that don’t on the same screen, and to
the first Sega arcade system that required a medium
Golden Axe, Sonic The Hedgehog and many more. get different levels of luminosity as well
resolution arcade monitor. The color palette is 4352 Sprite Structure: Sprites follow each other in memory ex-
on screen selectable from 32,768, or with shadow & The ability was also added for the machine to play
cept when you stumble on a “go to “
highlight, 16,384 on screen selectable from 98,304. Sega Master System titles, though fewer Master Video resolution: 320 x 224
The system could support up to 2048 sprites on- System titles were ported than Mega Drive titles. Board composition: Main board + Rom board
screen at once. Some include the original Shinobi, Outrun and After Board Features: 4 BG planes and technically infinite
Sound was driven by a YM2151 at 4 MHz; it Burner. sprites of arbitrary size, BG planes can all be scaled and
was capable of delivering 8 channels of FM sound in The Sega Mega-Tech was released in Eu- linescrolled, alpha blending, global RGB brightness con-
addition to a DAC used for sound effects and sam- rope, Australia, and trol
pling. Early System 24s loaded their program from Asia (including Ja- System 32 is an arcade platform released by
floppy disks. Games could also use hardware ROM pan), but not in Sega in 1990. It succeeded the Y Board and Sys-
boards to store games. No matter which storage de- North America. tem 24, combining features from both. It used
vice was used, a special security chip was required a NEC V60 processor at 16.10795 MHz, sup-
for each game an operator wanted to play. porting 32-bit fixed-point instructions as well as
32-bit and 64-bit floating-point instructions. It
Sega Mega-Tech (1988–1992) used a new custom Sega graphics chipset com-
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 7.670442 MHz, 2 x Z80 @
bining the Y Board’s pseudo-3D Super Scaler
3.579540 MHz
capabilities with the System 24’s sprite render-
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
62
ing system. Notable titles included Golden Axe: The 1991-92 for assistance to develop a CG platform flat shading that Model 1 supported. The Model 2
Revenge of Death Adder, Rad Mobile, OutRunners, architecture for their new experimental 3D system, also introduced the use of texture filtering and tex-
and SegaSonic the Hedgehog. which later became known as Model 1. Virtua racer ture anti-aliasing.
was the game being written to find out how viable Designed by Sega AM2’s Yu Suzuki, he stat-
Sega System Multi 32 (1992–1994)
hardware 3D games were, it was never designed to ed that the Model 2’s texture mapping chip originat-
Main CPU: NEC V70 @ 20MHz (32 bits RISC CPU)
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 8.053975 MHz be released, but it was such a success internally they ed “from military equipment from Lockheed Mar-
Sound chip: YM3438 @ 8.053975 MHz & Sega Multi- decided to actually release it. tin, which was formerly General Electric Aerial &
PCM 28 channel PCM chip @ 8.053975 MHz (can ac- Unfortunately, seeing as it was so expensive Space’s textural mapping technology. It cost $2 mil-
cess up to 4meg of sample rom) to manufacture it was never a stunning financial suc- lion to use the chip. It was part of flight-simulation
Max Colours: 16384 (8bpp - 16 colours per sprite) cess for Sega, but it did cement their place in the his- equipment that cost $32 million. I asked how much
Goes through a 16->512 indirection table, then selects tory books as the world leader in 3D arcade technol- it would cost to buy just the chip and they came back
which 512 color bank to take from 4096. This is used to ogy, a title which they still hold to this day, and it led with $2 million. And I had to take that chip and con-
do colour rotations (the red-yellow rotation of the lava to possibly the most popular platform ever, Model 2. vert it for video game use, and make the technology
sprites from Galaxy force for instance) without changing “system16.com” available for the consumer at 5,000 yen ($50)” ($85
the color palette, also allows it to have sprites that rotate
in 2017) per machine. He said “it was tough but we
colors and sprites that don’t on the same screen, and to Sega Mega-Play (1993)
were able to make it for 5,000 yen. Nobody at Sega
get different levels of luminosity as well Main CPU: MC68000 @ 7.670442 MHz, 2 x Z80 @
Sprite Structure: Sprites follow each other in memory ex- 3.579540 MHz believed me when I said I wanted to purchase this
cept when you stumble on a “go to “ Sound chip: YM3438 @ 7.670442 MHz, 2 x SN76489 @ technology for our games.” There were also issues
Video resoution: 320 x 224 3.579540 MHz working on the new CPU, the Intel i960-KB, which
Board composition: Main board + Rom board Format: Uses Genesis only based games (not master sys- had just released in 1993. Suzuki stated that when
Board Features: 4 BG planes and technically infinite tem like the Mega-Tech), and there is an extra bios in the working “on a brand new CPU, the debugger doesn’t
sprites of arbitrary size, BG planes can all be scaled and carts which are not compatible with the Genesis console exist yet. The latest hardware doesn’t work because
linescrolled, alpha blending, global RGB brightness con- or the Mega-Tech board it’s full of bugs. And even if a debugger exists, the
trol Cartridge Colour: Black / White Labels debugger itself is full of bugs. So, I had to debug the
Multi 32 or System 32 Multi is another version of the Number of Slots: 4 debugger. And of course with new hardware there’s
System 32 hardware. This was similar to the origi- Machine Operation: When you insert coins you buy cred-
no library or system, so I had to create all of that, as
nal, but had a dual monitor display, a new NEC V70 its just like a standard arcade video game. Game ends at
well. It was a brutal cycle.”
game over as normal.
processor at 20 MHz, a new Sega MultiPCM sound Despite its high pricetag, the Model 2 plat-
Board connector: Jamma compatible
chip, more RAM, and other improvements. This was form was very successful, and in early 1996 Sega
The successor to the Sega Mega-Tech, the Mega-
the last of Sega’s Super Scaler series of pseudo-3D began licensing the board to its competitors. The
Play, is a JAMMA based system. This system uti-
arcade system boards. Model 2 featured some of the highest grossing ar-
lized only 4 carts instead of 8. This version also uti-
Sega Model 1 (1992–1994) cade games of all time: Daytona USA, Virtua Fight-
lizes traditional arcade operations, in which credits
Main CPU: 32bits RISC NEC V60 uPD-70616 @ 16 er 2, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, The House of the
bought are used to buy lives instead.
MHz (2.5 MIPS) Dead, and Dead or Alive.
Like the Mega-Tech, The Sega Mega-Play
Graphics Co-Processor: Fujitsu TGP MB86233 FPU Model 2 has four different varieties: Model
was released in Europe, Australia, and Asia (includ-
32bits 16M flops 2 (1993), Model 2A-CRX (1994), Model 2B-CRX
ing Japan), but not in North America.
Sound CPU: 68000 @ 12Mhz (1994) and Model 2C-CRX (1996). While Model 2
Sound chip: 2 x Sega MultiPCM Custom 28 channel Sega Model 2 (1994) and 2A-CRX use a custom DSP with internal code
PCM chips @ 8 MHz, 1 for Music and 1 for Effects. Each Main CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz for the geometrizer, 2B-CRX and 2C-CRX use well
can access up to 8meg sample rom *per chip* Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 MHz documented DSPs and upload the geometrizer code
Sound Timing Chip: YM3834 @ 8MHz (only used for its Sound chip: SN76496 @ 2 MHz, SN76496 @ 4 MHz at startup to the DSP.
timers) Video resoution: 256 x 224
This, combined with
Co-Processor Abilities: Floating decimal point operation Board composition: Main board & rom board.
function, Axis rotation operation function, 3D matrix op- the fact that some
Hardware Features: 2 layers+sprites, hardware collision
eration function detection games were avail-
Geometry: 180,000 polygons/sec, 540,000 vectors/sec The Sega Model 2 is an arcade system board re- able for both 2A-
Rendering: 1,200,000 pixels/sec leased by Sega in 1993. Like the Model 1, it was CRX and 2B-CRX,
Video : Shading Flat Shading, Diffuse Reflection, Spec- developed in cooperation with Martin Marietta, and led to the reverse
ula Reflection, 2 Layers of Background Scrolling, Alpha engineering of the
is a further advancement of the earlier Model 1 sys-
Channel Model 2 and Model
tem. The most noticeable improvement was texture
Video resolution: 496x384 in 65536 colors 2A-CRX D-SPs.
mapping, which enabled polygons to be painted with
Sega went to General Electric Aerospace (who made
bitmap images, as opposed to the limited monotone
the first 3D simulators for NASA in the 1960s) in
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
63
Sega Model 2A-CRX (1994–1999) Memory RAM: 4 M-bits ST-V allowed for very accurate ports for the Saturn
Main CPU: Intel i960-KB @ 25 MHz 32bits RISC Memory ROM: 68 M-bits (max.) console.
Co-Processors: 5 x Fujitsu TGP FPU 32bits 16M flops Sound chip: SCSP/YMF292-F (315-5687) LAKE @ The manufacturer of the American STV-
(Floating Point, Stem Rotate, 3D Matrix) 11.3MHz Titan dedicated cabinets (which were plastic) was
Video resolution: 496x384 in 65536 colors 44.1 khz Sampling Rate mainly a manufacturer of waste storage containers,
Geometry: 300,000 polygons/s. 900,000 vectors/s 32 Channels, 16 bits, 2 channel output molded plastic stuff and whatnot. Turned out presci-
Rendering: 1,200,000 pixels/s Model 2B-CRX is a variant of Sega Model 2. ent as that’s pretty much how the market received
Video: Shading Flat Shading, Perspective Texture, Micro
Texture, Multi Window, Diffuse Reflection Mode, Specu- Sega ST-V (1995–2001) them; as garbage cans.
lar Reflection Mode Main CPUs: 2 x Hitachi SH-2 @ 28.6364 MHz
Sound CPU: 16bits 68000 @ 11.2896 Mhz Sound CPU: MC68000 @ 11.45456 MHz
Memory RAM: 4 M-bits Sound chip: SCSP/YMF292-F (315-5687)/”LAKE” @
Memory ROM: 68 M-bits (max.) 11.3MHz, 32 PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) Channels,
Sound chip: SCSP/YMF292-F (315-5687) LAKE @ 44.1 khz Sampling Rate
11.3MHz Secondary CPUs;
44.1 khz Sampling Rate SCU DSP: fixed point maths coprocessor, up to 4 parallel
32 Channels, 16 bits, 2 channel output instructions.
Model 2A-CRX is a variant of Sega Model 2. Sega VDP 1: 32-bit video display processor : sprite and poly-
had always envisioned their 3D system to be tex- gon, dual 256KB frame buffers for rotation and scaling
effects, Texture Mapping, Goraud Shading, 512KB cache
tured, never just flat shaded 3D, so with this in mind
for textures
they kept their relation going with GEA (now known VDP 2: 32-bit background and scroll plane video display
as Martin Marietta after being bought by them in processor, 2 Windows for special calculations, transpar-
1993) and worked with SEGA to upgrade the Model ency, shadowing, background engine, 5 simulataneous
1 graphics, including the new texture mapping fea- scrolling backgrounds, 2 simultaneous rotating play-
tures among other effects. fields, up to 60 frames per second animation
Main RAM: 2 Megabytes (16 megabits)
Sega Model 2B-CRX (1995–1999) VRAM: 1.54 Megabytes (12 megabits)
Main CPU: Intel i960-KB @ 25 MHz 32bits RISC Audio RAM: 512 Kilobytes (4 megabits)
Co-Processor: 2 Analog Devices SHARC FPU 32bits Rendering Speed: 200,000 Texture Mapped Polygons/
16M flops Second, 500,000 Flat Shaded Polygons/Second Sega System H1 (1995–1996)
Co-Processor Abilities: Floating decimal point operation Colours: 24-bit true color graphics, 16. Million Avail- Board composition: CPU Board, Video Board, Commu-
function, Axis rotation operation function, 3D matrix op- able Colors nication Board, ROM Board
eration function. Resolution: 320x224, 640x224, and 720x576 horizontal Main CPU: Hitachi SH-2 @ 28.63636 MHz (32-bit,
Memory RAM: 8 M-Bits + 1 M-bit and 240, 448, and 480 vertical 28.63636 MIPS)[4]
Memory ROM: 720 M-bits (max.) Board composition: Main board + Game cartridge (one Sub-CPU: Hitachi SH-1 @ 16 MHz (32-bit, 16 MIPS)[4]
Video resolution: 496x384 24Hz Horizontal sync, wave, or more in the same time) Sound CPU: Toshiba TMP68HC000N @ 16 MHz (16/32-
non interlace. Game Cartridge Size: Max size = 384mbit (48meg) bit, 2.8 MIPS)
Scroll Surfaces: 2 Surfaces, Horizontal line scroll, 16 The board is Jamma and uses a standard resolution mon- Sound processors: 2× Yamaha YMF292 (SCSP)[7]
colours x 123 colour palettes / 32,768 colours GPU: Sega 837-9621 Video Board @ 50 MHz
itor
Window Surfaces: 2 Surfaces, Horizontal line scroll, 16 Memory: Up to 94.3 MB (6276 KB main, 85.125 MB
colours x 123 colour palettes / 32,768 colours ST-V (Sega Titan Video game system) is an arcade
video, 3 MB sound)
3D Graphics Engine: Built in floating decimal point unit. system board released by Sega in 1994. Departing System RAM: 8452 KB (8.254 MB)
900,000 vectors/sec (max.) 300,000 polygons/sec (max.) from their usual process of building custom arcade Display resolution: 2 monitors: 640×224 to 992×384
Polygon Surfaces: 2,000,000 pixels/frame (60 frames/ hardware, Sega’s ST-V is essentially identical to the (320×224 to 496×384 per monitor)
sec) Sega Saturn home console system. The only differ- The Sega H1 Board is an arcade board made by
1,024 colour palettes x 64 luminance tables, 16,777,216 ence is the media: ST-V used ROM cartridges in- Sega. Released in 1995, it was a successor to the
colours. stead of CD-ROMs to store games. Being derived Sega System 32 and was the last Super Scaler arcade
Texturing Information: Perspective Texture, 16 shade from the Saturn hardware, the ST-V was presumably system board (using sprite/texture scaling for three-
mono texture named after the moon Titan, a satellite of Saturn.
Map size: 1024x2048x2 (sheets) dimensional graphics). Hardware-wise, it crosses the
The majority of ST-V titles were released in bridge between the System 32 and the Sega Model 1
Micro Texture: 128x128x8 Sheets
Japan only, but a notable exception was the port of and Model 2. The H1 Board also uses hardware sim-
Translator Map: 128 shades x 256 sets
Transparent 1 shade, checker board, texture antialiasing. Dynamite Deka, which became Die Hard Arcade. ilar to the Sega Saturn and ST-V. Only two games
Advanced communications function, can link many ma- Games released for the ST-V include Virtua Fighter are known to use the H1 Board; Cool Riders (1995)
chine together. Remix, Golden Axe: The Duel and Final Fight Re- and Aqua Stage (1995).
Sound CPU: 16bits 68000 11.2896 Mhz venge. The shared hardware between Saturn and “segaretro.org”
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
64
WhiteStar (1995–2004) frames/sec) of over one million quad polygons per second and
Main CPU: Motorola 6809 at 2 MHz 1,024 colour palettes x 64 luminance tables, 16,777,216 over two million triangular polygons per second.The
Display CPU: Motorola 6809 at 2 MHz colours. hardware went through several “steppings,” which
Sound CPU: Motorola 6809 at 2 MHz (CPU/Sound Texturing Information: Perspective Texture, 16 shade increased the clock speed of the CPU and the speed
Board), Atmel AT91SAM at 40 MHz (CPU/Sound Board mono texture of the 3D engine, as well as minor changes to the
II) Map size: 1024x2048x2 (sheets)
board architecture. Step 1.0 and Step 1.5 released in
Sound chips: BSMT2000 at 24 MHz (CPU/Sound Board), Micro Texture: 128x128x8 Sheets
Translator Map: 128 shades x 256 sets 1996, Step 2.0 in 1997, and Step 2.1 in 1998.
3x Xilinx FPGAs (CPU/Sound Board II)
Transparent 1 shade, checker board, texture antialiasing. Well known Model 3 games include Virtua
The WhiteStar Board System was an arcade system
Advanced communications function, can link many ma- Fighter 3 (1996), Sega Super GT (1996), Harley-
board used for several pinball games designed by
chine together. Davidson & L.A. Riders (1997), Sega Bass Fishing
Sega Pinball and their successor, Stern Pinball, be-
Sound CPU: 16bits 68000 11.2896 Mhz (1997), Daytona USA 2 (1998), Sega Rally 2 (1998),
tween 1995 and 2005. It is the successor to Data East
Memory RAM: 4 M-bits and The Ocean Hunter (1998), although it is the rar-
Pinball/Sega Pinball’s Version 3 system, derived
Memory ROM: 68 M-bits (max.) est of them. By 2000, the Sega Model 2 & 3 had sold
from System 11 hardware, copied from Williams. Sound chip: SCSP YMF292-F (315-5687) LAKE @ over 200,000 arcade systems worldwide.
1995’s Apollo 13 was the first game to use 11.3MHz
the WhiteStar System, and 2005’s NASCAR (Grand 44.1 khz Sampling Rate Sega Model 3 Step 1.5 (1996–1998)
Prix outside the US) was the final game to use the 32 Channels, 16 bits, 2 channel output Main CPU: 32bits RISC PowerPC 603 100Mhz
WhiteStar System. Model 2C-CRX is a variant of Sega Model 2. Graphics Chip: 2 x Lockheed Martin Real3D/PRO-1000
It is succeeded by Stern’s “S.A.M. System”, Sound CPU: 16bits 68EC000 11.3Mhz
which was first used in 2006’s World Poker Tour. Sega Model 3 Step 1.0 (1996–1997) Sound chip: Yamaha SCSP/YMF-292F/”LAKE” FH1
In 2003, when The Lord of the Rings was Main CPU: 32bits RISC PowerPC 603 66Mhz 128-step DSP x 2, MIDI interface, 16 bits 64 voices 4
Graphics Chip: 2 x Lockheed Martin Real3D/PRO-1000

channel, maximum of 16.5 Mbytes ROM, 64 PCM chan-

released, the WhiteStar’s audio hardware underwent
Sound CPU: 16bits 68EC000 11.3Mhz nels
major changes. The Motorola 6809/BSMT2000 Sound chip: Yamaha SCSP/YMF-292F/”LAKE” FH1 Audio RAM: 1meg (8 megabits, 512K per SCSP chip)
sound system was changed to a 32-bit Atmel AT- 128-step DSP x 2, MIDI interface, 16 bits 64 voices 4 Main Memory: 8 Mbytes 66mhz Ram, graphic ROM max-
91SAM CPU with three Xilinx FPGAs. This adds channel, maximum of 16.5 Mbytes ROM, 64 PCM chan- imum of 64 Mbytes, backup RAM 64 Kbytes
hardware emulation of the 6809-BSMT2000 system nels Video resolution: 24KHz 496(H)x384(V) one or two
for backwards-compatibility with previous WhiteS- Audio RAM: 1meg (8 megabits, 512K per SCSP chip) plane 24khz, It uses the VGA pinout however. And, the
tar-based games (some late Terminator 3 machines Main Memory: 8 Mbytes 66mhz Ram, graphic ROM max- voltage levels of the video output is at VGA levels (.7vdc
were actually shipped using this replacement board), imum of 64 Mbytes, backup RAM 64 Kbytes Peak to Peak)
as well as adding 16-bit ADPCM compression for Video resolution: 24KHz 496(H)x384(V) one or two Scroll Window: two plane (24KHz/two plane mode), 16
the audio. The 16-bit audio is used from Lord of the plane 24khz, It uses the VGA pinout however. And, the colours/32,768 1024 palette x 2 bank, 256/32,768 64 pal-
Rings to NASCAR / Grand Prix. voltage levels of the video output is at VGA levels (.7vdc ette x 2 bank
Peak to Peak) Geometrizer: At least 1,000,100 polygons/s for square
This revised board is called the CPU/Sound
Scroll Window: two plane (24KHz/two plane mode), 16 polys, 2,000,200 for Triangle polys
Board II (or the CPU/Sound II Board) in the official colours/32,768 1024 palette x 2 bank, 256/32,768 64 pal- Renderer: At least 60,000,000 pixels/s
schematics. ette x 2 bank Video: Full Color Texture Mapping, Tri-Linear Interpo-
Sega Model 2C-CRX (1996–1999) Geometrizer: 1,000,100 polygons/s for square polys, lation, Micro Texture, Shading High-Specula Gouraud
Main CPU: Intel i960-KB @ 25 MHz 32bits RISC 2,000,200 for Triangle polys Shading, Fix Shading, Flat Shading, Texture & Edge
Co-Processors : Fujitsu TGPx4 MB86235 FPU 32bits Renderer: 60,000,000 pixels/s Multi Layered Anti-Allasing, Lighting Effects, Parallel
16M flops Video: Full Color Texture Mapping, Tri-Linear Interpo- Light, 4 Spot Light, Pin Spot Light, Special Effect Zon-
Co-Processor Abilities: Floating decimal point operation lation, Micro Texture, Shading High-Specula Gouraud ing-Fog, 32 Levels of Translucency.
function, Axis rotation operation function, 3D matrix op- Shading, Fix Shading, Flat Shading, Texture & Edge Board composition: CPU + VIDEO + ROM boards
eration function. Multi Layered Anti-Allasing, Lighting Effects, Parallel Others: 10mbs Connection, calendar IC
Memory RAM: 8 M-Bits + 1 M-bit Light, 4 Spot Light, Pin Spot Light, Special Effect Zon-
ing-Fog, 32 Levels of Translucency. Sega Model 3 Step 2.0 (1997–1998)
Memory ROM: 720 M-bits (max.) Main CPU: 32bits RISC PowerPC 603ev 166Mhz
Video resolution: 496x384 24Hz Horizontal sync, wave, Board composition: CPU + VIDEO + ROM boards
Others: 10mbs Connection, calendar IC Graphics Chip: 2 x Lockheed Martin Real3D/PRO-1000
non interlace. Sound CPU: 16bits 68EC000 11.3Mhz
Scroll Surfaces: 2 Surfaces, Horizontal line scroll, 16 The Sega Model 3 is an arcade system board re-
Sound chip: Yamaha SCSP/YMF-292F/”LAKE” FH1
colours x 123 colour palettes / 32,768 colours leased by Sega in 1996. It was the culmination of 128-step DSP x 2, MIDI interface, 16 bits 64 voices 4
Window Surfaces: 2 Surfaces, Horizontal line scroll, 16 Sega’s partnership with Lockheed Martin, using the channel, maximum of 16.5 Mbytes ROM, 64 PCM chan-
colours x 123 colour palettes / 32,768 colours company’s Real3D division to design the graphi- nels
3D Graphics Engine: Built in floating decimal point unit. cal hardware. It was first unveiled at the 1996 AOU Audio RAM: 1meg (8 megabits, 512K per SCSP chip)
900,000 vectors/sec (max.) 300,000 polygons/sec (max.) show. Upon release, the Model 3 was easily the most Main Memory: 8 Mbytes 66mhz Ram, graphic ROM max-
Polygon Surfaces: (at least) 2,000,000 pixels/frame (60 powerful arcade system board in existence, capable imum of 64 Mbytes, backup RAM 64 Kbytes
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
65
Video resolution: 24KHz 496(H)x384(V) one or two Graphic Memory: 16 MByte 168-megabyte bank of solid-state ROM. GD-ROM
plane 24khz, It uses the VGA pinout however. And, the Sound Memory: 8 MByte support requires a specialized DIMM board in addi-
voltage levels of the video output is at VGA levels (.7vdc Media: ROM Board (maximum size of 172MBytes) / GD- tion to the GD-ROM drive. When the NAOMI pow-
Peak to Peak) Rom ers-on, it copies data from the comparatively slow
Scroll Window: two plane (24KHz/two plane mode), 16 Simultaneous Number of Colors: Approx. 16,770,000 GD-ROM to the faster DIMM memory. Thereafter,
colours/32,768 1024 palette x 2 bank, 256/32,768 64 pal- (24bits)
the game executes entirely in RAM.
ette x 2 bank Polygons: 2.5 Million polys/sec
Geometrizer: At least 1,000,100 polygons/s for square Rendering Speed: 500 M pixel/sec Unlike Sega’s previous arcade platforms
polys, 2,000,200 for Triangle polys Additional Features: Bump Mapping, Fog, Alpha-Bend- (and most other arcade platforms in the industry),
Renderer: At least 60,000,000 pixels/s ing (transparency), Mip Mapping (polygon-texture auto NAOMI is widely licensed for use by other game
Video: Full Color Texture Mapping, Tri-Linear Interpo- switch), Tri-Linear Filtering, Anti-Aliasing, Environment publishers. Among the licensees were Nintendo
lation, Micro Texture, Shading High-Specula Gouraud Mapping, and Specular Effect. (which only licensed one game, Rhythm Tengoku:
Shading, Fix Shading, Flat Shading, Texture & Edge The NAOMI (New Arcade Operation Machine Idea) HD Remixed Edition), Bandai Namco Games, Cap-
Multi Layered Anti-Allasing, Lighting Effects, Parallel is the successor to the Sega Model 3. Sega first dem- com, Sammy Corpora-
Light, 4 Spot Light, Pin Spot Light, Special Effect Zon- onstrated NAOMI publicly at the 1998 Amusement tion, and Tecmo. Some of
ing-Fog, 32 Levels of Translucency.
Machine Show (an annual the games developed by li-
Board composition: CPU + VIDEO + ROM boards
trade show hosted in To- censees were Mazan, Mar-
Others: 10mbs Connection, calendar IC
kyo by the Japan Amuse- vel vs. Capcom 2: New
Sega Model 3 Step 2.1 (1998–1999) ment Machinery Manu- Age of Heroes (Capcom
Main CPU : 32bits RISC PowerPC 603ev 166Mhz facturers Association). 2000), Rhythm Tengoku
Graphics Chip : 2 x Lockheed Martin Real3D/PRO-1000 After the show, Sega re- (Nintendo 2007), Dead or
Sound CPU : 16bits 68EC000 11.3Mhz leased the first NAOMI ti- Alive 2 (Tecmo 1999) and
Sound chip : Yamaha SCSP/YMF-292F/”LAKE” FH1
tle to the Japanese market: Guilty Gear XX (Sammy
128-step DSP x 2, MIDI interface, 16 bits 64 voices 4
The House of the Dead 2. 2002). Sammy developed
channel, maximum of 16.5 Mbytes ROM, 64 PCM chan-
nels NAOMI uses some a derivative platform, the
Audio RAM : 1meg (8 megabits, 512K per SCSP chip) of the same electronic Atomiswave, which has interchangeable game car-
Main Memory : 8 Mbytes 66mhz Ram, graphic ROM components as Sega’s tridges. The last NAOMI titles were released in
maximum of 64 Mbytes, backup RAM 64 Kbytes Dreamcast home game console: Hitachi SH-4 CPU, 2008: Sega’s Melty Blood: Actress Again and Subtle
Video resolution : 24KHz 496(H)x384(V) one or two PowerVR Series 2 GPU (PVR2DC), and Yamaha Style’s Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse.
plane 24khz, It uses the VGA pinout however. And, the AICA Super Intelligent Sound Processor based
voltage levels of the video output is at VGA levels (.7vdc Sega Hikaru (1999–2002)
sound system. However, NAOMI has twice as much
Peak to Peak) CPU: 2 x Hitachi SH-4 128 bit RISC CPU with graphic
system memory, twice as much video memory, and functions @ 200 MHz 360 MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS
Scroll Window : two plane (24KHz/two plane mode), 16 four times as much sound memory.
colours/32,768 1024 palette x 2 bank, 256/32,768 64 pal- Graphic Engine: Sega Custom 3D
Multiple NAOMI boards can be clustered to Sound Engine: 2x ARM7 Yamaha AICA @ 45 MHz with
ette x 2 bank
Geometrizer : At least 1,000,100 polygons/s for square
improve graphics performance and to support mul- internal 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channel ADPCM
polys, 2,000,200 for Triangle polys tiple-monitor output. A special game cabinet for the Main Memory: 64 Mbytes
Renderer : At least 60,000,000 pixels/s NAOMI, NAOMI Universal Cabinet, houses up to Graphic Memory: 28 Mbytes
Video : Full Color Texture Mapping, Tri-Linear Interpo- sixteen boards for this purpose. Multiple-board vari- Sound Memory: 8 Mbytes
lation, Micro Texture, Shading High-Specula Gouraud ants are referred to as NAOMI Multiboard hardware, Media: ROM Board (max 352 MBytes)
Shading , Fix Shading, Flat Shading, Texture & Edge which debuted in 1999. Simultaneous Number of Colors: Approx. 16,770,000
Multi Layered Anti-Allasing, Lighting Effects, Parallel Sega’s NAOMI Satellite Terminal Hard- (24bits)
Light, 4 Spot Light, Pin Spot Light, Special Effect Zon- Resolution: 24 KHz, 496x384, 31 KHz 640x480
ware infrastructure enabled developers to make
ing-Fog, 32 Levels of Translucency. Polygons: 2 Million polys a sec
games with multiple control terminals, so several Shading: Phong Shading
Board composition : CPU + VIDEO + ROM boards people could sit and play a game that has one large
Others : 10mbs Connection, calendar IC Lighting: Horizontal, Spot, 1024 lights per scene, 4 lights
screen. The Satellite Terminal Hardware links up to per polygon, 8 window surfaces.
Sega NAOMI (1998–2009) 10 NAOMI boards. Multi-terminal systems like this Effects: (at least) Phong Shading, Fog, Depth Queueing,
CPU: Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC CPU (200 MHz 360 made use of Memory Card Reader and Dispenser Stencil, Shadow, Motion blur
MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS) (MCRD) technology. Derby Owners Club (2000) Others Capabilties : Bitmap Layer x 2, Calender, Dual
Graphic Engine: PowerVR 2 (PVR2DC) and World Club Champion Football (2002) are two Monitor (24 kHz)
Sound Engine: ARM7 Yamaha AICA 45 MHZ (with inter- applications of these technologies. Extensions: communication, 4 channel audio, PCI, MIDI,
nal 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channel ADPCM) Some NAOMI titles read game data from a RS-232C
Main Ram: 32 megs Connection: Jamma Video complient
GD-ROM optical disc, which is also the Dreamcast’s
Main Memory: 32 MByte An evolution of the NAOMI hardware with supe-
software medium. Game data can also be stored in a
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
66
rior graphics capabilities, the Hikaru was used for a Additional Features: Bump Mapping, Multiple Fog programmable to handle 3D sound streams, 2D sound
handful of deluxe dedicated-cabinet games, begin- Modes, 8-bit Alpha Blending (256 levels of transparency), (including DLS-compatible MIDI), MP3 acceleration,
ning with 1999’s Brave Fire Fighters, in which the Mip Mapping (polygon-texture auto switch), Tri-Linear Sensaura environmental effects, and other functions)
flame and water effects were largely a showpiece for Filtering, Super Sampling for Full Scene Anti-Aliasing, - Other sounds may be generated by the CPU via soft-
the hardware. The Hikaru hardware was the first ar- Environment Mapping, and Specular Effect. ware engines.
Compatibility: Fully backwards compatible with all Nao- - nVidia nForce (Real time Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding)
cade platform capable of effective Phong shading.
mi and GD-Rom games. RAM : Upgradable Module, from 64MB upwards (Out-
According to Sega in 1999: “Brave Firefight- run 2 has 512MB)
In 2000, Sega debuted the NAOMI 2 arcade system
ers utilizes a slightly modified Naomi Hardware sys- Media : Sega GD-Rom
board at JAMMA, an upgrade and a sequel of the
tem called Hikaru. Hikaru incorporates a custom Sega Polygons : 125M Polys/sec (Theoretical Maximum)
original NAOMI with better graphics capability.
graphics chip and possesses larger memory capacity Rendering Speed : 4.0 G pixel/sec
NAOMI 2’s graphics-assembly contains two
than standard Naomi systems. “These modifications Features : Programmable vertex and pixel shading,
PowerVR CLX2 GPUs, a PowerVR Elan chip for
were necessary because in Brave Firefighters, our hardware Transform & Lighting engine, Quincunx FSAA,
geometry transformation and lighting effects, and
engineers were faced with the daunting challenge Anisotropic filtering, bump mapping, hardware lighting,
2X the graphics memory for each CLX2 chip. (Each particle effects, other standard 3D features).
of creating 3d images of flames and sprayed water,”
CLX2 has its own 32MB bank, as the CLX2s can- The Sega Chihiro system is a Sega arcade system
stated Sega’s Vice President of Sales and Market-
not share graphics RAM). Due to architectural simi- board based on the architecture of the Xbox. The
ing, Barbara Joyiens. “If you stop and think about it,
larities and a “bypass” feature in the Elan device, 733 MHz Intel Pentium III CPU and the Nvidia
both have an almost infinite number of shapes, sizes,
the NAOMI 2 is also able to play NAOMI games XChip graphics processor are common to both, but
colors, levels of opaqueness, shadings and shadows.
(except for The House of the Dead 2) without modi- the Chihiro has a different MCPX chip with unique
And, when you combine the two by simulating the
fication. bootloader keys. The main system memory, at 128
spraying of water on a flame, you create an entirely
different set of challenges for our game designers MB, is twice that of a retail Xbox. In addition to this
and engineers to overcome; challenges that would memory, the Chihiro also has additional RAM used
be extremely difficult, if not impossible to overcome for media storage - this was initially 512 MB but is
utilizing existing 3D computers. Hikaru has the upgradable to 1 GB. When the system is booted, the
horsepower to handle these demanding graphic chal- required files are copied from the GD-ROM to the
lenges with clarity, depth and precision.” In addition, RAM on the media board.
the Hikaru also uses two Hitachi SH-4 CPU’s, two Because the Chihiro and Xbox share the
Yamaha AICA sound engines, a Motorola 68000 same hardware architecture, porting from the Chi-
network CPU, and two PowerVR2 GPU’s. hiro is theoretically easier than porting from a differ-
Since it was comparatively expensive to ent arcade platform. In practice, there are a number
produce, and most games did not necessarily need of challenges - the first being that the half-size main
Hikaru’s extended graphics capabilities, Sega soon memory restricts the size of your working set and the
abandoned the system in favor of continued NAOMI second being that fetching assets from Xbox DVD
With the NAOMI 2, Sega brought back the GD- drive is orders of magnitude slower than fetching
and NAOMI 2 development.
ROM drive. For both NAOMI and NAOMI 2, the them from the 512MB/1GB of RAM on the media
Sega NAOMI 2 (2001–2006) GD-ROM setup was offered as an optional combi- board. These challenges are not insurmountable,
CPU: 2 x Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC CPU (200 MHz 360 nation of daughterboard expansion known as the though - for example, the Xbox release of OutRun
MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS) DIMM Board, and the GD-ROM drive itself. The 2 was able to retain the look and feel of the original
Graphic Engine: 2 x PowerVR 2 (PVR2DC-CLX2) GPU’s DIMM board contained enough RAM to allow an
- (under the fans) arcade version.
entire game to be loaded into memory at start up,
Geometry Processor: Custom Videologic T+L chip allowing the drive to shut down after the game has Sega System SP (2004–2009)
“Elan” (100mhz) - (Under Heatsink) CPU: Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC CPU (200 MHz 360
loaded. This heavily reduces load times during the
Sound Engine: ARM7 Yamaha AICA 45 MHZ (with inter- MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS)
nal 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channel ADPCM) game, and saves on drive wear and tear.
Graphic Engine: PowerVR2 (PVR2DC)
Main Memory: 32 MByte 100Mhz SDRAM Triforce (2002–2006) Sound Engine: ARM7 Yamaha AICA 45 MHZ (with inter-
Graphic Memory: 32 MByte “see Namco System Board page on Triforce” nal 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channel ADPCM)
Model Data Memory: 32MByte Main Memory: 32 MByte
Sound Memory: 8 MByte Sega Chihiro (2002–2008) Graphic Memory: 16 MByte
Media: ROM Board / GD-Rom System: X-Box based configuration. Sound Memory: 8 MByte
Simultaneous Number of Colors: Approx. 16,770,000 CPU: Intel Pentium III 733MHz (133MHz FSB) Network: CPU - AMD AU1500-333MBD, BOOT -
(24bits) Graphics : nVidia XChip 200MHz (based on the nVidia 2MByte Flash, RAM - 8Mbyte, Ethernet PHY
Polygons: 10 Million polys/sec with 6 light sources GeForce 3) Game Media: Compact Flash 256Mbyte
Rendering Speed : 2000 Mpixels/sec (unrealistic max, as- Sound Hardware: On Board Program Storage: 128Mbyte (8x128MBit or
sumes overdraw of 10x which nothing uses) - Cirrus Logic CS4630 Stream Processor (20-bit DAC, 2x512Mbit) or 512Mbyte (8x512Mbit) Flash Memory
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
67
Security IC: PIC16 Dongle same picture to each monitor or different pictures on will be used to run games that are less graphics-in-
Simultaneous Number of Colors: Approx. 16,770,000 each monitor, the resolution for each of the 2 monitors tensive and that require less high-end specifications
(24bits) can also be different. in order to cut down costs. Sega also appears poised
Polygons: 2.5 Million polys/sec Sound output: The two front speakers have RCA connec- to be designing a streaming hybrid for use with
Rendering Speed: 500 M pixel/sec tors, SPDIF for full surround. household TVs, similar to OnLive from the system’s
Additional Features: Bump Mapping, Fog, Alpha-Bend- Resolution: HDTV (High Definition)
hardware as evident from this patent issued by them
ing (transparency), Mip Mapping (polygon-texture auto RAM: 1024MB 184pin DDR SD-RAM PC3200 (2x
switch), Tri-Linear Filtering, Anti-Aliasing, Environment 512MB DDR 400 sticks) on November 17, 2009.
Mapping, and Specular Effect. LAN: 10/100/1000 TBase Gigabit Network Sega RingEdge (2009–)
System SP is a refactored NAOMI system with inte- Other: DVD Drive Support, USB2.0 (x4) - Sega ALL. CPU: Intel Pentium E2160 CPU @ 1.8 GHz
grated FlashROM board, CF interface and network- Connector Format: JVS Graphics: A “nVidia GPU” 384MB of GDDR3 RAM and
ing. Protection: A PIC microcontroller, looking similar to supports Shader Model 4.0 and 2x 1920×1200 displays.
the one used on NAOMI/Triforce/Chihiro but contain- Audio: 5.1 ch HD Audio
Sega Lindbergh (2005–2015) ing considerably different information, locking both the Memory: 1GB de DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM
The Sega Lindbergh ar- HDD and Compact Flash Cards. Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN, Compatible ALL.Net
cade system board is an Storage: 32GB SSD drive for storage
Sega Europa-R (2008–2010)
embedded PC running Operating System: Microsoft Windows Embedded Stand-
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core 3.4 GHz
MontaVista Linux (The ard 2009
RAM: 8GB (2x 4GB modules)
Lindbergh Blue system GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 The RingEdge is the main console of the Ring Se-
used Windows Embedded Protection: High Spec original security module. ries. It has better graphics and larger storage than
instead). Sega had initially Other: HDTV Compatible, DVD Drive Support, Sega the RingWide. It sports a better graphics card than
planned to use Microsoft’s ALL.NET online support the Lindbergh system, allowing for a higher per-
Xbox 360 as the basis for The Sega Europa-R is an arcade system board devel- formance graphically, all while costing less to pro-
the arcade board, but in- oped by Sega Amusements Europe. duce. The use of an Intel Pentium Dual-Core (1.8
stead opted for an architec- Sega chose a PC-based design for this arcade GHz per core) processor delivers better performance
ture based on standard PC board. This arcade board currently only runs two than Lindbergh’s Pentium 4 (3.0 GHz) processor. A
hardware. games, Sega Rally 3 and Race Driver: GRID (Styl- solid-state drive greatly reduces wear-and-tear due
According to Sega- ized as simply GRID). to a lack of moving parts, and also has much higher
AM2 president Hiroshi transfer rates than a hard disk drive, leading to better
Kataoka, porting Lind- Sega PC Based (2010–) performance and loading times. The Ringedge also
bergh titles (such as Vir- The hardware is standard PC based. supports 3D game capability.
tua Fighter 5) to Sony’s The Ring series of arcade machines are based on Sega RingEdge2 (2011–)
PlayStation 3 is generally PC architecture. Initially announced models include CPU: Intel i3 540 @ 3.0 GHz
easier than porting to Xbox RingEdge and RingWide. The 2 pieces of hardware GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT545
360, because the Lind- have Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2009 RAM: 2GB
bergh and PS3 use a GPU designed by the same as their operating system, mainly so other third-par- Storage: 32Gbytes TDK GBDISK RS3 SSD
company, Nvidia. ty companies would find it easier to produce games Sound: Nvidia HiDef Onboard
CPU (Blue): Intel Pentium 4 3.0G HT (800Mhz FSB - for the system. Motherboard: Intel Q57 Express
1MB L2 Cache) Interface: eAutomation CAN Port, DB9
CPU (Red): Intel Celeron 2.8ghz
Sega RingWide (2009–2012)
CPU: Intel Celeron 440 @ 2 GHz The successor to RingEdge, RingEdge 2 unlike
CPU (Yellow): Intel Pentium 4 3.0G HT (800Mhz FSB - Sega’s Naomi 2, is not designed to be a more pow-
Graphics: Integrated “AMD GPU” with 128MB of
1MB L2 Cache) erful version of the original RingEdge board, it is
GDDR3 RAM, supports Shader Model 4.0 and supports
GFX (Blue): NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series GPU
2x 1920×1200 screens simply a redesign based on newer hardware since
GFX (Red): NVIDIA GeForce 7600gs 256mb AGP
Audio: 5.1 ch HD Audio the hardware of the original RingEdge board was
GFX (Yellow): NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series GPU
GFX Memory: 256MB (256 bit GDDR3)
RAM: 1GB of DDR2 PC5300 RAM going end of life. Games designed for the original
Network: Onboard gigabit LAN RingEdge as well as the RingEdge 2 are completely
Operating System: Montavista Linux
Storage: 8GB Compact Flash for storage interchangeable however they might have slightly
GFX Capabilities: Vertex Shader 3.0, Pixel Shader 3.0
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Embedded Stand- better frame rates on the newer RingEdge 2 board
Audio: PCI Sound Card - 3D audio synthesizer chip on-
board, possible to have 64 sounds playing simultaneous- ard 2009 due to some better specifications in some cases.
ly, 5.1 surround output. The RingWide is more basic than the RingEdge, and
Video output: One analog D-Sub, Two Digital DVI out- only has 8 GB (CompactFlash) of storage, while Sega Nu (2013–)
puts. RingEdge has four times larger storage (because of CPU: intel Core i3-3220（3.30GHz）
Display: Single or dual monitor support. Can output the the use of the RAM Drive and SSD). The RingWide GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX650 Ti GDDR5 1GB (Direct
X 11.1 / Open GL 4.3 / 2 screen output(Full HD)
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
68
MEMORY: DDR3 SDRAM PC3-12800 4GB Audio: 2 channel RCA stereo Seta began working on their agreement for the board
SOUND: High Definition Audio 192KHz / 32bit 5.1ch Game I/O: JAMMA connector, JVS I/O connector in 1996, hoping to recreate the business model Nam-
LAN: Gigabit Serial: 1 channel co and Sony Computer Entertainment displayed
Input and output: JVS I/O Connector, Serial 4ch, 4x GPIO: 16 channel with the Namco System 11, i.e. to facilitate conver-
USB3, 2x CAN, I/O Power, DVI-I, DVI-D System Board Y2 is a low-cost arcade system re- sions of arcade games by basing an arcade board on
Storage: SATA SSD 64GB + HDD 500GB leased by SI Electronics in 2009. The product was the console hardware.
OS: Microsoft Windows Embedded 8 Standard originally announced in 2009-02-19. The hardware
Other: SEGA Original security / Windows security was unveiled in AOU 2009 Amusement Expo on
Released in November 2013, Nu is based on a mid- Skonec
2009-02-20.
range PC running Windows Embedded 8. Countering the contemporary trends of using SkoPro (2008)
PC-based systems to cut costs, it uses a proprietary The SkoPro is a arcade board has a few games on
system-on-a-chip platform to deliver a stable devel- it from Success, including an arcade version of the
opment environment. SI Electronics hopes to main- abstract PC shmup Exception.
tain its lower cost by relying on a long manufactur-
ing cycle. SNK
“wiki.arcadeotaku.com”
SNK Rockola Hardware (1980-1982)
Main CPU: 6502
Seta The SNK Rockola Hardware was launched by SNK
Seta 1st Generation (1987–1996) in 1980. The system has a 6502 processor, depend-
CPU: MC68000 @ 8MHz or 16MHz (depending on age ing on the title, is the speed is between 705,562 Khz
of game) and 930 Khz. For the audio, it also varied depending
Sound CPU [not all games]: M65C02 @ 1MHz on the game that was running. It could be a custom
Sound Chip: Seta PCM X1-010 @ 16MHz (except Thun- chip, discrete or SN76477 at 705,562 Khz or 930
derCade that has YM2203+YM3812) Khz, and in some cases, even more than one of them.
Sega Nu 2 (2016–) Seta 1st Genearation is the first arcade system cre-
ated by Seta. The system has had a fairly long life SNK Marvin’s Maze Hardware (1983-1984)
Seibu with a consistent list of games. Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 3.36 Mhz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
Seibu SPI System (1995–1999) Seta 2nd Generation (1993–2002) Sound Chips: 2 x AY8910 @ 2 Mhz, Namco Custom @
CPU: Intel 386 DX-25 CPU: Toshiba TMP68301 @ 16.2652MHz 31.25 Khz
Graphics: Custom Seibu CPU Notes: This is a Motorola 68HC000 with serial I/O,
Sound CPU: Z80AP @ 8 MHz parallel I/O, 3 timers, address decoder, wait generator, SNK Main Event Hardware (1984-1985)
Sound Chip: YMF 271-F interrupt controller, all integrated in a single chip. Main CPU: Z80 @ 3.36 Mhz
The Seibu SPI System is Seibu Kaihatsu’s custom Sound Chip: Seta PCM X1-010 (stereo) @ 16.67MHz Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
arcade system board. The Seibu SPI system board Sound Chips: 2 x AY8910 @ 2 Mhz, Namco Custom @
Seta Aleck64 (1998–2004) 24 khz
uses interchangeable game cartridges, however, each CPU: R4300i @ 93.75 MHz
cartridge is region specific, and must be paired with Co-Processor: 64-bit RISC processor @ 62.5 MHz, RCP SNK Hall 21 Based (1985)
a board of the same region. Seibu SPI boards “up- SP (Sound and Graphics Processor), and DP (Pixel Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 4 Mhz
date” when a game cartridge is changed. This proc- Drawing Processor) Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
ess takes about 10 minutes to complete, and only has Sound: 16 bit stereo, 44.1Khz; ADPCM sound compres- SNK Triple Z80 Based (1985-1988)
to be performed once after a cart change. sion, up to 100PCM channels Main CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz, Z80 @ 5 Mhz
There is also a single-board version of the RAM: Rambus D-RAM 36 Mbits Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
SPI hardware. Res: 256 X 224 - 640 X 480 Sound Chips: YM3526 @ 4 Mhz, Y8950 @ 4 Mhz
Colours: 16.8 million colors, 32-Bit RGBA, Pixel Color
Frames Buffer Support & 21-Bit color video output, out SNK Ikari Warriors Hardware (1986-1988)
SI Electronics of a 16.8 million color palette it can display 32,000 on Main CPU: 2x Z80 @ 4 Mhz
System Board Y2 (2009–2011) screen colors at once. Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
CPU: YATA-2 ASIC (266 MHz, 32-bit RISC CPU) Graphic Effects: Z-Buffering, Anti-aliasing, texture-map- Sound Chips: 2 x YM3526 @ 4 Mhz
Graphics: 25000 sprites/screen, 1 million polygon/sec, ping, fog, transparency, Ray-Tracing, Gouraud shading,
800x600x30fps resolution (Featuring: Tri-Linear filtered mip-map interpolation, SNK Psycho Soldier Hardware (1986-1988)
Audio: 32 channels output Perspective correction, Environment mapping) Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 4 Mhz
Storage media: ROM board, max 1.7GB program + Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz
The Aleck 64, based on N64 architecture, was de-
256MB sound Sound Chips: YM3812 @ 4 Mhz, Y8950 @ 4 Mhz
signed by Seta in cooperation with Nintendo, and
I/O:
sold from 1998 to 2003 only in Japan. Nintendo and
Analog video: D-Sub 15-pin
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
69
SNK Alpha 68K Based Hardware (1987-1989) (Advanced Entertainment System). It was originally Hyper Neo Geo 64 (1997–1999)
The hardware has a 68000 processor, operating at launched as a rental console for video game stores CPU: NEC VR4300 (64-bit MIPS III architecture based)
a frequency that is within the range of between 6 in Japan (called Neo Geo Rental System), with its @ 100 MHz with 4 MB RAM and 64 MB Program Mem-
and 10 Mhz, depending on the game. For the audio high price causing SNK not to release it for home ory
it has a Z80 operating at a frequency that is within use – this was later reversed due to high demand and Audio I/O CPU: Custom V53 @ 16 MHz 16-bit micro-
controller (NEC V33 based)
the range of between 4 and 8 Mhz, depending on the it came into the market as a luxury console. The AES
Communications I/O CPU: Custom KL5C80A12CFP @
game, and sound chips that also vary depending on had the same raw specs as the MVS and had full 12.5 MHz 8-bit microcontroller (Z80 compatible)
the title. compatibility, thus managed to bring a true arcade Sound chip: 32-channel PCM wavetable audio, with
experience to home users. As of 2013 it was the most maximum sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz (CD-quality)
SNK 68K Based Hardware (1988-1989)
expensive home video game console ever released, and 32 MB of wavetable RAM
Main CPU: 68000 @ 10 Mhz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz costing US$1,125 adjusted for inflation. Color Palette: 16.7 million
Sound Chips: YM3812 @ 4 Mhz, UPD7759 @ 640 Khz The Neo Geo was a very powerful system Maximum Colors On-Screen: 4,096
when released, more powerful than many arcade 3D Branch: 96 MB Vertex Memory, 16 MB maximum
SNK Beast Busters Hardware (1989) systems such as rival Capcom’s CPS, which did not Texture Memory
Main CPU: 68000 @ 12 Mhz surpass it until the CP System II in 1993. The Neo 2D Sprite Branch: 60 frames per second animation, 128
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4 Mhz MB Character Memory
Geo MVS was a success during the 1990s, due to the
Main Functions: Scaling, montage, chain, mosaic, mesh,
Neo Geo MVS (1990–2004) cabinet’s low cost, six ROM slots and compact size.
action, up/down, right/left reverse
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz Several successful video game series were released Scrolling Branch: Up to 4 game planes, 64 MB Charac-
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz for the platform, such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, ter Memory
Sound hardware: YM2610 @ 8MHz Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters and Metal Main Functions: Scaling, revolution, morphing; horizon-
Sound Capability: Stereo up to 56KHz, 4 channels FM (4 Slug. Neo Geo hardware production lasted seven tal/vertical screen partitioning and line scrolling
operators + LFO) + 3 PSG + 1 noise + 7 4-bit ADPCM years, discontinued in 1997, whereas game software
Video hardware: 2 palette banks with 4096 (15-bit) col- The Hyper Neo Geo 64 is the first and only SNK
production lasted until 2004, making Neo Geo the hardware set capable of rendering in 3D, and was
ours each. Simple (4-bit) tile layer + 380 zoomable, link-
longest supported arcade system of all time. meant to replace SNK’s older MVS system on the
able sprite-strips. Sprite-strips consist of upto 32 16x16
(4-bit) tiles each. The arcade machines have a memory card system by market. Company executives planned for the project
Resolution: 320x224. which a player could save a game to return to at a to bring SNK into the new era of 3D gaming that had
Main RAM: 64KB later time and could also be used to continue play on arisen during the mid-1990s, and had planned for a
Sound RAM: 2KB the SNK home console of the same name. corresponding home system to replace the aging and
Video RAM: 128KB (only 68KB is used) The MVS is available in 1-slot, 2-slot, 4-slot, expensive AES home console.
Main ROM: 128KB on-board (BIOS) + upto 8MB on and 6-slot variations, differing in the amount of game Although details regarding the planned home
cartridges
cartridges loaded into the machine at the time. Early system are sparse, it is believed that like the AES
Sound ROM: 128KB on-board (only less then 32KB used)
motherboard revisions contain daughterboards, used console, much of the hardware from the Neo Geo 64
+ upto 512KB on cartridges
Sprite ROM: up to 64MB to enhance the clarity of the video output. arcade platform would also have been present in the
Tile ROM: 128KB on-board + 128KB on cartridges, later The MVS and AES hardware can execute home system, meaning gameplay would be identical
cartridges use a portion of sprite ROM that can be larger. identical machine code. Owners can move EPROMs or nearly identical whether a given game was played
Sound ROM: up to 16MB from one type to the other, and the game will still at home or in the arcade. It is unknown what media
Backup RAM: 64KB run. The program specifics for both MVS and AES the home system would have used.
Clock/calender: NEC uPD4990a game options are contained on every game ROM, However it never managed to match the huge
Memory Cards: JEIDA 3.0 compliant. whether the cartridge is intended for home or arcade success of the MVS, and reached its end of life in
PCB Configuration : Available in 1 Slot, 2 Slot, 4 Slot and use. However, the arcade and home cartridges do 1999. Only seven games were produced for the ar-
6-slot variants. Some later games also came on dedicated have a different pinout. They were designed this way cade variation of the system, none of which proved
boards.
to prevent arcade operators from buying the cheaper particularly popular, and the project was discontin-
The Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System) coin-oper- home carts and then using them in arcades. It has ued. The proposed home system never got beyond
ated arcade machine offers owners the ability to put been found that in a few home version games, one initial planning stages and, as of July 2017, only one
up to six different cartridges into a single cabinet, could unlock the arcade version of the game by in- of the arcade games, Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, has
a unique feature that was also a key economic con- putting a special code. been ported to home systems.
sideration for operators with limited floorspace, as
Neo Geo has a community of collectors. The MVS When powering a Hyper Neo Geo 64 board
well as saving money in the long-run. With its games
market provides a cheaper alternative to the expen- all four +5v pins on the JAMMA connector (3,4,C,D)
stored on self-contained cartridges, a game cabinet
sive and rare home cartridges, and complete arcade must have +5v going to them. This is due to the dou-
can be exchanged for a different game title by swap-
kits are priced at a premium. ble layer board design of the Hyper Neo Geo 64.
ping the game’s ROM Cartridge and cabinet artwork. Correctly powered boards will display a blue
A home console version was also made, called AES screen with white text as the board and game boot
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
70
up. If not powered properly, only a blue screen will Main RAM: 2 Megabytes Capcom. It conforms to the JAMMA standard, but
be displayed. Video RAM: 2 Megabyte some games use 24.8khz (mid res) refresh rates, and
The board has four versions: one which only Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes thus requires a dual sync monitor if it is to be used in
plays the four fighting games; one which only plays Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG an arcade cabinet.
the two driving games; one which only plays Beast drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction, The ZN-2 is used as the base motherboard on
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
Busters: Second Nightmare; and one which only the Taito G-NET.
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
plays the two Samurai Shodown games. Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
The fighting game board has two revisions. Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal Taito
While looking like one, the first revision is not true line scroll Taito 8080 Based (1977-1982)
JAMMA, as the sound does not come from the Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 Main CPU: 8080 @ 2Mhz
JAMMA edge but from an AMP connector mounted Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color Sound chip: SN76477 (on some)
on the front of the board, which is controlled by a Look-Up Tables) Resolution: 256x224
potentiometer. There is a modification available to Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
get mono sound off the JAMMA edge which in- gon engine, MJPEG decoder Taito SJ System (1982)
Control Chip: NEC uPD78081 MCU @ 5MHz for han- Main CPU: Z80 @ 4Mhz (Also uses a M68705 @ 1.5Mhz
volves removing a jumper and setting another. There
dling analog controls and trackballs. in some)
is also an extra +5v connector that is supposed to be
supposed Sound CPU: Z80 @ 3Mhz
connected to the back of the board to “prolong” the Sound chip: 4 x AY8910 @ 1.5Mhz, DAC.
life of the board per SNK. It is still unconfirmed if The ZN-1 is a JAMMA format based on already ex-
isting hardware, the first version of the Sony Play- Video resoution: 256x224
having the extra +5v connector connected actually
does increase the board’s life. Some say it is to divert Station console. Using an already existing system, it Taito Nunchacken Hardware (1985)
the heat of the high amps going through the JAMMA was easier, cheaper, and requires less development Main CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz
edge. time. From the success of the advent of the PlaySta- Sound CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 2MHz
tion, various publishers of arcade games would use Sound chip: AY-8910 @ 2MHz, DAC
it. Taito Super Qix Hardware (1986-1987)
ZN-2 (1997–1999) Main CPU : Z80 @ 6Mhz
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - Sound chip : 2 x AY8910 @ 1.5Mhz
50MHz?, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction Additional CPU : M68705 0.49Mhz (for protection)
Cache - 4KB Taito N.Y Captor Hardware (1986)
BUS: 132 MB/sec. CPU: 2 x Z80
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes Sound CPU: Z80
Sound CPU: Z80 (Encrypted Kabuki Model) Sound CHIP: YM2149, MSM5232
Sound Chips: Capcom Q Sound (PSX Sound chip is ig- Additional CPU: M68705 (for protection)
nored)
Main RAM: 2/4/8 Megabytes depending on game. Taito Kick and Run Hardware (1986)
Video RAM: 2/4/8 Megabytes depending on game. Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 6MHz
The second board revision is true JAMMA and also Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes Sound chip: YM2203
has a switch to select between JAMMA output as Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG Additional CPU: M68705 @ 2MHz
well as MVS output, which has stereo sound. drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
Revision 1 has a volume port and amp con- 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota- Taito Bubble Bobble Hardware (1986)
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling) Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 6MHz
nectors on the front, while the Revision 2 board has
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz (Bubble Bobble and Tokio
only amp connectors (around five) on the front of the
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal only)
board. Sound chip: YM2203
line scroll
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 Additional CPU: M68705 @ 2MHz
Sony Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color Taito X System (1988-1992)
ZN-1 (1995–2000) Look-Up Tables) Main CPU: 68000 (Toshiba TMP68000N-8) @ 8 MHz
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly- Sound CPU: Z80 (Sharp LH0080A) @ 4MHz
33.8688MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, In- gon engine, MJPEG decoder Sound chip: Either a YM2610 or a YM2151+YM3012 de-
struction Cache - 4KB Control Chip: NEC uPD78081 MCU @ 5MHz for han- pending on game.
BUS: 132 MB/sec. dling analog controls and trackballs. OSC: 16.000MHz
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes Sony ZN-2 is based on the Sony Playstation archi- Video resoution: 384 x 240, apart from 384 x 224 for Da-
Sound CPU: Z80 (Encrypted Kabuki Model) tecture. It provides more RAM and the access to data isenpu
Sound Chips: Capcom Q Sound (PSX Sound chip is ig- is ROM based instead of disc based. It was licensed Other Chips: This board uses SETA’s custom chips X1-
nored) as an arcade platform to other developers, such as 001A, X1-002A, X1-004, X1-006, X1-007.
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
71
Taito Ninja Warriors Hardware (1987-1989) by a Z80 controlling a YM2610. Sound commands Video resoution: 512x400 (Medium res)
Main Processors: 2xMC68000 @ 8MHz are written to the Z80 by the 68000. Hardware Features : Flat Shaded Polygons
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz TC0100SCN has tilemaps twice as wide as
Sound Chips: YM2610 Taito Top Speed Hardware (1987-1990)
usual. The two background tilemaps take up twice Main CPU: 1 or 2 MC68000 @ 12MHz
Video Resolution: 864x224 (3x288x224) the usual memory space each. The text tilemap takes
Hardware Capabilitys: Line-Line Scrolling Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz
up the usual space, because its height is halved. Sound chip: YM2610
Games are played across 3 screens, giving a true cin- “system16.com” Video resoution: 320x240
ema style look to them, and also made larger than Hardware Features: Sprite Zooming; Sprite Rotation;
life characters possible. The hardware is similar to Taito Toaplan Hardware (1987-1989) Line Scrolling, Line-line Scrolling
Taito F2 System. Toaplan Version 1:
For each screen the games have 3 separate Main CPU: 68000 @ 10 MHz Taito Bonze Adventure Hardware (1988-1994)
layers of graphics:- one 128x64 tiled scrolling back- Sound CPU: Z80 or Z180 @ 3.5 MHz Main CPU: MC68000 @ 8 (12 MHz in Cadash)
Sound Chip: YM3812 @ 3.5 MHz Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz
ground plane of 8x8 tiles, a similar foreground plane,
Other: Demons World has an additional TMS32010 @ Sound chip: YM2151 + MSM5205 (YM2610 in Bonze
and a 128x32 text plane with character definitions 14MHz Adv.)
held in ram. There is a single sprite plane which cov- Toaplan Version 2: Other Chips: TC0100SCN + TC0002OBJ + TC0110PCR
ers all 3 screens, the sprites are 16x16 and are not CPU: MC68000P10, TMP68HC000N-16 (+ C-Chip in bonze)
zoomable. Twin 68000 processors are used; both Sound CPU/MCU: HD647180X0FS6 (Hitachi Z180
have access to sprite ram and the tilemap areas, and Compatible CPU with internal 16k ROM), Z84C0006PEC Taito Z System (1987-1991)
they communicate via 64K of shared ram. Sound is (Z80), NEC V25 Main CPU: MC68000 @ 16MHz & MC68000 @ 12MHz
dealt with by a Z80 controlling a YM2610. Sound Sound Chips: Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz (optional)
YM3812 + YM3014B (DAC) Sound chip: YM2610
commands are written to the Z80 by the 68000 (the
YM2151 + YM3014B Video resoution: 320x240
same as in Taito F2 games).
YM2151 + YM3014B + M6295 The first 68000 CPU handles screen, palette and
TC0100SCN has tilemaps twice as wide as
YM2151 + YM3012 (DAC) + M6295 + M6295 sprites, and sometimes other jobs (e.g. inputs; in one
usual. The two background tilemaps take up twice
YMZ280B-F + YAC516-E (DAC) game it also handles the road). The second 68000
the usual memory space each. The text tilemap takes Graphics Custom 208pin QFP: GP9001 L7A0498 TOA handles functions such as inputs/dips, sound and/or
up the usual space, because its height is halved. PLAN the “road” that’s in every TaitoZ game except Space-
“system16.com” Toaplan Slapfight Hardware: gun. Taito Z supports 5 separate layers of graphics
Taito Darius 2 Twin Screen Hardware (1989-1991) Main CPU: 2 x Z80 @ 6MHz - one 64x64 tiled scrolling background plane of 8x8
Main Processors: MC68000 @ 16MHz Sound chip: 2 x AY8910 @ 1.5MHz tiles, a similar foreground plane, another optional
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz Additional CPU: M68705 (Protection)
plane used for drawing a road (e.g. Chasehq), a sprite
Sound Chips: YM2610 Toaplan Unique:
CPU: Z80 @ 3.072 MHz plane (with varying properties), and a text plane with
Video Resolution: 640x240 (2x320x240) character definitions held in ram.
The games are played across 2 screens, giving a true Sound Chip: AY-3-8910A @ 1.536 MHz
In 1987, starting with their third game, Toaplan be- (Double Axle has four rather than two back-
cinema style look to them, and also made larger char- ground planes, and they contain 32x32 16x16 tiles.
acters possible. The hardware is similar to the Taito came a developer for Taito making games for them
on their own hardware. This relationship lasted for This is because it uses a TC0480SCP rather than the
F2 System. For each screen the games have 3 sepa- older TC0100SCN tilemap generator used in previ-
rate layers of graphics: - one 128x64 tiled scrolling only 2 years and then Toaplan went their own way
and released their own games. ous Taito Z games. The hardware for Taito’s Super
background plane of 8x8 tiles, a similar foreground Chase was a further development of this, with a
plane, and a 128x32 text plane with character defini- They made some great shooters under the
name of Taito, and its no surprise that the remains 68020 for main CPU and Ensoniq sound - standard
tions held in ram. As well as this, there is a single features of Taito’s F3 system. Taito’s F3 system su-
sprite plane which covers both screens. The sprites of the company ended up forming CAVE, one of the
best known and loved shooter developers. perceded both Taito B and F2 systems, but the Taito
are 16x16 and are not zoomable. Z system was enhanced with F3 features and contin-
“system16.com”
Warrior Blade has a slightly different gfx ued in games like Super Chase and Under Fire up to
set for the 2nd screen because the programmers ran Taito The Newzealand Story Hardware (1987-1989) the mid 1990s.)
out of scr gfx space. In-game while tiles are scroll- Main CPU: 2xZ80 @ 6 MHz The sprites are typically 16x8 tiles aggre-
ing from one screen to the other it is necessary to Sound chip: YM2203 @ 3MHz gated through a spritemap rom into bigger sizes.
have identical gfx tiles for both screens. But for Graphics Chip: Custom Spacegun has 64x64 sprites, but some of the games
static screens (e.g. cut scenes between levels) the use different (128x128) or even multiple sizes. Some
Taito AIR System (1988-1990)
gfx tiles needn’t be the same. By exploiting this they Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12 MHz of the games aggregate 16x16 tiles to create their
squeezed some extra graphics into the game. Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4Mhz sprites, suggesting there is no standard object chip.
There is a single 68000 processor which Sound chip: YM2610 “system16.com”
takes care of everything except sound. That is done DSP: TMS320C25
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
72
Taito H System (1988-1989) Priority Manager / Palette RAM Interface : TC0110PR Taito JC System (1995–1998)
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz Sprite Generators: TC0200OBJ and TC0210FBC Main CPU: 68040 @ 25Mhz
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz (TC0540OBN and TC0520TBC are later versions) DSP: TMS320C51 @ 50 Mhz
Sound chip: YM2610 Sound Interface: TC0140SYT (earlier ver. of TC0530SYC) MCU (protection): MC68HC11
Video resoution: Low res and Medium res (Syvalion) Video resoution: 320x224 Sound CPU: 68EC000 @ 16MHz
Hardware Features: Sprite Zooming Sound chip: Ensoniq ES5505 @ 16MHz
Taito F3 System (1992–1998) Sound chip DSPs: Ensoniq ES5510 (ESPR6) + Ensoniq
Taito B System (1988-1994) Main CPU: MC68EC020 @ 16MHz OTISR2
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz Sound CPU: MC68000 @ 16MHz Taito Chips: E07-11, TC0870HVP, TC0770CMU, TC08-
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz Sound chip: ES5505 @ 16MHz 40GLU, TC0810
Sound chip: Either a YM2610, YM2610B or YM2203 de- Sound DSP Chip: ES5510 Board Layout: Main board + rom board
pending on game. Video resoution: 320x224 Hardware Features: Textured Polygons
Custom Chips: TC0220IOC, TC0260DAR, TC0180VCU, Board composition: Board and Cartridge
and TC0140SYT The Taito F3 System (Taito Cybercore in North Taito FX-1B System (1996–1997)
Video resoution: 320x224 America) is a 32-bit arcade system board released Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock-
The Taito B System is a 16-bit arcade system board by Taito Corporation in 1992. 48MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction
released by Taito in 1988. It was used by various The hardware feature 4 scrolling layers Cache - 4 KB
arcade video games from 1988 up until 1994. The (512x512 or 1024x512) of 4/5/6 bpp tiles, 1 scrolling BUS : 132 MB/sec.
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
hardware is almost indenticle to the Taito F2 Sys- text layer (512x512, characters generated in vram)
Sound CPU: Panasonic MN1020012A
tem, but using a different set of graphics chips. It 4bpp chars, 1 scrolling pixel layer (512x256 pixels Sound DSP’s: ZOOM ZSG-2 DSP, TMS57002 DSP
is a fairly flexible hardware platform. It supports 4 generated in pivot ram) 4bpp pixels, 2 sprite banks Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels,
separate layers of graphics - one 64x64 tiled scroll- (for double buffering of sprites), Sprites can be 4, 5 44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects
ing background plane of 16x16 tiles, a similar fore- or 6 bpp, Sprite scaling, row scroll on all playfields, include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to
ground plane, a sprite plane capable of sprite zoom- Line by line zoom on all playfields, column scroll on 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments.
ing and ‘pageable’ text plane of 8x8 tiles. all playfields, Line by line sprite and playfield prior- Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
similar to the Taito F2 System. ity mixing, Alpha blending on playfields and VRAM Video RAM: 2 Megabyte
layer. Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
Taito L System (1988-1993) Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
Main CPU: 1 or 2 Z80’s @ 3.33 or 6 MHz Taito FX-1A System (1995–1997) drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
Sound CPU: Z80 (not all games) Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock- 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
Sound chip: YM2203 48MHz, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
Video resoution: 320x224 Cache - 4 KB Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
The Taito L System is an 8-bit arcade system board Sound CPU: Z80 & a YM2610B Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
released by Taito Corporation in 1988. BUS : 132 MB/sec. line scroll
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes Resolution: 320x224
Taito F1 System (1989-1992) Additional Sound Chips: Playstation SPU, 24 Channels, Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz 44.1KHz sample rate, PCM audio source, Digital effects Look-Up Tables)
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz include: Envelope, Looping, Digital Reverb, Load up to Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
Sound chip: YM2610 512K of sampled waveforms, Supports MIDI Instruments. gon engine, MJPEG decoder
Tilemap Generator: TC0100SCN Main RAM: 2 Megabytes Control Chip: NEC uPD78081 MCU @ 5MHz for han-
Video resoution: 320x224 Video RAM: 2 Megabyte dling analog controls and trackballs.
The main board supports three 64x64 tiled scrolling Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
background planes of 8x8 tiles, and a powerful sprite Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
engine capable of handling all the video chores by drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
itself (used in e.g. Super Space Invaders). The front 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
tilemap has characters which are generated in RAM tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
for maximum versatility (fading effects etc.). The Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping,
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal
boards can have additional gfx chip e.g. for a zoom-
line scroll
ing/rotating tilemap, or additional tilemap planes. Resolution: 320x224
Taito F2 System (1988-1993) Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
Main CPU: MC68000 @ 12MHz Look-Up Tables)
Sound CPU: Z80 @ 4MHz Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
Sound chip: YM2610 gon engine, MJPEG decoder
Tilemap Generator: TC0100SCN Control Chip: NEC uPD78081 MCU @ 5MHz for han-
Palette Generator: TC0070RGB dling analog controls and trackballs.
 ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
73
Taito Wolf System (1997) - Taito FC PCB (Sound hardware & FLASHROMs) PCI : 2 slots
Main CPU: Intel SL27J Pentium MMX @ 200 MHz - Taito CD PCB (PCMCIA cart interface) IDE: 2ch U-DMA(100/66/33)
Graphics Hardware: 3dfx voodoo 1 (500-0003-03 [FBI] - Optional Communication Interface PCB Serial ATA: 2ch
and 500-0004-02[TMU]), 6 megabytes of DRAM video - Optional Save PCB Audio inputs: Microphone (stereo pin-jack), line-in (ster-
memory Comm Link: Two LAN Connectors plus Terminator eo pin-jack)
Sound DSP: Zoom original ZFX 2 (24 bit signal procce- Conversion Class: JAMMA+ Audio outputs: line-out (stereo pin-jack), SPDI/F
sor), Zoom ZSG-2 The hardware is based on the Sony PlayStation. Power: ATX AC 100v
Video resoution: 640x480 (31k), 512x240 (15k) The hardware is upgradable and changable per game,
Hardware Features : Z Buffer, Bi-linear Filtering, LOD Taito Type-Zero (1999–2002) from the basic setup to a pretty much state of the art
MIP Mapping, Gouraud Shading, Perspective correct Main CPU: PowerPC 603e @ 100MHz
setup.
texture mapping, Alpha Blending (Transparency, Fog, Graphics: Taito TCG020AGP
Translucency), Anti-Aliasing Sound CPU: MN1020819DA
Performance: 45 Mpixels/sec sustained fill rate for bi- Sound Chip: ZOOM ZSG-2
linear or advanced filtered textures, Over 1M triangles/ Sound DSP: ZOOM ZFX-2
sec for filtered, LOD MIP-mapped, Z-buffered, alpha- I/O CPU: TMP95C063F
blended, fogged, textured 25-pixel triangles. Hardware Features: Harddisk and LAN features.
Interface: Jamma The Taito Type X is an arcade system board re-
Taito PPC JC System (1998) leased by Taito Corporation in 2004. Based on com-
Main CPU: PowerPC 603e @ 100MHz modity PC hardware architecture, Type X is not a
DSP: TMS320C53 specification for a single set of hardware, but rather
Graphics: Taito TCG010PJC, TC0780FPA x 2 a modular platform supporting multiple hardware
Sound CPU: MN1020819 configurations with different levels of graphical Type X+ (2005–2007)
Sound chip: ZOOM ZSG-2 capability. This flexibility allows game developers OS: Windows XP Embedded (customized)
Sound DSP: ZOOM ZFX-2 limited choice in selecting a configuration to fit the CPU: Celeron 2.5Ghz (upgradable to Pentium 4 2.8GHz)
I/O CPU: TMP95C063F game’s specific requirements, and allows the plat- FSB: 400MHz (Upgradable to 800MHz)
Hardware Features: Textured Polygons Chipset: Intel 865G
form as a whole to more efficiently support gaming
Memory: DDR266 DIMM 256MB (upgradable to DDR4-
Taito G-NET System (1998–2005) titles with vastly different computing needs. For ex-
00 2GB)
Main CPU: R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, Clock - ample, the Type X+ and Type X² models have up- Graphics Board: AGP Radeon 9200SE (128 MB) through
50MHz?, Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction grade graphics processing power, which could be to X800XT (256 MB) (complete ATI Radeon Range)
Cache - 4KB put toward better game visuals, or outputing to high- Audio: AC97 onboard 6 channel audio CODEC
BUS: 132 MB/sec. er-resolution (HDTV) displays. The Type X7 board Lan: On-board 10/100Base-TX
OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes is used primarily for pachinko machines in Japan. USB: 4ch (ver 1.1 & 2.0 compatible)
Sound CPU: Panasonic MN1020012A
Rawiya co-owned the company that produced this Parallel port: 1 port
Sound DSP’s: ZOOM ZSG-2 DSP, TMS57002 DSP
system board. PS/2 port: keyboard, mouse
Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/sec, Sprite/BG
Taito Type X and X7 use Microsoft Visual PCI: 2 slots
drawing, Adjustable frame buffer, No line restriction,
Studio .NET 2003 Professional as the recommended IDE: 2ch U-DMA(100/66/33)
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rota-
development platform. Serial ATA: 2ch
tion, Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
Audio inputs: Microphone (stereo pin-jack), line-in (ster-
Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, The Taito NESiCAxLive add-on allows ar-
eo pin-jack)
Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and horizontal cade owners to use a digital distribution system to Audio outputs: line-out (stereo pin-jack), SPDI/F
line scroll download games.
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 Power: ATX AC 100v
Type X (2004–2010) The “Plus” version of Type X Hardware has some
Colours: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color
OS: Windows XP Embedded (customized) upgrades to the graphical capabilities, including par-
Look-Up Tables)
CPU: Celeron 2.5Ghz (upgradable to Pentium 4 2.8GHz) ticle effects and a few other tricks. This is to bring it
Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom poly-
FSB: 400MHz (Upgradable to 800MHz)
gon engine, MJPEG decoder in line with current PC hardware technology.
Chipset: Intel 865G
Media: PCMIA II Cards Type X2 (2007–2016)
Memory: DDR266 DIMM 256MB (upgradable to DDR4-
Control Chip: NEC uPD78081 MCU @ 5MHz for han- OS: Microsoft Windows XP Embedded
00 2GB)
dling analog controls and trackballs. CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400/Pentium 4 651/Celeron D
Graphics Board : AGP Radeon 9200SE (128 MB) through
Optional I/O: Video, Stereo, Trackball, Race Controller, 352 (up to latest Core 2 CPUs supported by the chipset)
to X800XT (256 MB) (complete ATI Radeon Range)
3rd & 4th Player, Memory Card Chipset: Intel Q965 + ICH8
Audio: AC97 onboard 6 channel audio CODEC
Onboard Memory: Present - Saves High Scores and Set- Monitor: 720p/1080p/1440p HD LCD Monitor
Lan: On-board 10/100Base-TX
tings including Calibration but only per game. RAM: DDR2 667/800MHz (512MB/1GB, up to 4GB)
USB: 4ch (ver 1.1 & 2.0 compatible)
Board Layout: Comprises the following main parts.... GPU: PCI Express x16-based graphics. Support cards
Parallel port: 1 port
- Sony ZN-2 Motherboard include ATI RADEON X1600Pro/X1300LE or nVIDIA
PS/2 port: keyboard, mouse
ARCADE SYSTEM BOARDS
74
GeForce 7900GS/7600GS/7300GS, up to latest graphic Tecmo (Konek-Gorbunok, S.O.S., Billiard and Snezhnaya
cards (Radeon HD 3800 or Geforce 9800 series) koroleva) are dumped and supported by emulators.
TPS System (1997–2001)
Sound: Onboard Realtek HD 7.1 channel Sound (sup- An ongoing search for other games is in progress.
ports add-in sound cards)
LAN: 10/100/1000 BASE-T Terminal
I/O ports: 1x JVS, 4x USB 2.0 (up to 8), 1x serial (max 2), Williams
TIA-MC-1 (1980’s)
1x parallel port, 2x PS/2, 2x SATA CPU: КР580ВМ80А (clone of Intel 8080), 1.78 MHz Williams 6809 REV.1 (1980-1985)
Audio inputs: AKG C535EB Stage Microphone, line-in Video resolution: 256×256, 4 bits per pixel selectable Main CPU: 6809 @ 1MHz
(Surround 7.1) from a palette of 256 colors Sound CPU: 6808 @ 894.750 KHz
Audio outputs: 7.1, SPDI/FX Background: two video pages composed of 32×32 tiles, Sound chip: HC55516 DAC, (same as 55564-5 CVSD)
Expansion Slots: 1x PCI Express x16 (used by video each tile is 8×8 pixels. Tile RAM can store 256 separate
card), 1x PCI Express x4, 2x PCI Williams 6809 REV.2 (1983-1986)
tiles. Main CPU: 6809 @ 1MHz
Storage: 2x 80 GB 10k RPM SATA Hard Drives Sprites: up to 16 simultaneously displayed hardware-
Media: 80 GB 10000 rpm Hard Drive Sound CPU: 6808 @ 894.750 KHz
generated sprites; total of 256 sprites can be stored in Sound chip: DAC
Type X Zero (2011–) sprite ROM. Sprites can be vertically and horizontally
The Rev.2 is different from Rev.1 in that it has two
ChipSet: MCP7A-ION mirrored in hardware.
Sound: two КР580ВИ53 interval timers (Intel 8253)
boards, a large board with lots of RAM and three
CPU: Atom230 1.6GHz ROMs, and a smaller board with lots of ROMs, the
Graphic: GeForce 9400M driving a mono speaker.
Display: 20” (51 cm) TV screen CPU, the 6821 PIAs, and the two “Special Chip 2”
Memory: 1GB/2GB/4GB (DDR2) (Shared Graphics Mem- custom BIT/BLT chips.
ory) Main RAM: 8KiB.
Character RAM: 8KiB.
HDD: 250GB/1TB/16GB SSD Williams Z-Unit (1988)
FSB: 533MHz Video RAM: 2KiB.
Main CPU: TMS34010 @ 6 MHz
OS: Microsoft ® Windows ® Embedded Standard 7 Sprite ROM: 32KiB.
Sound CPU: 2 x M6809 @ 2 MHz
USB: 6Ports ROM with game code and background graphics: up to
Sound chip: YM2151 @ 3.57958 MHz, HC55516, 2 x
Video: 2Ports (RGB + DVI or HDMI) 56KiB.
DAC
LAN: 1Port (10/100/1000Mbps) The TIA-MC-1 ((ТИА-МЦ-1) Video Game Ma-
Sound: 5.1ch (HD Audio) chine – Multiframe Colour) was a Soviet arcade ma- Williams/Midway Y UNIT (1990-1992)
Case Size: W274mm × D197mm × H67mm chine with replaceable game programs and was one Main CPU: TMS34010 @ 6.25 MHz
of the most famous arcade machines from the Soviet
Union. The TIA-MC-1 was developed in Vinnytsia,
Ukraine by the Extreme-Ukraine company in the
mid-1980s under the leadership of V.B. Gerasimov.
The machine was manufactured by the production
association Terminal and some other factories.
The arcade machine consists of several
boards called BEIA. The boards have the following
purposes:
- BEIA-100: data processing; RGB DAC; sound
Type X3 (2012–) generation; coin-op and game controller interface
Chipset: Intel Q67 Express - BEIA-101: video sync and background generation
CPU: intel Core i5 2400(3.10GHz)/Intel Core i3 2130/ - BEIA-102: sprite generation
Intel Core i7 2600
- BEIA-103: game ROM and main RAM
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6770/NVIDIA GeForce GTX
560Ti Games in a TIA-MC-1 arcade machine can be
Memory: 2-16 GB(DDR3) switched by replacing the BEIA-103 module, not
Sound: 7.1ch(HD Audio) unlike cartridges in video game consoles.
OS: Windows Embedded Standard 7 64bit or Windows For a long time the TIA-MC-1 hardware
XP Embedded SP3 32bit remained unemulated due to a lack of technical in-
formation and ROM dumps. Soon after the Russian
Type X4 (2016–)
OS: Windows Embedded 8 Standard / Windows Embed- emulation community obtained technical documen-
ded Standard 7 64bit tation and ROM dumps of one of the games, Konek- References:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 Gorbunok, the first emulator named TIA-MC Emu- Most of the information and pictures gathered on
Graphic: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 lator was released on July 27, 2006. A TIA-MC-1 the “Arcade System Boards” pages are taken from
Memory: DDR3 8GB driver was included in MAME on August 21, 2006 the hardware section of “system16.com”.
Storage: HDD 3TB (since version 0.108). By now, only four games
 Spacewar!
76
Spacewar! is a space combat video game developed for the computer. The community had heard of the
in 1962 by Steve Russell, in collaboration with Mar- Spacewar concept, however, and understood that
tin Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen, and programmed Russell would spearhead the development of it.
by Russell with assistance from others including When members of the community began to feel
Bob Saunders and Steve Piner. It was written for the the time was right to start work on the game, Rus-
newly installed DEC PDP-1 at the Massachusetts sell, nicknamed “Slug” because of his tendency to
Institute of Technology. After its initial creation, procrastinate, began providing various excuses as
Spacewar was expanded further by other students to why he could not start programming the game.
and employees of universities in the area, including One of these was the lack of a trigonometric func-
Dan Edwards and Peter Samson. It was also spread tion routine needed to calculate the trajectories of
to many of the few dozen, primarily academic, in- the spacecraft. This prompted Alan Kotok of TMRC
stallations of the PDP-1 computer, making Spacewar to call DEC, who informed him that they had such a
the first known video game to be played at multiple routine already written. Kotok drove to DEC to pick
computer installations. up a tape containing the code, slammed it down in
MIT—referring to their collaboration as the “Hing-
front of Russell, and asked what other excuses he
ham Institute” as Graetz and Wiitanen were living in a
During the 1950s, various computer games were had. Russell, later explaining that “I looked around
tenement building on Hingham Street in Cambridge,
created in the context of academic computer and and I didn’t find an excuse, so I had to settle down
Massachusetts, came up with the idea for Spacewar.
programming research and for demonstrations of and do some figuring,” started writing the code in
“We had this brand new PDP-1”, Steve Russell told
computing power, especially after the introduction December 1961. The game was developed to meet
Rolling Stone in a 1972 interview. “Marvin Minsky
later in the decade of smaller and faster comput- three precepts Russell, Graetz, and Wiitanen had
had built some little pattern-generating programs
ers on which programs could be created and run in developed for creating a program that functioned
which made interesting patterns like a kaleidoscope.
real time as opposed to being executed in batches. A equally well as an entertainment experience for the
Not a very good demonstration. Here was this dis-
few programs, however, while used to showcase the players and as a demonstration for spectators: to use
play that could do all sorts of good things! So we
power of the computer they ran on were also intend- as much of the computer’s resources as possible, to
started talking about it, figuring what would be inter-
ed as entertainment products; these were generally be consistently interesting and therefore have every
esting displays. We decided that probably you could
created by undergraduate and graduate students and run be different, and to be entertaining and therefore
make a two-dimensional maneuvering sort of thing,
university employees, such as at the Massachusetts a game. It took Russell, with assistance from the oth-
and decided that naturally the obvious thing to do
Institute of Technology (MIT) where they were al- er programmers—including Bob Saunders and Steve
was spaceships.”
lowed on occasion to develop programs for the TX-0 Piner (but not Wiitanen, who had been called up by
In the fall of 1961, while brainstorming ideas
experimental computer. These interactive graphical the United States Army Reserve)—about 200 man-
for a program for the PDP-1, Russell had just fin-
games were created by a community of program- hours to write the first version of Spacewar, around
ished reading the Lensman series by E. E. “Doc”
mers, many of them students and university employ- six weeks to develop the basic game.
Smith and thought the stories would make a good
ees affiliated with the Tech Model Railroad Club Russell had a program with a movable dot by
basis for the program. “His heroes had a strong ten-
(TMRC) led by Alan Kotok, Peter Samson, and Bob January 1962, and an early operational game with
dency to get pursued by the villain across the galaxy
Saunders. The games included Tic-Tac-Toe, which rotatable spaceships by February. The two space-
and have to invent their way out of their problem
used a light pen to play a simple game of noughts ships were designed to evoke the curvy spaceship
while they were being pursued. That sort of action
and crosses against the computer, and Mouse in the from Buck Rogers stories and the PGM-11 Redstone
was the thing that suggested Spacewar. He had some
Maze, which used a light pen to set up a maze of rocket. That early version also contained a randomly
very glowing descriptions of spaceship encounters
walls for a virtual mouse to traverse. generated background
In the fall of 1961, a Digital Equipment Cor- and space fleet maneuvers.” star field, initially add-
poration (DEC) PDP-1 minicomputer was installed Other influences cited by ed by Russell because a
in the “kludge room” of the MIT Electrical Engi- fellow programmer Martin blank background made it
neering Department to complement the older TX-0, Graetz include E.E. Smith’s difficult to tell the relative
and even before its arrival a group of students and Skylark novels and Japanese motion of the two space-
university employees had been brainstorming ideas pulp fiction tokusatsu mov- ships at slow speeds. The
for programs that would demonstrate the new com- ies. programming community
puter’s capabilities in a compelling way. Three of For the first few in the area, including the
them—Steve Russell, then an employee at Harvard months after its installation, Hingham Institute and the
University and a former research assistant at MIT; the PDP-1 programming TMRC, had developed
Martin Graetz, a research assistant and former stu- community at MIT focused what was later termed the
dent at MIT; and Wayne Wiitanen, a research assist- on simpler programs to work Steve Russell, designer and main programmer of the “hacker ethic”, whereby
ant at Harvard and former employee and student at out how to create software initial version of Spacewar, in 2007 all programs were freely
 Spacewar!
77
shared and modified by other programmers in a col- banned play except during lunch and after working only available program that exercised every aspect
laborative environment without concern for own- hours. of the hardware. Although the game was widespread
ership or copyright, which led to a group effort to Beginning in the summer of 1962 and con- for the era, it was still very limited in its direct reach:
elaborate on Russell’s initial Spacewar game. Con- tinuing over the next few years, members of the the PDP-1 was priced at US$120,000 and only 55
sequently, since the inaccuracy and lack of realism PDP-1 programming community at MIT, including were ever sold, most without a monitor and many of
in the star field annoyed TMRC member Peter Sam- Russell and the other Hingham Institute members, the remainder to secure military locations or research
son, he wrote a program based on real star charts began to spread out to other schools and employers labs with no free computer time, which prevented
that scrolled slowly through the night sky, including such as Stanford University and DEC, and as they the original Spacewar from reaching beyond a nar-
every star in a band between 22.5° N and 22.5° S did they spread the game to row, academic audience. Though
down to the fifth magnitude, displayed at their rela- other universities and institu- some later DEC models, such as the
tive brightness. The program was called “Expensive tions with a PDP-1 computer. PDP-6, came with Spacewar pre-
Planetarium”—referring to the high price of the As a result, Spacewar was per- loaded, the audience for the game
PDP-1 computer compared to an analog planetari- haps the first video game to be remained very limited; the PDP-6,
um, as part of the series of “expensive” programs available outside a single re- for example, sold only 23 units.
like Expensive Typewriter—and was quickly in- search institute. Over the next The gameplay of Spacewar
corporated into the game in March by Russell, who decade, programmers at these involves two monochrome space-
served as the collator of the primary version of the other institutions began coding ships called “the needle” and “the
game. their own variants, including wedge”, each controlled by a play-
The initial version of the game also did not features such as allowing more er, attempting to shoot one another
include the central star gravity well or the hyper- ships and players at once, re- while maneuvering on a two-di-
space feature; they were written by MIT graduate placing the hyperspace feature mensional plane in the gravity well
student and TMRC member Dan Edwards and Gra- with a cloaking device, space of a star, set against the backdrop of
etz respectively to add elements of a strategy to what PDP-1 at the Computer History Museum
mines, and even a first-person a starfield. The ships fire torpedoes
with Steve Russell
initially was a shooter game of pure reflexes. The perspective version played on which are not affected by the gravi-
initial version of the hyperspace function was lim- two screens that simulates each pilot’s view out of tational pull of the star. The ships have a limited
ited to three jumps, but carried no risk save possibly the cockpit. Some of these Spacewar installations number of torpedoes and a limited supply of fuel,
re-entering the game in a dangerous position; later also replicated Kotok and Saunders’ gamepad. Ac- which is used when the player fires his thrusters.
versions removed the limit but added the increasing cording to a second-hand account heard by Russell Torpedoes are fired one at a time by flipping a toggle
risk of destroying the ship instead of moving it. Ad- while working at DEC, Spacewar was reportedly switch on the computer or pressing a button on the
ditionally, during this development period, Kotok used as a smoke test by DEC technicians on new control pad, and there is a cooldown period between
and Saunders created the gamepads for the game. PDP-1 systems before shipping because it was the launches. The ships follow Newtonian physics, re-
The game was a multiplayer-only game because the maining in motion even when the player is not ac-
computer had no resources left over to handle con- celerating, though the ships can rotate at a constant
trolling the other ship.Similarly, other proposed ad- rate without inertia.
ditions to the game such as a more refined explosion Each player controls one of the ships and
display upon the destruction of a spaceship and hav- must attempt to shoot down the other ship while
ing the torpedoes also be affected by gravity had to avoiding a collision with the star. Flying near the
be abandoned as there were not enough computer re- star can provide a gravity assist to the player at the
sources to handle them while smoothly running the risk of misjudging the trajectory and falling into the
game. With the added features and changes, Space- star. If a ship moves past one edge of the screen, it
war was essentially complete by late April 1962, and reappears on the other side in a wraparound effect.
Russell and the other programmers shifted focus A hyperspace feature, or “panic button”, can be used
from developing the game to preparing to show it off as a last-ditch means to evade enemy torpedoes by
to others such as at the MIT Science Open House in moving the player’s ship to another location on the
May. The group added a time limit, as well as a larg- screen after disappearing for a few seconds, but the
er, second screen for viewers at the demonstration, reentry from hyperspace occurs at a random loca-
and that same month Graetz presented a paper about tion, and in some versions there is an increasing
the game, “SPACEWAR! Real-Time Capability of probability of the ship exploding with each use.
the PDP-1”, at the first meeting of the Digital Equip- Player controls include clockwise and coun-
ment Computer Users’ Society. The demonstration terclockwise rotation, forward thrust, firing torpe-
PDP-1 at the Computer History Museum
was a success, and the game proved very popular with Steve Russell
does, and hyperspace. Initially these were control-
at MIT; the laboratory that hosted the PDP-1 soon led using the front-panel test switches on the PDP-1
Spacewar!
78
minicomputer, with four switches for each player, and in 1972 the game was well-known enough in the
but these proved to be awkward to use and wore out programming community that Rolling Stone spon-
quickly under normal gameplay, as well as causing sored the “SpaceWar! Olympics”, possibly the first
players to accidentally flip the computer’s control video game tournament.
and power switches. The location of the switches In the early 1970s, Spacewar migrated from
also left one player off to one side of the CRT dis- large computer systems to a commercial setting as
play due to the limited space in front of the compu- it formed the basis for the first two coin-operated
ter, which left them at a disadvantage. To alleviate video games. While playing Spacewar at Stanford
these problems, Kotok and Saunders created a de- sometime between 1966 and 1969, college student
tached control device, essentially an early gamepad. Hugh Tuck remarked that a coin-operated version of
The gamepad had a switch for turning left or right, the game would be very successful. While the high
another for forward thrust or hyperspace, and a tor- price of a minicomputer prevented such a game from
pedo launch button. The button was silent so that being feasible then, in 1971 Tuck and Bill Pitts cre-
the opposing player would not have a warning that ated a prototype coin-operated computer game, Gal- the Computer History Museum in Mountain View,
the player was attempting to fire a torpedo during a axy Game, with a $20,000 PDP-11. Around the same California, where demonstrations of the machine are
cooldown period. time, a second prototype coin-operated game based held, which include playing Spacewar.
Spacewar was extremely popular in the on Spacewar, Computer Space, was developed by In addition to Galaxy Game and Computer
small programming community in the 1960s and Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, which would be- Space, numerous other games have been directly in-
was widely recreated on other minicomputer and come the first commercially sold arcade video game spired by Spacewar. These include Orbitwar (1974,
mainframe computers of the time before migrating and the first widely available video game of any PLATO network computers), Space Wars (1977, ar-
to early microcomputer systems in the 1970s. Early kind. Though Tuck felt that Computer Space was a cade), and Space War (1978, Atari 2600). Addition-
computer scientist Alan Kay noted in 1972 that “the poor imitation of Spacewar and his game a superior ally, in Asteroids (1979), designer Ed Logg used ele-
game of Spacewar blossoms spontaneously wher- adaptation, many players believed both of the games ments from Spacewar, namely the hyperspace button
ever there is a graphics display connected to a com- to be upgraded variants of Spacewar. and the shape of the player’s ship. Products as late as
puter,” and Graetz recalled in 1981 that as the game the 1990 computer game Star Control drew direct in-
initially spread it could be found on “just about any spiration from Spacewar. Russell has been quoted as
research computer that had a programmable CRT”. saying that the aspect of the game that he was most
The majority of this spread took place several years pleased with was the number of other programmers
after the initial development of the game; while it inspired to write their own games without feeling
there are early anecdotes of players and game vari- restricted to using Russell’s own code or design.
ants at a handful of locations, primarily near MIT On March 12, 2007, The New York Times
and Stanford, it was only after 1967 that comput- reported that Spacewar was named to a list of the ten
ers hooked up to monitors or terminals capable of most important video games of all time, the so-called
playing Spacewar began to proliferate, allowing the game canon, which were proposed to be archived in
game to reach a wider audience and influence later the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress
video game designers—by 1971, it is estimated that took up this video game preservation proposal, and
there were over 1000 computers with monitors, rath- began with the games from this list.
er than a few dozen. It is around this time that the Two users playing Spacewar on a PDP-12 at the
majority of the game variants were created for vari- Vintage Computer Festival
ous computer systems, such as later PDP systems,
Byte magazine published an assembly lan-
guage version of Spacewar in 1977 that ran on the
Altair 8800 and other Intel 8080-based microcom-
puters using an oscilloscope as the graphical display
and a lookup table for orbits, as well as a three-di
mensional variant in 1979 written in Tiny BASIC.
More modern recreations of the game for comput-
ers have been made as well. An emulated version
of the original game, based on the original source
code made publicly available by Martin Graetz and
running in a JavaScript PDP-1 emulator, was made
available to play on the internet in 2012. The only A replica of the round CRT and game controllers devel-
oped at MIT in 1962 to run Spacewar
working PDP-1s that are known to exist are kept in
ATARI, the company that revolutionizes
the amusement game industry in Ameri-
ca, is now offering its ever-growing line of we have been busy engineering other prod-
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manufacturing partners throughout the computer logic game board, and copying
world. one, are two different worlds. We’re pio-
It all began when we harnessed dig- neers. And we’ll always be on the markets
ital computers and video technology to the first with the best, while others are still
amusement game field with PONG. That was watching or copying.
just the beginning. Our engineers have been We know ATARI has something
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And, we now have a full products with equally im-
half-dozen exciting and aginative sales and produc-
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market. International Marketing
Technology the Key. Director, ATARI, INC.,
While PONG was being 14600 Winchester Blvd.,
copies by six or eight other Los Gatos, CA 95030. Tel-
firms, ephone (408) 374-2440.
Telex 34-5589
1971
80 Computer Space
Computer Space is a space combat arcade After agreeing on an initial idea, Bush-
Manufacturer Nutting Associates game developed in 1971 as one of the last games nell and Dabney began trying to design a pro-
Release 1971 created in the early history of video games. Cre- totype based on a Data General Nova. Initially
Class Wide Release ated by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in part- they were joined by Larry Bryan, a computer
Genre Space nership as Syzygy Engineering, it was the first programmer who also worked at Ampex. Bush-
Mode 1 Player arcade video game as well as the first commer- nell and Dabney put $100 each into a partner-
Gameplay Single cially available video game. ship, named Syzygy by Bryan. They soon ran
Panel Layout Single Player into difficulties with their planned design; the
Controls In the late 1960s, Nolan Bushnell saw
computer was not powerful enough to refresh the
Buttons: Rotational (left, right) Spacewar running on a mainframe at the Univer-
Buttons: 2 [Fire MissileThrust]
monitors as fast as was needed to make the game
sity of Utah where he was a student. Bushnell
Hardware Discrete logic playable. Bryan realized this early on, when try-
worked during the summer at Lagoon Amuse-
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel) ing to design the code needed to run the games,
ment Park in Utah as a manager of the games
Cabinet Styles Upright and left the project before Syzygy was formed
department overseeing the arcade games, and
without ever contributing any money, but Bush-
when he saw Spacewar he believed that an ar-
cade game version of the nell and Dabney continued
game would be very popular. working on the design for
The high price of comput- several more months. The pair
ers capable of running the attempted to reduce the load
game, however, meant that on the computer by replacing
any such arcade game would subroutines—such as display-
not be economically feasible. ing the background stars—
After graduating from college with specialized hardware,
Bushnell worked as an engi- but it proved insufficient;
neer in California for Ampex, even reducing the number of
an electronics company that monitors was not enough. By
worked in audio and video re- the end of November 1970,
cording technology. He also Bushnell decided to abandon
met researcher Jim Stein, who the project as untenable, while
worked for Stanford Univer- Dabney had stopped working
sity’s Stanford Artificial In- Nolan Bushnell on the design a while before.
telligence Project; he learned It is unclear if the pair were
from him that Spacewar was running on the lab- aware that Data General had demonstrated
oratory’s PDP-6, and played the game against a more powerful variant of the Nova, sold for
him there when visiting. Soon after, he saw an $8,000, running a single game of Spacewar at
ad for the Data General Nova computer, which the Fall Joint Computer Conference in Decem-
cost only $4,000, and thought again about his ber 1968, though that solution would have been
Spacewar arcade game idea; he believed that at too expensive for an arcade game, which typi-
that price, if he were able to connect four moni- cally cost $1,000 at the time. Unable to put the
tors and coin slots to allow multiple games to game idea out of his mind, however, Bushnell
run simultaneously, the game would be econom- soon thought of a way to manipulate the video
ically viable. He showed his office mate and fel- signal on the screen without a computer control-
low Ampex engineer Ted Dabney Spacewar at ling it, and from there Syzygy came up with the
the Stanford laboratory, and the two agreed to idea of removing the computer altogether and
work together to try and design a prototype of building specialized hardware to handle every-
the game; Bushnell was more experienced with thing for the game instead.
computers and digital engineering, while Dab- Bushnell and Dabney began to design
ney was more experienced with analog and hard- custom hardware to run the game’s functions,
ware engineering, as he had been working on de- and they soon discovered that the cost to build
signing video processing and control circuits and the whole game’s computing systems would be
power supplies. much lower. As a result, they would not need to
have multiple instances of the game running on
 1971
81
the same machine in order to be profitable. On Once he moved to Nut- in, rather than a more compli-
the other hand, however, the custom hardware ting, Bushnell took over the cated tracking algorithm.
was not as powerful as the more expensive Nova majority of the engineering Computer Space debut-
computer, which meant that the pair needed to work for the game; Dabney has ed at the MOA show on October
make gameplay modifications. Spacewar was a stated that he advised Bushnell 15–17, 1971. Dabney’s wooden
two-player game featuring dogfights around the on some of the design, and that cabinet for the initial prototype
gravitational field of a central star; neither of some of the construction was was replaced with a curvy, futur-
these features could be run on the dedicated cir- done by Steve Bristow, an intern istic fiberglass cabinet designed
cuits the pair were making, so the game was cut at Ampex. There is disagreement by Bushnell with modelling clay
down to a single-player game wherein the player in interviews with Bushnell and and built by a swimming pool
would fight against two computer-controlled Dabney as to how much work manufacturer. A control panel
spaceships in open space. By January 1971, the Dabney did on the final cabinet, extended from the main body
pair had built some basic hardware which could with Dabney claiming credit of the cabinet and contained the
connect to a monitor, with plans to continue ex- for the controls, sound, power four control buttons; Syzygy
panding it to make a game now named Cosmic supply, initial wooden cabinet, had hoped to use a joystick to
Combat, but they were still far away from turn- and invention of the hyperspace control the rocket’s movement,
ing what was then a dot moving on a screen into color inversion, while Bushnell but found that it broke too eas-
a full Spacewar-like game cabinet. claims credit for everything but ily, failing to last a single night
In January 1971, Bushnell and Dabney the sound, cabinet, power sup- in a location test. The Galaxy
founded Syzygy Engineering as an official com- ply, and monitor. By August 1971, an initial Game designers had run into the same issue, but
pany, now with a cash amount of $350. They ap- prototype of the game—now named Compu- had solved it with expensive customized military
proached Ampex and a prior manager of Dab- ter Space to be similar to Computer Quiz—was surplus joysticks. The cabinet displayed the Nut-
ney’s with their prototype, but found no interest. complete, and Syzygy moved on to location test- ting Associates name and logo, along with the
The major arcade game manufacturers were ing. They installed the game at the Dutch Goose term “Syzygy engineered”. Nutting displayed
based out of Chicago at the time, limiting their bar near Stanford University, where it met with four cabinets at the MOA show, one each in red,
ability to demonstrate their idea to an existing great success. Nutting was heartened by the re- blue, white, and yellow, with the implication
firm. During a dentist appointment in early 1971, sponse and rushed to make several finished cabi- that the game was already in production, though
Bushnell told the dentist about the game and that nets for the Music Operators of America (MOA) they were in fact the only four cabinets then pro-
he was looking for a manufacturer; the dentist in Music & Amusement Machines Exposition in duced. These initial cabinets were in solid colors,
turn referred him to another patient of his, Dave October. Further location tests found a less en- though later ones would use a sparkle finish. The
Ralstin, the sales manager for Nutting Associ- thusiastic response from customers confused by cabinets were damaged during transport, and
ates in Mountain View, California. Nutting had the game mechanics and controls, and Syzygy one monitor was broken; Syzygy repaired the
been founded in 1967 on the basis of Computer hurriedly tried to adjust the game to be more un- three working cabinets and opened up the fourth
Quiz, an analog quiz arcade game, and by 1971 derstandable to players. to demonstrate the internals to attendees. Game
was looking for another hit game. After meeting The final Computer Space design uses no distributors were hesitant about the game, with
with Bushnell, Nutting felt that his game was the microprocessor or memory; the entire compu- concerns raised about the game’s potential, reli-
potential success they needed to replace falling ter system is a state machine made of 74-series ability, and the embedded monitor’s attractive-
sales of Computer Quiz updates, as they had not TTL chips, with graphic elements held in diode ness to thieves; recollections are mixed as to
had a hit game since. Nutting not only agreed to arrays. The array designs, which Bushnell de- whether Nutting took a handful or no orders at
manufacture the game but also hired Bushnell as signed to let him rotate the rocket in 16 directions the show. Nutting, however, ordered a large pro-
their chief engineer, as they had no real engineer- with only 4 arrays, are laid out in the shape of duction run regardless, on the expectation that
ing team at the time. Furthermore, Syzygy En- the ships, which made it obvious to game opera- the distributors would come around with further
gineering retained ownership of the game, even tors what would need to be replaced if something exposure. The game was displayed again at the
though Nutting agreed to give Syzygy space to broke. The ships themselves are projected on the International Association of Amusement Parks
build the prototype and to manufacture the game screen as a pattern of dots, rather than connected and Attractions show from November 9–12, and
once complete. Syzygy would be paid five per- lines, and the monitor they are projected on is a then entered production later that month.
cent of each cabinet sold. Bushnell negotiated General Electric 15-inch black and white televi- Nutting ordered an initial production run
to work on Cosmic Combat outside of normal sion screen, specially modified for the game. The of 1,500 units of Computer Space, an optimistic
working hours until it went into production in rudimentary artificial intelligence constructed by decision given that a hit arcade game at the time
order to keep it conceptually separate from his Bushnell has the enemy ships firing towards the would sell around 2,000 units, though a hand-
new job at Nutting so as to prevent Nutting from quadrant of the screen that the player’s rocket is ful had reached 10,000. Reception to the game
1971
82
from distributors was mixed; while some were In Computer Space, the player controls ing indefinitely if the player continues to win.
excited by the game, others felt it to be confusing a rocket as it attempts to shoot a pair of flying One round costs a quarter, or two quarters if the
and part of a passing video game fad. By spring saucers while avoiding enemy fire. The mono- machine is adjusted against the instruction man-
1972 the game had sold over 1,000 units, and chrome game has the three ships flying on a two- ual’s recommendations.
according to Bushnell in 1976 ended up selling dimensional plane, set against the backdrop of
While the game did not meet the high
between 1,300 and 1,500 units. While this was a a starfield. Missiles are fired one at a time, and
hopes of Nutting, it was successful enough that
commercial success, making over $1,000,000, it there is a cooldown period between launches.
Nutting produced a two-player version of the
was a disappointment to Nutting, who had been The player’s rocket follows Newtonian physics,
game in July 1973 with a green fiberglass cabi-
hoping for a large-scale success like Computer remaining in motion even when the player is not
net, built by Steve Bristow.
Quiz. The game’s relative lack accelerating, though the rock-
By May 1972, Bushnell and Dabney quit
of success was attributed to the et can rotate at a constant rate
Nutting Associates and moved to incorporate
complexity of its controls and without inertia. The flying sau-
Syzygy Engineering; they instead named it Atari
a steep learning curve, which cers stay in place or glide in
due to another company with a similar name.
pushed away customers used to a zig-zag pattern around the
Bushnell later stated that he was encouraged by
less complex games. Bushnell screen in tandem, with one stay-
the success of Computer Space in regards to fu-
noted that the locations that the ing a constant distance directly
ture game ideas, as he had never before created
game did well in, like the Dutch below the other. If a ship or mis-
something that made so much money, and ad-
Goose playtest location, were sile moves past one edge of the
ditionally felt that his time at Nutting gave him
generally located near universi- screen, it reappears on the other
confidence in running his own company because
ty campuses; the general market side in a wraparound effect.
he “couldn’t screw it up more than they did”.
for coin-operated games, how- While the missile is in flight, the
Nutting Associates did not make any further
ever, was in working-class bars, player can turn it left or right by
Computer Space games before closing in 1976.
where the patrons were less in- turning their rocket.
Bushnell’s enthusiasm was soon substantiated, as
terested in deciphering a com- Player controls are
Atari’s first game, Pong, went on to substantially
plicated game. In the documen- clockwise and counterclock-
greater success than Computer Space. Although
tary Video Game Invasion: The wise rotation, forward thrust,
not as influential as Pong, Computer Space’s re-
History of a Global Obsession, and firing missiles. Whenever
lease marked the beginning of the commercial
Bushnell explained, “Sure, I loved it, and all my the player is hit by a missile or flying saucer, the video game industry.
friends loved it, but all my friends were engi- screen flashes and the player’s rocket spins rap-
neers. It was a little too complicated for the guy idly and disappears, then reappears in the same
with the beer in the bar.” Bushnell has also stated location. If a flying saucer is hit by a missile,
that part of the difficulty lay in the novelty of the the screen flashes and the saucer briefly disap-
game; he has said that even a few years later the pears. Counters on the right side of the screen
controls and gameplay would have been more keep count of the number of times the player’s
understandable to players who would have seen rocket has been destroyed and the saucers have
other video games by then. Conversely, Bushnell been destroyed, as well as how long that round
and Dabney have said that the game’s novelty of gameplay has lasted. Rocket and saucer scores
was also part of its appeal to players—most peo- are displayed as a single seven segment charactor
ple had never seen a television screen displaying representing a hexadecimal value 0 to 15, after
images being controlled by a person in front of which the count resets and resumes from zero.
it, rather than playing video from a remote tel- Circuit hardware generates unique symbols to
evision station. represent hex numbers 10 through 15 rather than
the conventional charactors A -F which are am-
bigous in seven segment format. A round has an
adjustable time limit of 60 to 150 seconds, with a
default of 90; when the time limit is reached, the
game ends if the player’s score is lower than the
computer’s. If it is higher, the black and white
colors invert in a “hyperspace” feature, and an-
other round begins for free; the game continues
on to new rounds with the display colors invert-
 1971
Galaxy Game 83
Galaxy Game is a space combat arcade and started working on a prototype. They spent a
game developed in 1971 during the early era total of $20,000 to build a single arcade machine Manufacturer Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck
of video games. Created by Bill Pitts and Hugh for two players, like the original Spacewar, decid- Release 1971 - 1972
Tuck, it was one of the first coin-operated video ing to price the game at ten cents per play or 25 Genre Space
games. cents for three games, with the winner of a match Mode 2 Playes
given a free game. They used a PDP-11/20 ver- Cabinet Styles Upright
In 1966, Stanford University student Bill
sion of the PDP-11 ($14,000), a Hewlett-Packard
Pitts, who had a hobby of exploring the steam
1300A Electrostatic Display ($3,000), and spent
tunnels and buildings of the campus, broke into
the remainder on the coin acceptors, joysticks,
a building he found out to be the location of the
wiring, and casing. Pitts build the computer hard-
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Project, which
ware and handled the programming, while Tuck,
held a DEC PDP-6 time-sharing computer sys-
a mechanical engineer, designed the enclosing
tem with 20 Teletype consoles connected to it.
cabinet. The display adapter for the monitor was
Fascinated by the computer and having taken
built by Ted Panofsky, the coin acceptors were
several introductory computer classes, Pitts con-
sourced from jukebox manufacturer Rowe In-
vinced the head of the project, Lester Earnest, to
ternational, and the joysticks found at a military
let him use the computer after hours. Soon, Pitts
surplus store as remainders from B-52 bomber
had ceased going to classes, instead spending
controls. The code for the game was based on a
his nights in the computer lab interacting with
version of Spacewar running on a PDP-10 in the
the graduate and postgraduate students and play-
Stanford artificial intelligence lab, but modified
ing Spacewar on the PDP-6. Pitts often played
with additional features.
against Hugh Tuck, a student at California Poly-
Pitts and Tuck renamed their product
technic State University who was a friend from
from Spacewar to Galaxy Game due to anti-war
high school. During one Spacewar session that
sentiment and founded a company called Mini-
took place, depending on the source, between
Computer Applications in June 1971 to operate
1966 and 1969, Tuck remarked that a coin-oper-
the game as it neared completion. The develop-
ated version of the game would be very success-
ment of the prototype machine took around three
ful. Such a device was still unfeasible due to the
and a half months. By August, they were well
cost of computers, and the pair did not pursue
into development and had gotten permission to
the project. In 1971, however, Pitts, who by then
place the machine at the Tresidder student union
had graduated and was working at Lockheed as
building at Stanford as a test site. It was then that
a PDP-10 programmer, learned of the 1970 DEC
they received a call from Nolan Bushnell, who
PDP-11, which was sold for around $14,000.
had heard of their project and wanted to show
While this was still too high for a commercially
them his similar project he was working on.
viable product, as most electronic games in ar-
Bushnell had also played Spacewar dur-
cades cost around $1,000 at the time, Tuck and
ing the 1960s and wanted to make an arcade
Pitts felt it was low enough to build a prototype
game version of it, but had gone in a different
to determine interest and optimal per-game pric-
technological direction. He and Ted Dabney had
ing.
initially started with a $4,000 Data General Nova
After deciding to begin work on a coin- computer which they thought would be power-
operated version of Spacewar, the pair, with as- ful enough to run multiple simultaneous games
sistance from Tuck’s family, bought a PDP-11 of Spacewar; when it turned out to not be, they
1971
84
had started investigating replacing the computer attracted crowds of people “ten-deep” watch- paid little attention to the business side of the
hardware with custom-built parts. They had soon ing the players. They briefly attached a second project; he felt that Computer Space had been
discovered that while a general-purpose com- monitor hanging above the console so that the more commercially successful because Bushnell
puter cheap enough for an arcade game would watchers could more easily see the game. The had focused more on the business side of his idea
not be powerful enough to run enough games of low prices meant that they did not come close to than the technical.
Spacewar to be profitable, a computer purpose- making back the price of the PDP-11, but they The gameplay of Galaxy Game, like
built for solely running one game could be made were excited by the game’s reception and had Spacewar, involves two monochrome spaceships
for as low as $100. By August 1971 when Bush- not intended the prototype to be profitable. As called “the needle” and “the wedge”, each con-
nell called Tuck and Pitts, he and Dabney had the initial Galaxy Game prototype was displayed trolled by a player, attempting to shoot one an-
already displayed a prototype of their Compu- to the public a few months after the first Compu- other while maneuvering on a two-dimensional
ter Space game in a bar near Stanford and had ter Space prototype, it is believed to be the sec- plane in the gravity well of a star, set against the
found a commercial manufacturer for the game ond video game to charge money to play. backdrop of a starfield. The ships fire torpedoes,
in Nutting Associates. They were curious about As a result of the reception to Galaxy which are not affected by the gravitational pull
what Tuck and Pitts had done to make a commer- Game, Pitts and Tuck started work on an expand- of the star. The ships have a limited number of
cially competitive version of the game, but were ed prototype. For the second machine, they built torpedoes and a limited supply of fuel, which
relieved, though also somewhat disappointed, to a full blue fiberglass casing for the consoles, im- is used when the player fires his thrusters. Tor-
find that they had not solved that problem yet. proved the quality of the joysticks with the help pedoes are fired one at a time, and there is a
Tuck and Pitts, on the other hand, while of a machine shop, and modified the computer cooldown period between launches. The ships
impressed with Bushnell’s hardware were not with a newer display processor to support up to follow Newtonian physics, remaining in motion
impressed with the game itself. They felt that four games at once on different monitors—ei- even when the player is not accelerating, though
Computer Space, a single-player game without ther multiple simultaneous separate games or up the ships can rotate at a constant rate without in-
the central gravity well of the original game, was to four players playing the same game on two ertia.
a pale imitation of Spacewar, while their own screens. They also placed the PDP-11 inside one Each player controls one of the ships and
Galaxy Game was a superior adaptation of the of the consoles rather than in a separate loca- must attempt to shoot down the other ship while
game. In November 1971, the Galaxy Game pro- tion. While the original plan had been to work avoiding a collision with the star. Flying near the
totype debuted. The veneered walnut console, on driving down the development costs after star can provide a gravity assist to the player at
complete with seats for players, was located on the initial prototype, the popularity of the game the risk of misjudging the trajectory and falling
the second floor of the building and connected to convinced the pair to instead focus on making a into the star. If a ship moves past one edge of the
the PDP-11 in the attic by a 100-foot cable. It was better machine that could run multiple games to screen, it reappears on the other side in a wrapa-
very successful; Pitts later said that the machine recoup the upfront investment. The new version round effect. A hyperspace feature, or “panic but-
was installed in a cafe in the ton”, can be used as a last-ditch means to evade
student union building in June enemy torpedoes by moving the player’s ship to
1972, though with only two another location on the screen after disappearing
monitors due to space restric- for a few seconds, but the reentry from hyper-
tions. The original Galaxy Game space occurs at a random location, and there is
prototype was displayed at sev- an increasing probability of the ship exploding
eral locations around the area, with each use. Player controls include clockwise
but was not as successful as it and counterclockwise rotation, forward thrust,
had been at the student union firing torpedoes, and hyperspace. Galaxy Game
building. By the time the second features, as improvements over the original, op-
prototype was completed the tional modifications to the game to have faster
pair had spent $65,000 on the ships, faster torpedoes, to remove the star and its
project and had no feasible way gravitational field or reverse the gravity to push
of making up the cost with the away from the star, and to remove the wrapa-
machine or commercial pros- round effect. The movement of the ships was
pects for a wider release. Pitts controlled with a joystick, while the torpedoes,
later explained that he and Tuck hyperspace, and game options are controlled via
had been focused on the engi- a panel of buttons.
neering and technical challenges The second Galaxy Game prototype was
of producing a faithful coin- moved into the Computer History Museum in
operated Spacewar game and Mountain View, California in 2000.
 1972
Pong 85

Manufacturer Atari
Release 1972
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video Bushnell’s viewing of the Magnavox Odyssey’s Mode 2 Players simultaneous
games. It is a table tennis sports game featuring Tennis game. In May 1972, Bushnell had visited Gameplay Competitive
simple two-dimensional graphics. the Magnavox Profit Caravan in Burlingame, Panel Layout Multiple Player
Pong is a two-dimensional sports game California where he played the Magnavox Od- Controls
yssey demonstration, specifically the table ten- Rotary: Analog
that simulates table tennis. The player controls
nis game. Though he thought the game lacked Sound Amplified Mono
an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across
quality, seeing it prompted Bushnell to assign the (one channel)
the left or right side of the screen. They can com- Cabinet Styles Upright
pete against either a computer-controlled oppo- project to Alcorn.
nent or another player controlling a second pad- Alcorn first examined Bushnell’s sche-
dle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles matics for Computer Space, but found them to be
to hit a ball back and forth. The goal is for each illegible. He went on to create his own designs
player to reach eleven points before the oppo- based on his knowledge of transistor–transistor
nent; points are earned when one fails to return logic and Bushnell’s game. Feeling the basic
the ball to the other. game was too boring, Alcorn added features to
give the game more appeal. He divided the pad-
Pong was the first game developed by
dle into eight segments to change the ball’s angle
Atari. After producing Computer Space, Bush-
of return. For example, the center segments re-
nell decided to form a company to produce more
turn the ball a 90° angle in relation to the paddle,
games by licensing ideas to other companies.
while the outer segments return the ball at small-
The first contract was with Bally Manufacturing
er angles. He also made the ball accelerate the
Corporation for a driving game. Soon after the
longer it remained in play; missing the ball reset
founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because
the speed. Another feature was that the in-game
of his experience with electrical engineering and
paddles were unable to reach the top of screen.
computer science; Bushnell and Dabney also
This was caused by a simple circuit that had an
had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior
inherent defect. Instead of dedicating time to fix-
to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience
ing the defect, Alcorn decided it gave the game
with video games. To acclimate Alcorn to creat-
more difficulty and helped limit the time the
ing games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly
game could be played; he imagined two skilled
meant to be a warm-up exercise. Bushnell told
players being able to play forever otherwise.
Alcorn that he had a contract with General Elec-
Three months into development, Bush-
tric for a product, and asked Alcorn to create a
nell told Alcorn he wanted the game to feature
simple game with one moving spot, two paddles,
realistic sound effects and a roaring crowd. Dab-
and digits for score keeping. In 2011, Bushnell
ney wanted the game to “boo” and “hiss” when
stated that the game was inspired by previous
a player lost a round. Alcorn had limited space
versions of electronic tennis he had played be-
available for the necessary electronics and was
fore; Bushnell played a version on a PDP-1 com-
unaware of how to create such sounds with dig-
puter in 1964 while attending college. However,
ital circuits. After inspecting the sync generator,
Alcorn has claimed it was in direct response to
1972
86
he discovered that it could generate different began exhibiting technical issues and Gaddis power resulted in an increase in the number of
tones and used those for the game’s sound ef- contacted Alcorn to fix it. Upon inspecting the orders Atari received. This provided Atari with
fects. To construct the prototype, Alcorn pur- machine, Alcorn discovered that the problem a steady source of income; the company sold the
chased a $75 Hitachi black-and-white television was the coin mechanism was overflowing with machines at three times the cost of production.
set from a local store, placed it into a 4-foot (1.2 quarters. By 1973, the company had filled 2,500 orders,
m) wooden cabinet, and soldered the wires into After hearing about the game’s success, and, at the end of 1974, sold more than 8,000
boards to create the necessary circuitry. The pro- Bushnell decided there would be more profit for units. The arcade cabinets have since become
totype impressed Bushnell and Dabney so much Atari to manufacture the game rather than li- collector’s items with the cocktail-table version
that they felt it could be a profitable product and cense it, but the interest of Bally and Midway being the rarest. Soon after the game’s success-
decided to test its marketability. had already been piqued. Bushnell decided to in- ful testing at Andy Capp’s Tavern, other compa-
In August 1972, Bushnell and Alcorn in- form each of the two groups that the other was nies began visiting the bar to inspect it. Similar
stalled the Pong prototype at a local bar, Andy uninterested—Bushnell told the Bally execu- games appeared on the market three months
Capp’s Tavern. They selected the bar because tives that the Midway executives did not want it later, produced by companies like Ramtek and
of their good working relation with the bar’s and vice versa—to preserve the relationships for Nutting Associates. Atari could do little against
manager, Bill Gaddis; Atari supplied pinball ma- future dealings. Upon hearing Bushnell’s com- the competitors as they had not initially filed for
chines to Gaddis. Bushnell and Alcorn placed ment, the two groups declined his offer. Bushnell patents on the solid state technology used in the
the prototype on one of the tables near the other had difficulty finding financial backing for Pong; game. When the company did file for patents,
entertainment machines: a jukebox, pinball ma- banks viewed it as a variant of pinball, which at complications delayed the process. As a result,
chines, and Computer Space. The game was well the time the general public associated with the the market consisted primarily of “Pong clones”;
received the first night and its popularity contin- Mafia. Atari eventually obtained a line of credit author Steven Kent estimated that Atari had pro-
ued to grow over the next one and a half weeks. from Wells Fargo that it used to expand its fa- duced less than a third of the machines. Bushnell
Bushnell then went on a business trip to Chicago cilities to house an assembly line. The company referred to the competitors as “Jackals” because
to demonstrate Pong to executives at Bally and announced Pong on 29 November 1972. Man- he felt they had an unfair advantage. His solution
Midway Manufacturing; he intended to use Pong agement sought assembly workers at the local to competing against them was to produce more
to fulfill his contract with Bally, rather than the unemployment office, but was unable to keep up innovative games and concepts.
driving game. A few days later, the prototype with demand. The first arcade cabinets produced Several publications consider Pong the
were assembled very slowly, game that launched the video game industry as
about ten machines a day, many a lucrative enterprise. Video game author Dav-
of which failed quality testing. id Ellis sees the game as the cornerstone of the
Atari eventually streamlined the video game industry’s success, and called the ar-
process and began producing cade game “one of the most historically signifi-
the game in greater quantities. cant” titles. Kent attributes the “arcade phenom-
By 1973, they began shipping enon” to Pong and Atari’s games that followed it,
Pong to other countries with the and considers the release of the home version the
aid of foreign partners. successful beginning of home video game con-
The Pong arcade games soles. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton of Gamas-
manufactured by Atari were a utra referred to the game’s release as the start of
great success. The prototype a new entertainment medium, and commented
was well received by Andy that its simple, intuitive gameplay made it a suc-
Capp’s Tavern patrons; people cess.
came to the bar solely to play Atari remade the game on numerous plat-
the game. Following its release, forms. In 1977, Pong and several variants of the
Pong consistently earned four game were featured in Video Olympics, one of
times more revenue than other the original release titles for the Atari 2600. Pong
coin-operated machines. Bush- has also been included in several Atari compila-
nell estimated that the game tions on platforms including the Sega Genesis,
earned $35–40 per day, which PlayStation Portable, and personal computer.
he described as nothing he’d Many of the companies that produced their own
ever seen before in the coin- versions of Pong eventually became well-known
operated entertainment industry within the industry. Nintendo entered the video
The Original Prototype, currently in the game market with clones of Home Pong.
Computer History Museum collection at the time. The game’s earning
1972
88
Lawsuit from Magnavox Computer Space Ball
The success of Pong attracted the attention of Manufacturer Nutting Associates
Release 1972
Ralph Baer, the inventor of the Magnavox Odys-
Class Wide Release
sey, and his employer, Sanders Associates. Sand-
Genre Ball and Paddle
ers had an agreement with Magnavox to handle Mode 2 Players simultaneous
the Odyssey’s sublicensing, which included Gameplay Joint
dealing with infringement on its exclusive rights. Panel Layout Multiple Player
However, Magnavox had not pursued legal ac- Monitor
tion against Atari and numerous other companies Orientation: Horizontal
that released Pong clones. Sanders continued to Type: TV Monitor
apply pressure, and in April 1974 Magnavox CRT: Black and White
filed suit against Atari, Allied Leisure, Bally Sound Amplified Mono
Midway and Chicago Dynamics. Magnavox ar- (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
gued that Atari had infringed on Baer’s patents
and his concept of electronic ping-pong based on
detailed records Sanders kept of the Odyssey’s
design process dating back to 1966. Other docu-
ments included depositions from witnesses and
a signed guest book that demonstrated Bushnell
had played the Odyssey’s table tennis game prior
to releasing Pong. In response to claims that he
saw the Odyssey, Bushnell later stated that, “The
fact is that I absolutely did see the Odyssey game
and I didn’t think it was very clever.”

Bill Nutting turned down

Bushnell’s offer of a 10% royalty
to license Pong. Nutting was sure
he could produce a similar game
without Nolan’s help. Bushnell’s
The Magnavox Odyssey, invented visit, in fact, may have given him a
by Ralph H. Baer, inspired leg up on the competition. Not sur-
Pong’s development. prisingly then, Nutting’s Computer
Space Ball was one of the first Pong
After considering his options, Bushnell imitators on the market, perhaps
decided to settle with Magnavox out of court. even the first. Though some evi- If Nutting did get its game
Bushnell’s lawyer felt they could win; however dence suggests that the game was to market first, it didn’t do them
he estimated legal costs of $1.5 million, which in production prior to March, when much good. Aside from its possible
would have exceeded Atari’s funds. Magnavox Allied Leisure released Paddle Bat- status as the first Pong clone and its
offered Atari an agreement to become a licensee tle, the evidence is unclear. supremely uninspired name, there
for $700,000. Other companies producing “Pong is little to distinguish Computer
clones”—Atari’s competitors—would have to Space Ball from the horde of Pong
pay royalties. In addition, Magnavox would ob- imitators that appeared in 1973.
tain the rights to Atari products developed over The game feature the same
the next year. Magnavox continued to pursue le- two-player ball-and-paddle game-
gal action against the other companies, and pro- play as other Pong versions.
ceedings began shortly after Atari’s settlement in
June 1976. “allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”
 1972
Star Trek 89

Manufacturer For-Play
Release 1972
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gamplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
Pong Fun Games CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc. (one channel)
Release 1972 Cabinet Styles Upright
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Gameplay Either Star Trek by Burbank’s For-Play
Panel Layout Multiple Player Manufacturing, released (allegedly) in Sep-
Hardware Taito System H tember of 1972, a full two months before
Monitor Pong’s official release (though prototype
Orientation: Horizontal versions of Pong had been in the field for
Type: TV Monitor
some time prior. Star Trek was supposedly
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
a straight clone of Computer Space. The
(one channel) game featured an upright cabinet and a crude
Cabinet Styles Upright joystick control device. The flyer artwork
features inaccurate depictions of the USS
Enterprise. According to legend For-Play
had never bothered to get the rights to the
Pong Fun Games was pro- TV series Star Trek so when the producers
duced by Fun Games Inc. in 1972. found out about the game, production came
to a rapid halt. Unfortunately, little is known
The game is a sit down Pong about the game and even less about the com-
style coin op. videogame for 2 people. pany that made it. Even the release date is
Each has 2 knobs. It has 8 games vari- unconfirmed.
ations, a score keeper and a glass top.

For-Play didn’t last much longer af-

ter Star Trek. In 1973 they produced a pair
of Pong clones - Rally (March) and Sport
Center. They also made non-video arcade
pieces like Bio Computer and a dice-themed
rifle/wall game called Las Vegas Gallery. By
the end of 1973 they had apparently disap-
peared.
Some sources say this one was never
made, and the flyer only contains a mock-up The For-Play’s booth
of a cabinet. at the 1973 MOA show
“allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”
1973
90
Astro Race
Manufacturer Taito “Most exciting new video game
Release 1973 featuring spaceships journey in the
Class Wide Release cosmos. Manage the ship at your
Genre Racing side to pass through a meteoric
Mode 2 Players simultaneous swarm without crashing into it.”
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Joystick: 4-way
(up, down, left, right)
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Astro Race was produced

by Taito in 1973. The game is a
space game where players race
against opposing ships while avoid-
ing comets and meteors.

The game is controlled us-

ing a four-way joystick controller:
Pushing the starting button and the
Spaceship will appear from the bot-
tom of the screen. Controlling the
ship are done by the control lever.
Pushing the lever forward permits
the ship to go upward, and pushing
the lever towards oneself allows the
ship to go downward. Player scores
point when he succeds to pass the
ship through the meteorites. Play-
ers compete with the opposite play-
er for the highest score. When the
ship comes into collision, it disap-
pears and returns to the start. It has
a adjustable playtime from 1.5 to 4
minutes. The bar at the center of the
screen indicates the time elapsed.
Pushing the replay button (red) start
the second game.
 1973
91
Asteroid
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
Sound Amplified Mono “A deep-space TV thriller from
(one channel) Midway”
Cabinet Styles Upright

Asteroid is Midway’s li-

cense of Atari’s Space Race re-
leased in 1973

The length of play is regu-

lated by a timer that starts when the
start button is pushed. Players fly up
towards the top of the screen, and
can control their speed upwards.
Asteroids (a one scan line high
blob) fly from left to right, and the
players try to avoid them. When-
ever a player is hit, he starts again
at the bottom of the screen. When a
player reaches the top of the screen,
he gains a point. The winner is the
person with the most points.

The arcade has additional

adjustable timer control. Dimen-
sions are 26 1/2” wide, 24” deep,
64” high. The pcb is etched with
‘Astroid’.
1973
92

Pong In-A-Barrel
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1973
Genre Ball and Paddle

Pong In-A-Barrel was a version of

Pong created by Atari with a cabinet
that appeared to be an actual wine
barrel, with the monitor embed-
ded down inside the top of a barrel,
a protective glass lid and control-
lers on opposite sides of the screen.
They had fiberglass on the inside,
and were supposedly pretty messy
inside. Players would sit on benches or chairs on either side of the
barrel to play, like what became known as a “cocktail cabinet”, but
taking less space. In an interview with arcade-museum.com, Atari
founder Nolan Bushnell explained that Atari made about 20 different
wine barrel games, but stopped production because the barrels would
fall apart. According to Regan Cheng, Atari was manufacturing these
right before he arrived. He and Pete Takaichi worked on these a little,
one of their first projects.
“mamedev.emulab.it”

Barrel Pong
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1972/1973
Hardware Atari Discrete Logic
Genre Ball and Paddle
Hardware Atari Discrete logic
Sound Monaural (Mono)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Concept drawing by Regan Cheng at Atari. A sketch on

Pete Takaichi and Regan Cheng worked
Chuck E Cheese when it was first concieved
on these “Barrel Pong’s” as one of their
first projects. The units were pretty
messy inside , at least the earlier units
were. They had fiberglas in the inside.
“Ferris@atariage.com”
 1973
93

Computer Space 2 Player

Manufacturer Nutting Associates

Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
While the first Com-
Type: TV Monitor
puter Space did not meet the CRT: Black and White
high hopes of Nutting, it was GE Tube Television
successful enough that Nutting Cabinet Styles Upright
produced a two-player ver-
sion of the game in July 1973
with a green fiberglass cabinet,
built by Steve Bristow; the de-
sign was initially contracted
to Bushnell, but was either
uncompleted or unused. The
game had no further involve-
ment from Bushnell or Dabney,
and was not a large success.

Players user the joy-

stick button to fire a shot, then
control it’s trajectory with
the joystick to hit the enemy
UFO’s. The bullet stays active
and wraps around the screen
continuously until players
fire another shot. The game is
timed, and ends when the timer
ends.
1973
94

Crazy Foot
Manufacturer Bally Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Genre Ball and Paddle
Cabinet Styles Upright

excerpt from the flyer:

a tv -fotball-topper!
• Total free paddle movement over both halves of
playfield
Crazy Foot was produced by
• Exciting goal features for boasting experts
Bally Manufacturing Co. in 1973. It
• Gradually accelerating ball speed
is a soccer-themed game.
• Realistic moments of scoring action
• Flashing ball reappearances after each goal

Soon to become player’s favorite!

• Constant visible scores out of playfield
• Adjustable goal dimensions
• Adjustable speed accelerator
• Adjustable timer unit
• Adjustable to 11 or 15 balls
• Ball deflection after 5 identical impacts
• Adjustable to 1 or 2 coins per play

It’s more than good, it’s great!

• Famous unbreakable handles for complete paddle
control
• Special L.B. tester and paddle position stabilizer
• Total solid state tv-monitor
• Giant tv-screen
• Dimensions 176x70x70 cm - 68x27x27 inch
• weight net 100 kg - 220 lbs
gross 105 kg - 231 lbs
 1973
Davis Cup 95

Manufacturer Taito
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary Analog [Left Hand]
Rotary Analog [Right Hand]
Monitor
excerpt from the flyer:
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor How to Play
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono • Select singles-game or doubles-game.
(one channel) • A game begins by pushing the starting button
Cabinet Styles Upright (green) for singles-game and the starting button
(blue) for double-game.
• Manipulate your knob to move the paddle up and
Davis Cup is an early team down and hit the ball by the paddle.
sport video game, a tennis doubles • Direction of the returning ball is determined by the
game with similar ball-and-paddle point of the paddle where contact is made. When the
gameplay to Pong but played in ball touches the side-line, the ball will rebound.
doubles, allowing up to four play- • A game is won by either one of the players when he
ers to compete. scores 11 points or 15 points against his opponent.
(Score is adjustable.)
• Push the replay button (red) to start the second
game.

Features:
1. All solid state electronic components for long life
and rugged use.
2. Adjustable game points (11 points or 15 points.)
3. In double-game, the ball passing thru the back of
the forward is deflected.
4. Large 20-inch TV screen.

Specifications:
Height: 1524 m/m
Width: 719 m/m
Depth: 730 m/m
Weight: 60 kg
Power: AC100V 105W 50/60 Hz
Cabinet: Laminated Melamin Board
Coin Acceptor: Accepts 2 different coin sizes
1973
96

Doctor Pong
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1973/1974
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Hardware Atari Discrete Logic
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Doctor Pong, also known as “Pup- Puppy Pong Snoopy Pong

py Pong” was an adaption of the original
arcade Pong for use in a non-coin-operated
environment. It was conceptualized by No-
lan Bushnell, Steve Bristow and a market-
ing firm to move their arcade games into
a non-arcade environment—in this case
to help occupy children in paediatricians’
waiting rooms. Originally designed to be
model of Snoopy’s doghouse with Pong
built into the side of it, when Charles
Schulz declined Atari the use of Snoopy the
model was changed to a generic doghouse
with a puppy looking over the top. Puppy
Pong saw a limited production run and was
in testing stage at Chuck E. Cheese’s early
locations.

The original Snoopy Pong cabinet

was designed by Regan Cheng of the Atari
Industrial Design group. The follow-up
Puppy Pong cabinet was designed by Re-
gan’s manager, Chas Grossman.

Both cabinets consisted of a dog-

house housing a Pong board modified to
not use a coin drop as a start trigger. The
original Pong automatically starts several
seconds after a coin is inserted. In Doctor
Pong and Puppy Pong, a “start button” was
instead wired up to start the games, set un-
der the vertically mounted television in the
dog house “roof”. Instead of a traditional
control panel, spinners are mounted direct-
ly on the roof as well.
 1973
Gotcha 97
Gotcha, released in October 1973, was the fourth His designed featured a joystick for each play-
Manufacturer Atari
game by the company, after the 1972 Pong and er, which was encased in a pink dome that the
Release 1973
the 1973 Space Race and Pong Doubles. player would rest their hands on to control the Class Wide Release
The game is a two-player maze game joysticks, meant to resemble breasts. Faraco lat- Genre Labyrinth/Maze
in which one player attempts to catch the other. er acknowledged that “they didn’t have bumps Mode 2 Players simultaneous
The maze is composed of a repeating pattern of on them or anything, but the way they were the Gameplay Competitive
elements set in multiple columns on the screen. size of grapefruits next to each other, you got the Hardware Discrete Logic
The “Pursuer” is represented by a square, while impression of what they were supposed to be.” Panel Layout Multiple Player
the “Pursued” is identified by a plus sign. As the Atari’s second engineer, Don Lange, who assist- Controls
Pursuer gets closer to the Pursued, an electronic ed with the game, has also stated that the design Trackball: Optical
beeping sound plays at an increasing rate until was intentional on the part of Faraco, who fellow Monitor
the Pursuer reaches the Pursued. Whenever the Atari designer Regan Chang has claimed “had Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Pursued is caught, the Pursuer scores a point, the some really far out ideas”. According to rumour,
CRT: Black and White
maze disappears for a brief moment, and the Pur- Faraco got the idea from a joke that joysticks re- Sound Amplified Mono
suer is moved to a random position on the right sembled phalluses, and that Atari should make (one channel)
side of the screen. There is no score for the Pur- a game with female controls. Like Faraco’s ini- Cabinet Styles Upright
sued, so determining who won is left to the play- tial design for Space Race, which was changed
ers. The maze itself is continually changing, with due to its expense after a few dozen units, the
two invisible lines half a screen apart scanning joysticks for Gotcha were changed to standard
down the maze and overwriting maze elements. ones shortly into the production run prior to the
Above the maze is the Pursuer’s score and the October 1973 release. The design did inspire the
time elapsed in the game. Each game is for a set advertising flyer for the game, however, which
period of time. When time runs out, the game en- features a man chasing a woman in a nightdress
ters attract mode, where the score resets and the with the initial design of the cabinet behind
square and plus sign begin bouncing around the them. The final cabinet stands over 5 feet tall and
maze in a diagonal pattern as the maze continues weighs nearly 200 pounds. The breast-like con-
to change. trollers reappeared in yellow in prototype ver-
The cabinet for the game was designed sions of the 1974 Touch Me arcade game, but
by Atari’s product designer, George Faraco. were not used in production.
Gotcha was not commercially success-
ful; later sources have described it as receiv-
ing a “lukewarm reception” and “arousing little
more than controversy”. Additionally, despite
Gotcha’s prominence as Atari’s fourth game and
their second game not related to Pong, the 1973
arcade video game market was largely dominat-
ed by Pong clones; while Pong was the fourth
arcade video game ever produced, Gotcha was
approximately the twentieth, with nearly all the
other games released before and after Gotcha
through the end of the year Pong clones.
1973
98
Elepong
Manufacturer Taito
Release 1973 Elepong is a Pong vari-
Class Wide Release ant,, and likely Taito’s, and Japans,
Genre Ball and Paddle first ever arcade game release. Two
Mode 2 Players simultaneous players compete in bouncing a ball
Gameplay Competitive back together scoring a point when
Hardware Discrete Logic the other misses.
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

excerpt from the flyer:

• Taito Elepong is a electronically

simulated Ping Pong game visually
displayed on a TV screen.
• The ball is automatically served
from the net and the players attempt
to hit the ball with their paddles
(which are on both side of the net)
by controlling its vertical positions
with the control knobs located in
the front of the cabinet.
• Players score points when they
manage to hit the ball past the
opponent’s paddle and out of the
screen.
• A game is won by either one of
the players when he scores 11 or 15
points against his opponents.

Features:
1. All solid state electronic compo-
nents for long life and rugged us-
age.
2. Adjustable game points (11
points or 15 points)
3. Built-in acoustic system captures
the realistic sound of the paddle hit-
ting the ball.
4. Large 20-inch TV screen.
 1973
Hockey TV Hockey 99

Manufacturer Sega Manufacturer Ramtek

Release 1973 Release 1973
Class Wide Release Class Wide Release
Genre Sports Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor Controls
Orientation: Horizontal Rotary: Analog
Type: TV Monitor Monitor
CRT: Black and White Orientation: Horizontal
Sound Amplified Mono Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
(one channel CRT: Black and White
Cabinet Styles Upright Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

“Here’s a totally different video game, one that simu-

Hockey TV (also referred to as TV lates the dynamic power play in hockey. One knob
Hockey, depending on region) is a discrete logic controls both the defensive goalie and the offensive
arcade game released by Sega in 1973. It is es- forwards, enabling two players to satisfy their natural
sentially Pong with two sets of paddles. competitive spirit. For a single player HOCKEY of-
fers the maximum challenge to physical dexterity and
game playing skill.”.

Hockey was produced by Ramtek

in 1973. One goalie and two wings move
simultaneously for each player. The first
player to score nine goals wins.

The sides of the cabinet have a wood

grain finish. Decals of the goals are situated
on both ends of the screen over the actual
scoring zones. A decal of a hockey player ap-
pears behind each goal.
1973
100
Leader
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White Midway Leader was licensed from Ram-
Sound Amplified Mono tek’s Wipe Out.
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright The object of the game is to score 15
Cocktail points before the opponent. This is done by de-
flecting the ball with the paddle, trying to score
a miss by the other player. A point is scored to
the opposite player for every one missed by his
opponent until one or the other reaches a score of
“It’s a TV knock-out!” 15. This is where the similarity to Pong ends. In a
two-player game, player one controls the paddles
on the left and right side of the screen simultane-
ously and player two controls the paddles at the
top and bottom of the screen at the same time as
well. In a four-player game, each player controls
one of the four paddles located on the screen, with
players one and two being the left and right pad-
dles and players three and four being the top and
bottom paddles.

In the middle of the screen there is a wall

section that looks like a large plus sign. This is
used to deflect the ball randomly around the
screen.
Miscellaneous

Because of the limited action and the con-

stant displaying of the game visuals on the screen,
the monitor suffers permanent burn-in that is quite
noticeable when the game is off.
“arcade-museum.com”
 1973
Missile Radar 101

Manufacturer Nutting Associates

Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating
Panel Layout Single Player
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Buttons: 1 [Fire]
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
excerpt from the flyer:
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
• Here Comes The Enemy Warhead!
Sound Amplified Mono
• Set The Radar Missile In Position!
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright • Fire!
• Another Enemy Warhead Is Destroyed!

All the action takes place on an exciting

Missile Radar was produced radar screen. Radar Missle challenges
by Nutting Associates in 1973. the player to quickly coordinate missile
In the game, players set radar position and firing time to intercept and
missiles in position and fire them to destroy the fast flying warheads.
destroy on-coming enemy warheads. Enemy warheads arc over screen and ex-
Nolan Bushnell supposedly plode on ground if not destroyed.
saw Missile Radar which later provid- Intense, realistic
ed the basis for the idea that became Intense, realistic sounds add to the ten-
Missile Command. sion and excitement.
Radar screen brightens and fades just
like a real radar set.
Nolan Bushnell supposedly saw Mis-
sile Radar which later provided the basis for Features
the idea that became Missile Command.
• 25c play - for more profit
• EZ sevice cabintet - all collecting, servicing and
adjustment are easily and quickly accomplished
from the front
• MaxiSafe coin box - locked, heavy gauge steel
box protects collections
• InstaFix modular circuitry - makes field repairs
fast and simple
• Attract mode - flying rockets, rocket sounds and
flashing name
•Extended play for high score
• Adjustable time - 1 to 2 1/2 minutes
• Full one-year factory warranty on computer cir-
cuit boards
• Solid-state cool running TV for long, trouble-free
life
• Built-in test pattern for fast TV adjustments
1973
102
Olympic TV Hockey Olympic TV Football
Manufacturer Chicago Coin
Manufacturer Chicago Coin Release 1973
Release 1973 Genre Sports
Genre Sports Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Gameplay Competitive
Gameplay Competitive Panel Layout Multiple Player
Panel Layout Multiple Player Monitor
Monitor Orientation: Horizontal
Orientation: Horizontal Type: TV Monitor
Type: TV Monitor CRT: Black and White
CRT: Black and White Sound Amplified Mono
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
(one channel) Cabinet Styles Upright
Cabinet Styles Upright

Olympic TV Football is a black and white

soccer-like ball and paddle game from Chicago Coin.
Koci claims that Olympic TV Football was
the European version of Olympic TV Hockey (they
probably changed the name since Europeans would
be more familiar with football/soccer than hockey).

Olympic Tennis
Manufacturer See-Fun
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
“Exciting new electronic match-
Genre Sports
point tennis game.” Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
excerpt from the flyer: Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Full 22” TV screen brings a Controls
new dimension to a competitive Rotary: Analog
game of skill. Monitor
Size: Height 60” Orientation: Horizontal
• 11 or 15 points scoring Type: TV Monitor
• 2 Players - one quarter Width 33 3/8”
Depth 27 3/4” CRT: Black and White
• 4 Players - Two quarters Sound Amplified Mono
Crated Weight: 250 lbs.
Push button game start. (one channel)
Voltage: 110-220V 2 amps Cabinet Styles Upright
Ease of servicing - Modular Formica Cabinet-Levelers
plug-in components.
Glare free viewing.
Volume control with preventa-
tive stops.
 1973
103

Paddle Battle
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
“Allied’s Biggest Secret IS OUT!!! Hardware Discrete Logic
There’s no competition... Controls
Rotary: Analog
Just MONEY MONEY MONEY”
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Paddle Battle is a common ball Type: TV Monitor
and paddle game from Allied Leisure. CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Paddle-Ball
Manufacturer Williams Electronics, Inc.
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
excerpt from the flyer:
Mode 2 Players simultaneous “Most Exciting Two Player
Game In A Decade!” • Can Be Operated Anywhere
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
• Compact But Great
Hardware Discrete Logic • Solid State TV and Components
Controls Paddle-Ball is a com- • Realistic Game Sound
Rotary: Analog mon ball and paddle game • Phenomenal Earnings-Lasting Appeal
Monitor from Williams. The machine Formica Cabinet.
Orientation: Horizontal feature a tilt mechanism, they
Type: TV Monitor
Williams Front Door Assembly & Cash
borrowed from a Williams box.
CRT: Black and White
pinball game. Tilt Switch-Cabinet Levellers-Coin
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel) Counter.
Cabinet Styles Upright Volume Control with Preventive Stops.
Easy Service Disconnects to TV, PC
Board, Power Supply & Front Door.
Quarter Per Game - Two Can Play.

Order with Confidence -

“PADDLEBALL” is the Best!
1973
104
Pong Doubles “Atari’s New Video Game
Manufacturer Atari 2 or 4 Players”
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Either
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Rotary: Analog
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Pong Doubles is the follow-

up game to Pong, where up to four
people can play. Two players on
one side bat a ball to the other side
where it is fielded by the other two
players.

excerpt from the flyer:

featuring new giant screen

all solid state components
one year computer warranty
plus all the features of the original
PONG.
2 players for 25c
4 players for 50c
operatir adjustable to 4 players for
25c
Specifications:
height - 58”
width - 31”
depth - 29”
shipping weight -
210 lbs
 1973
Pong Tron 105

Manufacturer Sega
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Pong-Tron is a 1973
discrete logic arcade game
produced by Sega. It is a
Pong-clone built specifically
for Japanese audiences.

Pong-Tron differs very little from

Atari’s offering, however this release is
significant as it stands as Sega’s first ar- Pong Tron II
cade game to incorporate a CRT monitor
and thus be classed as a “video game”. Manufacturer Sega
Release 1973
Prior to Pong-Tron’s release, Sega had
Class Wide Release
built its successes through electro-me- Genre Ball and Paddle
chanical arcade games, pinball tables, slot Mode 2 Players simultaneous
machines and jukebox distribution. Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Pong-Tron followed later in the Hardware Discrete Logic
year by the updated Pong-Tron II (and Monitor
Hockey TV, another pseudo-Pong clone). Orientation: Horizontal
The housing was also recycled for Bal- Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
loon Gun. Sega’s main competitor at the CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
time, Taito also released a similar Japa-
(one channel)
nese clone in the form of Elepong, also in Cabinet Styles Upright
1973.

Pong-Tron II is a 1973 dis-

crete logic Pong clone produced by
Sega. It is a follow-up to Pong-Tron,
released earlier in 1973.
1973
106
Pro Hockey
Manufacturer Taito
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Pro Tennis Hardware Discrete Logic
Manufacturer Williams Electronics, Inc. Controls
Release 1973 Rotary: Analog
Genre Sports Monitor
Mode 4 Players Orientation: Horizontal
Cabinet Styles Upright Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Pro Tennis was produced by Williams

Electronics, Inc. in 1973. Pro Hockey, produced by Taito, is a hock-
ey game where players try to get the puck into
their opponent’s goal. The gameplay is similar to
Pong.
excerpt from the flyer:

You’ve tried the rest.

Now buy the best!
Williams’ 4-Player T.V. Tennis Game on 25c
Play (50c per game) will get the job done on any
location.
Appearance, Sound, Play Appeal and excellent
craftmanship make “PRO-TENNIS” the leader
in the field.
Full Size 23” Screen.
11 or 15 point scoring.
 1973
Rally 107

Manufacturer For-Play
Release 1973
Class Wide Release Soccer
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Manufacturer Ramtek
Gameplay Competitive Release 1973
Panel Layout Multiple Player Class Wide Release
Hardware Discrete Logic Genre Ball and Paddle
Controls Soccer/Futbol
Rotary: Analog Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Monitor Gameplay Competitive
Orientation: Horizontal Panel Layout Multiple Player
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Hardware Discrete Logic
CRT: Black and White Controls
Sound Amplified Mono Rotary: Analog
(one channel) Monitor
Cabinet Styles Upright Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
Upright/Standard
Rally is a competitive, fast-action ball
and paddle game.
“Introducing $OCCER
another money machine from the makers of
VOLLEY & HOCKEY”

excerpt from the flyer: Soccer is basically a two team

pong with a space in the outer box line
No Two Games Alike for a goal. Can be played by 1- 4 players
Creates Repeat Play in competitive teams. The game features
black and white raster graphics with a
Fun For All Ages
soccer themed cabinet.
Record Profits “boardgamegeek.com”
Already Proven On Location
Features excerpt from the flyer:
• 25c Play
Here’s an action-packed video
• One or Two Can Play
game that lets you cash in on the
• Large 16” Screen
growing interest in European type
• Real Live Sound Effects
soccer. Using the same designs that
• Service Free
have made Ramtek’s “Volley” and
• All Solid State
“Hockey” overnight successes,
• Only Moving Parts Are Control Knobs and
Soccer will be even more profitable
Coin-Rejector Cradle
because it can be played by either
• Dimensions; 25” x 29” x 46”
two or fours players. This means
more competitive involvement for
increased replays.
108 Space Race
Space Race is an arcade game developed was designed to be a racing game that would be
Manufacturer Atari
by Atari and released on July 16, 1973. It was the simple to create to fulfill an earlier contract with
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
second game by the company after Pong (1972). Bally Midway; Atari had initially offered Pong
Genre Racing Space Race was the first racing arcade video during its development to fulfill the contract, but
Mode 2 Players simultaneous game and the first game with a goal of crossing had been rejected. The company was also inter-
Gameplay Competitive the screen while avoiding obstacles. ested in producing a very different game from

Panel Layout Multiple Player
Space Race is a two- their previous success, as they
Hardware Discrete Logic felt that innovative design was
Controls player arcade game. In the
game, the two players each con- what would separate them from
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) their competitors, which they
Sound Amplified Mono trol a spaceship, which they fly
from the bottom of the screen to saw as flooding the market with
(one channel)
the top. Along the way are dash- Pong clones rather than making
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail es representing asteroids mov- new video games.
ing across the screen from left The engineering and
to right, which the players must prototyping for Asteroid was
avoid. Movement controls are done by Alcorn. The game is en-
limited to moving the spaceship coded entirely in discrete elec-
up or down; if the player’s ship tronic components, like Atari’s
is hit by an asteroid it disap- earlier games, and unlike later
pears for a few seconds before computer-based arcade games;
reappearing at the bottom again. the graphics are all simple line
The game displays a starfield in elements with the exception of
the background, as well as each the spacecraft, which are gener-
player’s score, which increases ated based on diodes on the cir-
whenever a player makes it to the top first. Each cuit board arranged in the shape of half of a ship
game is for a set amount of time, represented to represent the shape they create. That half ship
by a line in the bottom middle of the screen that is mirrored on the screen, similar to the diode
shortens during the game, with the winner being array in Computer Space, which generated eight
the player with the higher score when time runs directions of a rotating ship with a mirrored four
out. Each game costs a quarter. Machines can be images. The game was completed quickly, and
set to play one or two rounds per game, and the
time per round is adjustable per machine over a
range from 45 seconds to 3 minutes.
Development of Space Race began soon
after the founding of Atari in Summer 1972
under the name Asteroid. Co-founders Nolan
Bushnell and Ted Dabney had the initial idea for
the game while developing the 1971 Computer
Space, the first arcade video game, but felt the
more complicated Computer Space was a bet-
ter first game. After leaving Nutting Associates
and founding Atari in May 1972, Bushnell spent
a few days designing Asteroid, but soon had to
drop the project to focus on running the compa-
ny. After the release of Pong, Atari’s first game,
development resumed on the title in Spring
1973. Dabney has claimed credit for the game’s
final design, though Pong designer Allan Alcorn
has stated that he and Bushnell may have been
involved as well. Asteroid, codenamed VP-2,
 1973
109
Alcorn soon moved on to Atari’s third game, ever produced, Space Race was approximately technology. This means less downtime for your
Gotcha. When the game was complete, the de- the fourteenth, with nine Pong clones between customer, less headaches for you.
sign was given to Midway to sell under that them and mostly only other clones filling out the Easy to operate and service. Front access to ma-
name, only for Atari to produce a nearly identi- rest of the year’s releases. jor components and separately locked cash box.
cal version itself titled Space Race, which was Space Race was the first arcade rac- Clean, contemporary look. Space Race can be
released on July 16, 1973. ing video game, as well as the first game with played anywhere and everywhere. Fine shops.
A fibreglass Space Race cabinet was de- a goal of crossing the screen while avoiding ob- Restaurants. Waiting Rooms. Recreations areas.
signed for the game by Atari’s product designer, stacles, though a few racing games had been re- Reception lobbies. Offices.
George Faraco. The tall, angular cabinet, remi- leased in 1972 for the Magnavox Odyssey home Fast profit-maker. Game time owner-adjustable
niscent of the fibreglass cabinet for Computer video game console. Later games in that genre from 45 seconds to three minutes. Two plays for
Space, was the first to display the Atari logo. The are the arcade game Frogger and the Atari 2600 25c at the flip of a switch.
cabinet design was distinctive enough that Bush- Freeway, both from 1981. A similarly-titled, ex-
nell considered using it for Pong as well, but the panded version of Space Race was published by
production costs proved too high and only 50 ANALOG Software in 1981 for the Atari 8-bit
units were made before the design was dropped family of computers as Race in Space.
and Space Race switched to a more traditional
rectangular cabinet. The final cabinet stands excerpt from the flyer:
nearly 5 feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds. Super space gamesmanship. Space ships race
Bushnell later stated that the molds to make the across the galaxy, dodging meteors and aster-
fibreglass cabinets cost $2000 and could only oids. Zap! Hit, they disintegrate, then another
make one per day due to the complicated shape, blasts off for another flight. Each successful trip
and Atari felt the cost did not justify buying through space earns an individual score. Total-
enough moulds to make a full production run in a izer records scores for competing ships. One
reasonable amount of time. The final Space Race
player can race the clock or fly
cabinet was reused later that
two ships for a high skill test.
same year for Pong Doubles, a
Two players can duel through
four-player version of Pong.
the meteor storm competing for
Space Race was not high score.
commercially successful; Nolan Great player appeal. New. So-
Bushnell has described it as “not phisticated. And fun.
as successful as Pong by a wide Dimensions. Height: 58” width: 25”; depth: 29”;
Lots of visual action. Excel-
margin”, and Ralph Baer claims weight: 217 lbs.
lent clarity. Sharpest TV image.
that it sold around 1,500 units. It Space Race. Another winner from Atari, the reli-
Constant video action in at-
did inspire a clone game, Taito’s able leader in video games.
tract mode demands play. Elec-
1973 Astro Race, and accord- tronic space sounds are always
ing to Bushnell also inspired an beckoning, meteors are con-
unsuccessful clone version by stantly moving, challenging the
Nutting Associates. Midway felt player to try his luck. They can’t
that the release of Space Race pass up this game.
violated their contract with Atari Skill and luck factors. Just
for Asteroid, and the two com- enough frustration to encourage
panies agreed in exchange to replay after replay.
drop Atari’s three percent roy- Reliable. Solid state. “Dura-
alty cut for Asteroid machines. stress” computer with one year
Despite Space Race’s warranty. Repairs after initial
prominence as Atari’s second warranty period are made for
game and the first after Pong, nominal cost. Major compo-
the 1973 arcade video game nents tested to Mil. Spec. 883.
market was largely dominated Space Race PCB
Rugged console. Precision engi-
by Pong clones; while Pong was neering. Designed and built by
the fourth arcade video game Prototype the originators of video game
Photo by: Greg McLemore
1973
110

Super Soccer
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
“We’ve teamed up Genre Soccer/Futbol
And You’ll own a champ” Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Super Soccer is a black and white Hardware Discrete Logic
soccer game where each player controls Controls
three paddles to bounce the ball back and Rotary: Analog
forth. Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

T.V. Tennis
Manufacturer Nutting Associates The gameplay is like the excerpt from the flyer:
Release 1973 original ball and paddle game.
Class Wide Release “Styled & Built for Durability”
Which ever side won the last
Genre Ball and Paddle • 1 Coin - 2 Players
point serves. The first person or
Mode 4 Players simultaneous • 2 Coins - 4 Players
doubles team to 15 points wins.
Gameplay Either • All Solid Formica Cabinet
Panel Layout Multiple Player
• Isolated Locket Cash Box
Hardware Discrete Logic
The lower sides and front • Positive Stops on Control Knobs
Controls
Rotary: Analog of the cabinet are a dark wood to Provide Long Life for Poten-
Monitor grain laminate. The upper sides tionmeters.
Orientation: Horizontal and front are an off-white wood • Large Screen 100% Solid State
Type: TV Monitor grain laminate. The control panel TV and Tilt-Back Cabinet Design
CRT: Black and White is an off-white rough textured Permit Easy Play and Spectator
Sound Amplified Mono laminate. A dark tinted plexiglass Visibility.
(one channel) • Court Lines on Top and Bottom.
sheet with painted-on graphics
Cabinet Styles Upright •Start Button to Eliminate Instant
and instructions covers the moni-
tor. Service.
•Easy Serviceability and Access
“arcade-museum.com” to All Parts.
 1973
111
Table Tennis
Manufacturer Nutting Associates
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

Table Tennis is a two- to four-player

game with a ball bouncing from side-to-side
off the borders of the screen. The object of
the game is to try to out-maneuver the other
player’s paddle and score a point.

excerpt from the flyer:

“From Nutting Associates
-Where video game technology began...”
Table Tennis is our new video action
game. Its unique combination of special
features makes it better than any coin
video game yet devised - for the opera-
tor, for the player, and for the location
owner.
It’s housed in a handsome and contempo-
rary cabinet that’s actually a durable and
attractive piece of furniture. This feature
make Table Tennis ideally suited for so-
phisticated lounges, country clubs and
other entertainment spots.
Functionally, Table Tennis is an exciting
1-, 2- or 4-player game with an electroni-
cally controlled “ball” bouncing from
side to side of the four borders of the
screen and across a “net.” Object of the
game is just like real table tennis - to out-
manoeuvre the other player’s paddle and
collect points.
1973
112
Tennis Tourney
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1972
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Tennis Tourney is a two- to four- Rotary: Analog
player tennis game from Allied Leisure. Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

TV Hockey
Manufacturer Chicago Coin Machine Co.
Release 1973
Cabinet Styles Upright

TV Hockey was produced by Chi-

cago Coin Machine Co. in 1973.
No pictures or other information was found
on this machine...
 1973
113
TV Pin Game
Manufacturer Chicago Coin excerpt from the flyer:
Release 1973
“It’s the industry’s most
Class Wide Release
Genre Video Pinball
revolutionary new game.”
Mode 2 Players Let TV PINGAME start gathering crowds
Gameplay Alternating for you. It’s a game with long and lasting
Panel Layout Single Player drawing power! From start to finish, it was
Hardware Discrete Logic designed with the operator in mind.
Controls
Rotary: Analog
• ADJUSTABLE for free game or extra
Monitor ball.
Orientation: Horizontal • 25¢ play. Adjustable for two games 25¢.
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Also three games for two quarters.
CRT: Black and White • 5 BALLS - adjustable to three balls per
with a Color Overlay game.
Sound Amplified Mono • GAME constantly play itself to attract at-
(one channel) tention when not in use.
Cabinet Styles Upright • COMPACT cabinet.
• TV PINGAME can be operated any-
where, even in locations where pin balls
are not.
• BALL changes speed and directions. No
two games play alike - just like regulation
flipper game.
• FLIPPER horizontally controlled, re-
bound ball right, left, or straight up.
• 16 BUMPERS. Knock them out and
score 100 points each. Knock them all out
for a bonus of 8000 points. Game contin-
ues with 16 new bumpers.
• 9 POCKETS. Hit pockets and score 100
TV Pin Game is a digital version of pinball, which use a points or lose ball in lower corner pockets.
vertical playfield with a paddle at the bottom of the screen, con- • MOVING TARGET moves across top of
trolled by a rotary dial. The game space, like pinball, is filled with screen. Hit it and score 2000 points.
obstacles, bumpers, and pockets along the side, represented by • BALL COUNT and GAME CREDITS,
simple squares. The game also include a moving rectangle at the as well as DIGITAL SCORES, displayed
top of the playfield which serve as a skill shot. Other manufactur- on screen.
ers quickly picked up digital pinball as well: Midway with TV • SIGHT - game in full color. Unique color
Flipper, Exidy with with TV Pinball, and Atari with Ping Pong, overlay on standard TV screen.
which digitally represented flippers controlled by buttons, rather • SOUND - has real chimes plus realistic
than a paddle and rotary dial. pin ball electronic sounds.
DIMENSIONS:
“History of Digital Games:
Developments in Art, Design and Interaction”
Height: 61” Width: 23”
Depth: 24” Weight: 225 lbs.
1973
114

TV Ping Pong
Manufacturer Chicago Coin
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic TV Ping Pong is one of many variations on the
Controls “ping pong” gameplay. Two players compete in volleying
Rotary: Analog a ball across the screen by moving paddles up and down
Monitor along the sides of the screen. The first player to 11 (or 15)
Orientation: Horizontal wins.
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White TV Ping Pong is a very simple cabi-
Sound Amplified Mono net where the monitor glass and marquee are
(one channel) cream colored with red and yellow lettering.
Cabinet Styles Upright The control panel is a metal plate with the
directions silk-screened onto it. The sides of
the cabinet are fake-wood vinyl veneer and
the front of the cabinet is painted yellow and
orange.
There are no processor or graphics ICs on the
board. The power supply is a simple transformer and the
rotary controls are 5K Ohm potentiometers. The moni-
tor is just a B&W television that recieves its video signal
through its VHF and UHF antenna inputs.
“arcade-museum.com”
 1973
115
Volly
Manufacturer Ramtek
Release 1973
TV Ping Pong Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Manufacturer Amutronics
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Release 1973
Gameplay Joint
Class Wide Release
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Genre Ball and Paddle
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Controls
Orientation: Horizontal
Rotary: Analog
Cabinet Styles Upright
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

TV Ping Pong is a Pong

clone by Amutronics of Cherry Hill,
NJ. The player uses a rotary knob to
control an onscreen paddle, moving
it vertically to hit a ball travelling
horizontally across the screen. Play-
ers can compete against a compu-
ter controlled opponent or another
player controlling a second paddle
to score the most points. Video tennis game (like
Pong) where player 1 is on the left
and player 2 is on the right. First
player to reach 15 points wins. Ball
excerpt from the flyer: serves automatically and game starts
as soon as coin is inserted.
“Exciting where it counts -
in the cash box”
• 25c Play
• Competitive 2 Player Action
• Reliable Solid State Mechanism
• Sound Effects
• Appealing to Players of All Ages
• Acceptable for All Types of Loca-
tions
• Front & Back Cabinet Accessibil-
ity
Dimensions:
Height - 62”
Width - 25”
Depth - 23 1/2”
117 V. - 60 Hz
Shipping Weight - 200
1973
116
Watergate Caper
Manufacturer Nutting Associates
Release 1973
Mode 1 Player
Gameplay Single
Panel Layout Single Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono Nutting Associate’s Watergate Caper game is
(one channel) the topic of discussion among Nutting’s Wil-
Cabinet Styles Upright liam G. Nutting (left), and Musical Sales rep-
resentatives (from left to right) Tommy Trokey,
Stan Seifer, and Sam Massaro

The major news story of 1973

was the ongoing Watergate investiga- excerpt from the flyer:
tion and Nutting attempted to cash in
with Watergate Caper. Introduced at You Watched It On TV
the 1973 MOA show, the game invited You Read About It In Papers
players to “discover the secret combina- Now - Discover The Secret Combination And
tion and break into the Watergate your- Break Into The Watergate Yourself
self.” In the game, the player feverishly Player feverishly twists the dial and punches the
twists the dial and punches the code key code key to reveal a mysterious combination be-
to reveal a mysterious combination be- fore time runs out and he is caught by double
fore time runs out and he is caught by agents.
double agents.
Spine chilling sound effects create suspense and
Though it is often listed as a
intrigue. Eerie black light adds to the mystery.
video game, its flyer makes no mention
of a TV monitor and it may have been Watergate Caper stimulates the larceny in all of
an electro-mechanical game along the us to see if we can break in and not get caught.
lines of Milwaukee Coin Industries The Players try again and again to see if they can get
Safe. Video game or not, it stands as a away with it.
rare example of an arcade game based
on a political scandal. FEATURES
“allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no” • 25c play -
• EZService cabinet - all collecting, servicing
and adjustments are easily and quickly accom-
plished from the front
• Instafix modular circuitry - makes field re-
pairs fast and simple
• MaxiSafe coin box - locked, heavy gauge steel
box protects collections
• Adjustable game - 1 to 3 minutes
• Extended play - for Super Agent Score
• Lamp test - one switch lights all lamps simul-
taneously for easy burn-out check.
 1973
117

Wimbeldon
Wimbledon is a four-player tennis game that used
Manufacturer Nutting Associates distinctive slider controls in place of the standard rotary
Release 1973 controls or joysticks. What made the games interesting,
Genre Sports
however, was not the controls but the graphics. They were
Hardware Discrete Logic
Cabinet Styles Upright
among the earliest games to use computer-generated color
rather than the cellophane overlays found in other games.
Wimbledon was designed by Miel Domis. Domis was
tasked with designing a color version of Pong. Wimble-
don debuted at the 1973 MOA show in November and its
excerpt from the flyer: release was announced in the December issues of Vend-
ing Times and Cash Box. Though the game was billed as
• Living-color TV the first arcade video game to use real color, Atari’s Color
• Giant color screen instantly at- Gotcha probably preceded it by about a month. Wimble-
tracts more players don, however, was in all likelihood the second true-color
• Green lawn court video game and it is possible that it beat Color Gotcha to
• White border lines market.
• Each paddle has its own color “allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”

FEATURES
• 25c or 50c play -
• Adjustable - From 2 players at
25c to 4 players at 25c
• Game can be set - Either 11 or
15 points
• Reliable color TV - Solid-state,
with stable color circuitry - One
full year warranty.
1973
118
Winner
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle Winner is a Pong clone that was
Mode 2 Players simultaneous the first arcade game manufactured by
Gameplay Competitive Midway. One credit pits players against
Panel Layout Multiple Player another opponent in a Ping Pong type bat-
Hardware Discrete Logic tle.
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Special Sound System
Sound From Television
Cabinet Styles Upright

excerpt from the flyer:

Midway’s new table tennis game,
WINNER, will be in your distributor’s
showroom soon. This game is being built
under license and with the co-operation of
Atari, Inc., of Santa Clara, California, (Syz-
gy Engineered), the inventor and developer
of the game.
Midway has reaped the benefits of
months of location testing. WINNER lends
itself to the sophisticated atmosphere of all
locations. This unit has extra circuitry to al-
low the audience to view the match play on
the location’s television set, if desired.
The fascinating, competitive play
has caught the eye of every age group, and
has made it the most exciting game of the
decade.
The outside dimensions are 26 1/2”
wide x 23 7/8” deep x 64” high.
 1973
119

Winner II
Manufacturer: Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Ball and Paddle
Hardware Discrete Logic
Cabinet Styles Upright
Winner IV
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1973
Winner II is a Table Tennis Class Wide Release
game. Players hit a ball back and Genre Ball and Paddle
forth across the screen using their Mode 4 Players simultaneous
paddles. Failing to return the ball Gameplay Either
awards a point to the other player. Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Up to four peo-
ple can play. Two players
on one side bat a ball to
the other side where it is
fielded by the other two
players. Players can even
play one-on-one if they
are ambidextrous.
1974 Attack UFO
120
Astro Hockey Manufacturer Taito
Manufacturer Brunswick Release 1974
Release 1973/1974 Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Class Wide Release Gameplay Either
Genre Sports Hardware Discrete Logic
Hardware Discrete logic Panel Layout Multiple Player
Cabinet Styles Upright Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
Astro Hockey was produced CRT: Black and White
by Brunswick in October Sound Amplified Mono
1974. The game is an early (one channel)
hockey videogame with four Cabinet Styles Upright
game variations.

excerpt from the flyer:

“With four exciting game
variations for greater player
appeal and more profit po-
tential!”
1. Player vs. player
2. Player vs. player with
speed and direction change at
center line.
3. Player vs. machine.
4. Player vs. machine with
Astrohockey speed and direction change at
cenet line.
Manufacturer HID/Visco Games
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Hardware Discrete Logic
Panel Layout Multiple Player Astrohockey, produced by
Controls
HID/Visco Games in 1974,
Rotary: Analog
is a black-and-white hock- UFO Attack is a black and
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal ey game. white game with UFOs.
Type: TV Monitor The game is thought
No pictures or other infor-
CRT: Black and White to be the original of Electra
Sound Amplified Mono mation was found on this
Games’ UFO Chase (1975).
(one channel) machine...
Cabinet Styles Upright
 1974
121
Basketball
Manufacturer Taito
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Released in the arcades in early

1974, Basketball was a landmark title, no-
table for several firsts in video gaming. It
was the first basketball video game, the
first video game to use sprites, and the
first to represent human characters. It was
also the first Japanese video game licensed
Basketball by Taito for release in North America, having been
developed by Taito and then licensed to
Midway for the North American market,
where 1,400 units were sold in 1974, a
production record for Midway at the time.
Its success paved the way for more Taito
TV Basketball by Midway hits licensed by Midway.
“giantbomb.com”

excerpt from the flyer:

4. Push the replay button (left side of coin slot)
“TV Game with real and exciting to start the second game.
Basketball action.”
FEATURES
HOW TO PLAY • Two player game.
1. Insert coin. Player images (two each forward • The totally different, new sixth T.V. game
and back), ball and baskets (goals) appear on from Taitronics series.
the screen. • All reliable solid-state components and large
2. Player images can be moved up or down by 20-inch television screen.
manipulation of the front panel control knob. • IC circuit for coin credit unit
3. Players scores 2 points for each basket (goal). • Realistic player images and baskets (goals).
Player also can dribble and pass before shoot- • The changing digits on the center top of the
ing. All the skills of real Basketball are needed screen indicate the time elapsed. This timer is
for TAITO BASKETBALL. adjustable.
1974
122
Challenge “Challenge -
Manufacturer Mirco The Table top video with the free
Release 1974 game.”
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous In March, 1974 Mirco in-
Gameplay Competitive troduced Challenge, an upright
Panel Layout Multiple Player four-player game that offered a
Controls free game to players who beat the
Rotary: Analog computer in player-versus-machine
Monitor mode. While Mirco claimed it was
Orientation: Horizontal the first video game to offer such
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution a feature (likely a false claim), it
CRT: Black and White wasn’t enough to cover for the fact
Sound Amplified Mono
that Challenge was another unin-
(one channel)
spired game (not to mention that
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail four-player games had already
been on the market for at least eight
months).
“allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”

excerpt from the flyer:

The initial reaction to our top video
has been exceptional.
High earnings and continuous play
have been the experience of opera-
tors all across the country.
(1) Playabillity Our machine is a
1-2-4-player. The extended play
option, where one or two players
can beat the machine and win a
FREE GAME insures a continuous
cash flow.
(2) Reliability Microm Inc., the
parent company of Micro Games,
Inc. is known worldwide for the
testing of Printed Circuitry. The
thorough analysis we conduct for
certain broad based computer in-
dustries is conducted on our video
games. A 144 hour complete system
power cycle analysis in conjunction
with a voltage margin checkout in-
sures continued reliability.
Dimensions: 27” high 33” diameter
Wt. 170 lbs.

a gang of happy drunk cunts looking at a blank screen...

 1974
123
Clean Sweep
Manufacturer Ramtek
Release 1974
Class Wide Release “First one or two player video game
Genre Ball and Paddle with true “Pinball” action
Mode 4 Players simultaneous from the makers of Hockey, Soccer & Volley”
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

excerpt from the flyer:

Clean Sweep is a major, money-making break-
through in coin-operated video games because it
can be played by one or two people, can be set
to award free games for high scores and allows
either 3 or 5 balls for each player. The number of
balls and the free game award are both operator-
selectable. Players try to erase a field of dots by
directing a bouncing ball with a joystick-control-
led “paddle” that is moved horizontally across the
bottom of the screen. Each time the ball passes
over a dot, the dot gets erased and the player gets
a point. If he erases all the dots, he scores a “clean
Clean Sweep, created by Howell Ivy, sweep” and can win a free game. No other video
is a competitive ball and paddle game from game matches the fast action and player challeng-
Ramtek. es of “Clean Sweep.” Put it in your best locastions
In Clean Sweep, players control a pad- and sweep in bigger profits.
dle at the bottom of the screen and hit a ball • 25¢ and 50¢ play produces high profit per square
into a field of dots. The field of dots are ar- foot of floor space.
ranged as a 14x14 grid and each time the ball • Can be played by one or two players.
hits a dot it disappears and the player earns • Attractive, eye-catching cabinet.
points to their score, The ball will keep going • All solid state for low maintenance and long life.
in the direction its shot until it ricochets off • Commercial quality TV monitor insures reliabil-
the sides or top of the screen and returns back ity.
to the bottom of the screen where the player • One year logic board warranty.
either hits it back up into the field of dots or • Engineered interior design prevents tampering,
misses the falling ball and loses a ball. Players simplifies service.
are given a total of three or five balls depend-
UNEQUALED SERVICE
ing on the setting. The goal of the game is to
Ramtek video games are backed by the most re-
clear all of the dots and get a clean sweep.
sponsive service in the industry. When repairs are
Some see the game as a kind of primi-tive
needed, they’re done fast. And new logic boards
predecessor to Atari’s Breakout.
“mobygames.com”
can be in the air within 24 hours. When it comes
to service Ramtek doesn’t play games.
1974
124 Club Tennis
Manufacturer Computer Games Inc.
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Countdown Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players
Manufacturer Volley Gameplay Team
Release 1974 Panel Layout Multiple Player
Class Wide Release Hardware Discrete logic
Class Ball and Paddle Sound Amplified Mono
Mode 4 Players simultaneous (one channel)
Gameplay Competitive Cabinet Styles Upright
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog Club Tennis is a Pong clone.
Monitor Either 2 or 4 players can play at a
Orientation: Horizontal time. A 2 player game was priced
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution at 25 cents, and a 4 player game
CRT: Black and White was priced at 50 cents. Start button
Sound Amplified Mono eliminates install ball serving.
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

TESTING PROCEDURES
Any game that leaves VOLLY’S premises
has been fully tested - circuitry has been sub-
excerpt from the flyer: jected to stand-alone burn-in testing, and fin-
“The new sophisticated game of elimination ished games to both a high voltage (dielectric
for 2 or 4 players.” strength) test and a 48 hour burn-in. You can
Countdown, like all VOLLY games, is built in be sure of this - when a game leaves our fac-
Canada, with the kind of quality you expect tory, it’s safe and it works.
from a reputable Canadian manufacturer. And Each player starts with 5 points, and loses
of course, being right here in Canada makes it a point every time he allows a goal. When
Countdown is a competitive game of elimina- easier for us to supply you with parts - we al- he’s down to zero, he’s out of the game. But
tion where players try to send the ball to any of the ways keep a full supply handy, and are geared the game goes on with the remaining play-
opponents goals. to rush them to distributors - usually the same ers... until there’s only one player left - the
The game is for 2 or 4 Players, it has a black & day requested. winner! COUNTDOWN can be played by 4
white display and uses 4 Paddles Knobs (on the con- MODULAR DESIGN players (50¢) or 2 (25¢). Its sophisticated styl-
trol panels). Each player starts with 5 points, and loses Each major component is a self-contained ing makes it a welcome attraction anywhere.
a point every time he allows a goal. When he’s down module which can be removed and replaced COUNTDOWN is built in Canada and fully
to zero, he’s out of the game. But the game goes on in minutes. Repairs are simple, quick and in- backed by...
with the remaining players, until there’s only the win- expensive, down-town is minimal, and very The Canadian name in amusement games
ner left. little technical expertise is required. VOLLY INDUSTRIES LTD.
 1974
125
Coup Franc
Manufacturer Volley
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Sports
Hardware Atari Discrete logic
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

Coup Franc is the first game from

Atari Europe division. It is also the 1st
game on a cocktail table before Quad-
raPong. The first versions of this tables
were available with Coup franc and few
weeks later the 2nd versions were avail-
able with Quadra Pong.

The game seems to be similar ( or

identical) to the Coupe du Monde Cock-
tail. According to Discrete Logistics, it is a
cocktail version of Coupe du Monde. The
cocktail cabinet, appears on the flyer to
have a color overlay. A candidate for one
of the first cocktail cabinets ever made.

According to 8bitrocket.com Coup

Franc is a sequel to Coupe Davis. With the
flyer as an example, seems to have been
released near Quadrapong. Also, accord-
ing to this source it is a sequel to Pong
Doubles.
“mamedev.emulab.it”
1974
126 Crazyfoot
Coupe Du Monde Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1974
Manufacturer Atari Class Wide Release
Release 1974 Genre Sports
Class Wide Release Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Genre Sports Gameplay Competitive
Hardware Atari Discrete logic Panel Layout Multiple Player
Sound Amplified Mono Controls
(one channel Rotary: 4-way
Cabinet Styles Upright (up, down, left, right)
Cocktail Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Coupe du Monde
Crazyfoot is a black and
white soccer themed pong-like
game where players use joysticks to
hit the ball back and forth and try to
knock into the opposing goal.

excerpt from the flyer:

a tv - football - topper!
• Total free paddle movement
over both halves of playfield
• Exciting goal features for
boasting experts
• Gradually accelerating ball
speed
• Realistic moments of scoring action
• Flashing ball reappearances after each
World Cup Football goal

World Cup

Coup du Monde is the Atari France release of World Cup Cocktail. Re-
lease date is the same as Atari’s April 30, 1974.
The discrete logistics claims this game is identical to Coup Franc.
The game is also known as Soccer Cocktail, Pelé Soccer Cocktail, World
Cup Football Cocktail. Cocktail version of World Cup. The game may have been
cloned later as Goal IV.
“mamedev.emulab.it”
 1974
127
Elimination/ Quadrapong
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Either
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Unamplified Mono
(requires one-channel amp)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

Elimination!, better known by its Atari name

Quadrapong, is the third official Pong game. Like
Pong Doubles, up to 4 players can participate. The
court is a square with an opening in each wall. A
ball ricochets around the square, and each player
must manipulate their paddle to protect their open-
ing. Each player has a set number of misses, and af-
ter the ball passes through a player’s opening four
times, that player’s opening closes and their paddle
disappears, therefore they are “eliminated.” The last
player to have an open wall wins.

“mobygames.com”

The Quadrapong cabinet is in a waist high,

all white enclosure with arched plastic/glass top that
is tinted black.

excerpt from the flyer:

Another video action favourite! QUADRAPONG
is the newest addition to Atari’s unique line of video
skill games. It’s a sensational 4-player game with
a video ball bouncing from side-to-side off the four
walls of the screen trying to penetrate each player’s
goal. A beeping sound simulates its rebounds and
adds to the overall excitement. Each player tries to QUADRAPONG’s exciting new table top
keep the ball out of his goal with a moving “pad- desing takes up less space... its low profile allows
dle.” If the ball penetrates his goal, he loses one of room for 4 players and a congenial group of spec-
four points with which he begins the game. When tators. QUADRAPONG can be placed anywhere
all are gone, his goal closes. Players are eliminated because of its clean, contemporary look, from fine
until only the victor is left. Both sound and frenetic shops to restaurants, waiting rooms, reception areas
action challenge players to do it again... it’s a truly and offices.
irresistible game!
1974 Flim-Flam
128
Manufacturer Meadows Games
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Controls
Rotary: Analog
Buttons: 1
[Flim-Flam (Speed Control)]
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White with a Color Overlay
A green overlay covers the screen.
Sound Unamplified Mono
(requires one-channel amp)
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail

The exclusive features of FLIM Stick” control allows every player

FLAM F1 always bring your cus- to develop his own unique play-
tomers back for more because... ing strategy.
by selecting a comfortable paddle Three paddle sizes. As skill of
size the game is never too hard or players increase, paddle size se-
too easy... multi-directional pad- lection can be reduced by choos-
dles permit movement anywhere ing either “Expert” or “Pro” sizes.
in the player’s court so he can This helps prolong interest and
rush the net or hit the ball several play in two ways.
Flim-Flam is a head-to-head table tennis times... the famous Flim Flam button changes the
game. The first player to score twelve points wins. ball speed and angle to realy keep players on their
A joystick controls the paddle on the screen. toes... a new and more interesting attract mode
flashes special lamps when not in play... the large
excerpt from the flyer: 19” TV monitor with glowing green court bounda-
Now your customers can have the longest lived ries means high visibility, higher profits.
video game in the history of the industry in a We designed the cabinet with super-serviceability
beautiful new cocktail table. No need to discour- in mind. A hinged, lighted coin door means fast
age business with that “arcade” look - the elegant access to the coin acceptor, even in dark loca-
simplicity of this new cocktail table is ideal for tions. The entire top swings away to expose the
even the most sophisticated of environments. Now joysticks, TV monitor controls and all logic board
you can let a proven profit-maker work for you in adjustments. A separately looking cash box means
airports, hotel lounges and restaurants. you service-man and collector don’t need to share
Our padded simulated-leather pedestal suits your the same keys.
plusher locations while rich walnut-grained for- “Joy-Stick” control allows player Horizontal and
mica table top prevents scratching so your game Angular, as well as vertical control of paddle.
always looks good. A tinted scratch-resistant Players can rush the net, miss the ball, retreat and
plexiglass panel reduces monitor glare for a more attempt second hit. Ball may also be hit two or
apperance. Non-removable push buttons, ultra- three times on each side of net.
reliable joysticks with cermet ports and a sealed “Flim” and “Flam” activator buttons allow player
reinforced table top keep this game up after the to alter speed and course of ball. Used with “Joy-
others go down.
 1974
Fun Four 129

Manufacturer Bailey International Inc.

Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Goal Kick
Class Ball and Paddle Manufacturer Sega
Mode 4 Players simultaneous Release 1974
Gameplay Competitive Class Ball and Paddle
Panel Layout Multiple Player Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Controls Gameplay Competitive
Rotary: Analog Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White CRT: Black and White
Sound Unamplified Mono Sound Amplified Mono
(requires one-channel amp) (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail Cabinet Styles Upright

Goal Kick is a vertical soccer-like

“16 exciting play fields” ball and paddle game from Sega.
Fun Four feature four selectable games Players use knobs to control soccer
are Targets, Soccer, Hockey and Tennis. players and a shoot button to kick
the ball into the goal.
excerpt from the flyer:
FEATURES
• 1-2-4 Players
• Free Game Option
• One Piece Logic Board
• 23” Solid State Monitor
• Play Meter (Coin Meter)
• 1-Year Warranty on Logic Board, Potentiometer
and Monitor
• Illuminated Coin Switch
• Side Mounted Knobs
• $500 Locking Coin Vault
• .25/50 Cent Play
• Option Displayed Between Games
Shipping Weight: 180 lbs.
Shipping Size: 30” x 36” x 30”
Power Requirements: 115 Vac, 60 Cycle, Single
Phase, 3 Wire Plug, 100 Watts.
1974
130 Gran Trak 10
Gran Trak 10 is an arcade game devel- Alcorn and Emmons have stated that they felt
Manufacturer Atari oped by Atari through its subsidiary Cyan Engi- Warman was a good engineer but a poor project
Release 1974 neering, and released by Atari in May 1974. manager, which led to the Gran Trak project run-
Class Wide Release In the fall of 1973, Atari began work on ning behind schedule and having several design
Genre Racing a driving game, an idea founder Nolan Bushnell problems. This was exacerbated by a new short-
Mode 1 Player lived Atari management team and product de-
had wanted to do since the company was initially
Gameplay Single velopment structure, which led to several com-
Panel Layout Single Player
founded in June 1972 before it was shelved in
favor of Pong. The design work itself was han- munication problems and cost overruns. When
Controls
dled by Cyan Engineering, which had recently Atari began production in early 1974, it had dif-
Steering: Wheel
Shifter: 4-position (1/2/3/R) become a semi-independent research and devel- ficulties getting enough circuits to build the cabi-
Pedals: 2 [Accelerate|Brake] opment subsidiary of Atari and had previously nets from National Semiconductor, who cited a
Monitor handled the prototype design of Gotcha. Larry “hybrid” integrated circuit design by Emmons as
Orientation: Horizontal Emmons developed the circuits to control the car non-standard, first refusing to sell them to Atari
Type: TV Monitor itself in the game, creating the feel of braking, and then producing only small production runs.
CRT: Black and White acceleration, and movement. Emmons also used According to Alcorn, the non-standard design
Sound Amplified Mono integrated circuit-based memory—specifically, was a tactic to prevent competitors from copying
(one channel) the design, as other manufacturers would be un-
mask ROM (read-only memory)— in his circuit
Cabinet Styles Upright able to produce it at all.
Cabaret/Mini
design to store graphical data such as the tracks,
rather than the diode arrays that previous arcade A short run of Gran Trak systems was
games used. This is believed to be the first use produced in March 1974 and revealed other de-
of integrated circuit-based memory in an arcade sign problems, such as the steering controls; in
game, and ROMs thereafter became the stand- their prototype system, Eigen used real a real car
ard for arcade and console video games. The steering wheel and pedals, but the production
mechanical designs for the game, including the run used different parts. Alcorn returned to Cyan
steering wheel, pedal, and gear shift controllers, that month and redesigned the game to fix the
were developed by Eigen Systems, located in the flaws and use more standard parts; the copying
same building as Cyan and founded by ex-cow- protection scheme was changed to use a custom-
orkers of the Cyan founders Emmons and Steven designed integrated circuit that was named the
Mayer. At one point, the game’s design included same as a standard Texas Instruments integrated
a small printer that would print high scores when circuit. Alcorn later stated in an interview that
achieved, but this was removed prior to the final neither Warman nor Emmons understood the
design. challenges in converting a prototype design to a
Allan Alcorn, the designer of Pong, took a product that could be manufactured. The game
leave of absence from the company beginning in entered production soon after, and Atari an-
September 1973, and around the same time Ste- nounced it was shipping a full production run in
ve Bristow, who had previously worked with the May 1974. Although the design flaws were fixed,
founders of Atari on the first arcade video game the communication problems during develop-
Computer Space, left to co-found Kee Games. ment led to one final problem with the game:
This in turn left Lloyd Atari was unclear on the
Warman, new to the com- actual cost of produc-
pany, as the head of engi- ing the game. As a re-
neering for Atari during sult, a single Gran Trak
Gran Trak’s development. game ended up costing
 1974
$1,095 to manufacture, while Atari was selling Formula K 131

them to distributors for only $995, losing $100 Manufacturer Kee Games
per sale. Atari soon corrected the problem, but Release 1974
ended the fiscal year with a large loss due in part Class Wide Release
to the financial failure of the game. Mode 1 Player
Genre Racing
Gran Trak 10 is a single-player racing Sound Amplified Mono
video game in which the player drives a race (one-channel)
car along a race track, shown from above. The Cabinet Styles Upright
player controls the car with a steering wheel, ac-
celerator and brake pedals, and gear stick, as in
a real car. The gear shifting requires the player
to shift between reverse, first, second, and third
gears as needed, but the pedals are digital con-
trols rather than analog, so the player cannot
control his speed by applying differing levels of
pressure. The steering wheel turns the car only
while it is being turned, rather than having a neu-
tral “straight” position. Braking does not stop
the car instantly and turning while braking will
cause the car to skid. The course is defined on the
screen by walls of white dots representing py-
lons, which if hit stop the car and spin it. There
is only a single track layout. The track contains
one black path representing an oil slick, which
prevents the player’s car from turning. At the top er has passed, and counts up by 2s.
of the screen are two numbers; the number on the The time per game, despite the counter
right is the remaining time in the game, starting always starting at 78, is by default 105 seconds
at 78 and counting down by 2s, while the number and is adjustable by the game operator; changing
on the left is the number of checkpoints the play- the time adjusts both the speed of the counter and
how long a player spends crashed after hitting a
pylon. A switch on the internal circuit board can
turn off crashes entirely, while another allows Trak 10 game itself, after its problems were re-
for two games to be played for a quarter rath- solved, was considered a success, and Atari re-
er than one. A placard on the front of the game leased multiple versions of it: a clone version ti-
gives suggested ratings for the score in a given tled Formula K was released through Kee Games
game,from “License Revoked” for 10 or fewer for different distributors around July 1974, and
points to “Real Pro” for greater than 40; the op- Atari produced a small cabinet version in late
erator’s manual suggests chang ing or removing in the year titled Trak 10. According to Ralph
this card if the time per game is adjusted. H. Baer, Formula K sold 6,000 units. Atari pro-
Atari reported a loss of $500,000 for the duced numerous other racing arcade games in
1974 fiscal year, roughly as much as the previous the same style as Gran Trak, including Le Mans
year’s profits, with Gran Trak as one of the major (1976), Sprint 2 (1976), Super Sprint (1986), and
causes. This led Atari into deep financial prob- Badlands (1989). Gran Trak 10 was the first ar-
lems, leaving part of Gran Trak’s legacy being cade car racing video game and the first game to
“the game that nearly put Atari out of business”. use a steering wheel, and is known as the “grand-
In September 1974, Atari announced plans to father of car-based racing games”, though a sim-
merge with its subsidiary Kee Games; Kee’s fi- ple racing game, Wipeout, had been released in
nal game Tank, released in November 1974, was 1972 for the Magnavox Odyssey home video
a commercial success, however, and is credited game console and a spaceship drag racing arcade
with buoying the finances of the newly merged game, Space Race, had been released by Atari in
Atari at a critical time for the company. The Gran 1973.
1974 Gran Trak 20
132
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Twin Racer
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player Manufacturer Kee Games
Controls Release 1974
Steering: Wheel Class Wide Release
Shifter: 4-position (1/2/3/R) Genre Racing
Pedals: 2 [Accelerate|Brake] Gameplay Competitive
Monitor Panel Layout Multiple Player
Orientation: Horizontal Monitor
Type: TV Monitor Orientation: Horizontal
CRT: Black and White Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Sound Amplified Mono CRT: Black and White
(one channel) Conversion Class: Atari BW Raster
Cabinet Styles Upright Sound Amplified Mono
(two channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
Gran Trak 20 is a two-player variant of Gran Trak 10.
Two players race against each other and the clock in an attempt
to complete as many laps as possible. There are also oil slicks
Released in July 1974, Twin Racer was a 1-2 player
on certain parts of the track that will prevent the car from steer-
Kee Games clone of “Gran Trak 20”. This game added the
ing. While mostly analog with discrete circuitry, diode-based
new feature of the Ram Effect, which allowed players to
ROMs are used to store graphics.
“mobygames.com” knock their opponent off the track. Free play was awarded
at 20 points instead of Gran Trak’s 40. Another Kee Games
innovation with this game was the Automatic Drive Button,
which was advertised as ‘for ladies and kids – must for ar-
cades’.
“arcade-history.com”

excerpt from the flyer:

The race is on! You’re driving to win. Not only against
your own time, but against your friend BESIDE you!
TWIN RACER gives you that EXTRA competitive thrill
- an actual race! And - if you find that you can’t Beat ‘em
- RAM ‘EM: with our NEW KEEfeature - THE RAM
EFFECT. Wait for him at the turn and - RAM!! (But,
watch out! YOU may be the one to go off the track, So,
be careful.)
Lots of thrills, spills & fun with such KEEnote feature as:
• THE RAM! • HAIRPIN TURNS!
• OIL SLICKS! • COMPETITION!
May the best driver win! But, even if you don’t win the
first time - you can take a Victory Lap with Kee’s “FREE
PLAY” feature! (Get 20 points, and do it again.)
Realistic engine, crash, skid & shifting sound - and, THE
RAM!
TWIN RACER!! Do it - Together!
 1974
Hesitation 133

Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries

Release 1974
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Either
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Mini Hockey
CRT: Black and White Manufacturer Sega
Sound Amplified Mono Release 1974
(one channel) Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Cabinet Styles Upright Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Hesitation is a 2 to 4 player ball Monitor
and paddle game from Allied Leisure. Orientation: Horizontal
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Mini Hockey is a discrete logic

arcade game released by Sega in 1974.
It is essentially Pong with two sets of
paddles. The game is housed in a small
cabinet.

One On One
Manufacturer PMC
Release 1974
Class Wide Release One on One is a black and white player versus player
Genre Sports (or computer) basketball game.
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive excerpt from the flyer:
Panel Layout Multiple Player • Fast Break Action
Controls
• 10 Second Possession, Player Must Shoot
Joystick: Analog
Hardware Discrete Logic
• Ball Control Action
Monitor • Players move at the same speed in all dire-
Orientation: Horizontal ctions (Reaction and Coordination Appeal)
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • Opponents Take Immediate Possession if
CRT: Black and White Steal is Made in Black Court
Sound Amplified Mono • Positive Stick Shift Control
(one channel) • Adjustable Timer (1 1/2 min to 8 min.)
Cabinet Styles Upright
1974
134

Pin Pong excerpt from the flyer:

Atari’s Unique New Concept...
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1974
Ping-Pong is so unique, its in a class by itself. In
Class Wide Release fact, its the only video game on the market that
Genre Video Pinball simulates the play of the classic pin-ball machine.
Mode 2 Players Realistic video motion and sound is generated by
Gameplay Alternating a specialized computer designed specifically to
Panel Layout Single Player make the game attractive and reliable. And be-
Controls cause the game is stimulating, Pin-Pong is irre-
Buttons: 2 [Left FlipperRight Flipper] sistible to players of all ages. It literally invites
Monitor players to “try their skill” time after time. The Pin-
Orientation: Horizontal Pong ball is generated by a patented motion cir-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
cuit, and each target is surrounded by one or more
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
zones that determine the direction of the bounce.
(one channel) Realistic Video Action...
Cabinet Styles Upright In Pin-Pong, a gravity algorithm accelerates the
ball downward to give realistic pin-ball play on
the screen. The ball flipper is genuinely unique to
video games and in the normal position, they an-
Pin Pong is a simple black and white gle downward towards the center of the screen.
pinball game by Atari. It was one of the first When the flipper buttons are pressed, the lower
video game to simulate pinball. A patented flipper image is blanked and a short time later an-
motion circuit generates the ball. Targets are other image appears, this time as a straight verti-
surrounded by zones that determine the direc- cal line. The timing used in the flippers gives the
tion the ball bounces in. A gravity algorithm illusion of continuous motion.
forces the ball downward for a realistic effect.

Pin-Pong: Attractive and Innovative...
“mobygames.com”
Pin-Pong is offered in distinctive, attractive cabi-
net, with colorful coordinated graphics. The cabi-
nets are tailored to fit each type of location, making
the game ideal for virtually any type of location.
Pin-Pong has been engineered and tested, inside
and out, for maximum player appeal. The video
screen is always in motion to attract the first-time
player and, the magnetic action assures repeat
play. Today the sky’s the limit when it comes to
Atari’s inventiveness.
 1974
135
Pong/Hockey
Manufacturer Electromotion
Release 1974
Class Wide Release Pong/Hockey is a selectable pong
Genre Ball and Paddle or hockey cocktail table game. It has ro-
Gameplay Either tary controls under the top on all 4 sides.
Panel Layout Multiple Player Up to four can play.
Monitor
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Pro Hockey
Manufacturer Computer Games Inc.
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players
Pro Hockey is a 2 player ponghockey Gameplay Single
clone. Logic board can be automatically set for Panel Layout Multiple Player
either a score of 6 or 9. The machine has tinted Monitor
plexiglass over the monitor. Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
1974
136

excerpt from the flyer:

“It’s Plane Fun!”
Soaring to the heights of your combat mission, you
Pursuit clutch the joystick and intently watch the screen
Manufacturer Atari for enemy aircraft. The thrust of your mission is to
Release 1974 make it through the attack and down as many en-
Class Wide Release emy planes as possible. Suddenly, on your screen
Genre Shooter the enemy is sighted, you correct your course, and
Mode 1 Player FIRE! MISSED! It’s a wash out. Checking your
Gameplay Single instrument panel you swing back to get him. This
Panel Layout Single Player time you’re on target, you fire, it’s a hit and he
Controls explodes! CONGRATULATIONS ACE.
Joystick: Analog with one button [Fire]
Monitor Features...
Orientation: Horizontal • Joy Stick Control and Missile Fire
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • Game Time Fuel Bar
CRT: Black and White • Visual Explosions for Each Score
Sound Amplified Mono • Score Visually Tallied on Screen
(one channel) • Skill Indicators
Cabinet Styles Upright • Extended Play Option for High Score
• Solid State Circuitry
• Hinged Back Door
• Popular Kee Coin Door
• Attractive Wood Grain Cabinet
Pursuit is a single-player arcade
• Front Mounted Speaker
shooter where the player plays a World War
• Illuminated Screen Border
I flying ace who tries to shoot down enemy
planes.
Gameplay relies on a first person
perspective representation. The player uses
a flight stick to steer the plane up, down,
right, and left to get the enemy in his or her
sights. The top-mounted fire button is then
used to shoot the enemy plane and gain
points.
The game is housed in a custom
wide cabinet modeled to look like a World
War I biplane cockpit. It includes a simi-
larly modeled flight stick with top-mounted
fire button. The game’s PCB is composed
of discrete technology and includes Atari/
Kee’s Durastress technology. One overlay
provides the onscreen crosshair.
This was the first game to be re-
leased after Atari publicly revealed that Kee
Games was actually a subsidiary rather than
a competitor.
 1974
Qwak! 137
Qwak! is a single-player duck hunting the time limit runs out. Machines have adjust-
Manufacturer Atari
light gun shooter arcade game developed by Atari. able time limits or can be set to run each game
Release 1974
Qwak! is a single-player duck hunting indefinitely, starting the score count over when Class Wide Release
light gun shooter arcade game in which the play- the start button is pressed. Genre Light-gun
er uses a rifle-shaped light gun to fire at targets The game was developed by Atari, be- Mode 1 Player
on the screen. One duck at a time flies across the ginning in 1974; the earliest schematics in the Gameplay Single
screen, with each duck appearing in a different service manual are from June 1974, while the Panel Layout Single Player
place on the sides of the screen and flying in dif- last is from November. The schematics bear the Controls
ferent paths. The player is allowed three shots to logos of both Atari and Kee Games. The game Gun: Optical
Monitor
hit the duck as it flies across the screen. As with was announced and shown at the Music Opera-
Orientation: Horizontal
other light gun games, a hit is registered if the tors of America (MOA) Music & Amusement Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
gun is pointed at the duck or similar light source Machines Exposition on November 1–3, 1974, CRT: Black and White
when the trigger is pulled; no for release that month. It was Conversion Class: Atari BW Raster
projectile is fired. When a shot then advertised in the December Sound Amplified Mono
is fired, a mark appears on the 7 issue of Cash Box. (one channel)
screen where the player was Qwak! was released in Cabinet Styles Upright
aiming; if the shot misses the a standard upright arcade cabi-
duck, it changes direction away net with a black and white raster
from the bullet. If the player hits television monitor inset, with
a duck, it falls to the ground, the rifle holster and start button
and a hunting dog runs over and below as the only controls. The
collects it. Each duck hit adds a small image of a reeds and tree branch overlay is screen printed
duck to a row at the top of the screen. An screen in color onto a clear panel in front of the moni-
overlay shows an image of marsh reeds and a tor, and is backlit by the screen; the screen is lit
tree branch. The gun is attached to the game cab- with a gray background instead of a black one in
inet by a metal cord, and is holstered in a small order to produce this effect. When the gun is trig-
circular recess in the cabinet when not in use. gered, the duck additionally flashes white briefly,
Attempting to remove the gun sounds an alarm so as to be detected by the light gun; the relative
buzzer. Each game costs a quarter, and runs until brightness of the screen makes this effect less
obvious than with other similar light gun games.
Qwak! was not the first light gun video game; it
was preceded by the arcade game Balloon Gun
(August 1974) and a light gun game for the Mag-
navox Odyssey video game console (1972), as
well as non-video game light gun games since
the 1936 Seeberg Ray-O-Lite.
Qwak did not perform well commercial-
ly; according to Ralph H. Baer in his book Vid-
eogames: In the Beginning, it sold only approxi-
mately 250 units. In the November 16, 1974
issue of Cash Box, U.S. Billiards announced a
two-player clone game titled Duck Shooting; the
game features a projected seven foot by seven
foot screen instead of a monitor, and allows two
players to shoot at multiple ducks at once.
In 1982, Atari developed a prototype for
a touch-screen duck themed game similarly ti-
tled Qwak. With the goal of “Help mama duck
and her three ducklings get home safely”, the
player shifts picture blocks into place to create a
safe path for the ducks to get home. The player’s
1974
138
score in the 15 levels is determined by
how long the ducks are on-screen and by
how many get home safely.
Additionally, critics have noted
the similarity between Qwak! and the
1984 Nintendo light gun game for the
Nintendo Entertainment System titled
Duck Hunt. Nintendo used that similar-
ity in a 1986 court case attempting to in-
validate a patent held by Sanders Associ-
ates; the patent, filed by Ralph Baer, was
for the light gun peripheral used in the
Magnavox Odyssey light gun game and
held to be infringed on by Duck Hunt.
Nintendo unsuccessfully claimed that
Baer had based his patent not only on the
Odyssey work but also on Qwak! as seen
by him at the 1974 MOA show.
video display, a dog runs out from the
right-bottom of the screen towards the
excerpt from the flyer:
fallen duck, picks up the duck, and dis-
Another Video Action Favorite! appears off the left bottom side. After the
Qwak™ is the newest addition to Atari’s dog exits, another duck flies out. Ducks
unique line of video skill games. It’s a never fly out of the same path, and “veer”
sensational one player attraction with if a shot is placed near them. The score of
video ducks flying up and around the hit ducks is visually tallied across top of
screen. The player clutches a rifle - at- the screen. Qwak is an accurate skill test
tached to the game by a steel cable - and that brings ‘em back again and again -
“fires” at flying ducks. A specially devel- it’s a crowd-collector, with great location
oped light gun has been installed in the versatility.
barrel of the rifle, and immediately after Atari - Innovative Technology
pulling the trigger, the screen shows you QWAK, like all previous Atari games,
where your shot was placed by lighting features solid state computers tested with
up at the exact spot hit. Players the unique Durastress™ process. All
are allowed three shots to hit each duck computers carry a one year warranty, and
before it disappears and another flies out. all monitors are 23” C.S.A. approved.
The flying ducks make unusual authentic Operator adjustable items include ex-
“qwak” sounds. tended time, free games, and game time
QWAK - It’s a Hit! limits. Qwak has a specially designed
If the player hits the duck, it folds its alarm system in the event that the gun is
wings and nose-dives for the marsh be- ripped off. A constant buzz sound simi-
low, and the hit duck makes a “buzz lar to the diving duck noise continues to
bomb” sound as it falls. To complete the alert location owners.
 1974
Rebound 139
Rebound is a two-player black and white of a volleyball net, attempt to score points. The
Manufacturer Atari
volleyball game where players use paddles to horizontal paddles are moved by the players left
Release 1974
serve the ball and hit it over the electronic net in and right on their side of the net, represented by Class Wide Release
the middle of the screen. a short dashed line. The ball, represented by a Genre Sports
Rebound was developed by Atari, begin- square dot, is dropped from the top of the screen Mode 2 Players simultaneous
ning in late 1973; the final schematics are dated in a parabolic arc; if it hits a player’s paddle, it Gameplay Competitive
November 31, 1973, and use the code name “Vol- bounces in another arc according to where on Panel Layout Multiple Player
leyball”. 1973 was near the beginning of the start the paddle it hit. Bounces from closer to the Controls
of the arcade game industry; after the success of center are more vertical, while those towards the Rotary: Analog with push-down button
sides move mostly horizontally. This method of Monitor
Atari’s Pong, the first game by the new compa-
changing the angle of deflection is similar to the Orientation: Horizontal
ny and fourth arcade game ever produced, the Type: TV Monitor
nascent industry was largely composed of vari- mechanics of Pong.
CRT: Black and White
ations on the concept, called “ball-and-paddle If the ball reaches the bottom of the screen
Sound Amplified Mono
games”. While Atari created games with other without being deflected by a paddle, bounces on (one channel)
gameplay types in 1973 and 1974, such as Space the same paddle four times, hits the net, or is de- Cabinet Styles Upright
Race (1973) and Gran Trak 10 (1974), it also flected into the side of the screen, then a sound
created several Pong-like games. Rebound was is played and a point is awarded to the player
a variation on that theme, featuring controls and on the opposing side. After a point is scored, the
gameplay similar to Pong, with the addition of ball is dropped from the top of the screen again.
gravity arcing the ball and both paddles moved Every two times the ball is bounced across the
to the bottom of the screen. Rebound was re- net by the players without a point being scored
leased by Atari in February 1974, with a release the net is grows slightly higher, up to ten times;
announcement on February 16. Other Atari ball- it resets in height when a point is scored. Two
and-paddle games from 1974 include Superpong large numbers at the top of the screen record the
and Quadrapong, both of which were variations points for each player. Each game costs a quar-
on the original Pong gameplay. ter, and machines can be set to play one or two
rounds per game. Rounds can be set to play until
Rebound is a two-player volleyball
a player reaches either eleven or fifteen points.
sports game in which the players, each control-
Whenever a game is won, the game resets into its
ling a paddle representing a person on either side
“attract mode”, where the paddles are stretched
across the screen, allowing the ball to bounce
along to the side and be re-dropped indefinitely.
Rebound has been described by Retro
Gamer as one of the more notable Pong vari-
ants. Despite this, unlike many other games of
the time Atari did not make a sequel game. Sales
numbers are not available for Rebound or Spike;
additionally, a table made in 1976 by Ralph H.
Baer in his book Videogames: In the Beginning
containing sales numbers for most games of the
time period does not contain any numbers for the
two games. In addition to the stand-alone game,
Atari sold conversion kits which could modify
any two-player Pong variant they produced into
a Rebound game. The kits included a circuit
board to plug in to the existing game and de-
cal stickers to cover up the original name on the
cabinets with “Rebound”. In 1977, Rebound was
included as one of the games in Video Olympics
for the Atari 2600 home video game console, a
collection of Pong variants, as “Volleyball”.
1974
140
excerpt from the flyer:
Only Atari offers all of these exciting features in one package... for
maximum profitability
• New, fast-paced action is engineered and tested for maximum player
appeal Spike
• Distinctively stylized cabinet and graphics make the unit ideal for
Manufacturer Kee Games
any type of location Release 1974
• Proven, high-profit potential assures maximum return on investment Class Wide Release
in minimum period of time Genre Sports
• Space-age reliability results from exclusive Atari Dura-Stress™ Mode 2 Players simultaneous
computer with Atari one-year warranty Gameplay Competitive
IT’S A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME Rebound is the newest video Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
skill game from Atari that features the kind of appealing action you’ve
Rotary: Analog with push-down button
come to expect from the leader in innovative video games. In fact,
Sound Amplified Mono
Rebound is faster, more fun and potentially more profitable than any (one channel)
video game you’ve seen yet... from anyone. Cabinet Styles Upright
JUST LIKE REAL VOLLEYBALL Rebound is a game of skill for
all ages. Everyone loves a fast game of volleyball, and that’s exactly
how Rebound is played. The game is designed for two players, with
each player represented on the video screen by a horizontal bar. The
objective is to hit the ball over the electronic net and past the op-
ponent. Serve... a quick return up and over the net... back and forth,
faster and faster until one opponent misses and a point is scored.
With practice, a player can even angle the degree of return.
And, just like real volleyball, each player has three changes to return
the ball on each volley. The action is highlighted by an audio “bleep”
each time the ball is hit, adding to the overall action and excitment.
COLORFUL, CONTEMPORARY PACK-
AGING Rebound features an individually styled
cabinet, modern graphics. It is designed to fit any
type of location, from a neighborhood tavern to
fine shops and restaurants. In fact, Rebound can be
placed anywhere people gather.
HIGH-PROFIT POTENTIAL Rebound has been
engineered and testet, inside and out, for maximum
player appeal. The video screen is always in mo-
tion to attract the first-time player. And, the mag-
netic action of Rebound assures replay after replay.
In short, Rebound is designed to return maximum
profits in the shortest period of time.
SPACE-AGE RELIABILITY Rebound is
all solid-state and features the exclusive Dura-
Stress™computer designed by Atari. All major Spike, by Atari subsidiary Kee Games,
components are fully tested to Military Specifica- is functionally almost identical with the addi-
tions 883 for exceptional reliability and long serv- tion of a “spike” button; this button made the
ice life. A one-year warranty is offered on the com- player’s paddle jump into the air, potentially
puter board with a 30-day warranty on the video bouncing the ball into a downward trajectory
display unit. like a volleyball spike.
REBOUND... Another innovation from Atari, the
leader in video skill games.
 1974
Scoring 141
Manufacturer Volley
Release 1974
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Either
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete Logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail

Scoring is a 2 to 4 pla-
yer hockey game from Volley.

Smatch
Manufacturer Rene Pierre
Release 1974 excerpt from the flyer:
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
This tennis game played on a screen-court, is a RENOVA-
Mode 4 Players simultaneous TION OUTDATING all its predecessors.
Gameplay Competitive In fact, the luminous rackets are moving over their fields
Panel Layout Multiple Player in ALL DIRECTIONS, free of any restriction.
Hardware Discrete Logic
The sets are played like a real match with ALL IMAGI-
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
NABLE PHASES of an inspired game, such as approach-
Type: TV Monitor ing or coming up to the net, a smash, a volley and so on.
CRT: Black and White Every time a stroke marks a point, it is AUTOMATICAL-
Sound Special Sound System LY posted and the ball is returned to the end of the court
Cabinet Styles Upright waiting to be driven off by the server.
The game is over when one of the two players has won a
Smatch is a French Pong clone. total of 11 points.
CHARACTERISTICS
Sumptuously built piece of furniture, of veneered strati-
fied boards in two shades.
Presenting a modern and stylish shape and warranting
smallest possible volume together with very firm stable-
ness.
1974
142 Speed Race
Manufacturer Taito Speed Race is a racing game released
Release 1974 by Taito in 1974. It was one of the first driving
Class Wide Release video games, and was groundbreaking for in-
Genre Racing novations such as vertical scrolling, sprites with
Mode 1 Player collision detection, and driving wheel controls.
Gameplay Single Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado (lat-
Panel Layout Single Player er known for Gun Fight and Space Invaders),
Monitor Speed Race was an early driving/racing arcade
Orientation: Vertical
video game. The game was also released under
Type: Raster:
Standard Resolution the re-branded titles “Racer” and “Wheels” by
CRT: Black and White Midway in 1975.
Sound Amplified Mono Speed Race’s innovations included
(one channel) sprite graphics (in contrast to the lines and dots
Cabinet Styles Upright of earlier games like Pong); use of read-only
cocktail/Mini memory; collision detection, where cars could
collide with each other; and scrolling, where the
cars moved along a vertical scrolling overhead
track, with the course width becoming wider or
narrower as the player’s race car moves up the
road. The player races against other rival cars,
more of which appear as the score increases.
The faster the player’s car drives, the more the
score increases.
In contrast to the volume-control di-
als used for Pong machines at the time, Speed
Race featured a realistic racing wheel control-
ler, which included an accelerator, gear shift,
speedometer, and tachometer. It could be played
in either single-player or alternating two-player,
where each player attempts to beat the other’s
score. The game also featured an early example
of difficulty levels, giving players an option be-
tween “Beginner’s race” and “Advanced play-
er’s race”.
Speed Race was the second Japanese
video game (after Taito’s Basketball) licensed
for release in North America, where Midway re-
leased it under the titles “Racer” and “Wheels”.
Under the re-branded title “Wheels”, the game
sold more than 7,000 cabinets in the United
States, making it a major hit for Taito and Mid-
way in North America, opening the way for
Japanese video games in the North American
market. In 1976, it was the second highest-
grossing arcade game in the region. The game’s
success led to a lucrative relationship between
Taito and Midway, which would later bring over
other Taito hits to the US, including Gun Fight
in 1975 and especially the blockbuster hit Space
Invaders in 1978.
“giantbomb.com”
 1974
143

Racer
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1975 • Speed shift control
Class Wide Release
• Adjustable timer feature
Genre Racing
• Tachometer
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating • Accelerator pedal
Panel Layout Single Player • Engine sound effects
Controls • 25¢ play
Steering: Wheel • Extended play
Shifter: 2-position (low, high) • Cabinet dimensions
Pedals: 1 • Cabinet dimensions
Monitor 24” x 32” x 52”
Orientation: Vertical 61cm x 79cm x 132cm
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • 23” Motorola Solid State
CRT: Black and White
T.V. Monitor
Sound Amplified Mono
• Seat Optional
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Wheels
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing • Speed shift control
Mode 1 Player • Adjustable timer feature
Gameplay Single • Tachometer
Panel Layout Single Player • Accelerator pedal
Steering: Wheel
• Engine sound effects
Shifter: 2-position (low, high)
• 25¢ play
Pedals: 1
Monitor • Extended play
Orientation: Vertical • Cabinet dimensions
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution 28” x 38” x 65 3/4”
CRT: Black and White • 23” Motorola Solid State
Sound Amplified Mono T.V. Monitor
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
1974
144 Spike It!
Manufacturer Computer Games Inc.
Release 1974
Mode 2 Players
Genre Ball and Paddle
Cabinet Styles Upright

Superpong
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Mode 2 Players
Genre Ball and Paddle
Hardware Atari Discrete logic
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Superpong was a one or two player

contest. This game was an evolution over
Pong that used variable ball speeds, angles
and three paddles vertically aligned for each
player. To further spiceup the game, the ball
was served from random
positions on the screen.
Atari described Super-
pong as not easily mas-
tered, but since it is a rel-
atively unknown game,
it was probably too hard
at a time where ball and
paddle games were losing
their appeal. Pong competition was too
fierce at this point in the coinop world for
Superpong to make any sort of impact. The
hardware featured a discreet logic design
and was advertised as Durastress, as well
as marketed with Ataris Innovative leisure
slogan.
“arcade-museum.com”
1974
146

Table Hockey
Manufacturer Sega
Release 1974
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Monitor
Orientation: Vertical
Type: TV Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles cocktail

Table Hockey is a discrete logic ar-

cade game released by Sega in 1974. It is
essentially Pong with two sets of paddles,
the “table” referring to the fact it comes in a
cocktail cabinet.
 1974
Tank 147
Manufacturer Kee Games
Release 1974
Class Wide Release
Genre Labyrinth/Maze
Tank is a two-player game. Each player controls came up with the idea while thinking of how Mode 2 Players simultaneous
a tank, and their goal is to destroy each other. he could improve Computer Space. His idea to Gameplay Competitive
In the game, two players drive tanks through a correct the perceived shortcomings of the game Panel Layout Multiple Player
maze viewed from above while attempting to were to replace its difficult to control rocket Monitor
shoot each other and avoid mines, represented ships were to replace its difficult to control rock- Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
by X marks, in a central minefield. Each player et ships with more straightforward tanks, and to
CRT: Black and White
controls their tank with a pair of joysticks, mov- make it a two-player game instead of a single-
Hardware Discrete logic
ing them forwards and back to drive, reverse, and player one. Game Specific Tank Pinout
steer, and firing shells with a button to attempt to As the company’s only engineer, Bristow Settings: Tank Dipswitch Settings
destroy the other tank. The destruction of a tank rapidly developed a prototype himself before Sound Amplified Mono
from a mine or shell earns the opposing player a turning the game over to new hire Lyle Rains to (one channel)
point, and tanks reappear after being destroyed. develop into a finished product, codenamed K2 Cabinet Styles Upright
The winner is the player with more points when Tank. Rains added the maze and central mine- Cocktail
time runs out, with each game typically one or field to the game design and developed the final
two minutes long. The tanks are controlled by hardware, including the simple control scheme.
two joysticks each. Pushing both joysticks moves Peter Takaichi designed a large custom cabinet
the player’s tank forward, and pulling them both to house it. Tank was one of the first games to
back causes the tank to stop. A button on the top use integrated circuit-based memory—specifi-
of the right joystick fires a shell. cally, mask ROM (read-only memory)—to store
Tank was developed by Kee Games, a graphical data, rather than the diode arrays that
subsidiary of Atari, and released in November previous arcade games used; it is sometimes
1974. It was the only original title not based on claimed in sources to be the very first, but was
an existing Atari property developed by Kee preceded at minimum by Atari’s Gran Trak 10
Games, which was founded to sell clones of (1974). Before the game could be completed, in
Atari games to distributors as a fake competitor September 1974 Atari announced plans to merge
prior to the merger of the two companies. Kee itself and Kee Games back together; Tank was
did have its own manufacturing equipment and released that November just prior to the merger
therefore the ability to develop original titles, in December 1974.
however, and after several clone games lead en- Tank was a commercial success and is
gineer Steve Bristow developed the idea for a credited with buoying the finances of the newly
new title. Bristow, who had previously worked merged Atari at a critical time for the company.
with the Atari founders on Computer Space, It sold over 10,000 units, considered a large hit
at the time, though Ralph H. Baer claims that
was only the 1974 sales, with a further 5,000
sold in 1975. Atari produced a second version of
the game, a cocktail cabinet form in which the
two players sat across a circular table from each
other.
1974
148 excerpt from the cocktail flyer: Tank II
Manufacturer Kee Games
Front-line action rugged action. Designed to stay on the air. Release 1974
Now your customers can have the most popu- Durastress™-tested circuits, built-in solid state Class Wide Release
lar video game in the industry in a beautiful new reliability results in less service time, less down- Genre Labyrinth/Maze
cocktail table design. Players get more TANK time and less frustration for the players. The ac- Mode 2 Players simultaneous
action. You get more location action. TANK’s tion, and the income, is non-stop! Gameplay Competitive
ideal for the most sophisticated environments - TANK’s monitor swings up easily for fast serv- Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
hotel lounges, motels, airports, restaurants. Your ice and easy accessibility to all internal compo-
Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
location get a handsome cocktail table and a nents.
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) with button [Fire]
proven profit building video game. Walnut-grained vinyl-clad plywood side pan- Monitor
Gig Gun Ammo. els, scratch-resistant plex table top and all-steel Orientation: Horizontal
Exclusive Atari features let you score higher net frame construction makes TANK indestructible. Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
profits, shell-shock the enemy. Literally outlives the other table games. CRT: Black and White
Joystick controls are new, top-mounted, easy TANK is the new cocktail game - the result of 19-inch Motorola
for players to use. many months spent in perfecting the design of a Sound Amplified Mono
Large 19” Monitor, attention-getting game cocktail video game that would be low-cost, reli- (one channel)
graphics and instructions on the table top mean able, exciting for players and a traffic-building Cabinet Styles Upright
higher visibility, higher player attraction. attraction for your locations.
Locking cashbox for tight security So start playing with the future. Get all the detail
Twin coin chutes (25¢ or 50¢ for two players). on TANK, the new cocktail table game from the
Hinged cash door for easy collection access and originator of video game technology. Call your
operator-adjustable game time combine for local Kee Games distributor now or contact us
unbeatable firepower. at Atari, Inc., 2175 Martin Avenue, Santa Clara,
No battle fatigue. Cocktail TANK is built for CA 95050. Phone (408) 984-1900.

The Tank sequel, Tank II, was released

in 1974 to sales of around 1,000 units; gameplay
was identical, though the maze could be changed
to a new format by modifying the circuitry and
more sound effects were added.
A dedicated console version of Tank II
was announced by Atari at the Consumer Elec-
tronics Show in 1977, but was cancelled by the
end of the year; the joysticks for game, designed
by, became the standard joystick controllers for
the Atari 2600 (1977).
 1974
Trak 10 149
excerpt from the cocktail flyer:
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1974
Atari’s industry-orginal Gran realistic, electronically generat- Class Wide Release
Trak 10 has been repackaged ed, with volume level operator Genre Racing
with low-key cabinetry and a adjustable. Trak 10 is built to fit Mode 1 Player
19” video monitor to blend into almost anywhere. Competition Gameplay Single
even the most conservative lo- will be fierce. And wait’ til the Panel Layout Single Player
cations. Grand Prix racing ac- Gran Trak 10 experts hit that Monitor
tion, complete with the roar of Trak 10 oil slick! Orientation: Horizontal
supercharged engine, squealing Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Profits. CRT: Black and White
of tires around curves, adrena- Trak 10 game time is operator Sound Amplified Mono
lin-pumping crash effect and a adjustable. A slowly-decaying (one channel)
new extra added heart-stopper - timer shows game time left one Cabinet Styles Upright
a brake locking oil slick - make the video display. Coin mecha-
the game even more challeng- nism takes 25¢; one or two
ing. games per quarter is operator
Super! adjustable. Improved coin ac-
Player drops in his quarter, hits ceptor doubles the life of the
the starter, grabs the wheel and coin mechanism. Manufac-
- he’s off! Four-speed gear shift turing efficiencies and design
(1,2,3,R) changes speed of the car on the screen streamlining allow a purchase prise lower than
and the sound of the engine. Foot pedals for gas you’d expect. And, since nobody can drive it just
and brake demand quick reactions around the once (ask any operator who’s got Gran Trak 10
road-race curves. Watch out for the oil slick! on location), the game’s unique drawing appeal
Your brakes lock momentarily and you skid. It plus lower price means nothing but profit!
takes lots and lots of practice runs. At two bits Solidly built.
a run. Complete solid-state, Trak 10 is built to keep
Put it anywhere. working. Atari’s special DuraStress™ process
Super crowd-attracting race car sound effect are makes the computer rugged and trouble free.
Warranted for a full year. Full game warranty for
30 days.
Get Trakking!
Innovative leisure is what Atari’s all about. Trak
10 is as much fun as Gran Trak 10, and fits any
location. See and hear it!

Trak 10 is a smaller cabinet version of

Gran Trak 10. The PCB is the same as Gran Trak
10 and virtually the same as Formula K with the
exception of revision differences and the substi-
tution of custom ASICs to replace the steering/
Speed/Audio discretes.
1974
150 TV Goalee TV Pinball
Manufacturer Chicago Coin Manufacturer Exidy
Release 1974 Release 1974
Genre Sports Class Wide Release
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Genre Ball and Paddle
Gameplay Competitive Mode 1 Player
Panel Layout Multiple Player Panel Layout Single Player
Hardware Discrete Logic Controls
Monitor Buttons: 1 [Shoot]
Orientation: Horizontal Rotary: Analog
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution [left/right paddle control]
CRT: Black and White Hardware Discrete Logic
Sound Amplified Mono Monitor
(one channel) Orientation: Horizontal
Cabinet Styles Upright Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
TV Goalee is an obscure And mechanical pinball chimes
but interesting videogame released Cabinet Styles Upright
in 1974 by Chicago Coin.
The TV display is po-
sitioned horizontaly and a rich excerpt from the flyer:
excerpt from the flyer:
decoration tries to simulate a real
Exidy Shows You How To Win at
football stadium in “3d”. NEW LOOK IN TV GAMES!
the Old Money Game with the In-
Apart from that, the game is an- Upright console cabinet looks com-
TV Pinball is a ball and dustry’s Most Revolutionary New
other pong spin-off, trying to pletly different - not like a TV but
paddle game released by Exidy. In Development.
emulate a football game, but with a real playing field. Real 3-Dimen-
the game, players must keep ball Unlike any other TV game this one
some distinctive features; Ball sional stadium effect. Realistic, ee-
in play by bouncing it back up. or two player game is as exciting as
does not ricochet. Player can play rie glowing blacklight - just like real
Knocking out all the targets gives any FLIPPER with even more action
the whole playfield from one end soccer!
bonus points. and sound effects. It is a game with
to the other. Players can go up to REALISM.....REALISM.....REAL-
This is a production dis- lasting power, designed from the be-
opponents’ goal line. Crowds roar ISM.....REALISM .....
crete logic game that came from ginning with the operator in mind.
when goal is made. Sounds of ball
BALL DOES NOT RICOCHET the Ramtek split along with Table
being kicked. Referee whistles at • BALL changes speed and direc-
(Not like TV Tennis-Type Action) Football/Table Foosballer. The
start of game and during scoring. tion randomly, never two games
Just like real soccer! Player can play game was also available as “Table
Players can block each other - ball alike.
the WHOLE playfield - from one end Pinball” (cocktail) from Novem-
can be kicked and dribbled at all • FLIPPER horizontally control-
to the other. Scores like real soccer. ber 1974.
angles in the playfield. led, will rebound ball right, left, or
ELECTRONIC SCORING AND TV Pinball’s prototype
Player control all the ac- straight up.
SOUND EFFECTS name was supposedly The Sting.
tion. Ball is played from the center
Scores displayed on TV monitor. Ex- “mamedev.emulab.it” • 16 BUMPERS, knock them out
line. Both players compete to kick
citing sounds or real soccer! Crowds and score 100 points each. Knock
ball into goal. Ball returns to field
roar when goal is made. Exciting them all out for a bonus of 8000
where kicked out, and is automati-
sounds of ball being kicked. points.
cally returned.
Thus, TV Goalee repre-
sents a real effort to simulate a real
football game with the technical
limitations of ball & paddle games
of the time.
“old-computers.com”

decoration bezel
 1974
excerpt from the flyer: 151

• Linig Color TV - Giant Color • Adjustable to 4 players for

Wimbledon Screen Instantly Attracts Players 25¢.
Manufacturer Nutting Associates • Green grass • Color TV is ultra-reliable,
Release 1974 • White border lines solid-state set with stable color
Class Wide Release circuitry and fill one year war-
Genre Sports • Bright yellow background
ranty.
Mode 4 Players simultaneous • Rackets are four different colors
Gameplay Competitive
Unique, natural action controls
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
color keyed to rackets.
Rotary: Analog New EZService cabinet with
Hardware Discrete Logic MaxiSafe coin box. All collect-
Monitor ing, servicing and adjustments
Orientation: Horizontal are easily and quickly accom-
Type: TV Monitor plished from the front.
CRT: Color
Sound Amplified Mono New InstaFix modular circuitry
(one channel) makes field repairs fast and sim-
Cabinet Styles Upright ple.
FEATURES
• 25¢ and 50¢ play - for more
profit.

Wimbledon is an early two- to

TV-Joker
four-player color tennis game that is Manufacturer Zaccaria
set on a green lawn court with white Release 1974
border lines. Each paddle has its own Genre Ball and Paddle
color. Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Either
Wimbledon is a
Panel Layout Multiple Player
four-player tennis game
Hardware Discrete Logic
that used distinctive Monitor
slider controls in place Orientation: Horizontal
of the standard rotary Type: TV Monitor
controls or joysticks. CRT: Black and White
The game has color. It
is set on a green lawn Sound Amplified Mono
court with white border (one channel)
lines. Each paddle has its own color. Cabinet Styles Upright
It may be a contender to the First
“True” Color Arcade.
Wimbledon has unique PCB TV-Joker is a ball and pad-
system, consisting of 4 PCBs in a dle sports game from Zaccaria.
rack (SYNC, SCORE, BALL/AU-
DIO and PADDLE pcbs). Game has
color output, and uses a modified
color TV. All TTL based, no ROMS.
1974
152

“A NEW DIMENSION IN
GAMES OF ELIMINATION”

excerpt from the flyer:

Wipe Out
Wipeout increases the excitement and player in-
Manufacturer Ramtek volvement of coin-operated elimination games. A
Release 1974 special “frustration bumper” bounces the ball in
Class Wide Release random patterns so players don’t get bored. It’s a
Genre Ball and Paddle
new game every time. There’s also a unique scor-
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
ing system - adjustable from 5 to 7 points - dis-
Panel Layout Multiple Player played at each goal, that player loses a point. The
Controls game ends when all except one player are down to
Rotary: Analog zero. The results? Plenty of action for the money,
Monitor and the kind of competitive challenge that keeps
Orientation: Horizontal people coming back for more.
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • 25¢ and 50¢ play produces more profit per
CRT: Black and White
square foot oflor space.
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
• Can be played by two or four players.
Cabinet Styles Upright • Attractive, vertical cabinet fits in anywhere.
• All solid state for low maintenance and long life.
• Commercial quality TV monitor insures reliabil-
ity.
Wipe Out is a competitive ball • One year logic board warranty.
and paddle game where players try to • Engineered interior design prevents tampering,
keep the ball from getting into their simplifies service.
goal while keeping their score from
dropping down to zero. UNEQUALED SERVICE
Ramtek video games are backed by the most re-
sponsive service in the industry. When repairs are
needed, they’re done fast. And new logic boards
can be in the air within 24 hours. When it comes
to service, Ramtek doesn’t play games.

Easily serviced, tamper-

proof cash box.

Designed for easy maint-

ance access.
 1975
153

Alley Rally
Manufacturer Exidy
Release 1975
Class Wide Release OBJECT OF THE GAME:
Genre Racing
The object of the game is quite simple.
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Drive around the track as long and as fast as you
Panel Layout Multiple Player can without crashing into a drone car. You can drive
Controls either direction to make points, and you get a point
Steering: Wheel each time you drive 1/4 of the way aroung the track
Monitor NORMAL OPERATION:
Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
You drive one of two cars. If you play a one
CRT: Black and White player game, you drive the bright car which appears
with a Color Overlay on the left side of the track, and you drive from the
Sound Amplified Mono left side steering wheel. A two-player game adds a
(one channel) darker colored car which appears on the right side
Cabinet Styles Upright of the track, and is driven from the right side steer-
ing wheel.
The game is started only after the start but-
ton is depressed and the cars may move only after
the foot pedal is depressed and the shift lever is in
the LOW GEAR position.

Alley Rally is a Racing game, published by

Exidy, which was released in 1975.
When the game did not sell so well, cabi-
nets were re purposed into “Frankensteined” Death
Race cabinets which have become known as “Alley
Death Derby” cabinets.

excerpt from the manual:

GENERAL INFORMATION:
ALLEY RALLEY pits the player against the
clock and four erratic “drone” cars. The drone cars
drive a pseudo-random pattern, change direction,
and even skid into the side of the track occasion-
ally. Since they also change speed during all this,
it becomes very difficult to drive around the track
successfully without crashing into a drone car.
154 Anti-Aircraft II
(Anti-Aircraft) Anti-Aircraft is a two-player arcade game excerpt from the flyer:
by Atari, Inc, originally released in 1975. The You’re on red alert! Forward observers have
Manufacturer Atari game is sometimes referred to as Anti-Aircraft plotted enemy aircraft coming into range... now!
Release 1975 II, denoting the two-player aspect of the game. You have 3 firing position, 3 chances, but you
Class Wide Release Planes fly overhead, either singly or in have to be quick. Those planes are really mov-
Genre Shooter pairs, in random directions in the aircraft flight
Mode 2 Players simultaneous ing. You press the firing button. Missed! You
area. The object is to shoot down more planes change firing position, shoot again. The enemy
Gameplay Competitive
than the player’s opponent during the time limit. plane blows up. You get set for the next attack.
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls Each player controls an anti-aircraft gun located
You command your own gun crew. You’re
Buttons: 3 in the lower left and right corners of the screen,
there, in the thick of the fighting. Within opera-
Monitor respectively. A player’s gun is controlled by three
tor-adjustable game time you have to shoot down
Orientation: Vertical buttons located in each player’s control station,
more aircraft than the “enemy” gunner to win the
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution which consists of a button for moving up, down,
battle. Digital scoring for each gun lets you keep
CRT: Black and White and firing. The up and down buttons move the
Sound Amplified Mono track of hits.
gun to any one of three predefined positions.
(one channel) Your timing and skill are on the line eve-
The game is housed in a custom cabi-
Cabinet Styles Upright ry second as you try to zero in time after time and
net that includes two sets (one set per player) of
blast the enemy out of the sky.
three control buttons (up, down, and fire). The
game PCB is composed of discrete technology Heavy artillery. ANTI-AIRCRAFT is designed
with game sprites stored in ROM. There is an for heavy action. Durastress™ tested solid state
undocumented option available that switches the circuits and 23” monitor, battle-tested plywood
planes into UFOs. Pin 14 of the 003127 IC — a construction and easy accessibility for mainte-
PROM located at grid location K1 — is tied to nance means ANTI-AIRCRAFT is always com-
ground, but also has a pullup resistor. Cutting the bat-ready.
ground trace causes address bit A4 to be pulled Heavy profits. Your players will want to test
high, selecting the UFO data. A jumper can be their shooting skills time after time. New illu-
installed to easily switch back and forth between minated attraction panel, side panel graphics
planes and UFOs. The vertically set monitor is a and low profile design make ANTI-AIRCRAFT
black and white Motorola XM501. a natural traffic builder and income producer in
There is an undocumented option avail- any location.
able that switches the planes into UFO’s. Pin 14 Dimensions. Height. 57.87” (147cm), Width:
of the 003127 IC -- a PROM located at grid loca- 25.12” (64cm), Depth: 28” (71.12cm)
tion K1 -- is tied to ground, but also has a pullup
Put Anti-Aircraft in your battle plan. For all
resistor. Cutting the ground trace causes address
the details contact your local ATARI distributor
bit A4 to be pulled high, selecting the UFO data.
now or Atari, Inc.
A jumper can be installed to easily switch back
and forth between planes and UFO’s. The UFO • 1 or 2 “gunners” can play
version of the game was probably never released. • Cannons have 3 firing positions
A home console • Each player has 3 firing
port was included in the positions
Atari 2600 game car- • Cannons fire. “hits”
tridge, Air-Sea Battle. explode, aircraft scream
past guns
 1975
155
Avenger
Manufacturer Electra
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter Shooter excerpt from the flyer:
Mode 1 Player “Look Out! Here Comes the AVENGER”
Gameplay Single
Panel Layout Single Player Avenger! The boldest fighter jet ever to roam
Controls the skies. It’s Electra Games’s new single-
Buttons: 1 [Afterburner] player video combat game. You’re in the life-
Joystick: Analog with one button like cockpit of this sleek, black attack plane
[Speed/Drift/ Fire] surrounded by the realistic instrument panel.
Monitor Suddenly a “bandit” aircraft lurking behind a
Orientation: Vertical cloud bursts into the open, intent on ramming
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution you head on. You line up the enemy in your
CRT: Black and White sights. You fire your cannon and watch him lit-
Sound Amplified Mono
erally explode in the air. You’ve won this one
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
- but watch out, there’s another and another.
Avenger - it’s competitive. It’s terrific!
FEATURES
Avenger was produced by Electra in • The first single-player game to feature three
1975. The game has a top-down view of a plays for two quarters which encourages the
aircraft scene. The player fighter is at the individual player to play a multiple series of
bottom and they control its speed and hori- games.
zontal position with the joystick. The scene • By attaining “Avenger” rating player can
scrolls from top to bottom and enemy air- gain Extended Play bonus, equal to one-third
craft appear at top of screen, flying down extra playing time
towards the player. The Afterburner button • Afterburner switch dramatically speeds thrust
lets them quickly speed up. of the “Avenger” plane accompanied by excit-
Avenger may be the first shoot’em ing sound.
up with vertical scrolling. • “multi-Level” scoring racks up additional
points based on flying speed.
• Joystick operation. Hand-contour joystick
guides and controls speed. Trigger button ac-
tivates “cannon.”
• Three separate simulated sounds: aircraft roar
with acceleration, explosion and cannon hit.
• People-attracting side graphics.
• Simple adjustment of game length.
• Large 23” Motorola monitor.
SPECIFICATIONS
Base dimensions - 24” x 26 1/2”. Electrical
- 115/230 V. 50/60 HZ operation. Shipping
Weight - Approximately 275 lbs. Pricing -
Quarter per play or 3 plays for 2 quarters.
1975 Aztec
156
Manufacturer PMC
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Gameplay Competitive Balloon Gun
Panel Layout Multiple Player Manufacturer Sega
Monitor Release 1975
Orientation: Either Genre Light-gun
Type: TV Monitor Mode 2 Players simultaneous
CRT: Black and White Gameplay Joint
Sound Unamplified Mono Panel Layout Multiple Player
(requires one-channel amp) Sound Amplified Mono
Cabinet Styles Cocktail (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Released by Sega in 1974,

Balloon Gun was one of the ear-
liest first-person light-gun shooter
video games, and the first to fea-
ture multi-player gameplay. The
game involved one or two play-
ers using light guns to hit various
moving balloons displayed on the
monitor.
Each player is given a lim-
ited ammo of 60 shots. In single-
player mode, the game ends when
that number has been fired. In two-
player mode, the first one to use
Aztec is a 4 player hockeytype
all 60 shots terminates the game
Pongclone game in which players try to
score in the opposing teams goal. for both players and the one
with the highest score is de-
It is rumoured to be the first ever game to termined the winner. The
use processor chips instead of an array of balloons initially appear
TTL chips. slowly, allowing more time
for careful aim, but as the
game progresses, the bal-
loons are released at a faster
rate, making it more diffi-
cult to score.
excerpt from the flyer: “giantbomb.com”

• Imported copper laminated top

• Completely sealed against spills
• Lifts up and locks for easy servicing
• Cocktail table cast iron base, 10” floor
clearance for foot room under unit
• Side entry service door
• Motorola monitor
• 2 or 4 players
• Electric counter
 1975
157

Bullet Mark
Manufacturer Sega
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Light-gun
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Bullet Mark is a 1975 discrete logic

game by Sega with twin Tommy Guns.
The guns have a recoil effect and
can be fired as a single shot or in a short
burst. Four series of targets appear sequen-
tially on an oversized TV screen: balloons
(worth 7 points), tanks (15 points), pirates
(30 points) and aircraft (45 points). A per-
fect score is 979. Game time is adjustable
from 60 to 140 seconds. When played as a
two-player game, a score of 800 (adjustable excerpt from the flyer:
to 600 depending on the operator) by either
Four series of targets appear se-
player automatically extends the game into
quentially on an oversized TV screen... Six distinct sound effects match
an additional balloon series.
balloons, tanks, pirates and jet aircrift. The the six different targets which are avail-
“segaretro.org”
easiest of the targets to hit are the balloons able. Each players has his own set of Bullet
which are assigned a 7 points rating, fol- Marks and sound effects in order to distin-
lowed by the tanks at 15 points, the pirates guish his bursts from that of the other play-
at 30 points and the jet aircraft at 45 points. er; and each player can easily see his hits
For each hit, these points are recorded on a and misses.
highly visible digital read out; for each miss DIMENSIONS:
however, 1 to 3 points (depending upon the Height: Front 124cm (48”), Rear: 148cm
target series) is subtracted from the player’s (58.5”),
score. Perfect score is 979. When played as Width: Front 100cm (39”) Rear: 83 cm
a two player game, a score of 800 (can be (32.5”)
adjusted to 600) by either player automati- Depth: 325cm (127”) max. extension.
cally extends game into an additional bal- GAME TIME:
loon series. Adjustable from 60 seconds to 140 seconds.
Two authentic-looking Tommy SPECIAL FEATURE:
Guns, with a recoil effect like the real thing, Two targets patterns can be changed through
are mounted on the gun cabinet. The guns purchase and instillation of optional inte-
can be fired as a single shot by each player grated circuit chip.
or in bursts. The gun sights are accurate and
each burst projects on the screen exactly as
aimed by the player.
1975
158

excerpt from the flyer:

Demolition Derby
While each player trying to hit numbered pylons
Crash ‘n Score that pop onto the screen at random, player action
Manufacturer Atari is frantic. It’s like getting paid for fender-benders.
Release 1975 Your customers get paid too, because Crash ‘N’
Class Wide Release Score keeps players coming back for more. Com-
Genre Racing pact physical size, exciting graphics (there are even
Mode 2 Players simultaneous colored overlays on the Crash ‘N’ Score monitor)
Gameplay Competitive and rugged construction make Crash ‘N’ Score at
Panel Layout Multiple Player
home in more locations, makes you a profit win-
Controls
ner. Unique player-selectable game choice capa-
Steering: Wheel
Pedals: 1 bility - with or without barriers - means Crash ‘N’
Monitor Score will stay new, always a challenge.
Orientation: Horizontal King of the Road
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Features you can expect only from Atari make
CRT: Black and White scoring higher profits as fast as an oil slick.
with a Color Overlay
Sound Amplified Mono All metal foot pedals. Rugged accelerator pedals
(one channel) last longer, won’t lose contact.
Cabinet Styles Upright Large 23” monitor, attention-getting cabinet
graphics, colored pylon overlays on the screen
and illuminated instruction panel (1 or 2 players)
means high visibility, high player attention.
Crash ‘N Score is a 2 player arcade No pit stops to slow you down.
game by Atari, originally released in 1975. Durastress™ tested, solid state electronics leeps
Gameplay is a simulation of a Crash ‘N’ Score always on the road.
demolition derby, in which player controls
a car, and the goal, as the title suggests, is
to crash into numbered flags and score the
amount of points they are labelled as within
the time limit. The goal flags flash white
on the screen, and driving over other flags
will cause the car to stop and slowly start
up again. The flags pop up at random, and
there are obstacles on the screen that will
either cause the car to crash or swerve in
another direction. In a two-player game,
players can crash their cars into each other.
The wall obstacles are optional. Travelling
off the side of the screen causes the car to
appear on the opposite side.
The game feature an attract mode,
where the cars drive around by themselves
while the game waits for one or two players
to insert coins.
“mobygames.com”
 1975
Destruction Derby 159

Manufacturer Exidy
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Steering: Wheel
Shifter: 2-position (forward, reverse)
Throttle Lever
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(two channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

When released, Destruction Derby was

unlike the host of other driving games on the
market. While it had standard driving controls,
the gameplay was anything but. Rather than a
simple racing game Destruction Derby was a
video version of the demolition derby in which
a group of cars competed in an arena and tried to
bash each other into pieces of useless wreckage.
The last car that remained drivable was dubbed
the “winner”.
Initially produced by Exidy, the demand
for Destruction Derby was so great that they li-
censed it to the floundering Chicago Coin who
produced the game as Demolition Derby. As Demolition Derby
part of the deal, Exidy halted production of the Manufacturer Chicago Coin
game to avoid competing with their new licen- Release 1977
see, but in the end, it didn’t matter. At the time, Class Wide Release
Chicago Coin was already in the midst of the Genre Racing
financial woes that would lead to bankruptcy in Mode 2 Players simultaneous
1976 and when they were unable to make their Gameplay Competitive
royalty payments, Exidy was left holding the Panel Layout Multiple Player
bag. While Exidy may not have seen much in Controls
Steering: Wheel
the way of profit from the Demolition/Destruc-
Shifter: 2-position (forward, reverse)
tion Derby deal, the experience did result in a Pedals: 1
couple of very profitable decisions. First, see- Monitor:
ing the sales success of the Chicago Coin title, Orientation: Horizontal
Exidy decided that they would no longer license Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
games to other companies. The second decision CRT: Black and White
proved even more profitable. The 1976 game, Sound Amplified Mono
Death Race... (one channel)
“allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no” Cabinet Styles Upright
Mini
1975 Electra
160
Drop Zone 4 Manufacturer Electra Games, Inc.
Release 1975
Manufacturer Meadows Class Wide Release
Release 1975 Genre Ball and Paddle Fascination
Genre Action Mode 4 Players Manufacturer Fascination, Ltd.
Mode 1 Player Gameplay Alternating Release 1975
Gameplay Single Panel Layout Single Player Class Wide Release
Panel Layout Single Player Hardware Discrete Logic Gameplay Competitive
Monitor Monitor Panel Layout Multiple Player
Orientation: Horizontal Orientation: Horizontal Hardware Discrete Logic Monitor:
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Monitor
CRT: Black and White CRT: Black and White Orientation: Horizontal
with a Color Overlay Controls Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Sound Amplified Mono Rotary: Analog CRT: Color
(one channel) Sound Amplified Mono Sound Amplified Mono
Cabinet Styles Upright (one channel) (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright Cabinet Styles Upright
Table Table

The object of the game is

to use the “Bomb Release” but-
ton to drop bombs from a mov-
ing jet to hit moving targets. To-
tal of 15 bombs per game. The
jet plane increases speed at 20
points and again after 30 points
to test the skill of the player.
Players has optional HI/
LO scoring for non-repeatable
“game credit”. Scoring and
misses are accompanied by vis-
ual and audio effects. excerpt from the flyer:
Drop Zone 4 is said to be FASCINATION, LTD. introduces the
the first video game to use only most revolutionary development in video
one button (excluding light gun table games - an “automatic electronic
games). “Drop Zone Bomber” handicap” - tomorrow
may be another name seen for
this.
 1975
Fire Power 161

Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries

Release 1975
Class Wide Release Flip-Out
Genre Shooter
Mode 2 Players Manufacturer Volley
Gameplay Alternating Release 1975
Panel Layout Single Player Genre Video Pinball
Controls Mode 2 Players
Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right) Gameplay Alternating
with button [Fire] Panel Layout Single Player
Shifter: 2-position (low, high) Monitor
Hardware Discrete Logic Orientation: Either
Monitor Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Orientation: Horizontal CRT: Black and White
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Sound Amplified Mono
CRT: Black and White (one channel)
Sound Amplified Mono Cabinet Styles Upright
(one channel) Cocktail
Cabinet Styles Upright

Fire Power, released January,

19768(?) is a land versus air com-
bat game where the player controls
a tank that must shoot down enemy
aircraft while avoiding minefields on
the ground.
It may be one of the earliest
video games to feature scrolling.

excerpt from the flyer:

FIRE POWER! The most complete
tank fighter ever to shoot down en-
emy aircraft. You are on the ground
trying to avoid minefields placed
in your path. If you are caught in
a minefield, you lose your FIRE
POWER and can’t shoot at enemy Flip-Out is Video Pinball by
aircraft... but only temporarily. Once Volly For 1 or 2 Players. The game is
the tank is out of the minefield, you played on a black and white display.
can speed up using your control lever, The control panel includes two Pad-
and start shooting down planes again. dles Knobs
The faster your speed, the better your
FIRE POWER and your score.
1975
162
excerpt from the flyer:

“A new sophisticated video game

to stimulate your profits”
A PROVEN WINNER - WITH A DIFFERENCE! quarters rolling in. And all the fever and excitement keeps
Take the upright model Flip-Out, the Video Game with Pin the liquor flowing too.
Ball Action. Transform it into a glamorous Cocktail Table IN TUNE WITH EVERY LOCATION INTERIOR
model. Add a lively new feature that steps up the fun, and The Flip-Out Cocktail Table harmonizes with any decor.
what have you got? Volly’s new Flip-Out Cocktail Table, Its vibrant blue glass top, padded bar finish and dazzling
another game hit that will sustain player interest for a long medallions on the decorator panels of the cabinet make it
time to come. Now a rebound shot not only returns from an elegant piece of furniture. The lighting is subtle. The
boundaries but zings back at players even from a dot. This glass top is tempered, and is sealed to prevent leakage to
abrupt deflection calls for greater alertness on the part of the inside.
players and increases the thrills.
UNIQUE MODULAR DESIGN
THE CHALLENGE GENERATES INCOME Flip-Out’s modular design spells rapid and easy servic-
Flip-Out calls for sheer motor skills and fast action. The ing. Each part is a plug-in module that can be replaced
competitive challenge to achieve a higher score keeps the individually.
DIMENSIONS
Height 28”
Diameter 33”
Weight 105 lbs.
 1975
Goal IV 163
Manufacturer Atari
Futsball Release 1975
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries Class Wide Release
Release 1975 - 1979 Genre Ball and Paddle
Class Wide Release Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Genre Ball and Paddle Gameplay Team
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Panel Layout Multiple Player
Gameplay Competitive Hardware Discrete Logic
Panel Layout Multiple Player Controls
Hardware Discrete Logic Rotary: Analog
Monitor: with push-down button [Kick]
Orientation: Vertical Monitor:
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Orientation: Vertical
CRT: Black and White Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Controls CRT: Black and White
Joystick: Analog Conversion Class: Atari BW Raster
Sound Amplified Mono Cabinet Styles Upright
(one channel) Cocktail
Cabinet Styles Table

Goal/4 is a foosball
game. The gameplay depends
Allied’s Futsball is a on how many players there are.
two-player head to head ball- In a single-player game, the
and-paddle game where each player tries to kick the ball into
player uses a 2-way joystick to the goal, which moves back and
shift column of paddles left and forth. In multiplayer mode, each
right to bounce and pass the ball side has one goalie and two for-
to score points against the other wards. The forwards each move
player. back and forth and can kick the
The game is a video ver- ball offensively or defensively,
sion of foosball and came in an and the goalie defends the goal
innovative stand-around cabi- from the ball. If there are four
net. players, each side has one play-
er controlling the goalie and one
player controlling the two for-
wards.
“mobygames.com”
164 Gun Fight
Gun Fight, known as Western Gun in Japan and like characters, using Fujitsu’s MB14241 video
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co. Europe, is a 1975 arcade shooter designed by To- shifter chip, which was also later used by Sea
Release 1975 mohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan Wolf and Space Invaders. Tiles are also used to
Class Wide Release and Europe and by Midway in North America. display text.
Genre Shooter It was the first video game to depict human-to- Taito licensed its game Western Gun to
Mode 2 Players simultaneous human combat, while the Midway version was Midway for release in North America, one of the
Gameplay Competitive also the first video game to use a microprocessor.
Panel Layout Multiple Player
first such licenses, after the 1974 scrolling racing
Hardware Midway 8080 Western Gun is a fixed screen shooter game Speed Race, also designed by Tomohiro
Monitor where two players could compete in an old west Nishikado, and the 1974 sports game Basketball.
Orientation: Horizontal gun fight. When shot, the characters in the game The title Western Gun, while making perfect
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution fell to the ground and the words “GOT ME!” sense for Japanese audiences in that it conveys
CRT: Black and White appeared above the body. The game had two the setting and theme as simply as possible, was
with a Color Overlay distinct joystick controls per player, with one considered to have sounded odd to American au-
Uses a yellow overlay eight-way joystick for moving the computerized diences, so it was renamed Gun Fight instead for
Sound Amplified Stereo (two channel) cowboy around on the screen and the other for its American localization.
Each Player has its own sound changing the shooting direction. Unlike other Tomohiro Nishikado’s original Western
channel, Player 1 left,
dual joystick games, Western Gun has the main Gun design was based on discrete logic, like
Player 2 right
Cabinet Styles Upright
joystick on the right instead of the left. most video arcade games of the time. When
Cocktail Other features of the game included Dave Nutting adapted it for Midway, he de-
obstacles between the characters which block cided to base it on the Intel 8080, which made
shots, such as a cactus, and (in later levels) stage- Gun Fight the first video game to use a micro-
coaches. The guns have limited ammunition, processor, since his company Dave Nutting As-
with each player given six bullets; a round ends sociates had already licensed the technology
if both players run out of ammo. Gunshots can for the first arcade pinball machine to include a
also ricochet off the top or bottom edges of the microprocessor, The Spirit of ‘76. Nishikado be-
playfield, allowing for indirect hits to be used as lieved that his original version was more fun, but
a possible strategy. was impressed with the improved graphics and
Taito gave Western Gun artwork of cow- smoother animation of Midway’s version. This
boys in the Wild West on the video game arcade led him to design microprocessors into his sub-
cabinet which matched the in-game graphics sequent games, including the blockbuster 1978
featuring cacti, covered wagons, rocks, and hu-
man characters. The game use bitmapped frame-
buffer technology to display animated human-
 1975
Western Gun 165
shoot ‘em up hit Space Invaders. Gun Fight uses
a black-and-white raster monitor and a yellow Manufacturer Taito
screen overlay. Release 1975
Class Wide Release
In 1978, the game was introduced to the Genre Shooter
home market with its port to the Bally Astrocade Mode 2 Players simultaneous
console, which included a color version of the Gameplay Competitive
game within the system’s ROM. That same year, Panel Layout Multiple Player Ambidextrous
David Crane programmed his own version of Controls
the game, entitled Outlaw, released by Atari for Joystick: 8-way with button [Shoot]
the Atari 2600 console and by APX for the Atari Joystick: Special
8-bit computers. Sears also released a version [Changes shooting direction]
for the Atari 2600 called Gunslinger that year. Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
In 1981, the game was ported to the Atari 8-bit
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
family personal computers by Hofacker/Elcomp CRT: Black and White
Publishing. The game was included in Game- Sound Amplified Mono
Spy’s “Hall of Fame” in 2002. (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Western Gun was Taito’s origi-

nal Japanese version, also released in
Europe, while Gun Fight was Mid-
way’s North American adaptation.
There are differences between Western
Gun and Gun Fight:
The original Western Gun was
the first open-world video game, the
first action-adventure video game,
and the first real-time tactical cover
tion, but limited the gameplay. In Gun
Cocktail version shooter. The two cowboy gunslingers
Fight, each player’s movement was
had free-roaming movement across
limited to their own side of the screen,
a single-screen open-world environ-
whereas the original Japanese West-
ment, littered with cacti and moun-
ern Gun had free-roaming movement
tains that could be used as cover, while
across anywhere on the screen. Gun
attempting to shoot each other. How-
Fight also reduced the scale of the en-
ever, Western Gun had more primi-
vironment, with mountains no longer
tive sprite graphics and animation, and
being present.
used discrete-logic hardware (lacking
In the 1978 hit movie Dawn of
a microprocessor).
the Dead, Peter and FlyBoy are play-
The North American version
ing the game at the mall. Peter loses as
Gun Fight introduced a microproc-
the allusion of Flyboy is bad shooter in
essor, allowing more detailed larger
real life.
sprite graphics and smoother anima-
166 Hi-Way

Manufacturer Atari excerpt from the flyer:

Release 1975
Go out in the traffic and play! Hi-Way is com-
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
pletely new generation in driving games. De-
Mode 2 Players signed for spectacular realism, Hi-Way puts your
Gameplay Alternating players literally in the driver’s seat in the middle
Panel Layout Single Player of speeding traffic.
Controls Watch the road! Your skill and nerve is chal-
Steering: Wheel lenged every second. You climb in, your quarter
Shifter: 2-position (low, high) fires it up. You step on the gas... excitement builds
Pedals: 1 higher and higher as you fight to keep your car
Monitor on the road (which is constantly moving every-
Orientation: Vertical which way under your wheels!) and avoid crash-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
ing head-on into traffic as you try to pass slower
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
cars.
(one channel) You’re driving against the clock (it’s operator ad-
Cabinet Styles Upright justable) to pile up as many miles as possible, so
you have to be sharp... and quick! Look out for
that curve!
Shut down the competition! You have a win-
ning set of wheels with Hi-Way. Indestructible
moulded fiberglass chassis, detachable “bucket”
seat, reliable Durastress™ tested solid state cir-
cuits and monitor, and all-metal gas pedal make
you the king of the road.
“Hi Way — All It Needs Is Wheels” Ideal for arcade play, bowling alleys - you name
Hi-Way is a driving arcade game. The game has it. Hi-Way’s a profit winner any way you look at
the simple goal of driving a car down a road, stay- it.
ing on the road, and avoiding other cars. If the You’re in the driver’s seat. Follow the Atari
player crashes, they will be momentarily stopped. highway into the future - and big dollars. Get the
The car can drive off-road, but it’s extremely jump on the daily gran prix.
slow. The score awarded depends on the distance
the car travels.
This was Atari’s first sit-down Dimensions:
driving game. The game hardware is a Height 55”, 139.7cm;
pre-cpu discreet logic design, and used Width 23.25”, 81.92cm;
the Durastress process. The cabinet was Lenght 73.75”, 187.33cm
patented Oct. 20, 1975: (U.S. Patent #
D243,626, ). • The ultimate driving experience
“mobygames.com” • Rugged, molded fiberglass construction
• 23” Durastress™ video monitor
• New all-metal gas pedal assembly
• Ideal for arcades, bowling alleys, etc.
• Realistic sound effects
 1975
Indy 800 167

Manufacturer Kee Games

Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 8 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Steering: Wheel
Buttons: 1 [Horn]
Pedals: 2
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Color
Sound Special Sound System
Amplified 8 channels
Cabinet Styles Upright

Indy 800 is an 8 player arcade game by titled Indy 4. A scaled down version of Indy 800
Atari, originally released in 1975. was a launch title for the Atari 2600 in 1977, re-
Gameplay is a simulation of an Indiana- named Indy 500.
polis 500 style race, in which players compete
by racing each other with simulated IndyCar race excerpt from the flyer:
cars. The players race blocky cars around a simple Designed for rugged competition. Now,
track with a top-down overhead view. The up to 8 players (or any combination) can
player car colors are purple, peach, yellow, drive the Big One. True big car racing ac-
green, light blue, white, red and dark blue. tion, the thrill of wheel to wheel competi-
The game is housed in a large cus- tion, the whine of engines and squealing
tom rectangular cabinet that takes up 16 tires add up to big crowds and repeat play!
square feet (1.5 m2). Each side of the cabi- (Nobody can resist coming back for anoth-
net has two steering wheels and four ped- er chance to win!).
als. The monitor is set in to the top face Gentlemen, start your engines... and
of the cabinet and looked down upon. The your profits! Players drop the quarters.
game uses a 25 inch full color RGB display and tender” boards were furnished with each game Each driver grabs his steering wheel, carefully
does not use color overlays. sold that enabled technicians to probe individual lines up for the start... ready... in less than a heart-
The processing electronics consist of a components on suspect boards while they were beat... the race is on! The red is ahead... no, now
card cage that includes a “Backplane” or “Moth- still operating in the game. A complete set of cir- the yellow. Look out! The blue car is going into a
erboard”, eight identical car function boards, and cuit board logic diagrams was also furnished, as controlled skid...
three unique, common processing boards that the was a set of schematics for the modified GE color Rugged steel foot pedals for gas and brakes chal-
backplane board supports and interconnects. Each monitor. lenge timing and skill around hairpin turns. Watch
of the eleven boards has its own onboard fixed 5 The cabinet also features overhead mir- out for that wall!
volt regulator IC. All of the logic circuitry is TTL, rors to allow spectators to watch the game while Special feature: Indy 800 includes a complete set
and no microprocessors are used. it’s being played. of back-up components for easier maintenance.
Each game was sold with two spare car A clone of the game, bearing the same Occupying only 16 square feet, Indy 800 assem-
boards and one each of the three processing name, was released by Atari subsidiary Kee bles or disassembles easily for simple access to
boards, so that the game owner could repair it by Games. Indy 800 was also followed up the fol- any locations.
simple circuit board substitution. Two “card ex- lowing year with a smaller 4 player version en-
1975
168 Jet Fighter
Jet Fighter is a 2 player arcade game by Atari, the screen. A realistic sky effect is provided
Manufacturer Atari originally released in 1975. by the distinctively-styled cloud graphics that
Release 1975 The players fly in simulated jets around surround a square-shaped playfield on the TV
Class Wide Release the screen, engaging in an dogfight and attempt- screen.
Genre Shooter ing to score hits on their opponent within a lim- The player-operated controls, mounted
Mode 2 Players simultaneous ited amount of time. When a player is hit, their on a horizontal flat panel near the bottom of
Gameplay Competitive plane spins around and an explosion is heard. Af- the TV screen, consist of two joysticks and two
Panel Layout Multiple Player ter a few seconds, the plane recovers, pointing at
Controls backlighted push button switches. A coin as-
a random direction. sembly with two identical coin mechanisms is
Joystick: 8-way with button [Fire]
The game is housed in a custom cabinet located below the player-operated controls. The
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal that includes two 8-way joysticks (one per play- mechanisms accept quarters only, and coins de-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution er) meant to look like older style flight sticks. posited in either one can initiate play. The Jet
CRT: Black and White Each stick has a fire button mounted on the top. Fighter game features an owner/operator-adjust-
a coloured overlay is used to simulate The marquee simply has a picture of the back of able option that permits on-site game structuring
clouds, placed directly over the screen. a pilot in a cockpit, firing a missile at what looks for either 1 player/coin or 2 players/coin. The
Sound Amplified Stereo like an exploding Russian Mig. The monitor cash box is located behind the access door in the
(two channel) bezel is mainly decorated with clouds, with the coin assembly.
Cabinet Styles Upright words ‘Jet Fighter’ at the top of the bezel above
Two speakers mounted inside the cabi-
the screen. The side art was silk-screened, in big
net, one on each side of the coin assembly, add
letters below the picture, a mirror of the marquee
to the game excitement by producing jet engine,
picture, but with a few extras.
gunfire and explosion sounds during play.
A clone of the game, bearing the same
name, was released by Atari subsidiary Kee BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PLAY
Games. Also, a home console port was included In the Jet Fighter game two delta-winged
in the Atari 2600 game cartridge Combat. fighters - one white plane and one black plane -
fly across the TV screen, each plane trying to hit
the other with its shells. Jet Fighter can be played
excerpt from the Service Manual: by either one or two players: with one player the
white plane is piloted by the player and the black
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF GAME
plane by the game’s internal computer, and with
Atari’s Jet Fighter is a video game in two players each plane is piloted by a player. The
which players pilot two airplanes across the sky player controls his plane’s speed and direction
in a fast-moving duel. The game is packaged in by moving his front panel joystick lever,
its own upright cabinet that rests directly and fires a shell by depressing a push but-
on the floor. A 19-inch black-and-white TV ton on top of that lever.
monitor is mounted at the top front of the
The player’s objective is to fire as
cabinet and players stand in front, facing
many shells as possible into the opponent’s
 1975
169
plane, while at the same time manoeuvring his Realistic joysticks, fire control buttons put
own plane to avoid shells fired by the opponent. each player in his own cockpit, his own real air-
After coin deposit the duel begins when a start craft.
button is depressed. A plane can fire only one Large 19” monitor, bright scratch-resistant
shell at a time and the shell explodes when it hits graphics, easy-to-read interchangeable 1 or 2
the opponent’s plane, or when it has travelled player instruction panels make Jet Fighter attract
over a distance equal to about three-fourths of players wherever it is. A specially designed re-
the width of the playfield. If a player’s shell hits movable attraction panel with long-lasting fluo-
the opponent’s plane, that plane explodes and rescent lighting lets you visually tailor Jet Fight-
spins around very rapidly. After a few seconds er to fit any location.
the hit plane recover and flies off in some ran- Twin coin chutes (25¢ or 50¢ for two players).
domly chosen direction, and the duel resumes. Hinged cash door for easy access to collections.
One point is added to player’s score each Locking cashbox means no-loss security.
time the shell from his plane hits the other plane. Long range strike capability Jet Fighter is built
The accumulated scores for both planes are dis- and engineered to stay in the air. Durastress™
played continuously on the TV screen. tested, solid-state circuit reliability means mini-
mum down-time, less frustration for players and
Along with this video action, the follow-
your customers.
ing sounds are heard during play. The speaker
on the left side of the cabinet produces the black
3 Control Panel Assembly
plane’s engine roar, and the speaker on the right
6 Coin Door Housing Assembly
produces the white planes’s roar, continuously
11 Instruction Card
during play. The engine sound whenever any shell explodes by 12 Instruction Card
is at low pitch when the plane’s itself. An explosion noise, twice 15 #10 Flat Washer
speed is slow, at medium pitch as loud and twice as long as the 16 #10-24 Hex Nut
when the speed is medium, and previous noise, is produced by 25 Side Panel, S/Screen Layout, R.H.
at high pitch wheen speed is both speakers whenever a shell 28 Speaker, Aluminum Mesh
fast. In addition, both speakers hits a plane. 33 Carriage Bolts, #10 - 24 x 1 1/4 Lg.
produce a blast noise whenever 36 Rivets, 3/16 x .68
Play ends when the
either plane fires a shell and 37 Mushroom Caps
game timer elapses (the Jet
Fighter game features and own- 38 Cloud Decal
er/operator-adjustable option that permits on-site
structuring of the game time). At this point, the
planes continue to fly, but maintain the speeds
and directions they held at the moment the game
ended. The final scores continue to be displayed,
but there is no sound and the joysticks are inop-
erative. A player depositing a coin will initiate a
new player sequence.
excerpt from the flyer:
Mach II Action
Jet Fighter is a brand new air combat game, the
latest from Atari, #1 in video games. Jet Fighter
puts your players in the middle of a split-second
one-on-one air battle, your customers in the
stratosphere of higher profits.
Highflying Features
Exclusive Atari performance features and built-
in appeal let you seek and destroy the competi-
tion with higher nets, more location action.
1975
170
Maneater
Knock Out
Manufacturer Project Support Engineering
Manufacturer Digital Games Incorporated Release 1975
Release 1975 Class Wide Release
Class Wide Release Genre Platform
Genre Ball and Paddle Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Mode 4 Players simultaneous Gameplay Competitive
Gameplay Competitive Panel Layout Multiple Player Ambidextrous
Panel Layout Multiple Player Controls
Hardware Discrete Logic Joystick: Analog
Monitor Sound Unamplified Mono
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution (requires one-channel amp)
CRT: Black and White Cabinet Styles Upright
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

“Get your teeth into a

Maneater Video Terror from PSE
The bite will be profitably tasty!”
Maneater was produced by Project Sup-
Knock Out is a 1 to 4 port Engineering in 1975.
player tabletop ball and paddle In the game, players control a
game. diver to collect gold from the bottom of
The game run on dis- the ocean and return it to the ship, while
crete circuitry. I has a 19” solid avoiding the man-eating sharks.
state monitor, illuminated coin The enclosure is a metalflake, fib-
switch and side mounted knobs. erglass formed, white cabinet in the shape
of a sharks head. The nose is pointing sky-
excerpt from the flyer: ward with the mouth open. The monitor
sits in the top of the mouth and the bottom
Features Include:
of the mouth holds the control panel. The
• Full Factory Warranty
game and cabinet was obviously inspired
• Durable Construction
by the movie JAWS.
• 19” Motorola Monitor
• Side Mounted Knobs
• $500.00 Locking Coin Vault
• Illuminated Coin Switch
• .25/.50 Cent Play
• Electric Coin Counter
• 110/220 Volt 50/60 Hertz
• Weight 150 Lbs.
 1975
171

excerpt from the flyer:

Pace Car Pro
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Electra Games presents the
Pace Car Pro is a four- Release 1975
newest of the Electronic Video
player, high-speed car racing Class Wide Release
Games - but from a company Genre Racing
game where each person uses that is one of the “oldest” in
a joystick to control the speed, Mode 4 Players simultaneous
producing TV game electronics. Gameplay Competitive
direction and brakes of his or “Pace Car Pro” is new in design, Panel Layout Multiple Player
her car. new in concept and has features Controls
The game was one of never before designed into a Joystick: 8-way Monitor:
the first games to use a color video game. Monitor
monitor, an actual color TV Orientation: Horizontal
set. • Features the industry’s first
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Electra Games was the “Robot”, a pace car that trav- CRT: Color
coin-op video game division of els at a constant, predetermined Sound Amplified Mono
URL (who later developed for rate of speed, against which the (one channel)
Stern). Pace Car Pro was their player(s) compete Cabinet Styles Upright
first game. • “Pace Car Pro” is the first four-
car competitive racing game.

Ric-O-Chet
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1975
Mode 4 Players
2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive “Ric-o-chet
Panel Layout Multiple Player It’s an experience...”
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal excerpt from the flyer:
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution 2 Players for 25¢
CRT: Black and White Ric-O-Chet is a 2 to 4 4 Players for 50¢
Sound Amplified Mono player ball and paddle game Both FRONT and BACK COURT
(one channel) from Allied Leisure. The game Play!!
Cabinet Styles Upright
feature court lines on top and
• Court lines on top and bottom of
bottom of screen to eliminate
screen eliminates dead spots
dead spots. The start button
• Start button eliminates instant
eliminates instant serve.
service
• Positive stops on control knobs -
cut down excessive wear on poten-
tiometers
• 21 inch Solid State T.V. allows all
spectators to participate in action
• 12 mos. warranty on video board
1975
172
Robot
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Shark
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player Manufacturer US Billiards
Hardware Discrete Logic Release 1975
Controls Class Wide Release
Joystick: 4-way Genre Labyrinth/Maze
(up, down, left, right) with button Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Joystick: 4-way Gameplay Competitive
(up, down, left, right) with button Panel Layout Multiple Player
Monitor Controls
Orientation: Horizontal Buttons: Directional
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution (up, down, left, right)
CRT: Black and White Monitor
Sound Amplified Mono Orientation: Horizontal
(one channel) Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Cabinet Styles Upright CRT: Black and White
with a Color Overlay
Sound Amplified Mono
excerpt from the flyer: (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
As a constant display, Robot Cocktail
plays against itself. Robot plays
against 1 player (25¢) OR 2 play-
ers (50¢) OR 2 players can play
“You’re the Shark!”
against each other (25¢) OR 2
teams (4 players) can play against
Shark was produced by US Billiards in
each other (50¢). 25¢ or 50¢ ad-
“Robot plays against itself” 1975. Players control a shark who must swim
justable.
through a maze of shark traps and nets and at-
Robot is a two-on-two Robot features a 23” TV screen tack a swimmer before she reaches the shore-
ball and paddle game where each with a solid state monitor, a 3 line. The first shark to eat five swimmers wins.
player controls two paddles and month warranty on the video
tries to get the ball past the oppo- board, and an easy care wood
nent’s goal. grain formica cabinet. Dimen-
sions: 36” deep, 30” wide, 66”
high -weight 250 pounds.
Robot’s play is on an adjustable
timer with no maximum score.
If a player(s) scores 12 points
against Robot, he gets extended
play. Each handle controls a vid-
eo player, the velocity button on
top of the handle controls the arch
of the ball. The player can pass,
dribble, or hit the ball to his part-
ner of opponent.
 1975
173

excerpt from the flyer:

HOW IT’S PLAYED HOW IT’S BUILT Shark JAWS

• Maneuver your Shark out of • 1 Player - 25¢
the maze of Shark Traps and • 2, 3 or 4 Players - 50¢ Manufacturer Atari
Nets and Attack the Swimmer • Large 19” Screen 100% Solid Release 1975
Class Wide Release
above before she reaches the State Motorola Monitor and Tilt
Genre Platform
shoreline. Back Cabinet Design Permit Mode 2 Players
• First Shark to Successfully at- easy Play and Spectator Visibil- Gameplay Alternating
tack 5 Swimmers wins. ity. Panel Layout Single Player
• Choose any Shark and move it • Adjustable game duration Controls
by pressing buttons. • All Solid Mica Cabinet Joystick: 8-way
• Position switch to give “Nov- • Isolated Locked Cash Box Monitor
ice”, “Intermediate” or “Expert” • Easy Serviceability and Ac- Orientation: Horizontal
Shark traps. cess to All Parts Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
• In “One Player” mode, Attack • Puch Button Controls mean CRT: Black and White
5 Swimmers without any reach- Trouble-free Operation with a Color Overlay
Sound Amplified Mono
ing the shoreline.
(one channel)
To receive Extended Play, press Cabinet Styles Upright
Start button.

Shark Jaws is a single-player arcade game by

Atari Inc. under the name of Horror Games, originally
released in 1975. An unlicensed tie-in to the movie Jaws,
and believed to be the first commercially released movie
tie-in, it was created to do a game about sharks eating
people. Atari head Nolan Bushnell originally tried to li-
cense the Jaws name for the game, but was unable to
secure a license from Universal Pictures. Deciding to
go ahead with the game anyway, it was re titled Shark
Cocktail Table JAWS, with the word Shark in tiny print and JAWS in
large all caps print to create greater prominence. Bush-
nell also created a second hidden subsidiary corporation,
Horror Games—the previous being Kee Games, to help
isolate Atari from possible lawsuit. According to Bush,
the game was successful enough to sell approximately
two thousand units.
The player controls a deep-sea diver trying to
catch small fish while avoiding a great white shark that is
trying to eat him. Points are scored by running over the
fish to catch them.
The game is housed in a custom cabinet that
includes a single joystick and start button. The cabinet
bezel uses blue and green colors, and portrays sharks
swimming around along with a solitary swimmer. The
game PCB is composed of discrete technology, and al-
though the game was released under Horror Games the
PCB clearly states Atari.
1975
174

excerpt from the flyer:

Gulp!
Now you and your locations can cash in on the popu-
larity, interest and profits associated with sharks. Shark
JAWS is a completely different, all new video concept.
Its small size and attractive, long-wearing panel graph-
ics make Shark JAWS an ideal 1-player addition to any
location environment. Killer. Exclusive Atari built-in
features consume the competition, put extra teeth into
earnings. Large 19” Monitor. The face of Shark JAWS
is covered with an eerie blue overlay to simulate an un-
derwater environment, add to the excitement. Attention-
getting cabinet. Graphics (double andoized on teh con-
trol panel for long wear) are designed to instil terror and
attract the braver players wherever they swim. Players
can’t resist flirting with disaster at the jaws of the under-
water predator.
Joystick control lets the diver try to spear fish, save him-
self from being eaten.
Locking cashbox holds the coins watertight
Hinged cash door, key operated, allows for ease of col-
lection.
Operator-adjustable game time lets you control the
profits.
Unlimited Action. Shark JAWS is built to stay in action.
Durastress™ tested circuits, built-in solid state reliability
means less down-time, less service hassle, more continu-
ous income.
Rugged vinyl-clad plywood construction, easy access to
internal components, fast 24-hour parts response keeps
the income non-stop.
Dimensions: Height 53 3/8” (135.6cm). Width 25 1/4”
(64.1cm). Depth 23 1/2” (59.7cm). Shipping Weight 196
lbs. (88.98kg).
Be the first in your ocean. Order your Shark JAWS
while there’s still time to get away.
 1975
175
Ski
Ski was one of the more
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1975
inventive of the video games re-
Class Wide Release leased in the late 1970s (though
Genre Sports there is some question as to
Mode 1 Player whether it actually was a video
Gameplay Single game). The player stood on a pair
Panel Layout Single Player of footpads while gripping a pair
Controls of ski poles. By twisting her body
Steering: Special she could move the footpads and
[Foot-controlled skis.] control the direction in which the
Monitor on-screen skier was travelling
Orientation: Vertical
while the ski poles could be used
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
to control speed. As the player
with a Color Overlay shooshed down the slopes, they
Sound Amplified Mono were serenaded by alpine music.
(one channel) RePlay reported that the game did
Cabinet Styles Upright especially well in ski resorts in
New York.
“allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”

Steeplechase
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1975
Steeplechase is a 6-play- bugle, galloping hoof beats, and
Class Wide Release
er arcade game by Atari Inc., crowd cheers.
Genre Sports
originally released in 1975. De- Up to six players can Mode 6 Players simultaneous
veloped by Atari subsidiary Kee play against each other, each Gameplay Competitive
Games, it simulates a steeple- choosing a horse while the com- Panel Layout Multiple Player
chase-style horse race. puter controls the seventh horse Controls
Originally called As- on the bottom. Each player’s Buttons: 1 [Jump]
troTurf, all pcb’s still have the horse begins galloping, and the Game Specific: Steeplechase Pinout
name on the board. The game players must jump over obsta- Monitor
is housed in a custom extra cles in their lanes by pressing Orientation: Horizontal
wide cabinet that six individu- their colored buttons. The horse Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
ally colored and lit buttons used that successfully jumps all ob-
with a Color Overlay
to make a player’s horse jump. stacles smoothly becomes the
Sound Amplified Mono
The monitor is a 23” black fastest horse and wins. (one channel)
and white CRT monitor with A port for the Atari Cabinet Styles Upright
6 color overlays to make each 2600 was released under the
of the 6 horizontally stacked same name in 1980. It was pro-
lanes match their colored button grammed by Atari and distrib-
counterparts. Sounds include a uted under Sears’ Tele-Games.
1975
176

The cabinet for the european version was made

by Löwen-Automaten. The cabinet is a little wider than
usual to allow enough space for six large buttons, one for
each player. The game was produced by Kee Games and
sold by Atari.

excerpt from the flyer:

“Riders up”
Steeplechase is designed to build extra traffic anywhere
and keep the cheering sound of up to 6 quarters per race
loud and long. Trained by Atari, number one in video
games, Steeplechase has all the competition excitement
of the real thing, plus the profit potential.
A Horse of a Different Color.
Steeplechase is a completely new video concept - the
only video game of its kind. Usual Atari exclusive fea-
tures are built-in to make you and your customers lead-
ing money winners.
2, 4, or 6 player potential. Steeplechase is designed for
high volume action and repeat play. Six colored overlays
for each racing lane, lighted control buttons for each rid-
er that match the colors each track, and realistic steeple-
chase sound effects keep players and spectators coming
back to try for top jockey plaudits. Special stakes, Dally
Doubles, feature races - you can help your locations or-
ganize a wide variety of
racing events to boost
earnings even higher.
Large 23” monitor and
attractive cabinet graphics
add to the excitement of
play. Steeplechase stands
out anywhere.
Steeplechase won’t fade
in the stretch.
Install it and forget it. Ex-
clusive Durastress™ tested
circuits; reliable, long-
wearing solid state elec-
tronics; rugged vinyl-clad
cabinet construction. Stee-
plechase keeps on earning
furlong after furlong.
 1975
Stock Car 177
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 6 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Monitor
Orientation: Either
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Stock Car is a modified European

version version of Crash ‘n Score.

excerpt from the flyer:

1 OR 2 PLAYERS WITH A FREE PLAY
ADJUSTABLE
Each player drives a car which goes across
the field in between oil slicks and barriers in
order to hit the flashing flags. The first car
which crash the flashing flag scores from 1
to 7 pts depending on the value of the flag,
during the last 20 seconds the target’s values
double like A FLIPPER.
1975
178

Street Burners
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Steering: Wheel
Shifter: 2-position (low, high)
Pedals: 1
Monitor
Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Street Burners is a vertical car racing
CRT: Black and White game from Allied Leisure. It feature a 23”
Sound Amplified Mono inch TV screen with a solid state monitor.
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Super Flipper is a video game disguised as a

pinball machine. It was the first video pinball, with real
flipper buttons, ball shooter and pinball cabinet. The
flipper button switches are optical controls - a lamp and
Super Flipper a photocell are separated by a sliding part with a hole in
Manufacturer Chicago Coin it: flipper travel depends on how much the flipper but-
Release 1975 ton is pressed. The flippers are actually paddles moving
Class Wide Release left and right in the same manner as traditional video
Genre Video Pinball games of the period.
Mode 1 Player The machine feature a numitron tube score dis-
Gameplay Single play (a type of digital display that uses segmented digits
Panel Layout Single Player in a vacuum tube). Playfield is a black
Controls and white monitor viewed through blue
Flippers: Analog (left, right) plastic overlay with graphics on it.
Monitor
Monophonic sound. The game has grav-
Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
ity simulation. There is no shooter alley.
CRT: Black and White with a Color Overlay The ball starts play by moving left and
Blue overlay with pop bumpers, sling shots, right across the playfield. Pulling and
etc. imprinted on it. releasing the ball shooter sends the ball
Sound Amplified Mono downward into play.
(one channel) The playfield layout (not the
Cabinet Styles Upright overlay) is similar to the one on Model
Racing’s ‘UFO’.
“ipdb.org”
 1975
179
Survival Take 5
Manufacturer US Billiards
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc.
Release 1975
Release 1975
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Class Wide Release
Gameplay Competitive
Genre Ball and Paddle
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Gameplay Competitive
Monitor
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Orientation: Either
Monitor
Type: TV Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
CRT: Black and White
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Sound Amplified Mono
CRT: Black and White
(one channel)
Sound Amplified Mono
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

Take 5, produced by Fun Games in 1975, is a

ball and paddle game that feature five differ-
ent table tennis games.

WIPE OUT
(SINGLE)
One Player

Take 7 WIPE OUT

Two Player
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc. or Four Player
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Either MATCH
Panel Layout Multiple Player Two Player
Controls or Four Player
Rotary: Analog
Monitor
Survival is a 1 to 4 player ball and Orientation: Horizontal
paddle game from US Billiards. The game Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
is similar to Atari’s Quadrapong. CRT: Black and White PRO MATCH
Two one-inch square overlays:
The game feature: Two Player
“Deposit additional coins for 4
• 1, 2, 3 or 4 Players players” and “Extended Play”
• Free Game Option Sound Amplified Mono
• 19” Motorolla Monitor (one channel)
• Electrical Counter Cabinet Styles Cocktail
• Isolated Cash Box GRAVITY MATCH
• Joystick Controls Two Player
• 1 Quarter for 1 Player Against House or Take 7, produced by Fun Games in 1975,
or Four Player
2 Players Against Each Other is a ball and paddle game that feature
• 2 Quarters for 3 Players Against House seven varieties of video table tennis.
or or 4 Players Against Each Other
1975
180
Tank III ...maybe?
Tankers
Manufacturer Kee Games
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc.
Release 1975
Release 1975
Class Wide Release
Class Wide Release
Genre Labyrinth/Maze
Genre Labyrinth/Maze
Mode 2 Players
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Single Player
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Monitor
Controls
Orientation: Horizontal
Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) with button [Fire]
CRT: Black and White
Monitor
Sound Amplified Mono
Orientation: Horizontal
(one channel)
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Cabinet Styles Upright
CRT: Black and White
Cabinet Styles Upright

Tank III was produced by Kee

Games in 1975 and is the third in the series
of tank games. Tankers is a maze/battle game where
Many believe that the game was each player controls a tank and tries to destroy
never made and does not exist, based on opposing tanks in a maze of mines and barriers.
the nonexistence of evidence and the spar- The game is seen as a clone of Atari’s Tank.
sity of mentions.
excerpt from the flyer

Combat-ready. You’re ready for any kind of action. All solid state circuitry, fully tested
action with new TANKERS. Your mission is I.C.’s, a full year warranty on the computer
to seek and destroy the enemy - but watch out board and rugged construction keep TANK-
for the mines. Suddenly, cannon fire from the ERS a profit winner day after day. Attractive
enemy tank! You turn, line up for a return shot low profile cabinet design means TANKERS is
- fire! It’s a miss! Shoot! You’ve got to get him a winner in any location, too.
before he gets you. Another shot! This time it’s Behind-the-lines support - in 24 hours!
a hit! - the enemy tank blows up. You’ve won! TANKERS is built to stay in the fight. Replace-
You can’t relax though. Within operator-adjust- ment and repair parts are available on a 24 hour
able game time, you have to score as may hits schedule - anywhere. Ease of access for main-
as possible to win the battle. tenance and easy access to coin box means con-
Battle-tested. TANKERS is built to see heavy sistent earnings without problems.
 1975
181

TV Flipper
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co. “A T.V. Game with
Release 1975 All the Excitement of Pinball”
Class Wide Release
Genre Video Pinball TV Flipper is a video pinball
Mode 2 Players game from Bally Midway.
Gameplay Alternating
Panel Layout Single Player excerpt from the flyer:
Hardware Midway 8080
Monitor • Large size solid state T.V. monitor
Orientation: Horizontal • 1 or 2 player game
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • “Extra ball” or “replay” feature
CRT: Color • 3, 4 or 5 balls per game
Sound Amplified Mono • Double 25¢ coin chutes
(one channel) • Cabinet dimensions 26 1/2 x 24 x 64
Cabinet Styles Upright

“It’s Combative... UFO Chase

Competitive...
UFO Chase is a space bat- Manufacturer Electra
Sensational...”
tle game where each player con- Release 1975
trols a UFO and tries to ram or excerpt from the flyer: Class Wide Release
destroy an opposing UFO to score Picture two armed space vehicles Genre Space
points. Mode 2 Players simultaneous
locked in mortal combat. The at- Gameplay Competitive
The game is divided into tack UFO roars into the ‘sky’,
Panel Layout Multiple Player
six time intervals; during each in- seeks out its adversary, rams him,
Controls
terval, only one of the UFO’s can sends him reeling downward then Joystick: 8-way
attack, the other must evade. This bombs him from above. That’s Buttons: 1 [Fire]
action starts with the Black UFO “UFO Chase” the sensational new Monitor
and alternates between the two Electronic Video Game by Electra. Orientation: Horizontal
UFO’s. During this interval, the Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
attack UFO can score points by fir- • “Double Action” chase alternates Black and White
ing missiles or ramming the evad- players. Sound Amplified Mono
ing UFO. Two random motion • Random motion “asterioids” (one channel)
Asteroids moving about the screen penalize offensive player when Cabinet Styles Upright
substract points from the attacking struck
UFO if they hit it. • Offensive player can score either
by ramming or bombing
1975 Video Action
182
Manufacturer UPL
Release 1975 excerpt from the flyer: Video Pool
Class Wide Release Manufacturer US Billiards
Genre Ball and Paddle A QUALIYT STORY
Release 1975-1976
Mode 4 Players Simultaneous Video Action’s parent com- Class Wide Release
Gameplay Either pany, Universal Research Genre Billiards/Pool
Panel Layout Multiple Player Laboratories, is a pioneer in Mode 2 Players
Controls the video games industry hav- Gameplay Competitive
Rotary: Analog ing produced literally tens of Panel Layout Multiple Player
Monitor Monitor
thousands of solid state logic
Orientation: Horizontal Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
boards during the last five
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White years. Integrated circiut com-
CRT: Black and White
The top glass that the monitor ponents are 100% computer Sound Amplified Mono
shown through was tinted yellow inspected, the put through a (one channel)
Hardware Discrete Logic rigorous freeze/heat testing Cabinet Styles Upright
Sound Amplified Mono procedures called “thermal
(one channel) cycling”. The result is a re-
Cabinet Styles Cocktail markably low percentages of
field problems. “4 Different Pool Games
in 1 Durable Cabinet”

Video Pool is a black

and white game of billiards.

excerpt from the flyer:

2 Proven Money-Makers -
The Super-Popular Game of
Pool and the Modern Format of
Video Games. A Sure-Fire suc-
cessful combination.
SPECIFICATION:
• Three-game mode: Tennis,
• 1 or 2 Players
Soccer, Hockey
• 19” Motorola Monitor
• Pricing: 25¢ for Two play-
• Electrical Counter
Video Action allowed two or four ers, 50¢ for Four Players
• Isolated Cash Box
players to play tennis, soccer, or hockey. (Quarters Only)
• Push Button Controls mean
Pong style variants of each game. • Fast or Slow “Speed Action”
Trouble-free Operation.
The game has an octagon table • Solid State TV Monitor
top, with a vinyl padded base (so users • Lighted, Easy-to-Locate
wouldn’t bang their knees on the cabi- Coin Entry Slot
net). • High-Impact, Tampered
Glass Window
• Seperately Keyed Cash Box,
$300 capacity
CABINET FEATURES
• Handsome Styling
• Sturdy Construction
• Aluminium Diecast Base
• Durable High-Pressure
Laminate Top
• Upholstered Sides
 1975
183

“WHEELS II
Exciting one or two player race game”

Wheels II excerpt from the flyer:

Name: Wheels II • Speed shift controls
Manufacturer: Midway Manufacturing Co. • Adjustable timer feature
Year: 1975 • Accelerator pedals
Type: Videogame • Engine sound effects
• 25¢ per play
Class: Wide Release • Extended play
Genre: Racing
• Cabinet dimensions
Monitor:
29”W x 32”D x 65 3/4”H
Orientation: Vertical 73.66cmW x 81.28cmD x 167.01cmH
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • Approx. weight in carton 320 lbs. 145.15 kg.
CRT: Black and White • 23” Motorola Solid State TV Monitor
• Seat optional
Conversion Class: unique
excerpt from the Lo-Profile flyer:
Maximum number of Players: 4
• Cabinet dimensions
Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player
29”W x 32”D x 52”H
Controls:
73.66cmW x 81.28cmD x 132.08cmH
• Approx. weight in carton 300 lbs. 136.08 kg.

Wheels II, sequel to Wheels (1974-

1975), is a single or double player game
containing no microprocessor. Players race
their cars against computer cars, gaining
points for elapsed distance before time runs
out. Crashing requires the player to shift
into low gear to start again (2 speeds).
Each player races on his own side
of the screen, against computer generated
obstacle cars. The players’ cars move far-
ther up the screen the faster they go. Play-
ers cannot cross into each other’s lanes. If
one player crashes, their side of the screen
stops while the other player drives on nor-
mally. The crashed player must downshift
in order to accelerate at a reasonable rate.
Each player’s car is slightly different, but
the computer cars are all the same.
The control shifters have 8-ball
ends. The marquee is made of real glass.
Steering wheels are three-spoked chrome.
“arcade-museum.com”
184 280 ZZZAP
Datsun 280 ZZZAP or 280 ZZZAP is an The game was also notable for the big,
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co. early racing arcade game by Midway designed pixellated words it would display when players
Release 1976 by Jay Fenton. It was announced as one of the crashed, like BANG and BOOM and most nota-
Class Wide Release first 3-D driving games.

bly, ZORK. ZORK was notable not just because
Genre Racing The game didn’t start out as Datsun it’s possibly the least likely sound for a car to
Mode 2 Players make when running into a post at high speed, but
280ZZZap — it started out as a game called Mid-
Gameplay Alternating also because ‘Zork’ was the name of a popular
Panel Layout Single Player
nite Racer, made by Midway. The problem was
that Midnite Racer was a copy (though licensed) text-based adventure game of the era. Since Zork
Hardware Midway 8080
of a Micronetics game called Night Racer (that was first written in 1977, there’s some specula-
Controls
Steering: Wheel may be a copy of a German driving game called tion the name came from the game, but it may
Shifter: 2-position (low, high) Nürburgring). just be a coincidence as the word was in wide-
spread use in geeky communities already.

Pedals: 1 On top of all this, Atari would very soon

Monitor release their licensed knockoff, Night Driver, Datsun doesn’t seem to have done too
Orientation: Horizontal much on their end to publicize this video game
creating a glut of pseudo-3D, drive-between-the-
Type: TV Monitor tie-in, though in 1977 Datsun did offer a ‘special
CRT: Black and White
white-fenceposts racing games out there.
Midway noticed exactly this at the No- decor package’ for the 280Z called the 280ZZ-
Sound Amplified Mono
vember 1976 AMOA (Amusement and Music Zap, which was a Sunburst Yellow 280Z with
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright Operators Association) show, which featured all rear window louvers and black hood and roof
the indistinguishable night-driving games in one stripes, and a multicolored side stripe kit.
place. After the show, in an effort to have their The ZZZap edition did seem to roughly
game stand apart from all the others, Bally-Mid- mirror what the car in the videogame looked
way started a promotion that would give away a like, though there doesn’t seem to be any official
brand new 1977 Datsun 280Z, and worked out mention of the game in Datsun’s ads.
a deal with Nissan that allowed them to rename “Jason Torchinsky@jalopnik.com”
the game Datsun 280ZZZap (sometimes just
280ZZZap) and include images of a 280Z on the
excerpt from the flyer:
marquee and case.
“Thrilling action matches skills against tight

The game also stood out by using Mid-

bends... fast straights... S-curves & more for
way’s unique mirror-based projection system that
real driving excitement!”
could overlay static, printed images on top of the
primitive raster-scan graphics of the game. Since • Realistic Engine, Crash & Accelerator Sound
the simple, 8080-based computer running the Effects
game could only display blocky black and white • 3- Dimensional Driving Game with High &
images, the mirror-projection system was used Low Gear Shift
to overlay a night sky and the hood of a yellow • Constantly Changing Race Course
280Z on the screen. The ‘dashboard’ section of • High Score of the Day Feature
the screen also had a woodgrain bezel around it. • Adjustable Extended Play
 1976
185

Air Combat
Manufacturer Digital Games Incorporated
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
Ace Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Competitive
Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Release 1976
Controls
Class Wide Release
Joystick: 8-way
Genre Shooter
Joystick: 8-way with button [Fire]
Mode 2 Players
Monitor
Gameplay Competitive
Orientation: Horizontal
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Monitor
CRT: Black and White
Orientation: Horizontal
Sound Amplified Mono
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
(one channel)
CRT: Black and White
Cabinet Styles Upright
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
“go ahead...
take control”
Ace pits two biplane pilots speed, accuracy, and more in-the-air
in head-to-head air combat, in a play time for his money. “2 PLAYER - REALISTIC SOUND
2-player only game. Players just SKY-HIGH PROFITS... ACE joins AND CONTROL”
need to fly around and shoot down the long line of Allied Leisure Indus-
the opponent before he gets the tries’ proven money makers. Test re- An air battle game where a
player. There are 2 points awarded sults show ACE far superior in earn- player controls a jet fighter that tries
for hitting the enemy with the gun, ing power to its nearest competitor. to shoot down an opposing jet fighter.
and 1 point to the opponent if the You can “take control” of your prof-
player crash. its with this consistently competitive
game. excerpt from the flyer:
excerpt from the flyer:
VIVID DESIGN... to catch the eye New Features
ACE controls, that is, for fun and of the player; compact for easy in- • .50 Cent Play
profits!!! ACE, the 2-player video stallation in any location: 30” deep, • 2 Player
gun game sure to be a triple asset 28” wide and 69” high - weight 255 • Realistic Sound
to your location. pounds. • Joystick Control
PLAYER APPEAL... • Play Meter (Coin Counter)
2 opposing planes • 23” Solid State Monitor
take off quickly. ACE • Locking Coin Vault
generates more ex- • 1-Year Warranty on Logic
citement in the air Board and Monitor
with multiple firing • Extended Play
capacity (You don’t
have to wait until the
first shot goes off the
screen). ACE’s rap-
id-firing trigger but-
ton gives the player
1976
186 Amazing Maze, referred The maze is viewed from
to as The Amazing Maze Game above and the players start out on
on the title screen, is an arcade each side of the labyrinth. The ob-
Amazing Maze game that was released by Mid- jective is then simple: Each player
way Games (in 1976); it utilizes has to make it through the maze
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co. the Intel 8080 microprocessor to the starting position of the op-
Release 1976 running at 1.9968 MHz and is ponent before he does the same
Class Wide Release one of the earliest maze games in the opposite direction. Before
Genre Labyrinth/Maze
produced. starting out the player has a few
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Competitive
second to study the maze before it
Panel Layout Multiple Player starts. When not having a human
Controls opponent around it’s also possible
Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right) to play against an AI. When play-
Buttons: 3 [AttackJumpNinjutu] ing against the AI the game goes
Hardware Midway 8080 on until the player has lost three
Monitor games. For each new maze the AI
Orientation: Horizontal speed increases. In a two player
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution game there’s a time limit and the
CRT: Black and White player with most wins when it
Sound Amplified Mono
runs out is the winner. The layout
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
of the maze is randomly generated
before a game and according to
the manufacturer there are more
than a million different patterns.
“mobygames.com”

Attack is an early first- Attack

person light-gun shooter arcade Manufacturer Taito
video game, released by Taito in The game is a 2-player Release 1976
1976. competitive shooting gallery. Both Class Wide Release
players have a mounted machine- Genre Light-gun
gun with swivel aiming. The goal Mode 2 Players
is to destroy as many passing Gameplay Joint
trucks (worth 10 points each) as Panel Layout Multiple Player
possible within the 90 seconds of Controls
one credit. If either player scores Gun: Positional with trigger
300 points an additional 90 sec- Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
onds of playtime will be added.
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Trucks can drive onto the screen CRT: Black and White
from both sides of the screen, and Sound Amplified Mono
trucks farther away are smaller (one channel)
and harder to hit. Cabinet Styles Upright
“mobygames.com”
1976
188

Attack
Manufacturer Exidy
Release 1977
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right)
with button [Fire]
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Exidy’s Attack is a re-release of Tai-

to’s Attack. The light-guns is replaced by
joysticks.

Avus 2
Manufacturer Video Games Gmbh
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Controls
Steering: Wheel excerpt from the flyer:
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
Driving games are played all times, and when you
sit, it is even more fun.
1 or 2 players can select one of 12 tracks.
Extended play is awarded after a pre-programmed
score is reached by the driver.
Operator adjustable extended play and game time.
 1976
189

Barricade
Barricade is an early is to win a round by forcing the
Manufacturer Ramtek
Release 1976
example of a light cycle game other players wall to collide
Class Wide Release for arcades. Barricade is in- into themselves or another bar-
Genre Skill tended for either two or four rier.
Mode 4 Players players. Each player controls The operator of the
Gameplay Competitive an ever growing wall made up arcade machine can set the
Panel Layout Multiple Player of individual small squares. number of rounds it takes to
Controls These walls are growing on a win (from one to seven) and
Buttons: Directional fixed playfield of limited size, set how fast or slow the speed
(up, down, left, right) therefore room will eventu- at which the walls grow (there
Monitor ally run out for these growing are seven different speed op-
Orientation: Horizontal
walls. So the goal of the game tions).
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
“mobygames.com”
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Batter Up
Batter Up is a baseball Name: Batter Up
Manufacturer: Volley
game from Volley.
Year: 1976
Type: Videogame
excerpt from the flyer: ADVANCED DESIGN
Most inventive engineering yet Monitor:
PLAYER APPEAL
evolved by Volly — modular
Challenge will last, with un-
design feature easy to remove Orientation: Either
limited pitching variations,
modules mounted on slide Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
“soft” buttons for precision CRT: Black and White with a Color
out tray. P.C. Boards are gold
player action — all the moves Overlay
edged and mounted in unique
of real baseball.
rubberized tension assembly
DYNAMIC STYLING Number of Simultaneous Players: 2
for unmatched reliability.
High image cabinet and front Maximum number of Players: 2
SIMPLE TO PLAY
glass — colourful stadium — Gameplay: Competitive
Numbers on screen seen Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player
plastic play field overlays vid-
through labelled windows, and Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)
eo screen.
instruction flash during play.
1976
190
Bigfoot Bonkers, a Block-
Bigfoot Bonkers ade clone. is a variation on the
Manufacturer Meadows ‘surround your opponent’ style of
Release 1976 game. In this game, players take
Class Wide Release the role of mice in a small play-
Genre Racing field with a few bigfoot feet that
Mode 4 Players must be avoided in addition to the
Gameplay Competitive walls.
Panel Layout Multiple Player The game is 2-player
Controls
only, and both players are in a
Buttons: Directional
(up, down, left, right)
survival match to see who can
Monitor avoid crashing longest. As play-
Orientation: Horizontal ers move about the playfield, they
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution leave a trail behind. Hitting any
CRT: Black and White part of the trails, or the bigfoot
Sound Amplified Mono feet, causes a player to lose that
(one channel) round and gives one point to their
Cabinet Styles Upright opponent. First one to six wins
the game.
“mobygames.com”

BiPlane is a two-player If either player reaches the edge

competitive game, where each of the screen, then they will be
player controls a biplane and hit by “anti-aircraft fire” which
tries to shoot down their op- is displayed as a wall of small
ponent. The player who shoots sparkling explosions. If a player
BiPlane
down their opponent the most is hit (either by crashing into the Manufacturer Fun Games Inc.
within a fixed time period is the ground, wall, anti-aircraft fire or Release 1976
winner. by an opponent’s missile), then Class Wide Release
At the start of each their opponent’s score is incre- Genre Shooter
game, each player’s biplane mented, and they are returned to Mode 2 Players
(one white, one black) starts in their corner of the screen to try Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
one of the corners at the bottom again. There is a warning that
Controls
of the screen, facing towards the game is about to end when Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
the center. They then need to the scores start to flash. Joystick: 2-way (up, down) with button
take off before reaching a small Control of the biplane Monitor
dividing wall at the bottom of is accomplished using two up/ Orientation: Horizontal
the screen. Once airborne, they down levers. The first affects the Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
can shoot small missiles at their plane’s speed, while the second CRT: Black and White
opponents. These missiles will affects its pitch. One of the le- Sound Amplified Mono
travel in a straight line, but only vers has a button on top, which (two channel)
a fraction of the screen width may be used to fire at their op- Cabinet Styles Upright
before exploding, and only one ponent.
per player can be fired at a time. “mobygames.com”
 1976
The game requires four players. The game 191
BiPlane 4 screen has a long bar at the bottom with a divider in
the middle. That is the takeoff runway. Running into
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc. the divider causes the plane to crash. Players must
Release 1976 gain speed prior to takeoff then pull the up/down con-
Class Wide Release trol back to take off. Once in the air a player can slow
Genre Shooter down if necessary. Anti-aircraft fire rings the outer
Mode 4 Players
edges of the screen. If players fly into it, they are shot
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
down and crash. Each player’s Biplane has it’s own
Controls speaker. Once players make it into the air, the object
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) of the game is simple; shoot each other out of the
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) with button sky before time runs out. Score is kept at the top of
Monitor the screen. When time is about ready to run out, the
Orientation: Horizontal scores begin to flash until the end of the game. Each
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution score is the same color as it’s Biplane; either black or
CRT: Black and White white. The game
Sound Amplified Mono is kind of like an
(two channel) air-based version
Cabinet Styles Upright
of Space Wars, but
this game was re-
leased two years
earlier and uses a
raster monitor.
“arcade-museum.com”

The cabinet is short upright with would have helped here. The marquee Lumi-
woodgrain sides and front. The monitor bezel nal bulb is expensive and very unreliable.
has artwork with a WWI battle scene on the The game has switches for 25/50 cent play,
bottom showing cannons, men, air explo- 50/60 Hz power, individual volume controls
sions, etc... On the left side of the monitor are for each speaker, five pots for setting the pitch
the words ‘Action’, ‘Thrills’, ‘Fun’ and on and tone of sound effects, a pot for setting the
the right side are the words ‘Bang’, ‘Boom’, white Bi-plane’s shot distance to be the same
‘Pow’. Both sets of words are inside either as the black, and a pot to adjust the length of
cloud shapes or explosion shapes. All over the game.
the bezel are pictures of Biplanes engaged in “arcade-museum.com”
dogfights. The marquee bezel has the game
name in the center with two Biplanes, one
on each side. Most of the monitor bezel and
marquee are in red. The marquee is originally
lit with a long incandescent lightbulb called
a ‘Lumaline’ bulb that glows very nicely,
however a bit warm. The control panel has
silkscreened graphics which demonstrate the
controls function and game instructions.
This game uses a four-card, card-cage
setup that operates without a CPU. The rack
is powered by a +5VDC linear supply which
can be easily substituted with one of today’s
switching power supplies. The +5 volt power
supply had a massive heat problem. A fan
1976
192

Block Buster
Manufacturer Mirco Games
Release 1976
Genre Ball and Paddle
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
Blockade
Manufacturer UPL
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Skill
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player Ambidextrous
Controls
Buttons: Directional
(up, down, left, right)
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
with a Color Overlay
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Block Buster is a table-top ball Cabinet Styles Upright
and paddle game where the player at-
tempts to eliminate all the blocks at the
top of the screen. Blockade is the first of what
would later become known as light cy-
excerpt from the flyer: cle, or snake, games. It’s a game for two
DOUBLE COMPETITION — One or players only, each who controls an ar-
two players can compete for high scores. row that leaves behind a trail of blocks
During two player action, players com- that form a wall. The arrow moves au- Several Blockade-style games appeared
pete against the machine for skill and tomatically forward and by using four soon after its release, such as the Bally
against each other for high points. buttons the player is able to steer it by Astrocade game Checkmate in 1977,
making ninety degree turns. The aim of Atari’s Surround in 1978, and the 1978
EASY TO LEARN — With automatic, the game is simply to stay alive longer TRS-80 computer game Worm.
accelerating skill features. than the opponent by not crashing into Though Blockade did not refer-
CHALLENGING ACTION — Play- any of the walls. If a crash occurs the ence snakes or worms, many variants
ers score by eliminating the blocks in the opponent will win the round and be were themed as such, including Nibbler
wall. The blocks disappear as they are awarded with one point. By default the and Snake Byte, both from 1982. The
hit by the ball. The longer the volley, the player that first reaches six points wins 1997 Nokia mobile phone version is
more change of hitting the the game but the value can be changed simply called Snake.
deeper rows of blocks to score by the game operator.
more points. If all the blocks “mobygames.com”
are eliminated, another wall
quickly appears for continued
action. Automatic ball speed
increases and automatic reduc-
tion in paddle size add to the
excitement and challenge.
 1976
193
Bombs Away
Manufacturer Meadows
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
excerpt from the flyer: Mode 1 Player
Gameplay Single
“The money magnet.” Panel Layout Single Player
Put it on location, plug it in... and watch it pull in the coins! Controls
BLOCKADE™! The trailblazing smash hit of the MOA and Buttons: 1 [Bomb]
Park Shows, fast becoming the “most imitated” new game of Monitor
the year! Here’s the great original... featuring Gremlin inno- Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
vation, Gremlin engineering, Gremlin quality. BLOCKADE!
CRT: Black and White
Designed for Player Appeal! with a Color Overlay
Ascreen that’sALIVE! with bright action. Even when it’s not be- Sound Amplified Mono
ing played, its advertising sequence COMMANDS attention! (one channel)
Irresistible SOUND! Cabinet Styles Upright
Easy to learn, and CHALLENGING... no two games alike!
Designed for Low Maintenance!
Gremlin-clean electronic design and layout. Rugged Mo- excerpt from the flyer:
torola monitor. Any major system component can be RE-
On target
MOVED IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS!
An enemy fleet cruises directly below
Designed for Powerful Profits For You For Years! as you prepare for the final bomb run,
finger waiting tensely on the bomb re- colored images of REAL battleships,
lease. The aircraft carriers are hiding cruisers and aircraft carriers. A direct
behind swiftly moving battleships and hit sinks the ship right before your eyes.
cruisers, a shield you must penetrate for Potent payload
the really big score. Suddenly a break Each quarter loads the player’s bomb
appears and you move in for the carri- bay with 15 HIGH EXPLOSIVE
ers. Careful now. Punch the release but- bombs, enough to win a replay at 40
ton and... BOMBS AWAY! It’s a direct points with practice. And inexperienced
hit and the carrier goes down fast players who don’t score even a single
It’s a direct hit point (a feat in itself) are also awarded a
BOMBS AWAY is a direct hit with play- free game so you’ll get plenty of repeat
ers bored by paddle and driving games. business with BOMBS AWAY. Score
The astounding success of DROP and bombs dropped are displayed in
ZONE 4, the forerunner of BOMBS big, clearly labelled numbers.
AWAY, means this game is a proven It stands out anywhere
profit-maker. Now you get this proven Appealing air-sea combat graphic
success with an ALL NEW cabinet, an and flashing explosion display make
ENHANCED attract mode and an IM- BOMBS AWAY an attention-getter in
PROVED screen display with brightly any location.
1976
194

Break Away
Manufacturer Venture Line
Release 1976
Genre Ball and Paddle
Gameplay Alternating
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail

excerpt from the flyer:

• Break Thru the Wall of Bricks
• Each Two Rows of Bricks have a Differ-
ent Scoring Value
• 1 or 2 Player
• Automatic Speedup feature
• Free Game or None. The Number of
Serves, the Amount of Coins and Screen
Mode are Adjustable.
ALL THE
EXCITEMENT
OF
“BREAKOUT”
• Complete Kit of Con-
versions
• Use Your Old Moni-
tors, Hardware and
Cabinet Convert to New
Games
• Drawings Furnished
for Easy Conversion
 1976
Breakout 195

Manufacturer Atari
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Breakout is an arcade game developed Wozniak, and Steve Bristow, all three of whom Mode 2 Players
and published by Atari, Inc., released on May 13, were involved with Atari and its Kee Games Gameplay Alternating
1976. subsidiary. Bushnell wanted to turn Pong into a Panel Layout Single Player
Breakout begins with eight rows of single player game, where the player would use Controls
a paddle to maintain a ball that depletes a wall Rotary: Analog
bricks, with each two rows a different color. The
of bricks. Bushnell was certain the game would Buttons: 1 [Serve]
color order from the bottom up is yellow, green,
be popular, and he and Bristow partnered to pro- Game Specific Breakout Pinout
orange and red. Using a single ball, the player Monitor
must knock down as many bricks as possible duce a concept. Al Alcorn was assigned as the
Orientation: Vertical
by using the walls and/or the paddle below to Breakout project manager, and began develop-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
ricochet the ball against the bricks and eliminate ment with Cyan Engineering in 1975. Bushnell CRT: Black and White
them. If the player’s paddle misses the ball’s re- assigned Steve Jobs to design a prototype. Jobs with a Color Overlay
bound, he or she will lose a turn. The player has was offered $750, with an award for every TTL Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
three turns to try to clear two screens of bricks. (transistor-transistor logic) chip fewer than 50. Cabinet Styles Upright
Yellow bricks earn one point each, green bricks Jobs promised to complete a prototype within Cocktail
earn three points, orange bricks earn five points four days. Mini
and the top-level red bricks score seven points Bushnell offered the bonus because he
each. The paddle shrinks to one-half its size after disliked how new Atari games required 150 to
the ball has broken through the red row and hit 170 chips; he knew that Jobs’ friend Steve Woz-
the upper wall. Ball speed increases at specific niak, an employee of Hewlett-Packard, had
intervals: after four hits, after twelve hits, and af- designed a version of Pong that used about 30
ter making contact with the orange and red rows. chips. Jobs had little specialized knowledge of
The highest score achievable for one circuit board design but knew Wozniak was ca-
player is 896; this is done by eliminating two pable of producing designs with a small number
screens of bricks worth 448 points each. Once of chips. He convinced Wozniak to work with
the second screen of bricks is destroyed, the ball him, promising to split the fee evenly between
in play harmlessly bounces off empty walls until them if Wozniak could minimize the number of
the player relinquishes the game, as no addition- chips. Wozniak had no sketches and instead in-
al screens are provided. However, a secret way terpreted the game from its description. To save
to score beyond the 896 maximum is to play the parts, he had “tricky little designs” difficult to
game in two-player mode. If “Player One” com- understand for most engineers. Near the end of
pletes the first screen on his or her third and last development, Wozniak considered moving the
ball, then immediately and deliberately allows high score to the screen’s top, but Jobs claimed
the ball to “drain”, Player One’s second screen is Bushnell wanted it at the bottom; Wozniak was
transferred to “Player Two” as a third screen, al- unaware of any truth to his claims. The original
lowing Player Two to score a maximum of 1,344 deadline was met after Wozniak worked at Atari
points if he is adept four nights straight,
enough to keep the doing some addition-
third ball in play that al designs while at his
long. Once the third day job at Hewlett-
screen is eliminated, Packard. This equated
the game is over. to a bonus of $5,000,
which Jobs kept se-
Breakout, a
cret from Wozniak.
discrete logic (non-
Wozniak has stated
microprocessor) game,
he only received pay-
was designed by No-
ment of $350; he be-
lan Bushnell, Steve
1976
196
lieved for years that Atari had promised $700 for in Super Breakout), and the Atari 2600. out in the yellow row, 3 for each in the green, 5
a design using fewer than 50 chips, and $1000 Breakout directly influenced Wozniak’s for each orange. 7 for each red.
for fewer than 40, stating in 1984 “We only got design for the Apple II computer. He said, “A To add to the challenge, the hammer de-
700 bucks for it.” Wozniak was the engineer, and lot of features of the Apple II went in because I creases to 1/2 size after the red row is broken
Jobs was the breadboarder and tester. Wozniak’s had designed Breakout for Atari. I had designed through. Ball speed increases after 4 hits, in-
original design used 42 chips; the final, work- it in hardware. I wanted to write it in software creases again after 12, to highest speed in the
ing breadboard he and Jobs delivered to Atari now.” This included his design of color graph- orange and red rows.
used 44, but Wozniak said, “We were so tired we ics circuitry, the addition of game paddle support More options.
couldn’t cut it down.” and sound, and graphics commands in Integer Breakout can be adjusted from 3 to 5 balls per
Atari was unable to use Wozniak’s de- BASIC, with which he wrote Little Brick Out, a game. If player knocks down all bricks, wall re-
sign. By designing the board with as few chips software clone of his own hardware game. appears for more chances to score.
as possible, he made the design difficult to man- Extended play can be awarded after operator-
ufacture; it was too compact and complicated to adjustable number of points total is achieved.
be feasible with Atari’s manufacturing methods. Operator can adjust to any total in increments of
However, Wozniak claims Atari could not under- 100.
stand the design, and speculates “maybe some Special Features.
engineer there was trying to make some kind Color overlays over the playfield, sound effects
of modification to it.” Atari ended up designing speakers located high in the cabinet and fluores-
their own version for production, which con- cent graphic panels attract players anywhere. A
tained about 100 TTL chips. Wozniak found the protective hood and a 15” playfield screen tilt
gameplay to be the same as his original creation, angle cuts down on distracting reflections and
and could not find any differences. glare.
The arcade cabinet uses a black and Atari standard features
white monitor. However, the monitor has strips include locking cashbox, hinged cash door and
of colored cellophane placed over it so that the reliable Durastress-tested solid state electronics.
bricks appear to be in color. InstaPart™ Service.
Wozniak said in 1984: “Basically, all the
24-hour parts turn-around is available to keep
The original arcade version of Breakout game features were put in just so I could show
profits coming non-stop.
has been officially ported to several systems, off the game I was familiar with—Breakout—at
Dimensions.
such as Video Pinball, the Atari 5200 (included the Homebrew Computer Club. It was the most
Width: 25 1/4”; 64.1cm. Height: 65 1/2”;
satisfying day of my life [when] I demonstrated
166.4cm. Depth: 27 3/4”; 70.5cm.
Breakout—totally written in BASIC. It seemed
like a huge step to me. After designing hardware
arcade games, I knew that being able to program
them in BASIC was going to change the world.

excerpt from the flyer:

Bust out of the ordinary.
High profit potential is built in. Players can com-
pete for points against an opponent or against
themselves. High skill factor makes Breakout
tough to master, invites replay for higher scores.
The Jailbreak Caper.
Breakout sets up with 8 rows of bricks, each two
rows are different color. Players get 3 balls to
try to knock down as many bricks as possible
to try to knock down as many bricks as possible
by ricochetting the ball against the wall off of a
video sledge hammer.
1 point is scored for each brick knocked
 1976
Chase1 197

Manufacturer Allied Leisure Industries Ckidzo

Release 1976
Class Wide Release Manufacturer Meadows
Genre Shooter Release 1976
Mode 2 Players Class Wide Release
Gameplay Alternating Genre Ball and Paddle
Panel Layout Single Player Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Monitor Gameplay Competitive
Orientation: Horizontal Panel Layout Multiple Player
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Controls
CRT: Black and White Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
Sound Amplified Mono Monitor
(one channel) Orientation: Horizontal
Cabinet Styles Cockpit Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
excerpt from the flyer:
CHASE
The authentic “Ace flier” cock-
pit puts you in the air and in the
action. The solid state logic and
sounds built into the “Chase”
fighter gives the “flier” all the
excitement of a swirling dogfight —
one of the many important features
built into all of Allied Leisure’s spe- SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:
cialty games. The memory Circuitry allows a va-
HOW TO PLAY: riety in the movement of the enemy
Insert coin, enemy aircraft will ap- aircraft as the game progresses.
pear in formation of two. Enemy aircraft change direction.
Pursue enemy aircraft, manoeuvre Enemy aircraft increase and decrease
them into cross hairs and fire. in size.
When enemy aircraft are hit, they ex- Enemy aircraft bank steeply out of
plode and player scores a point. firing range. excerpt from the flyer:
Playing is extended when score Authentic sounds of jet aircraft in
Sophisticated insanity
reaches 20. steep dives and high speed chase.
You don’t have one yet, so you don’t know what
SPECIFICATIONS: Machine gun sounds as you fire and
CKIDZO (Skid-zo) does to people. This new mind-
Height: 59” sound of explosions as the enemy air-
bender from Meadows drives players into a paddle-
Width: 28” craft are hit and dive to the ground.
action frenzy like no other game. Because they just
Depth: 60” All sounds with separate volume con-
can’t quite get it under control, your customers keep
Weight: 195 lb. trols.
playing and playing and playing.
Power: 150W
Cabinet: Solid Plywood Super-serviceability
Construction CKIDZO’z no-nonsense
cabinet is an operator’s
dream. a hinged coin door
means fast access to the
coin acceptor and table
latch.
1976
198

Clay Buster
Manufacturer Model Racing
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Light-gun Cobra Gunship
Mode 2 Players
Manufacturer Meadows
Gameplay Alternating
Release 1976
Panel Layout Single Player
Class Wide Release
Monitor
Genre Shooter
Orientation: Horizontal
Mode 2 Players
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Gameplay Alternating
CRT: Black and White
Panel Layout Single Player
with a Color Overlay
Controls
Sound Amplified Mono
Joystick: 8-way with button
(one channel)
Monitor
Cabinet Styles Upright
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

excerpt from the flyer:

Heavy Action
Clay Buster is a shooting “Delta Leader to Delta Squadron. Delta Leader
game where the player uses a posi- to Delta Squadron. Approaching target area. Turn to
tional rifle to shoot on-screen clay two-seven-oh degrees. Decend to flight level one. Delta
pigeons. Leader out.”
“Delta Leader, this is Wing-Three. Surface target
excerpt from the flyer: at five-niner degrees...”
“Delta Squadron, this is Delta Leader. Decend
INSTRUCTION to five hundred feet. Looks like armored column heading
After pressing button the display north to Area Six. Approach and strafe.”
above the lake will “ready” and dis- “Delta Leader! Delta Leader! This is Wing-Two.
play the score the player achieves if Bogies at three o’ clock high!”
he hits both clays. Shots per sequence “Ascend to one-zero thousand feet, Wing-Two
are indicated below the word “fling”. and engage...”
The highest score is indicated on the
Colorful Graphics
left and is replaced by the score on the
Cobra Gunship is the latest, hottest air-combat video
right when a higher score is achieved
game. Every detail of the cabinet, graphics and video
by the player.
display bespeaks of unbelievable realism. And, it’s built
to take the kind of beating a game like this is going to
get.
Colorful explosion-display cabinet graphics attract play-
ers in any location. Realistic flight controls and instru-
ment panel beckon those who dream of flying air combat.
 1976
Cops ‘N Robbers 199
In Cops n’ Robbers, 1 to 4 players play of the cabinet. Several strips of colored transpar-
Manufacturer Atari
the parts of the police and criminals. The game ent material are affixed to the TV picture tube.
Release 1976
always has either 2 or 4 players, and if there is During game operation these strips filter the Class Wide Release
an odd number of players, the computer controls white light emitted from the TV tube so that cer- Genre Shooter
the remaining players. Half the players control tain portions of the TV picture will appear high- Mode 4 Players simultaneous
the cops, and the other half controls the robbers. lighted in color. Gameplay Competitive
The two sides are each on one side of the street Two identical coin mechanisms are Panel Layout Multiple Player
in their car, shooting each other. Each side can mounted below the gun control levers, at the Controls
move up and down their own lane. A beer truck center of the cabinet’s front side. The coin mech- Joystick: 8-way with button
moves up and down the center lane, which gets anisms accept quarters only and are connected Pedals: 1
in the way of the shooters. so that deposit of coins in either one can initiate Monitor
“mobygame.com” game plays. The Cops ‘N Robbers game has an Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
owner/operator option that allows selection at the
excerpt from the Service Manual: CRT: Black and White
game site of any of four choises for the cost per with a Color Overlay
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF GAME play sequence. The cash box is located behind a Sound Amplified Mono
locked access door to the coin mechanisms. Two (one channel)
Atari’s “Cops ‘N Robbers” is a car chase video
speakers are mounted inside the cabinet, one Cabinet Styles Upright
action game for 1, 2, 3 or 4 players. The game is
alongside each coin mechanism. During play the
packaged in its own distinctively-styled upright
speakers produce a variety of sounds that add to
cabinet a 23-inch black-and-white TV monitor
the game excitement.
is mounted with its picture tube facing a mirror.
The players stand in front, looking at the TV pic- SUMMARY OF GAME PLAY
ture reflected at them by the mirror. Four sets of In Cops ‘N Robbers the players drive cars along
player controls, one for each player, are provided parallel, double-lane roadways that appear on
on the front side of the cabinet. The leftmost set each side of the TV picture. The players see the
is for the leftmost car in the TV picture, and the cops, in either one or two cars, on the right. Each
rightmost set is for the rightmost car. Each set player controls one car and each car has a ma-
consists of a foot-operated gas pedal and a hand- chine gun barrel that protrudes from the side fac-
operated pistol grip and trigger. Two backlighted ing the opponents. The objective in the game is
start push buttons are also mounted on the front to build up score points by shooting bullets into
the opponent cars.
By pushing his or her gun control lever
back and forth, a player can cause the gun barrel
on that car to swing to any one of seven angular
positions, all of which point in the direction of
the opponents. By squeezing the trigger , located
near the top of the gun control lever, a player
causes bullets to be fired from the gun’s barrel.
By stepping all the way down of the gas pedal a
player causes that car to move upwards along the
roadway, from the bottom of the picture toward
the top. And by releasing the gas pedal a player
causes that car to drop back toward the bottom of
the picture.
Besides the car and bullet movement just
described, the player’s illusion of a car chase is
further enhanced by having the dotted-line center
divider strips along each roadway simultaneously
move from top toward bottom in the picture, and
by having one or more beer trucks independent-
ly move along the center of the picture, starting
from the bottom and going on off the top.
1976
200
A bullet hitting a car causes that car
to roll into a skid/screech motion followed
by a crash motion, and finally to disappear
off the bottom of the picture. One score
point is awarded for each hit made on an Crashing Race
opponent car. The accumulated cops score Manufacturer Taito
and robbers score are continuously dis- Release 1976
played near the top of the picture. The are Class Wide Release
no restrictions on the total number of bul- Genre Racing
let fired, but generally the previous bullet Mode 2 Players
must travel off the screen or hit an object Gameplay Competitive
before a new bullet can be fired. Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
After a car has been hit and disap-
Steering: Wheel
peared from the TV picture, by stepping Shifter: 2-position
on the gas pedal that player can cause the (forward, reverse)
car to reappear at some random position Monitor
along the roadway. The car then resumes Orientation: Horizontal
the game play. Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
A numerical display of remaining CRT: Black and White
game time appears near the bottom of the with a Color Overlay
picture throughout game play. The number Sound Amplified Mono
displayed is periodically decremented by (one channel)
one count. When the display reaches zero Cabinet Styles Upright
it means that all the game time has elapsed
and the play sequence then end. The Cops
‘N Robbers game feature an owner/op-
erator option that allows selection at the
game site of any one of four fixed game
times.
The following sounds are produced
by the speakers during play sequence. For
the cop cars the left speaker produces a
motor accelerating sound when a gas ped-
al is depressed all the way down. The right
speaker produces corresponding motor
sounds for the robber cars. Both speakers
simultaneously produce these other game
sounds: a gun-fire sound whenever a bul-
let is fired, a zing sound whenever a bullet
ricochets, and a screech and crash sound
whenever any car is hit by a bullet.

Crashing Race is a competitive car racing game

where each player must try to crash as many computer-con-
trolled cars as possible to score points. The player with the
most points wins.
 1976
Death Race 201

Manufacturer Exidy
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls Differ
Controls
Released in April, 1976, Death Race is a Adding to the game’s morbid theme was Steering: Wheel
modification of Exidy’s 1975 game Destruction its equally gruesome cabinet art, created by Pat Pedals: 1
Derby in which players crashed into cars to ac- “Sleepy” Peak. Among the images was a grim Monitor
crue points. In Death Race, the objective became reaper standing before two open graves beckon- Orientation: Horizontal
to run into “gremlins” to gain score. ing toward a pair of drivers. The sound effects Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
also added a chilling touch - when the player hit CRT: Black and White (25”)
In 1975, Exidy licensed its game De- Sound Amplified Mono (two channel)
struction Derby to arcade game company Chica- a gremlin, it emitted a tiny electronic scream and
one speaker for each player
go Coin to manufacture. However, the following was replaced by a cross. The gameplay bore a Cabinet Styles Upright
year Chicago Coin entered financial difficulties suspicious resemblance to the 1975 film Dea-
which would eventually lead to the dissolution thRace 2000, and most sources report that the
of the company, and as Exidy had sold exclusive game was directly inspired by the movie, though
manufacturing rights they could not longer profit sources at Exidy (including designer Howell
from Destruction Derby. Ivy) insist this wasn’t the case. Released in 1976,
Needing an interim product to introduce Death Race created a firestorm of controversy.
to distributors, they decided to modify the De- Paul Jacobs: “Death Race did cause
struction Derby game so that it would be saleable quite a stir, but not until an Associated Press re-
by their organization. Newly arrived engineer porter ran a story in Seattle. She had been in a
Howell Ivy from Ramtek made several modifica- shopping mall and noticed a line of kids extend-
tions to Destruction Derby in order to create this ing out the door of the arcade in the mall. She
new product. He added curbs to the left and right was curious and went to see what was happen-
of the screen that the enemies could hide behind, ing and found out they were all waiting in line
but players would be stalled if they attempted to to play Death Race. She watched them play and
cross over. On the top and bottom of the screen, then she concluded that this was a horrible game
players could wrap around to the opposite side in that showed humans being run over by cars and
a manner similar to Atari’s Space Race (1973). said the sound when hit resembled a “shrieking
The goal of the game was fairly simple, child”. Well, every paper in the country picked
if somewhat gruesome – rather than trying to de- up the story and that started the controversy. The
stroy each other’s cars, the players would score funny thing is that Death Race was just a “filler”
points by running over fleeing stick figures called game until our next attraction, Car Polo, was
“gremlins”. A score of 1-3 points earned the play- ready for production. It was a modification of
er the rank of Skeleton Chaser; 4-10 points Bone Destruction Derby using cars versus skeletons
Cracker; 11-20 Gremlin Hunter; and for more than rather than cars versus cars. It required very lit-
20 points, a player was dubbed Expert Driver. tle development time. We had only released 200
but after the notoriety, we end-
ed up making around 3000 (in-
cluding PCB sales overseas).
Articles about the game were
in all major newspapers, plus
Newsweek, Playboy, National
Enquirer, National Observer.
Midnight, the German maga-
zine Stern, and many more. Na-
1976
202
ally syndicated columnist Bob Greene devoted a fect and the shrieking sound.” run up points by running down figures of pedes-
column to the game. I was interviewed and fea- Jacobs said the game offended som distrib- trians.
tured on the NBC television news magazine show utors who refused to contract for it. The electronic driving game, “Death
“Weekend” with Lloyd Dobbins and then excerpts Bill Aubbon, director of the Seattle Cent- Race,” is described in the winter issue of the coun-
were shown the following week on the Today show er arcade, said the game has been in the arcade cil’s Family Safety magazine, released Thursday.
and the Tonight show. The interview was then for about two weeks,“and so far no one has com- Players operate a driving simulator,
featured in a PBS television documentary called plained.” equipped with steering wheel an accelerator,
“Decades” as an important news event for the When first contracted, Aubbon said he to chase pedestrian figure across an electronic
year 1977. I did live interviews for many U.S. wasn’t aware of the game, but “it sounds a little screen.
radio stations and also both CBC (Canada) and hard to imagine.” Checking further, he said he If a figure is hit, the machine issues a loud
BBC (England). It was a story that just wouldn’t was relieved to find out “those are gremlins that shriek and a cross-shaped grave marker pops up
die, and Exidy laughed all the way to the bank.” you run down. You’re not supposed to think they’re to score points.
people.” The driver is rated as a “Skeleton Chaser,”
The article by Wendy Walker: a “Bone Cracker,” a “Gremlin Hunter,” or for the
Intended or not, “I suppose they do re-
Most find it humorous top scorer, an “Expert Driver.” It costs 25 cents to
semble human forms,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think
New game: Chase Pedestrians play.
people really get off on thinking they ran down a
SEATTLE (AP) — The latest computerized “One of its most insidious and probably
pedestrian. I think they just like to see how good a
game at the local bar or poolroom is called “Death unrecognized characteristics is its shift from im-
marksman they are.”
Race.” For 25 cents, you can pretend you’re run- aginary visual images of destruction, as you have
Dr. Byrde Meeks, a Seattle psychologist
ning down pedestrians with a car. in TV violence, to actual behavioral actions taken
who once worked with aggressive inmates at Cali-
The game puts the player behind a steering by the player,” Fr. Gerald Driessen, behavorial
fornia’s San Quentin Prison, disagrees.
wheel and accelerator pedal and lets him chase scientist and manager of the council’s research de-
“A game like that appeals to the morbidity
“gremlins” across an electronic playing board for partment, said in the article.
in a person,” she said. “That type of preoccupa-
99 seconds. “The person is no longer just a spectator,
tion with violence was common in the prisoners
The skeletal figures bear strong resem- but now an actor in the process of creating vio-
I dealt with. They would have loved the game...
blances to people. When hit by a car, they emit a lence,” he said.
“Someone could argue that people act out their
shrieking sound — something like the scream of a Dennis Row, safety consultant for the Au-
hostilities by playing games, but it has been prov-
child — and turn into gravemarkers. tomobile Club of Southern California, said in ‘the
en time and time again that violence often comes
“If people get a kick out of running down article: “We’re trying to teach drivers how to
from modelling.”
pedestrians, you have to let them do it,” said Paul take evasive maneuvers on the road, like avoiding
Jacobs, director of marketing for Exidy, the Palo If Exidy thought things would blow over
after the AP story, they soon found otherwise as pedestrians. “And here this morbid game comes
Alto, Calif., company that designed and distrib- along and encourages people to develop the op-
utes the game. “This is the sort of challenge that more articles began to appear in the following
months. In response, Exidy further emphasized the posite skill — how to hit people.”
pricks the person’s mind a little bit.” Paul Jacobs, marketing director for Exi-
Jacobs said “Death Race” has been dis- fact that the game was a harmless diversion and
that they’d been careful to avoid depicting actual dy Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., manufactor of
tributed nationwide but that it’s a “trade secret” “Death Race,” said in a telephone interview that
how many there are. He did say the game “hap- pedestrians. “We have one of the best artists in the
business.” said GM Phil Brooks “If we wanted to the game “is humorous arcade piece requiring
pens to be out most popular game at the time. In dexterity.” “It is entirely harmless. There is no
fact, the business it attracts far outvalues any of have cars running over pedestrians we could have
done it to curl your hair.” As for the “scream” the blatant violence like in some TV shows,” he said.
the other games we’ve ever marketed.” “We feel no remorse in producing the game and
The game scores point for each figure run game emitted when you ran over a gremlin - that
was just a beep. “We could have had screeching have thousands distributed — and a backlog of or-
down, and when it’s over the player is rated on a ders — since it came out eight months ago. There
scale ranging from a futile “skeleton chaser” to of tires, moans, and screams for eight bucks extra.
But we wouldn’t build a game like that. We’re hu- is nothing on the screen that depicts a street or
na accomplished “expert driver.” highway.”
“The name ‘Death Race’ may shock a few man beings too.”
people,” Jacobs said, but; we find the game hu- An article from the 12/24/76 Times Picayune: The hysteria exhibited in some of the arti-
morous.” Council Runs Down ‘Hit the Pedestrian’ Game cles was almost comical. A Tucson Daily Citizen
He said it is an offshoot of an Exidy prod- CHICAGO (AP) — The National Safety article was titled “If You’ve Got Time to Kill…
uct called “Destruction Derby,” in which players Council says it is outraged by an electronic, coin- Game Goal: Road Carnage”. A photograph of
crashed cars into one another. “We decided to put operated game which gives players a chance to a young girl playing the game bore the caption
a twist on the idea, so we added the graveyard ef- run “Death race or death wish?” and asked if the game
 1976
203
was a harmless fad or “…will chasing down pe-
destrians on a TV screen now encourage her to cut
pedestrians down on real highways later?” The ar-
ticle quotes one arcade manager, who compares the
game to Gun Fight, a game whose violence he feels
is harmless: “…but that’s the tradition of the Great
American West, having a shootout, a duel, in the
street. But deliberately running people down - that
isn’t an American tradition at all.” Another operator
explained “When you leave a game room, you don’t
go out with a gun in your pocket and shoot your
neighbour down. But you do go back to your car
and start driving again.”
Over the years, a number of rumours about
the controversy caused by Death Race have ap-
peared, among them: that a bomb threat was called
into Exidy headquarters by someone upset with
the game and that the game was banned outright in
some countries resulting in some foreign operators
serving jail time.
Paul Jacobs: “I do not know of any country that
banned the game (all markets that we sold to around
the world accepted it), but I do believe that a Japa-
nese distributor was briefly jailed for selling it. But
I’m not so sure it was necessarily for selling the
game itself or that he did not follow proper import
procedures (pay appropriate import duties, etc.)”
As it often the case, the controversy over
the game only served to boost sales. As company
founder Pete Kaufmann puts it “nobody wanted to
buy it, but everybody kept ordering it”. Programmer
Ed Valleau recalls that after an initial run of about
1,000 units, Death Race had to be brought back into
production twice and another 1,000 units were pro-
duced. Production had just wound down when the
AP article hit and the ensuing brouhaha necessitated
another run. Paul Jacobs recalls that about 2,000 up-
rights were built plus an additional 1,000 PCBs for
sale overseas. While its sales were tame by Atari
or Midway’s standards, it did provide Exidy with
its first real hit yet as well as a steady source of in-
come. In 1975, total sales were about $250,000. In
1976, they increased to $3,000,000. In 1977, Exidy
produced a sequel to the game called Super Death
Chase, a modified version of the original designed
by Arlen Grainger that featured skeletons in place
of “gremlins”. The game was shown at the 1977
AMOA show, but apparently never made it into full
production and only a few units were built.
by: “allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.no”
1976
204 Deluxe Baseball
“Deluxe Baseball, a new, truly realistic game Manufacturer Ramtek
by Ramtek” Release 1976
Class Wide Release
excerpt from the flyer: Genre Sports
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
CHECK THESE EXCITING AND PROFIT-
Gameplay Competitive
ABLE FEATURES: Panel Layout Multiple Player
• Can be played by 1 or 2 Players. Player Controls Differ
• Infield and outfield action, double plays. Monitor
• Strikeouts and walks possible. Orientation: Horizontal
• Outfielders can be repositioned. Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
• Realistic runners and fielders. CRT: Black and White
• Pitches can be fast or slow or curved. Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
• All solid state for low maintenance and long life.
Cabinet Styles Upright
• Commercial 23” TV monitor insures reliability. Mini
• One year logic board warranty.
• Operator selectable features:
Length of play
25¢ or 50¢

Desert Fox is a WWII air Division’s tanksm trucks, weapons

versus land battle game that is set in carriers and personnel.
the desert. Players control a plane 2. Real machine gun action, com-
and fire with a machine gun at en- plete with tracers. Player-pilot sees
Desert Fox emy tanks, trucks, weapons, carri- and hears his target explode. Sound
Manufacturer Milwaukee Coin Industries ers and personnel on the ground. effects include: variable pitch
(MCI) As players fly the Allied plane engine in combat, rapid-fire
Release 1976 plane, they shoot at actual pho- machine gun, exploding tanks and
Class Wide Release tographs of German Africa Corp trucks.
Genre Shooter tanks, soldiers and equipment. If 3. Special bonus: Eight hits wins
Mode 2 Players players hit a picture it would regis- player 30 seconds additional flying
Gameplay Alternating ter a hit. It is a timed game. PLay- time.
Panel Layout Single Player ers have to accumulate a certain
Controls
amount of points to continue.
Joystick: 8-way with button [Fire]
“arcade-museum.com”
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution excerpt from the flyer:
CRT: Black and White Sales Features
Sound Amplified Mono 1. Exciting joystick response con-
(one channel) trols flight as player dives his plane
Cabinet Styles Upright at Rommel’s Afrika Korps. The re-
alistic World War II desert scenes
are authentic replicas of the Panzer
 1976
Flipper Ball 205
Flipper Ball is a colorful vid-
Manufacturer Cinematronics eo pinball game from Cinematron- excerpt from the flyer:
Release 1976
• Pregame display to attract attention
ics. The game has an on-screen hor- “A Long Drawing Game Designed
Class Wide Release when not in use.
izontally-controlled flipper which the with the Operator in Mind”
Genre Video Pinball • Full color play on 19” black and
player uses to knock out bumpers and
Mode 2 Players • 1 or 2 players. white monitor unit.
hit a moving target to score points.
Gameplay Alternating • Solid Tempered Plate Glass Table • Unique Sound - Real chimes plus
“arcade-museum.com”
Panel Layout Multiple Player Top. realistic pinball electronic sound ef-
Monitor • Hinged Top for quick cleaning and fects.
Orientation: Horizontal component removal. A serviceman’s • Adjustment. 25¢ play - 2 plays for
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution dream. 25¢ or 3 plays for 50¢. Free ball or
CRT: Black and White • Solid State Transistorized Integrated free game. 3 or 5 ball play.
with a Color Overlay
Computer unit. • 16 bumpers - 9 pockets plus mov-
Sound Amplified Mono
• 26” high • 33” diameter table top ing target. Bonus scoring for moving
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail • weight 150 lbs. target and knocking out all bumpers.
• Factory Warranty: 1 year on major • Horizontally controlled flipper. Ball
components. rebounds left, right and straight up.

Flyball is a baseball game white, with sideart of baseball play-

by Atari. Each player controls ei- ers in action. The marquee matched
ther the pitching team or the hit- the cabinets sideart almost exactly,
ting team. Both pitching and bat- and used the same color scheme.
ting are controlled via joystick. The game used an unadorned white
Flyball The pitching team has only one monitor bezel, which was rather
player on the field at a time (the unusual as most games either have
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1976 pitcher), while the hitting team black ones, or decorated ones. The
Genre Sports can have up to four, depending on control panel featured two small-
Mode 2 Players what bases they’re on. As in real ish analog joysticks, and a single
Monitor baseball, the goal is to hit the ball action button for each player. This
Orientation: Horizontal and run the bases, and the team game uses a 23’’ black and white
Controls with the highest score after the television as a monitor.
Controls: stick innings run out wins. The game
Buttons: 1 Dave Shepperd: “Neither Rich
lasts one or two innings, depend-
Cabinet Styles Upright (Rich Patak) nor I knew any-
ing on how the owner sets the
thing about baseball when we
machine up.
were assigned to do this game. I
“mobygames.com”
remember Rich and I looking at
Fly Ball came in an upright each other quizzically each won-
cabinet that was neon green and dering if what was going on on
1976
206

the screen was right and hoping the other All Star Lineup
would speak up if not. Ahhh.. the old days. Atari standard features include large 23” moni-
the screen was right and hoping the other would Take 2 and hit to the right! tor, bright side panel and attraction panel graphics,
speak up if not. Ahhh.. the old days. The blind Attention-getting attraction mode invites the play- locking cashbox, hinged cash door and Durast-
leading the blind.. er with an animated ballplayer running the bases. ress™ tested solid state reliable electronics.
There is a serious bug in this game. I didn’t real- Flashing instructions on the 23” monitor explain Relief in the 9th
ize this was not the rule in baseball at the time, the game. Instapart™ 24-hour parts turn-around is available
but in this game all base runners will advance The game starts with flashing signs pointing to the to keep your profits scoring home runs, time after
on a walk even if there are empty bases between pitcher and batter, each player set to control his time.
them. I heard second hand from marketing a man, the crowd cheers and the first ball is pitched.
number of years after production of this game Continuous joystick control moves the pitcher’s
ended that some location (most likely a bar) was arm realistically. The batter swings. It’s a hit! The
extensively damaged as a result of a fight break- ball goes into the playfield... the crowd screams
ing out over this game. I never got additional de- louder... the batter runs the bases. The pitcher di-
tails, but it’s fun to speculate that there was some rects his man to run up, down, left or right, chas-
wagering involved and, due to this bug, a runner ing the ball. When he catches it, he has to tag the
at third was incorrectly walked home..” base runner before he reaches the base to put him
“arcade-history.com” out (allowing 3 or 4 seconds of action play). If he
misses the ball, it’s a round-tripper and the words Dimensions
“Home Run” flash on the screen! Height: 63.62” or 261.6cm
excerpt from the flyer: Players are not required to switch positions when Width: 25.25” or 64.1cm
Batter Up! teams change sides after 3 outs. Flashing signs tell Depth: 29.37” or 74.6cm
Designed for top 2-player attraction in any location. each player who is pitching and who is batting.
Flyball’s animation and game play are so realistic Innings and scoring appear on the monitor.
it’s like playing the real thing. Flyball can be played and enjoyed by all ages, all
skill levels.
Repeat play increases the action
and player abillity - faster pitch-
es, in-flight curve for harder hits,
and hit placement to any field.
Players can use real-life tactics
for bunts, stolen bases, faking
the runner off base... You name
it!!
You flash the signs...
and manage the profits. Flyball is
operator adjustable for 1 or 2 in-
ning game time. And for 25¢ per
game, or 50¢ per game.
New service features include a
built-in diagnostic system for field
adjustment of settings from front
of cabinet without the need for ex-
ternal equipment. Static electricity
is also greatly diminished through
more advanced engineering tech-
niques.
 1976
207

Fonz: The Game is a 1976 arcade racing

game developed by Sega and published by Sega-
Gremlin. The game was based on the hit TV
show Happy Days and the slogan was “TV’s hot- Fonz
test name, Your hottest game.” The game itself Manufacturer Sega/Gremlin
was simply a rebranded variant of Sega’s earlier Release 1976
1976 game Moto-Cross, also known as Man T.T. Class Wide Release
(released August 1976), in a customized arcade Genre Racing
cabinet. In turn, Moto-Cross and Man T.T. were Mode 1 Player
motorbike variants of Road Race, a car driving Gameplay Single
game released in February 1976. Sega was al- Panel Layout Single Player
lowed to rebrand their game as Fonz because Controls
its American branch at the time was owned by Motorcycle Controls: Throttle, Brake
Sound Amplified Mono
Charles Bluhdorn’s Gulf+Western Company and
(one channel)
thus had access to Paramount Television’s intel-
Cabinet Styles Upright
lectual property.
The general premise was the player
controlled the Fonz on a motorcycle with han-
dlebars on the cabinet. The player has to go as excerpt from the flyer:
fast as possible without skidding off the road or
colliding with other racing bikes on the screen. TV’S HOTTEST NAME.
Turn the handlebars, and the bike would corner YOUR HOTTEST GAME.
and bank. Twist the handle throttle open, and TV has made FONZ one of the best know
it would accelerate. When a collision with an- names in America today. Now SEGA has made it
other bike occurs, the handlebars vibrate and the possible for those 42 million FONZ fans to spend a
screen flashes a reverse image. To increase the quarter and literally become their motorcycle hero
challenge, the size of the bike can be regulated in an action-packed race.
by the operator. Ride with FONZ and you’ll know why the
Game time is adjustable from 45 to 100 game will be your hottest attraction. Because the What about reliability? You’ll rarely have
seconds. player experiences all the sensations and competi- to futz with FONZ. It’s made in America by SEGA,
tion. Even the sounds are authentic. the people who design games that can take it as
The object is to maintain as high a speed well as dish it out.
as possible without hitting the other racing bikes Ask your SEGA Distributors about FONZ.
on the screen or skidding off the edge of the road. You’ll love the answers.
Turn the handlebars, and you corner and bank with • Realistic imagery. Both road and bikes are seen
startling realism. Twist the hand throttle open, and in true perspective so that objects nearest the bot-
you accelerate along with the rising scream of your tom of the screen (closest to player) are larger than
high compression engine. Collide with another those on the horizon or top of the screen.
bike — the handlebars vibrate and the TV screen • Handlebars function
flashes a reverse image. identically to those of a
Scoring with FONZ is beautifully simple: real motorcycle.
10 points per second at the slowest speed; 10 points • Full range speak-
every half-second at top speed. A crack-up costs 3 ers produces all racing
seconds of no-score. If the total score goes above sounds with realistic
1000 kilometres, the extended play lamp goes on impact.
— and so does the player. • SEGA-built solid state
To increase the challenge, the size of the electronics assure max-
bikers can be regulated by the operator. Game time imum reliability and
is adjustable from 45 to 100 seconds. ease of servicing.
1976
208

Heavy Traffic is a vertical

motorcycle racing game from Dig-
Heavy Traffic ital Games.
Manufacturer Digital Games Incorporated
Release 1976 excerpt from the flyer:
Genre Racing 1 or 2 PLAYER-
Mode 1 Player REALISTIC Sound-
Gameplay Single
Authentic Motorcycle Control
Panel Layout Single Player
Monitor New Features Include
Orientation: Vertical • Pro/AM Switch
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution • Lighted Credit Switch
CRT: Black and White • .25/.50 Cent Play
Sound Amplified Mono • $500.00 Locking Coin Vault
(one channel) • One Piece Logic Board
Cabinet Styles Upright • Full Factory Warranty
• 23” Solid State Monitor
• One year warranty on logic board
and monitor

Heavyweight Champ is the first in a series of boxing

games released by Sega. The 1976 game featured black-and-
white graphics and critics have since identified it as the first
Heavyweight Champ video game to feature hand-to-hand fighting. It feature unique
controls that simulate throwing actual punches.
Manufacturer Sega It featured gameplay viewed from a side-view perspec-
Release 1976 tive. It employed two boxing glove controllers, one for each
Genre Sports player, which moved up and down for high and low punches,
Mode 2 Player simultaneous with an inward movement for striking. It used large mono-
Gameplay Competitive
chrome sprite visuals for the graphics.
Panel Layout Multiple Player

Monitor Sega would later reuse the Heavyweight Champ name

Orientation: Horizontal for both the 8-bit versions of James Buster Douglas Knockout
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Boxing released outside of North America.
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
 1976
209
Hit Me
Manufacturer Ramtek
Hit Me is a one- to four-player card Release 1976
game where each player is matched against the Class Wide Release
dealer. Genre Card
Initially, each player is given a number Mode 4 Players Simultaneous
of chips ranging from 5 to 40 and allocated a Gameplay Competitive
number of hands also ranging from 5 to 40. The Panel Layout Multiple Player
card game played is 21 in which the object is to Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
come as close to a total point count of 21 with-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
out exceeding it. CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
Cocktail

excerpt from the Operator’s Manual: sound and a display on the upper right hand TV
INTRODUCTION screen as follows:
Hit Me is another Ramtek Amusement Device CHIPS HANDS
which is engineered to provide the highest degree #1
of reliability using the most advanced techniques The second coin dropped would add #2 under-
available. All solid state circuitry insures years of neath the #1 message. If four coins are dropped, the excerpt from an article:
dependable service. game automatically begins. If less than 4 coins are Cocktails for Four
Hit Me is a one to four player game in dropped, the start button must be pushed to start a Ramtek Corp. is unveiling a unique new
which each player is matched against a dealer. Ini- game. Once the game has started, the number of cocktail table design for its blackjack video game,
tially each player is given a number of chips rang- chips and hands available for each player appears. Hit Me. In Hit Me, one to four players can compete
ing from 5-40. The card game played is 21 in which For instance, in the four player case the display with each other or against the house. A game con-
the object is to come as close to a total point count would be: sists of a maximum of five hands or until the play-
of 21 without exceeding it CHIPS HANDS ers lose their assigned 40 chips.
GAME OPERATION #1 40 5 The new four-player cocktail table is up-
Initially each player drops a coin into the coin drop #2 40 5 right in design so that nothing -- drinks, napkins,
slot. For each coin dropped a player is entitled to #3 40 5 etc. -- can obscure the screen. And the unit, as op-
a number of chips and hands ranging from 5 to 40 #4 40 5 posed to the conventional cocktail table, can be
in steps of 5 depending of the settings of switches During the course of the game, the cards are not re- placed against the wall.
located on the game processor board. The games shuffeled untill all 52 cards have been played. The table top is 30” from the floor. Like the
are set at the factory initiating with 40 chips and full-scale version of the game, the cocktail table Hit
5 hands. The first coin dropped results in a coin Me is equipped with a microprocessor.
210 Indy 4
Large 25” colored mon- cuit components.
Manufacturer Atari itor, attention-getting, TV circuit mal-
Release 1976 protective smoked-plex function can be solved
Class Wide Release canopy and 4 different using standard televi-
Genre Racing colored cars add up to sion troubleshooting
Mode 4 Players simultaneous high visibility, attraction, techniques. However,
Gameplay Competitive and excitement. the PCB computer requires
Panel Layout Multiple Player
A special design feature troubleshooting techniques that
Controls
Steering: Wheel
includes molded-in pockets in the may be unfamiliar to the aver-
Buttons: 1 [Horn] control panel to hold glasses. Keep age technician.
Pedals: 2 spills away from scratch-resistant Before turning this machine on,
Monitor plex video screen cover. inspect it carefully for any dam-
Orientation: Horizontal Compact Size. Indy 4 is designed age which may have occurred
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution to fit into more versatile locations. during shipment. Inspect both
CRT: Color You can put Indy 4 against the wall, interior and exterior or the ma-
Sound Amplified Mono or turn smaller areas of unused is- chine for any obvious damage
(two channel) land floor footage into space earns.
Cabinet Styles Upright
to the cabinet or internal com-
All metal food pedals. Rugged ponents. Check for cracked or
accelerator and brake pedals last disconnected wires, or foreign
longer, won’t lose contact. objects shorting electrical con-
Locking cashboxes for nections.
Indy 4 is a 4 player arcade game by Atari, tight security in busy locations,
originally released in 1976. It was preceded by dual coin mechs and hinged cash
its larger 8 player counterpart, Indy 800, in 1975. doors complete Indy 4’s standard features.
Gameplay is a simulation of an Indiana- Player-attracting sound effects.
polis 500 style of race, in which players compete As always, Indy 4 primes the excitement with
by racing each other with simulated IndyCar 4 realistic sound circuits — the deep roar of
race cars. The player cars’ colors are light blue, accelerating engines and screeching tires are
green, red, and dark blue. irresistible.
The game is housed in a large custom Built to drive the distance.
square cabinet with two steering wheels and four Durastress™ tested, burned in circuity, and
pedals on each side. The monitor sits in the top of reliable solid state electronics keep Indy 4 al-
the cabinet. The game uses a 25-inch full-color ways in the race, you profits non-stop.
RGB display and does not use color overlays. Steel-frame construction makes Indy
The cabinet also features overhead mir- 4 a durable competitor.
rors to allow spectators to watch the game while Removable side panels for
it’s being played. easy access to components and exclu-
This game has a truly massive game sive Instapart™ parts backup keeps pit
board. It is a card rack system containing a board service fast and easy.
for each of the four cars, sync, coin control and Special option. Indy 4 can be ordered
score boards. with an optional Rowe dollar bill ac-
ceptor. Easier collections for you, more
excerpt from the flyer: convenience for drivers.
Now it’s a four car race with Indy 4. Up to four excerpt from the Operation manual:
drivers in four different colored cars can compete
on a fast new track. Indy 4 is part of the same suc- INTRODUCTION
cessful racing team as Indy 800. It’s smaller, more The Atari Indy 4 game consists of a
compact and just as fast when it comes to high earn- cabinet, TV monitor, printed circuit
ings. Atari makes you a profit winner in every race. boards (PCBs), interconnecting wir-
ing, and various cabinet-mounted cir-
 1976
Interceptor 211
Manufacturer Taito
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Simulator
Mode 2 Players
excerpt from the flyer: Gameplay Alternating
Features: Panel Layout Single Player
The Memory Circuitry allows a variety in the movement of Controls
the enemy aircraft as the game progresses. Joystick: 8-way stick with trigger
Enemy aircraft change direction. Hardware Taito Discrete Logic
Enemy aircraft increase and decrease in size. Monitor
Enemy aircraft bank steeply out of firing range. Orientation: Horizontal
Interceptor was made by Tomohiro Authentic sounds of jet aircraft in steep dives and high speed Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Nishikado, creator of the arcade games chase. Machine gun sounds as you fire and sound of explo- CRT: Black and White
Western Gun and Space Invaders. It was with a Color Overlay
sions as the enemy aircraft are hit. All sounds with separate
released in Japan in 1975 and abroad in Sound Amplified Mono
volume controls.
1976. (one channel)
HOW TO PLAY Cabinet Styles Upright
It is an early Combat flight simu-
• Insert coin, enemy aircraft will appear in formations of two.
lator that involved piloting a jet fighter,
• Purse enemy aircraft, manoeuvre them into cross hairs and
using an eight-way joystick to aim with
fire.
a crosshair and shoot at enemy aircraft
• When enemy aircraft are hit, they explode and player scores
that move in formations of two, can
a point.
scale in size depending on their distance
• Playing is extended when score reaches 20, 44, 60 and 80
to the player, and can move out of the
points. The game is over in 90 seconds if the score does not
player’s firing range.
reach 20 points.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Height: 164.5cm (65”)
Width: 63cm (25”)
Depth: 80cm (32”)
Weight: 85kg (188lbs)
Power: 150W
Cabinet: Laminated Melamine Board
1976
212 King / Kong
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc.
Release 1976
Genre Platform
Mode 2 Players
In King players their biplane around the Empire
Gameplay Alternating
State Building and shoot at King Kong (with Fay Wray
Panel Layout Single Player
Controls in his clutches). They must avoid being swatted out of
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) the sky by the giant ape.
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) The game is also known as Kong. The Kong
with button [Fire] release are said to be a prototype.
Monitor
The game is based on the 1933 movie King
Orientation: Horizontal

Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Kong. It was released to coincide with the 1970’s re-
CRT: Black and White make of the classic film.
Sound Amplified Mono
(two channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

“A STAR IS BORN.
AGAIN.”
excerpt from the flyer:
What’s big an hairy and doesn’t cost $22 million?
(Hint: It’s not King Kong.) It’s KING: the newest star
of Fun Games’ video line-up, and the flashiest, most
profit-capable video game to come on the market in
years. The ape is a mechanical marvel: King and his
date are fully animated on a big 23” screen, and even
when he’s not in actual play — fighting the bi-planes
shooting at his head and chest — the star is still on the
move, with realistic gestures and growls. And players
will be constantly challenged: degree of difficulty in-
creases as King “reads” the play’s degree of skill.
KING. A great Christmas present for your operation,
at a great price. Call your distributor today, and get
the king of video games working for you through the
holiday season, and all year.
 1976
213
Knights In Armor
Manufacturer Project Support Engineering
Knights in Armor is a fighting game where two knights Release 1976
challenge each other in a jousting contest. Players choose either Class Wide Release
The Black Knight or The White Knight and battle each other in a Genre Fighting
series of eight, ten or twelve jousts. Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
excerpt from the flyer: Panel Layout Multiple Player
• Laminated all Plywood Cabinet Monitor
• Screen displays “STUCK COIN” if coin gets stuck Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
• Double size characters
CRT: Black and White
• Digital scoring Sound Amplified Mono
• Operator adjustable length of game — 8, 10 or 12 jousts (one channel)
• Dimensions: length, 4’ — depth, 2’ — width, 25 3/8” Cabinet Styles Upright
• Audio effects — Clopping of horses, smashing of steel
• Visual effects — Horses & Knights
galloping towards each otherm
Knights getting skewerd and carried
off screen on end of lance, Knights
getting dragged off screen by horse.
• Comes with 6 sets of instructions
which mount inder bezel

Players must move through the maze

and destroy all enemy tanks. If the players Lazer Command
tank are destroyed, they must move a lit-
Manufacturer Meadows Games
tle flashing spot through the maze to another Release 1976
of their tanks. This may prove very frustrat- Class Wide Release
ing as players can only see the flashing spot Genre Labyrinth/Maze
when it is against a wall. This may have been Mode 2 Players simultaneous
on the original board or a bad ROM version. Gameplay Competitive
To switch tanks on purpose (before the cur- Panel Layout Multiple Player
rent one is destroyed), players must hold the Controls
“Change tank” button then move their joy- Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right)
stick. Then they can release the button and go Buttons: 2 [FireChange Tanks]
to another tank. Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
The right and left sides of the cabinet Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
have a squared-off rectangular shape. They are CRT: Black and White
solid yellow and contain a round decal. The with a Color Overlay
front is yellow with no marquee and just a little Sound Amplified Mono
art right around the border of the monitor. (one channel)
“arcade-museum.com” Cabinet Styles Upright
Mini
1976
215

excerpt from the maual: excerpt from the flyer: The location tested throttle joystick controls are
all new, Meadows designed for long life, and are
INTRODUCTION STANDARD FEATURES — OPTIONS
virtually break-proof. The T.V. monitor is shock
LAZER COMMAND, a game of skill and strat- A 23” monitor, locking cash box, and dual coin
mounted using rubber grommets to safeguard
egy, is a game that depicts a futuristic battle mechanism to prevent down time are all stand-
against rough handling. The cabinet design in-
between two groups of nuclear powered later ard. The settings for operator adjustable time and
corporates a plywood front door for strength
tanks. The object of the game is to blow up all coinage are easily set through the use of a unique
and it swings away to expose the T.V. monitor,
15 enemy tanks while trying to evade being hit switch located on the P.C.B. Another features is
coin box, coin mechs and P.C.B.’s for simple one
by opponent’s shooting lazers. The two oppos- the player option of choosing a more difficult
sport access. The back door opens up to expose
ing tanks are separated by either a simple “NOV- field to manoeuvre through and keep player in-
the unique flashing explosion lights which are
ICE” maze or a complex “EXPERT” maze. Only terest alive.
easily changed, if required. A plywood cabinet
one of each player’s tank can move or shoot its STURDY CONSTRUCTION — EASY ACCESS base adds to the sturdy construction and long life
lazer at a time, and this tank must be oc-
cupied by its respective driver. “For stra- of this great new game from Meadows.
tegic purposes” the driver can be moved LIGHTS — COLOR — ACTION
at anytime from tank to tank. Color monitor overlay, explosive lights
DRIVERS EJECT BUTTON: Mo- and fluorescent battlefield reflect off
mentarily pressing EJECT BUTTON a bright mirror backglass to create the
while actuating the control handle ejects feeling of “being there”. With the lazer
the driver out of his tank. NOTE: It is not fuel pack loaded the players manoeuvre
necessary to keep the EJECT BUTTON through a preselected maze to eliminate
constantly depressed - only long enough the enemy. Players can use strategy and
to get driver out of tank he is presently move “fuel pack” to another tank to fight
in. To enter another tank, after ejecting off an approaching enemy and protect
of after being blown up, a driver simply his lines. Knocking out your opponents
moves into another of his own tanks by tanks “notches” the score and, with play-
moving the control handle. The driver ers trying to out-duel each other, the ac-
from one side will not operate tanks of tion gets frenzied as time races by.
the opposing player. FUTURISTIC SOUNDS —
DISPLAY MONITOR: The upper left EXCITING GRAPHICS
hand corner shows the time remaining during or The “never before heard” sound effects attract
at the end of game, and the upper middle sec- attention to the game when not in play, and add
tion indicates coin credits. The lower left and to the intense action during manoeuvring for po-
right corners depict the number of enemy tanks sition. The multi-colored graphics have a hyp-
“blown up” by the respective left and right play- notic effect in attracting players to the game, and
er. The central area of the display shows the maze are eye appealing to any location.
battlefield. The game ends when either all tanks FORGET ADJUSTMENTS
of one player are blown up or if the time clock The monitor adjustments are set at the factory
has run out. When the game has ended the word and should require no further turning — no con-
WINNER will be displayed on the side having trol adjustment — no meters — no tools — just
blown up the largest number of enemy tanks. In plug it in and it’s ready ot play — no time con-
the case of a tie, the word DRAW will appear in suming adjustments are necessary because we at
the center of the screen. Meadows are always thinking of you, the opera-
tors.
 1976
LeMans 215

Manufacturer Atari
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
LeMans, a single-player race game, is the 10 different tracks. Players race against the clock Mode 1 Player
successor to the Gran Trak 10 and Gran Track 20 on each track as it appears in sequence. After the Gameplay Single
video games. car passes the finish line of one track, a new one Panel Layout Single Player
LeMans is a single-player racing video appears automatically, more difficult than the Controls
game in which the player drives along a race one before. The first track is a snap. The second, Steering: Wheel
track shown in top-down view. The player con- a little more difficult. The third... Shifter: 4-position (1/2/3/4)
trols the car using a steering wheel, accelerator The more skilled the driver, the more Pedals: 2
Monitor
and brake peddles and a four-position gear stick. tracks will be completed within the game’s time
Orientation: Horizontal
The objective is to drive against a time limit limit. And oil slicks don’t make it any easier. 10
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
around a series of race tracks, while avoiding oil points are scored for each completed track. CRT: Black and White
slicks and the walls. There are six tracks based Four mystery tracks Sound Amplified Mono
on real world race tracks (Le Mans, Nürburgring, If a player finishes the first 6 tracks (shown (one channel)
Sebring, Laguna Seca, Silverstone and Daytona) graphically on the attraction panel), two of four Cabinet Styles Upright
and four “mystery tracks”, two of which will be possible mystery courses will appear randomly
chosen at random if the player manages to com- to add further excitement and challenge. (We
plete the first six tracks within the time limit. may give away the world if a player can drive all
The game PCB is interchangeable with 8 within the time limit).
Atari’s Gran Trak 10 game. The only difference Extended Play — special profit bonus
between the two is the gear stick. Gran Trak 10 Extended play can be awarded after scores of 46,
has a 3-speed with reverse while LeMans has a 50, 56, 60, 66, 70, and 76, which are pre-selecta-
4-speed. ble by the operator.
An “Extended Play” sign lights up on the
excerpt from the flyer: attraction panel when operator-selected score is
The green flag is up. Again! achieved. Start button flashes and video playfield
New Le Mans™ continues the winning racing inverts — figures change from white on black to
and profit tradition of Team Atari. Like its fa- black on white.
mouse forebears, Grank Trak™, Indy 8™, and Extended play begins with track 5 —
Indy 4™ (the most profitable video games in the makes the extra chance more challenging, more
industry), Le Mans offers an all-new racing ex- of an incentive for repeat play.
perience. High performance goodies.
Ten tracks instead of one! A 10” steering wheel, smooth-as-silk, 4 speed H-
Le Mans challenges player speed and skill with shift, durable all-metal brake and gas pedals add
to the sensational realism.
Dimensions.
Height: 66”, 16.764 cm; Width: 25.25”,
64.135cm; Depth: 33”, 83.82 cm.
1976
216

Meadows 4 In 1
Manufacturer Meadows
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Team
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Joystick: Analog
Buttons: 1 [Speed Control]
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail

Meadows 4 In 1 is a combination game that in-

cludes four games designed for one to four players;
“Flim-Flam Tennis,” “Flim-Flam Hockey,” “Knock-
out,” and “Knockout Doubles.”

excerpt from the flyer:

It’s the Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice game. Four times as many
games results in four times as many dollars for the operators and
fun for the players which all means this cousin of Flim Flam will
sell 60.000. Play tennis, hockey, singles knockout and double
knockout. Of course, if Bob wants to play by himself he can.
 1976
217

Moto-Cross, the original release from excerpt from the flyer:

what was rebranded Fonz: The Game is a motor- WIN THE RACE
bike variants of Road Race, a car driving game FOR PROFITS.
released in February 1976.
Ride MOTO-CROSS and you’ll know why this
Moto-Cross is an early black-and-white
game will be your hottest attraction. Because the Moto-Cross
motorbike racing game, most notable for intro-
player experiences all of the sensations and risks Manufacturer Sega
ducing an early three-dimensional third-person
of riding a real motorcycle in real competition. Release 1976
perspective. The game display a constantly
Even the sounds are authentic. Class Wide Release
changing forward-scrolling road and the player’s
The object is to maintain as high a speed Genre Racing
bike is in a third-person perspective where ob- Mode 1 Player
as possible without hitting the other racing mo-
jects nearer to the player are larger than those Gameplay Single
torcycles on the screen or skidding off the edge
nearer to the horizon, and the aim is to steer the Panel Layout Single Player
of the road. Turn the handlebars, and you corner
vehicle across the road, racing against the clock, Sound Amplified Mono
and bank with startling realism. Twist the hand
while avoiding any on-coming motorcycles or (one channel)
throttle open, and you accelerate with the rising
driving off the road. The game also introduced Cabinet Styles Upright
scream of your high compression engine. Col-
the use of haptic feedback, which caused the mo-
lide with another racer — the handlebars vibrate
torcycle handlebars to vibrate during a collision
and the TV screen flashes a reverse image.
with another vehicle. • Realistic imagery. Both road and bikes are seen
Scoring with MOTO-CROSS is beauti-
fully simple: 10 points per second at the slowest in true perspective so that objects nearest the
speed; 10 points every half-second at top speed. bottom of the screen (closest to the player) are
A crack-up costs three seconds of no-score. If larger than those on the horizon or top of screen.
the total score goes above 1000 kilometres, the • Handlebars function identically to those of a
extended play lamp goes on — and so does the real motorcycle.
player. • Full range speaker produces all racing sounds
To increase the challenge the size off the with realistic impact.
bikes can be regulated by the operator. Game • Play time is adjustable from 45 to 100 seconds.
time is adjustable from 45 to 100 seconds. • SEGA-built solid state electronics assure maxi-
What about reliability? Excellent. MO- mum reliability and ease of servicing.
TO-CROSS is a solid state game, so there’s little • Ruggedly constructed cabinet is styled for cus-
to go wrong. tomer appeal and high trade-in.
218 Night Driver
Manufacturer Atari
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating Night Driver, developed by Atari, was the programmers to draw the environment with
Panel Layout Single Player inspired by the earlier German coin-op Nürbur- limited graphics at the time, as most things
Controls gring 1. Along with Micronetics’ Night Racer (street, buildings, ...) didn’t need to be drawn be-
Steering: Wheel and Midway’s 280 ZZZAP, Night Driver is one cause they were supposedly completely dark.
Shifter: 4-position (1/2/3/4) of the earliest first-person racing video games, There were two versions of the cabinet
Pedals: 1 and is commonly believed to be one of the first manufactured, an upright and a cockpit. The up-
Game Specific: Night Driver Pinout published games to display real-time first-person right version had a blacklight installed inside the
Monitor graphics. cabinet which illuminated the bezel.
Orientation: Horizontal The player controls a car which must be
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution After the success of the arcade, Rob Fu-
driven along a road at nighttime without crash-
CRT: Black and White lop ported the game to the Atari
with a Color Overlay (a sticker of a car ing into the sides of the road as
2600. It uses the paddles to
placed at the bottom center of the indicated by road side reflec-
control the vehicle. The player
overlay) tors. The game is controlled
pushes the fire button to accel-
Sound Amplified Mono with a single pedal for gas, a
erate the car forward, and uses
(one channel) wheel for steering and a four-
the paddle to steer the vehicle;
Cabinet Styles Upright selection lever for gear shifting.
it is not possible to shift gears
Cockpit The coin-operated game had a
in this version. This version in-
choice of three difficulties, nov-
cludes features not present in
ice, pro, and expert, from which
the coin-operated version, such
the player could choose at game start. The turns as additional vehicles the player must avoid as
were sharper and more frequent on the more dif- well as showing houses and trees along the sides
ficult tracks. As play progresses, the road gets of the road.
narrower and more winding.
The game length could be set by the excerpt from the flyer:
owner to 50, 75, 100, or 125 seconds. After 300
points, a player is awarded bonus time equal to Another Atari First! Racing action at night.
Now from Atari stable of high profit-scoring rac-
game time, but the score wraps
ing machines comes the first game to offer play-
around back to zero at 1000
ers the excitement of night racing.
points, so it is possible to reach
New Night Driver places the driver in the
300 points more than once. Due
cockpit of his own Sebring type racer.
to the additional points received
The monitor displays a twisting, curv-
for more difficult play, playing
ing, road ahead. The harder the acceleration, the
on the expert setting is ac-
faster the track comes at player.
tually the easiest to achieve
Screeching tires around curves, crashes
extra time once a player
against road barriers, the whine of changing
has mastered the game.
gears add to the fantastic realism.
Due to the limita-
Three different tracks.
tions of arcade technol-
Players can select “Novice,” or “Expert” tracks
ogy at the time, the car
based on degree of skill needed — keeps players
the player is driving is not
coming back to try again and again.
actually drawn on-screen.
Scoring.
Instead, the car is a printed
Players can compete with themselves or other
plastic insert that is laid
players for highest top speed and number of
under the screen. Also, the
points (based on “distance” traveled.)
fact that the car is driving
New Operator options.
at night made it easier for
Extended play bonus. Extended play can be
 1976
219

awarded when driver scores 350 points. (Opera- option switch position on the computer board.
tor sets difficulty.) Dimensions
Game time. Can be adjusted to 50, 75, 100 or (Upright)
125 seconds. Height: 72”, 182.88 cm; Width: 25.25”, 64.14
New Tracks! To keep Night Driver always a cm; Depth: 29”, 73.66 cm.
fresh challenge, a switch is provided inside that Dimensions
lets you change to a different set of 3 courses. (Cockpit)
New “Blacklight” graphics. Height: 55”, 139 cm; Width: 30”, 76 cm; Depth:
The ultimate in realistic nighttime simulation. A 67”, 170 cm; Weight: 282 lbs, 128 kg.
unique ultraviolet light illuminates car on screen • Drivers can select “Novice”, “Pro” or “Expert”
and instructions on the monitor bezel. tracks.
Less time in the Pits. • Players compete for highest top speed and
Endurance comes standard. Exclusive Durast- points based on “distance” travelled.
ress™ tested solid state reliability, rugged con- • “Best” top speed and score previously achieved
struction, and all metal foot pedal means your is displayed when track selection switch is acti-
crew can sit back and watch the earnings grow vated.
whit each mile without hassles. • Built-in self-test program.
And Instapart™ 24-hour parts turna- • Operator adjustable game time to 50, 75, 100,
round delivers spares anywhere, anytime. or 125 seconds.
Exclusive self-test program is built in. The pro- • Optional Extended Play for 350 points (opera-
gram allows testing of all switches including gas tor sets difficulty).
pedal and gear shift. Check all microprocessor • Inside switch lets operator select a different set
and memory functions. It also reads out game of 3 tracks.

excerpt from the flyer:

“‘I’d like to introduce out new fall line”
“We can’t show it all completely yet. But it’s here. More innovation
than you’ve ever seen. Games that literally defy imagination. Giant
realism. More player challenge. Spectacular excitement expressed in
the biggest mind-boggling array of sports, driving and action themes
we’ve ever offered. Themes translated into the most advanced video
and non-video games in the world.
“Games like new Night Driver,™ Sebring-type night racing against the
clock. And Sprint 2,™ the game that’s 12 games in one. One or two
players can choose from 12 different race course layouts. And the fan-
tastic new F-1,™ a one player larger-than-life attraction. Players drive
in a full-size cockpit in front of a giant projected race course, complete
with moving track and cars.
“Along with irresistible built-in player appeal, we’ve also built in more
operator options, self-diagnostic features and unique microprocessor
technology for long lasting, higher earnings.
“You can sample the future soon. All the magic and excitement begins
at MOA and IAAPA.”
1976
220
Nurburgring-Powerslide, a driving simu- what scoring was used on that game, only that
lator from Germany, was created by German en- there were a few little white squares showing.
Nuerburgring 1 gineer, Dr-Ing. Reiner Foerst. With that germ of an idea, out popped Night
Dr. Foerst had no interest in games, as Driver.”
Manufacturer Dr. Foerst Gmbh Germany such. His interest was in simulators (and that’s Atari was much better about making the
Release 1976 exactly what his company makes today). As he game cheap to produce (using one board instead
Class Wide Release himself said: of almost 30 boards) so they, along with some
Genre Racing “My invention of a driving simulator was not other copycats, dominated the segment instead
Mode 1 Player
initiated by any interest in games, but rather an of Nurburgring-Powerslide.
Panel Layout Single Player
interest in Simulation theory and engineering.” Dr. Foerst, denied massive arcade suc-
Cabinet Styles Upright
However, to raise money, he planned on mak- cesses because of the rampant copycats, remained
ing an arcade version of his simulator first. He undaunted, producing several other versions of
checked out BP’s and Volkswagen’s elaborate the Nürburgring game series. Number two was
early driving simulators, which were projection- motorcycle inspired (handlebars replaced steer
based for BP, and a oscilloscope-based one for ing wheel), three was full color with selecta-
Volkswagen. Both were wildly complex and ex- ble backgrounds. Nürburgring Power-Slide and
pensive. Foerst realized there was no way these Nürbergring Turn-Table were moving cabinets,
technologies would scale down enough to make with Power-Slide banking the driver’s seat an-
a viable game. gle and Turn-Table rotating the entire cabinet to
After some abortive attempts with light- match the direction of steering.
bulb based displays, Foerst found his solution Today, Foerst’s company makes simula-
when he encountered a Pong machine in 1973. tors, but he’s still largely unknown as the father
He acquired one, ripped it apart, and started de- of first-person driving games.
signing his own TV-screen based driving simula-
tor based on the nascent video game technology “Jason Torchinsky@jalopnik.com”
he found in Pong.
The result, like Pong, used no CPU, em-
ploying many discreet dedicated circuits for the
game. The game, called Nurburgring 1, had 28
separate cards mounted in a huge
rack. For comparison, Pong
used one. The visuals were sim-
ple, but effective. The twisting
roadway was defined by a series
of rectangular white “posts” on
either side. The background was
just black, but the lower portion
of the screen had a speedometer,
mileage and other indicators. There was also an
image of the hood of the players car, but that was
a vinyl appliqué and not electronically generated.
When Dave Shepperd, from Atari, was given the
assignment to program Night Driver in 1976 he
“...was given a piece of paper with a picture of
a game cabinet that had a small portion of the
screen visible. I don’t recall if it was an actu-
al flyer for the game or simply a Xerox of the
front page of the flyer. I recall it being German
or maybe I was just told it was a German game.
I never saw the game play nor did I know what
 1976
Outlaw 221
excerpt from the flyer:
Outlaw, originally released in 1976, was OUTLAW is a new concept in video entertain- Manufacturer Atari
a response to Gun Fight, released by Midway in ment. OUTLAW invites the player for the first Release 1976
North America the year before. time to physically match his skill against a video Class Wide Release
Players select one of two characters: gunfighter in one of America’s most traditional Genre Light-gun
Half-fast Pete or Billy-The-Kid. Pete is more contests... the fast-draw shootout. Mode 1 Player
Gameplay Single
accurate while Billy can draw faster. An outlaw Top Gun Realism.
Panel Layout Single Player
appears somewhere in the town, the object be- Players fast-draw a full scale replica of a Colt.45. Controls
ing to fast draw the gun as soon as he draws his. A video gunfighter swaggers out from Gun: Optical
Shooting him before he shoots the player scores behind buildings in an authentically illustrated Monitor
points, with points counting toward end-of-game western town (the graphics are on the monitor), Orientation: Horizontal
ratings such as “Dude”, “Greenhorn”, and “Top turns and waits... and fires! Players have to shoot Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Gun”. first and straight to aviod being “hit.” CRT: Black and White
The game is housed in a custom cabinet Realistic animation, audio footsteps and Conversion Class: Atari B&W Raster
gunfire add up to irresistible realism. Sound Amplified Mono
that includes a light gun. The game PCB is com-
(one channel)
posed of discrete technology, with game sprites More Options than ever keeps ‘em trying. Cabinet Styles Upright
stored in ROM. Playfield graphics are provided Player options. Players can select higher skill
by a screen overlay representing an Old West fast-draw times — “Half-fast Pete” or “Billy-
town street. the-Kid” (amount of time video outlaw waits
A home console port was developed for before firing).
the Atari 2600 by then-Atari employee David Operator options. OUTLAW can be adjusted
Crane. This version is more directly comparable to the number of hits needed to achieve “Dude”,
to Midway’s Gun Fight, allowing two players “Greenhorn” or “Top Gun” end-of-game ratings.
to engage in a shoot-out using 2600’s joysticks. OUTLAW can also reward “Top Guns”
There are also multiple types of play that differ with extended plays at operator’s selection.
slightly from the arcade game, including target Warning panels flash if gun is drawn be-
practice and versions with obstacles that must be fore outlaw stops running of if gun is not returned
shot around or shot through. to holster before next shootout sequence. Game
automatically shuts off if gun is left out of holster
for an extended time.
Hair Trigger features.
Atari standard features include large 23” moni-
tor, locked cashbox, hinged cash door, Durast-
ress™ tested solid state reliability, and attention-
getting cabinet graphics.
Instapart™, U.S. Cavalry of the Seventies.
24-hour parts turn-around is available to keep
your profits coming non-stop.
Dimensions.
Height: 56 1/2”, 143.5 cm; Width: 31 1/2”, 80
cm; Depth: 27 1/2”, 69.8 cm.
1976
222

PT-109

Manufacturer Mirco in which 2 or 4 players navigated around islands, highly manoeuvrable torpedo-firing PT-boats.
Release 1976 mines and other hazards while attempting to Three-speed forward and 1-speed reverse drive
Mode 4 Players simultaneous blast one another with torpedoes and howitzers propels boats around islands, sea mines and oth-
Gameplay Competitive (in 4-player games, each 2-person team con- er hazards. And developers inertia to test navi-
Panel Layout Multiple Player sisted of a PT-boat and a battleship). What truly gating skills.
Monitor But a torpedo is limited by range and nat-
set it apart, however, was that it used a micro-
Orientation: Either ural barriers, so MICRO adds a 4-player option
processor – one of the first video games to do
CRT: Black and White
so. The game was on display in Mirco’s booth — Battleships! Larger, slower, twice as deadly.
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel) at the 1975 MOA show in October – the same With howitzers that can blast over island tree
Cabinet Styles Table (4-Player) show where Midway debuted Gun Fight, gener- tops. Now there’s no place to hide. Each torpedo
ally considered to be the very first microproces- boat/battleship team must outmanoeuvre the en-
sor video game. emy — or sink!
Despite the innovation, PT-109 • Special effects. A complete arsenal, in quad
sold poorly. By the time it appeared, sound. From the whoosh of torpedoes to the
the cocktail video boom had passed grinding of steel hulls. Engine rumbling, boom-
and the same doctors and lawyers were ing cannons, screaming shells and explosive di-
unwilling to buy another video game rect hits. All the realism players ask for
(PT-109 was only produced in a cock- • Computerized random selection. Insures that
ktail cabinet). As a result, PT-109 is all but a sinking ship resurfaces in a new, unknown lo-
unknown today, and even the most ardent vid- cation. No sitting ducks, more challenging play.
eo game collector is probably unaware that it • Screen interlace. Produces sharp, crisp im-
had a microprocessor, much less that it was ages to allow precision aim. Torpedos and shells
one of the first video games to use one. It’s a home-in on targets with lethal accuracy.
bit ironic since the one Mirco game • 360° killing radius. No
that Micro is most know for is the “dead spots” on the screen.
pinball game it introduced at the Players are limited only by
very same show called Spirit of ’76 the range and characteristics
– which has long been considered of their weapons. Aim — not
the first to released pinball game the whims of the machine —
with a microprocessor. While is the critical factor.
Mirco released it, Spirit of ’76 had • Pre-game show. Video
been designed by one of pioneers display of PT-boats circling
PT-109 is a one- to four-player sea bat-
of the coin-op industry – Dave Nutting. Nutting islands, minefields.
tle game with PT-boats and battleships. PT-109
had developed the game after Bally chose to pass • Top-mounted controls. For smooth, concise
was a real PT boat (Patrol Torpedo boat) last
on the Flicker prototype he and Jeff Frederiksen navigation and firing.
commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John
had developed in 1974. PT-109 is an operator’s dream.
F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World “allincolorforaquarter.blogspot”
War II. • Microcomputer controlled. Cabinet top flips
Located in Phoenix, Arizona, Mirco excerpt from the flyer: open, sides drop to expose conveniently located
Games was primarily known for its foosball ta- ““READY, AIM, FIRE!” printed circuit boards. Pull out one, pop in an-
bles and for producing the first pinball game with other. Ease of replacement means less down time
The new 2-4 player video game that puts you
a microprocessor. Mirco’s first non-ball-and- — much less.
ON TARGET for higher profits.
paddle video game was PT-109, one of the for- • Fully fused. All components are protected
All-out war on the high seas! MICRO’s PT-109 against overheating.
gotten breakthrough games of the video Bronze
packs more firepower than the Pacific Fleet. As • Playing time. Operator controlled. Set for 1, 2
Age. The game itself was a naval combat game
a 2-player game, PT-109 is a matchup of swift, or 3 minutes.
 1976
223
Quiz Show is a two-player computerized excerpt from the flyer: Quiz Show
version of a quiz show. The game presents mul- And now ladies and gentlemen, the star of our
tiple choice answers to questions from a range of show... Quiz Show! It’s all new. A different video Manufacturer Kee Games
categories. quiz game with all the excitement and suspense Release 1976
The game asks the players questions and of the real thing. Class Wide Release
they press the corresponding button on the side It’s designs for top 2-player attraction in Genre Trivia/Quiz
of the screen to answer. Questions are multiple any location. Attention-getting graphics and over Mode 2 Player simultaneous
choice, chosen from a pool of 1000 questions in one thousand different questions in four catego- Gameplay Competitive
four categories: people, sports, movie, and pot- ries provide variety, fun and mind-boggling en- Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
pourri. Categories are chose prior to the game’s tertainment for contestants of all ages.
Buttons: 4 [Answer 1|Answer 2|
start. Points are awarded for a correct answer, And its compact size lets you place the
Answer 3|Answer 4]
with point deductions for incorrect answers. Bo- game anywhere. Buttons: 1 [Catagory Select]
nus points are also awarded, and are based on the Say the secret word and win... Monitor
length of time it takes to answer the question. At Quiz Show asks 250 different questions in each Orientation: Horizontal
the end of game play, the player is given a rat- category. Players can select “sport”, “general Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
ing of Dunce, Lucky, Smart, or Genius based on knowledge”, “movies” or “people”. CRT: Black and White
their score. Each question displays four possible an- with a Color Overlay
Sound Amplified Mono
The game is housed in a custom cabinet swers which appear in different colors. Hit the
(one channel)
that includes two sets (one set per player) of four colored button on the control console that corre-
Cabinet Styles Upright
buttons on each side of the monitor. The game sponds to the correct “answer” color on the mon-
PCB uses a Signetics S2650 cpu, with all ques- itor, the contestant scores. High for a fast answer,
tions and answers stored on a removable 8-track low if it’s a head-scratcher.
audio cassette tapes that are streamed to the Player can test him or herself, or chal-
game. Additional tapes could be purchased with lenge a partner for highest score.
alternate sets of questions. It is unclear whether You MC the Show...
this was an 8-track tape or a normal cassette. The And the profits! Quiz Show is operator adjustable
sideart has a picture of Laurel and Hardy, plus for extended play (depending on scoring). And
Mickey Mouse, a biplane, Benjamin Franklin, for 25¢ per single player or 25¢ for 2 players.
etc. all merged around the heading ‘Quiz Show’. You control end of game by time or by number
of question and answer tapes are available from
your Atari distributor.
Repeat play is built in for longer location
life, higher earnings.
1976
224

Race
Manufacturer Fun Games Inc.
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating
Panel Layout Single Player
Controls
Steering: Wheel
Shifter: 2-position (low, high)
Pedals: 1
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Race is an auto racing game from Sound Amplified Mono
Fun Games Inc. (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
excerpt from the flyer:
At last a realistic race track requiring def-
inite skills and negotiate the many turns
and obstacles (oil slicks and wrecked
cars). An evolution of your driving abil-
ity is displayed on the screen upon com-
pletion of your run and with practice
you’ll be ready for the Pro Circuit!
Race is a one or two player game that
provides fierce competition for the play-
ers and greater earnings for you.
Rugged metal foot pedal, steel steering
and shift mechanisms, together with an
attractive low profile cabinet means:
Race is a profit winner day after day in
any location.

Pitstop support in 24 hours! Replacement

and repair parts are available on 24-hour
schedule anywhere. Consistent earnings
without problems. The name of our game
is service.
 1976
225

Ricochet
Manufacturer Nutting Associates
Release 1976
Class Wide Release Ricochet is a breakout-style ball-and-
Genre Ball and Paddle
paddle game with a grid of sixteen widely-spaced
Mode 2 Players
Gameplay Alternating
blocks and pockets along the top and side edges
Panel Layout Single Player of the playfield. Hitting a block once removes it,
Monitor earns points, and bounces the ball. Hitting a pocket
Orientation: Horizontal earns points and holds the ball for a moment.
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Hardware architecture is discrete digital
CRT: Black and White logic chips with no microprocessor paddle con-
with a Color Overlay trol is purely analog. Cabinet includes a two-tone
Sound Unamplified Mono
doorbell chime for bonus sound effects.
(requires one-channel amp)
Cabinet Styles Upright Ricochet was Nutting’s last arcade game.
Cocktail “arcade-museum.com”

excerpt from the flyer:

Road Race
“Here’s one for the road... Manufacturer Sega
Release 1976
SEGA’S HOT NEW
Class Wide Release
DRIVING GAME Genre Racing
A real wall-smacker of a driving Mode 1 Player
Road Race was an early driv- game, designed for the racing buff Gameplay Single
ing/racing game developed and pub- who loves the feel of the wheel in Panel Layout Single Player
lished by Sega in early 1976. The his hands while the challenges to his Cabinet Styles Upright
game was notable for its introduction skill comes thick and fast.
of a pseudo-3D, third-person per- ROAD RAGE is a single-player
spective. thrill machine, with a 23-inch video
Later in 1976, Road Race screen projecting a constantly chang-
was adapted into the motorbike rac- ing “S” shaped road course, with two
ing games Moto-Cross and Man TT, obstacle race cars moving aggres-
which in turn was re-branded as Fonz sively along the road. Collisions with
in North America. obstacle cars are accompanied by
outstandingly real audio effects.
1976
226
Rock’n Bark
Manufacturer Sega
Release 1976
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Sega Discrete Logic Rock’n Bark is a 1 or 2 player
Monitor shooting game where the players, us-
Orientation: Horizontal ing positional guns, shoot various on-
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution screen targets.
CRT: Color
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright

Rugby
Manufacturer Sidam
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Video Pinball
Mode 2Players
Gameplay Alternating
Panel Layout Single Player
Monitor
Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
 1976
Sea Battle 227
Manufacturer Ramtek
Release 1976
Sea Battle is a seagoing war game where
Class Wide Release
ships battle it out with each other. Genre Shooter
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
excerpt from the flyer: Gameplay Team
• Realistic Sounds Panel Layout Multiple Player
• Exploding Shells Controls
• Grinding Hulls Joystick: 8-way with button [Fire]
• Ships Manoeuvre Entire Screen Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
• Blow Away Islands
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
• Hide in Coves CRT: Black and White
• Rumbling Engines Sound Amplified Mono
• 23” Monitor (one channel)
• 8 Moving Mines Cabinet Styles Upright

Sea Wolf is an arcade

game by Midway, originally re-
leased in 1976. It was a video Sea Wolf
game update of an earlier coin-
Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.
operated electro-mechanical Mi- Release 1976
dway game, Sea Devil, itself Class Wide Release
based on Sega’s 1966 coin-op Genre Shooter
electro-mechanical arcade sub- Hardware Midway 8080
marine simulator Periscope. Settings Sea Wolf Dipswitch Settings
Midway’s video game version Mode 1 Player
was designed by Dave Nutting Gameplay Single
and eventually sold 10,000 vid- Panel Layout Single Player
eo game arcade cabinets. Controls
Periscope with button [Fire]
In 2008, Coastal Amuse- Sound Amplified Mono
ments released a “retro video” (one channel)
redemption game based on the Cabinet Styles Upright
original Sea Wolf, released by
Midway in 1976. It is a 3D re-
make.
1976
228
Six-Pac
Manufacturer American Video Games
Release 1976
Class Prototype
Genre Sports
Gameplay Either
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Conversion Class: dedicated
The player looks through a large peri- Monitor
scope to aim at ships moving across the virtual Orientation: Horizontal
sea line at the top of the screen, using a thumb Type: TV Monitor
button on the right handle of the scope to fire CRT: Black and White
torpedoes. The periscope swivels to the right and with a Color Overlay
left, providing horizontal motion of a targeting Sound Amplified Mono
cross-hair. The cabinet features a mixture of vid- (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
eo game and older electro-mechanical technol-
ogy for player feedback. Using back-lit transpar-
encies reflected inside the scope, the number of
torpedoes remaining are displayed, as well as a FEATURING
red “RELOAD” light which lights up momentar- GENUINE FORMICA and stur-
ily when the player has launched five torpedoes. dy PLYWOOD CABINET will
Additionally, when ships are hit on the screen, an withstand all the abuse you can
explosion “light” is reflected inside the scope. A give it. Tempered glass for added safe-
blue overlay is affixed to the screen to provide a ty. HINGED TOP for easy access to
“water color” to the sea. Sounds include a sonar the screen and all controls. NEVER
ping and the sound of the PT boat racing across CHANGE A POT with exclusive Time-
the screen. Pot Circuitry. CLUTCH ACTION to de-
Sea Wolf is time-limited, with the play- ter even the roughest players. LIGHTED
er having an opportunity to win bonus time by COLOR INSTRUCTIONS on the moni-
reaching an operator-set score. The player’s tor turn on after each game. NO BULBS
score is shown on the bottom half of the screen TO BURN OUT with LED game select
as well as the high score, one of the first known buttons. 23” MOTOROLA MONITOR
instances of a high score in a video game. Tar- excerpt from the flyer: and SIX-PAC logic board both warrant-
gets include destroyers, a fast-moving PT boat, ed for ONE FULL YEAR. REAL RO-
and mines floating across the screen that serve as *STARS INCLUDE* BOTS on the screen lob, run, kick, butt,
obstructions. • 6 Exciting Action games hide, dribble, catch, throw and occa-
The ROM chips tend to get warm and • 10 Different Sound Effects sionally miss the ball. TEN EXCITING
slightly pop out of their sockets. Random game • 23” Motorola Monitor SOUNDS include the WHISH of a high
behaviour strange shapes or garbage on the • Full Color Display speed serve. Scores RING like a sophis-
screen, or a game crash can usually be cured by • 3 Ways to Win Free Games ticated pinball. Every man has his own
gently reseating the chips. • 21 Exciting Playfields unique sound and novel ZING for every
• 2 Action Attract Mode catch!! Introducing MATRIX-VISION
• 1-2-3-4 Players for easy viewing. GOLD PLATED logic
board and speacial PC board to run LED
game controls are joined with REMOV-
ABLE RIBBON CABLE to free game
of usual maze of wires. OPERATOR
ADJUSTABLE scoring and locking
steel coin vault that holds $800, make
this table the new state of the art.
 1976
229
Sky War
Manufacturer Mirco Games
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Note: Genre Shooter
“These two Sky War/Skywar games may be the one and Gameplay Competitive
the same. I tried to find more information other than the Panel Layout Multiple Player
few bits of gameplay info and advert pictures, but was un- Monitor
Sky War successful. I could not find out if Micro Amusements Inc. Orientation: Horizontal
Manufacturer Micro Amusements Inc. is the same company as Micro Games, but the chance of Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Release 1976 two games by the same name being released in the same CRT: Black and White
Class Wide Release year by companies named Micro is just to big. I could not Cabinet Styles Upright
Genre Other find any bezel pictures of Micro Games Sky War, and the Cocktail
Mode 2 Players simultaneous black-white pictures does not look alike. Also the cocktail
Gameplay Competitive of Micro Amusement are also slightly different than that of
Panel Layout Multiple Player Micro Games. But my guess is that the two games are the
Controls same and made by Micro Games...”
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) [Throttle]
Joystick: 2-way (up, down) with button
[Climb/Dive/Shoot]
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White with a Color
Overlay. Blue overlay with white
clouds, mountains and an airport on the
bottom.
Skywar is a dual-joy-
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
stick, World War I, air combat
Cabinet Styles Upright game.
Cocktail
1976
230
excerpt from the flyer:
SKY-TACK
The Exciting Air-Battle Skill Game for everybody
Sky-Tack has it all: competition; crowd-at-
tracting aerial action; roaring engines; blazing guns;
explosions; the thrill of victory; and the agony of de-
feat.
It’s the new idea in games.
Sky-Tack
How Is It Played?
Manufacturer Innovative Coin The players drop in 25 or 50 cents.
Release 1976
Each takes the charge of a fighter plane by
Cabinet Styles Cocktail
grasping the trigger/joystick. The the fun
begins.
The planes takes off. Each ma-
noeuvres around the colorful screen, try-
ing for position to fire and destroy the ene-
my. You see and hear the sounds of battle.
Finally, the enemy is in the gun-sights. The player’s
hand tightens on the joystick. He fires; he misses. He
tries again. A hit!
The enemy plane belches fire and smoke, then
plunges to earth — and explodes.
Of course, out winner can’t wait to drop in an-
other coin to prove it was pure skill on his part. And
the loser can wait for revenge — at 50 cents per game.
What About Profits?
Profits are big — and fast. Because everyone
can (and loves to) play Sky-Tack. So you can locate
Sky-Tack anywhere — lobbies, cocktail lounges, res-
taurants, cafeterias — anywhere people come togeth-
er. Its colorful action — and battle noises — attract
more potential players.
Combine this with Sky-Tack’s initial lower
cost, and solid state long-life and serviceability, and
you have a sure winner.
Don’t forget. Your audience is pre-sold, thanks
to movies and TV. Everybody loves a good air-battle.
You don’t have to pre-educate them, and that means
fast profits.
How About Durability and Reliability?
Sky-Tack brings true solid-state dependability
to the game industry.
Sky-Tack has the most advanced design of any
game on the market. Its uses a microprocessor, a tiny
computer CPU (central processing unit) which is the
most revolutionary idea in solid state electronics since
the integrated circuit itself.
 1976
231
Speed Race Twin
Manufacturer Taito
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Speed Race Twin is a racing arcade game, that was re- Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Joint
leased by Taito in 1976; as the name suggests, it is the sequel to
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Speed Race (which was released two years earlier).
Monitor
Players must again use a steering wheel and gear shifter, Orientation: Vertical
to take up control of a car, with a single pedal to make it acceler- Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
ate - but this time, two players can play simultaneously. When CRT: Color
either player’s car crashes into a guard rail, or a CPU-controlled Sound Amplified Mono
car, it will automatically get sent back to the start; however, if (one channel)
either player’s car crashes into the other player’s the one which Cabinet Styles Upright
was ahead at the time of impact will stay in position while the
other one shall get sent back to the start. When either player’s car
rams one of the round obstacles on the track it will be bumped
aside - and when driving in a “Slip Zone”, carried over from that
original “Speed Race”, turning the steering wheels rapidly will
cause the cars to slide out of control. The gameplay will also,
as in the original game, be extended at 2000, 4000 and 6000
points.
“strategywiki.org”

Spitfire
Manufacturer Innovative Coin
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
excerpt from the flyer: Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Spitfire Gameplay Competitive
The Exciting Air-Battle Skill Game for everybody Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
Spitfire has it all: competition; crowd-attract- Joystick: 8-way with button [Fire]
ing aerial action; roaring engines; blazing guns; ex- Monitor
plosions; the thrill of victory; and the agony of defeat. Orientation: Horizontal
It’s the new idea in games. Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright
232 Sprint 2
Manufacturer Kee Games
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Racing
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Sprint 2 is a 2 player overhead-view ar- loss of game time.
Gameplay Competitive cade racer released in 1976 by Kee Games. It New monitor graphics flash driving in-
Panel Layout Multiple Player was the first auto racing arcade game to use a structions. “game over,” and “Granny,” “Rook-
Controls
CPU to control part of the game. It was released ie,” or “Pro” ratings according to scores achieved.
Steering: Wheel
Shifter: 4-position (1/2/3/4)
two years after Sprint 2 and both games have the Operator Options:
Pedals: 1 [Accelerate] same type of play. The “1” and “2” designations
Extended play. New player and profit in-
Hardware MOS Technology 6502 have nothing to do with a prequel/sequel status,
centive. Extended play is awarded after a pre-
Game Specific Sprint 2 Pinout but merely reflect the number of players required
programmed score (different for each track) is
Settings Sprint 2 Dipswitch Settings for each game.It evolved from Gran Trak 10 and
reached by the driver.
Monitor Gran Trak 20, but included a microprocessor
Orientation: Horizontal In a 2-player race, extended
(the 6502), a first for racing
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution play is given to both players as
games. This allowed Sprint 2
CRT: Black and White soon as one driver achieves the
to include two computer-con-
Sound Amplified Mono pre-determined score.
trolled cars, better graphics, and
(two channel) Extended play gives
independant dual channel more tracks. Unlike Gran Trak,
players 30% more game time,
Cabinet Styles Upright this machine did not have brake
gives you more repeat, extra
pedals, but the players could
earnings.
still make their cars “fishtail”
“Extended play” also
by turning their steering wheels
flashes on the monitor along
abruptly. with a numeric count-down in seconds for the
Players could select between about a extra ride.
dozen tracks where oil slicks and other cars op-
Game Time. Game time is operator adjustable.
ponent or neutral cars could make you lose con-
Extended play also self-adjusts automatically to
trol. Ratings: Granny, Rookie, Pro. Bonus time
whatever game time has been pre-selected.
extra 30 “seconds” for completing enough laps.
Sprint 2 was believed to be the first Atari
product to feature the well-known ‘Atari arcade
font’.

excerpt from the flyer:

Drivers can select from 12 different tracks.
Players can select a different track each time
they drive with a push of a button. Makes Sprint
2 always a new driving challenge. Keeps players
coming back again and again. It’s like 12 games
in one!
New microprocessor technology means more
realism, faster action.
One player racing. A solo driver sprints against
the clock in a white car. But he’s not alone. He
also compete against a black and 2 gray cars that
drive automatically.
Two-player racing. A second driver races the
black car against a white car and the two gray
sprint cars. Hitting other cars causes temporary
 Squadron Starship 1 233
Manufacturer Sega
Release 1976 Manufacturer Atari
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Release 1976
Gameplay Competitive Class Wide Release
Panel Layout Multiple Player Genre Space
Monitor Mode 1 Player
Orientation: Horizontal Gameplay Single
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Panel Layout Single Player
CRT: Black and White Controls
Sound Amplified Mono Steering: X/Y-directional yoke with
(one channel) common thumb buttons [Fire]
Cabinet Styles Upright Other [Photon Torpedo]
Hardware Atari System 16
Conversion Class: Atari BW Raster
Game Specific Starship 1 Pinout
Squadron is an aircraft fight- Settings Starship 1 Dipswitch Settings
ing game for one or two players with Monitor
control yokes that allow the player to Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
shoot down enemy planes.
CRT: Black and White
“mobygames.com”
The game uses a half-silvered mirror to
reflect the image over a black light lit
space background. The monitor has a ‘’ a
target cross-hairs taped directly onto the
monitor to aid in lining up enemy ships.
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
speaker on each side
of the cabinet facing
Cabinet Styles Upright

The object of Starship 1 is to destroy alien gardless of whether it is in the crosshairs (which
spacecraft while manoeuvring through star and are painted directly on the screen).
asteroid fields. According to research by Ed Fries, Star-
The game uses a first person perspective ship 1 contains the first known Easter egg in any
on a black-and-white monitor. The player’s ship is arcade game. Fries confirmed with Milner that by
controlled with a control yoke that is connected to activating the machine’s controls in the appropri-
two potentiometers. There is also a lever that con- ate order, the player could have the message “Hi
trols whether the ship is moving “fast” or “slow”. Ron!” (in reference to Milner) pop up on screen
Compared to common arcade games of the time, and let him play 10 free games.
Starship 1 was comparatively advanced, but used The game came in a huge cabinet. It fea-
quite a bit of analog technology that would be- ture space oriented side art graphics showing a
come less common in arcade games in following ship in the Starship 1 design flying around leav-
years. ing multicolored trails behind while it’s shooting
As enemies appear onscreen, the player at an enemy spacecraft. The victim ship shown is
tries to center the enemy in the crosshairs and blowing up into pieces. The front of the game has
shoot it with his “phasors” by pulling a trigger on a bezel that contains the game’s marquee and the
the control yoke. Alternatively, the player has 5 left and right speakers at about ear level.
“proton torpedoes” per game that can be fired by Just inside of the outer plexiglass there is a
pressing a large white button on the dashboard. cardboard bezel that goes down the left and right
This will destroy any enemy ship on screen, re- sides and along the bottom. It is a 3-D rendering
1976
234

of what appears to be a space station with men

in space suits walking around it. The spaceman
is always a new challenge.)
on the left is a separate piece that is waving
Five “proton” torpedoes per game, acti-
into the game in front of the station graphic. It
vated by a push button on the control panel, also
is lit up by the light from the marquee passing
let the player blast planets and enemy targets.
through a dark blue plastic mylar piece. There
Scoring is accumulated by the number of
are background graphics that are illuminated by
targets destroyed by laser or torpedo fire. Each
a black light bulb inside so the image appears to
target is assigned different point values.
be flying through space with the stationary back-
Previous high score is displayed allow-
ground stars and galaxies.
The front monitor surround ap-
pears to have been mostly white plas-
tic, however at least 1 reported factory
painted blue one. Mike Jang, the design-
er of Atari video game cabinets during
that time, says he does not remember ing players (and spectators) to compare
seeing any other than white. He suggests and try for higher point values.
it could have possibly been built at the The bad guys have a chance too.
Ireland plant. An “arcade-museum user” If the player crashes into an enemy ship
own one of these blue surround models, or planet, there’s a screen-filling explo-
so it does exist. At the end of a game 2 sion and a temporary slowdown penalty.
various saying will be displayed. One
Exclusive Operator Options.
simply saying to deposit a quarter to be
Extended Play. “Hyperspace” bonus
the captain of Starship 1, the other say
time can be awarded.
that ‘Sensors detect another quarter in
your pocket, deposit it to be the captain Coinage. 1 coin per play. 2 coins per
of Starship 1’. play or 2 players per coin.
“arcade-museum.com” Coinage. 1 coin per play. 2 coins per play or 2
players per coin.
excerpt from the flyer:
Exclusive New Coin Door.
Your Next Mission — A New Starship 1 also comes with the new Atari coin
Profit Frontier. door and acceptor mech designed for tamper-
Starship 1™ is another fantastic Atari first. This proof, jam-free operation.
incredibly realistic video sensation goes where
Exclusive Self-test Program.
no game has gone before!
Along with thorough distributor and factory
Suspense, speed and manoeuvring skill
service backup. Starship 1 has a unique built-in
highlights Starship 1’s exciting play action.
test program that displays all microprocessor and
Realistic cockpit controls guide the star-
memory function including switches and options
ship up, down, left and right to intercept and zero
for easy on-the-spot checking and trouble-shoot-
in converging “laser” beams, activated by fire
ing.
buttons on the controls, on approaching targets.
Or manoeuvre over and around hostile plantes Dimensions.
to avoid crashing. Players can also lever-select Height: 73”. 185.5 cm; Width: 29.5”. 75 cm;
“fast” or “slow” speeds. Depth: 36”. 91.5 cm.
Four different types of spacecraft targets, Lift Off!
as well as planets appear at random and at vary- Take advantage NOW of the new excitement and
ing speeds, growing larger as they approach giv- popularity of sci-fi and space war themes. And
ing the player the illusion of speeding through watch your profits BLAST OFF!
space. (And each game play is different so there
 Stunt Cycle 235

Manufacturer Atari
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Skill
Stunt Cycle is a 1 player (or 2 players al- excerpt from the operation manual: Mode 2 Players
ternating) arcade game by Atari Inc., originally Gameplay Alternating
PHYSICAL DESCIPTION Panel Layout Single Player
released in 1976. It attempted to cash in on the
Atari’s “Stunt Cycle” is a motorcycle video ac- Controls
Evel Knievel craze of the mid 1970s by allowing
tion game designed for one or two players. Thed Motorcycle Controls: Throttle, Brake
the player to perform their own simulated motor-
game is packaged in its own distinctively styled Hardware Atari Discrite Logic
cycle jumping stunts.
upright cabinet that rests directly on the floor. A Game Specific Stunt Cycle Pinout
Gameplay
19-inch black-and-white TV monitor is mounted Monitor
The screen is divided into three horizon- at the top of the cabinet and players stand in front, Orientation: Horizontal
tal platforms connected by tubes facing the TV screen. Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
on the monitor overlay. The mo- A horizontal strip of
CRT: Black and White
torcycle automatically drives Conversion Class: Atari BW Raster
transparent material is affixed to Sound Amplified Mono
across each platform in sequence: the picture tube. This strip cov-
left to right, right to left, then left (one channel)
ers the normally black area near Cabinet Styles Upright
to right again. The bottom most the top of the screen. Its left half
platform has a line of parked bus- reads “Extended Play”; the right
es between two ramps, and the half reads “Return Hand Throt-
goal is to successfully jump the tle to Idle”. In addition, two other
buses and land safely before re- small transparent strips, one next
peating the process again. to each score, read “Player 1” and
The game is housed in a “Player 2”.
custom cabinet that includes a The player-operated con-
simulated motorcycle steering trols are located on a horizontal
column mounted on the con- flat panel, beneath the TV moni-
trol panel. The right side handle tor. The controls consist of the
grip is twisted for acceleration. one-player start and two-player
The monitor is a 19-inch black start push buttons, plus a set of
and white CRT monitor with a black and white handlebars with a “throttle” on the right grip.
overlay. Sounds include a motorcycle roar, crash Two identical coin mechanisms are lo-
sounds, and crowd cheers. cated below the player-operated controls. They
The player can only accelerate (via the accept quarters only, and are connected so that
right handlebar) and brake. Accelerating too either one can initiate play. The Stunt Cycle game
quickly will result in a wheelie and, if speed is features and owner/operator-adjustable option
not decreased, flipping over backward and crash- that permits on-site game structuring for either
ing. Speed carries over from one platform to the one or two credits per coin. The cash box is lo-
next. On the third platform, the cycle has hit to the cated behind the coin mechanism access door.
landing ramp to avoid a crash. A speaker mounted inside the cabinet, to the left
In 1980, Atari programmer Bob Polaro of the coin mechanism, will produce a variety of
began to develop a Stunt Cycle port for the Atari game sounds during play.
2600 using full color graphics. By the time it BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PLAY
was completed, Atari had decided to turn it into In the Stunt Cycle game, a player tries
a television tie-in game for the Dukes of Hazzard to jump as may buses as possible. Each success-
franchise instead. This game never progressed be- ful jump increases the row of one bus. After an
yond the prototype stage and was not officially operator-selected number of buses is reached, the
released, however Bob Polaro independently re- player receives a free game and continues jump-
leased 50 copies of Stunt Cycle in 2003. ing, as long as no more that a pre-set number of
236

crashes occur. There is no game timer: the game excerpt from the flyer:
ends when the player tries to jump a given set of
Daredevil thrills
buses and is unsuccessful after a pre-set number
Now the people who brought motor sports racing
of attempts.
to a video track brings your customers a fantastic
A player must “rev up” to the proper
motorcycle jump and stunt attraction.
speed by the time he or she has reached the take-
Realistic handgrip throttle control accelerates
off ramp: too slow a speed will cause the cyclist
motorcycle. Riders try to jump over an increas-
to descend to early and crash.
ing number of buses without crashing — more
Regardless of the number of buses to
than 8, it’s a wipeout! The roar of acceleration,
be jumped, the game always has the same de-
crashing, the cheer of the crowd — high speed
gree of difficulty. There is a certain zone beyond
wheelies over more and more buses add to the
the landing ramp within which one must land.
excitement... and your profits. Stunt Cycle, lets
Should the player be going too fast over the bus-
you capitalize on everybody’s interest in dare-
es and land beyond this safe-landing zone, the
devil bike riding.
jump is considered a crash.
High Rev profits.
In addition to proper speeds required for
Stunt Cycle is a completely new video concept
jumping the buses, one must not accelerate too
and with built-in Atari exclusive features, you
much on the two approach tracks (the two upper-
and your customers can be instant superstars.
most black lines on the monitor). Doing so will
cause the player’s cycle to do
“wheelies”; in extreme cases the
bike will flip over backwards
which counts the same as a crash
while jumping. However, driv-
ing too slowly in this stretch will
not impair the player’s score. The
scoring is simple: one point is
gained for each successful jump.
Along with the video ac-
tion just described, the following
sounds produced by the speaker
during play add to the game’s ex-
citement:
Upon acceleration, the mo-
tor sound increases in pitch. Doing
“wheelies” at controlled speeds
without flipping produces no spe-
cial sound other than the regular
motor sound. Doing “wheelies”
and flipping over backwards, how-
ever, produces a screeching sound.
Performing a success-
ful jump produces a crowd cheer
sound. And finally, performing an
unsuccessful jump and landing
on a bus produces a twang with
each bounce; then a crash sound
is made as the cyclist lands on the
ground.
 Tank 8 237

Tank 8 is similar to the previous Atari and excitement. Four hinged coin doors, locking Manufacturer Kee Games
Tank games except it is color instead of black and cashboxes and lightweight easy-to-assemble con- Release 1976
white and there can be up to eight players who struction round out TANK 8’s exclusive features. Class Wide Release
each get to control a differently colored tank. The Dollar Bill Acceptor, exclusive option. Genre Labyrinth/Maze
colors of the tanks are red, light blue, dark blue, TANK 8 can be ordered with a Rowe dollar bill ac- Mode 8 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
yellow, white, green, purple and orange. ceptor. Instead of 8 plays at 25¢ each, you can add
Panel Layout Multiple Player
The Battle arena is filled with barriers an extra savings incentive —8 plays for only $1. Controls
and “X”s that represent land mines. The game No battle fatigue. TANK 8 is built for heavy ac- Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
is viewed from a overhead perspective by eight tion. Durastress™ -tested solid state reliability Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
players who individually maneuver their uniquely means less down-time, non-stop earnings. All- with button [Fire]
colored tank in an effort to shoot the other. steel frame construction, and molded fiberglass Monitor
control panel means tank-tough indestructibility Orientation: Horizontal
Tank 8 had two modes free-for-all and Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
and large removable side panel mean easy acces-
team-play. In free-for-all mode players get points CRT: Color
sibility to components.
for every kill. In team mode, tanks were red or 19-inch Motorola
Exclusive Atari “Instapart”™ service backup
blue and points were scored only for killing mem- Sound Amplified Mono
supplys you with spares in less than 48 hours.
bers of the opposite team. In a design that was (one channel)
Dimensions: Height: 68”, 171cm; width: 44”,
ahead of its time, players did have to watch out to Cabinet Styles Upright
111cm; depth: 44”, 111cm.
make sure they didn frag members of their own
Mobilize your attack force.
team.
“arcade-museum.com” TANK 8 is going to sell out fast.

excerpt from the flyer:

Front-line profit action. One of the most suc-
cessful video games in the industry is now avail-
able in an 8-player, color version. TANK 8 is
designed for high volume action and repeat play
— and heavy earnings.
New ammunition. Whether your customers are
veteran Tank commanders or rookies, TANK 8
offers a whole new challenge and more exclusive
Atari features. The battlefield is filled with barri-
ers and mines. “Blown up” tanks also add to
the obstacles. All-new joystick controls are
easier to use — like the real thing. Tanks are
faster, more mobile. TANK8 is designed for
individual or team play. Electronics are new,
more advanced. Realistic sound effects —
roaring tanks, explosions, gunfire and “taps”
near the end of the battle add to the attraction
1976
238 Tornado Baseball

Manufacturer Midway Manufacturing Co.

Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Tornado Baseball is a baseball ar-
Genre Baseball
Mode 2 Players simultaneous cade game which was released by Mid-
Gameplay Competitive way Games in 1976; it runs on an Intel
Panel Layout Multiple Player 8080 microprocessor (running at 1.9968
Controls MHz), and was one of the first baseball
Joystick: 2-way (left, right) games to have a lot of players on the field
[Defense Left, Defense Right] simultaneously. As with Gun Fight, this
Joystick: 8-way [Slow Pitch, is a two-player title, and both players
Fast Pitch, Curve Left, Curve Right] will play on the same $0.25 - the pitch-
Buttons: 2 [Home Bat SwingVisitor ing player must use one 8-way joystick to
Bat Swing]
select one of eight different pitches, while
Hardware Midway 8080
using a second 2-way joystick, to move
Game Specific Tornado Baseball Pinout
Monitor the outfielders left and right. The batting
Orientation: Horizontal player, however, may only use one button
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution to swing his bat; both players will also be
CRT: Black and White using the same set of controls, and they
The image is mirrored. The back drop will have to shift left or right every time
is a baseball field, lit with a blacklight. three outs occur. The number of innings
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel) players will receive for one coin depends
Cabinet Styles Upright on how the cabinet is set, but if it is less
Cocktail than nine, they will have to insert another
coin if they want to continue with the re-
maining ones.
This is the first game in the Mid-
way Baseball series. It was followed up
by three sequels: Double Play (1977), Ex-
tra Inning (1978), and Extra Bases (1980)
(the last of which was presented in colour,
given that it ran on Midway’s Astrocade
hardware); because Extra Bases also came
in a cocktail cabinet as opposed to an up-
right, the screen would flip to face the
pitching player each time three outs oc-
curred.
“strategywiki.org”
 1976
239
US Billiards
Manufacturer US Billiards
Tracer Trivia
Release 1976
Genre Pool
Manufacturer Sega Manufacturer Ramtek Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Release 1976 Release 1976 Gameplay Competitive
Class Wide ReleaseGenre Trivia Panel Layout Multiple Player
Genre Light-gun Cabinet Styles Upright Monitor
Mode 2 Players simultaneous Orientation: Horizontal
Gameplay Joint Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
Panel Layout Multiple Player CRT: Color
Sound Amplified Mono Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel) (one channel)
Cabinet Styles Upright Cabinet Styles Upright
Table

by: “arcade72.com”

Sega Tracer released in 1976 was

a compact version of its predecessor Bul-
let Mark. A bridge between electro-me-
chanical arcade (known as EMs) and video
games, this discrete logic twin shooter has
a number of noteworthy features. Using
a mirror, the monitor is reflected from the
bottom of the cabinet giving the illusion
of the targets being further in the distance.
AThe bezelquestion
trivia displaysand
the current
answer score
gamesetting
and large Play starts with helicopter targets
from Ramtek. Thefaux
2000LED scoring.
trivia When
questions shooting
were
and progresses to submarines, bullseyes,
stored onboth twin tommy
a 8-track guns flash red LEDs in the
tape cartridge.
tips and shake. and jet planes. Points per hit (and negative exerpt from the flyer:
points per missed) target increase in each
excerpt from the flyer:
stage. Making it one of the earliest games SEGA’s Exciting New
A new and different video game that tests with a vague concept of levels. If the player TRACER
players speed of recall and knowledge of scores past a certain threshold, play contin- The compact size and shape of TRACER
Trivia. Ramtek’s fast paced scoring system ues starting again with helicopter targets. gives you the flexibility you need for turn-
makes this an exciting game — challenging While optional IC chips were available at ing minimum space into maximum income.
the player against the clock. Selectable catego- the time to change up the targets, the origi- It’s the one- or two- player shooting game
ries containing 2000 Questions and stored on nal target types were permanently screened that can be merchandised in any location
Ramtek’s eight track tape cartridge allows for on the metal instruction card. with the top results.
future new tapes and long term earning power. Tracer was marketed as having TRACER comes completely equipped with
US Billiardsa is a colourful
• 25¢ Per Play smaller cabinet than competitors. Thisfour two perfectly duplicated sub-machine guns
maydifferent
pool game with types of
• Four Selectable Categories be true in comparison play:
to the 8-Ball,
two-piece Bul- which emit realistic sight-and-sound simu-
Rotation, 11-Count and
• 2000 Totally Random Questions let Mark and some otherCaromEMs, yet numer- lation; flashing tracer-light streaks from the
Billiards.
• Free Back-Up Tape ous contemporaries like Midway Twin Pi- muzzles with each burst of shots; a spurt of
SPECIFICATION
• Solid State Logic rate Gun and Chicago Coin Twin werethe “rat-tat-tats”
Riflefrom
excerpt flyer:
accompanies each round, with
• One Year Logic Board Warranty considerably smaller. And, arcade video individualized target-hit sounds for scoring
• 1 or 2 Players
“OUR NAME
games of the time took up much much less IS THE GAME”
shots. • 19” Motorola Monitor
OPERATOR SELECTABLE
• Length of Play 2 Proven
floor space. This arcade money-makers
machine — Thewant
is 39″ You’ll • Electrical
super-at least Counter in each
one TRACER
• Extended Bonus Play wide and 64″ deep. popular game of pool and of the
yourmodern
locations.• Push Button Controls mean Trouble-
format of video games. A sure-fire free Operation
successful combination.
1976
240
Video Action 2
Manufacturer UPL
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Ball and Paddle
Mode 4 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Either
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Hardware Discrete logic
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal Wings is an air combat game where two planes
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution circle and close in for the kill.
CRT: Black and White
Sound Amplified Mono excerpt from the flyer:
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail Video Action 2 is a two Air combat at its best. Two planes circling, manoeu-
or four players play Pong-type vring and finally closing for the kill.
games including hockey, soccer One or two-player with Robot feature — man against
and tennis. Octagon shaped ta- man or against the machine.
ble top game. The individual player scores by shooting down his op-
ponent. If protagonists collide, both plummet to the
ground.
Control sticks enable player to climb, dive, fire guns
and adjust speed.
Solid state monitor. Adjustable game length. Realistic
aircraft and explosions sounds.

Wings
Manufacturer Electra
Release 1976
Class Wide Release
Genre Shooter
Mode 2 Players simultaneous
Gameplay Competitive
Panel Layout Multiple Player
Ambidextrous
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Black and White
Controls
Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
Joystick: 2-way (up, down)
with button [Fire]
Sound Amplified Mono
(one channel)
Cabinet Styles Cocktail