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CommaVid
CommaVid Inc. was a game developer and publisher for the Atari 2600 that released six games between 1981 and 1983, plus a programming tool for the console. The company was founded by Dr. Irwin Gaines, Dr. John Bronstein, and Dr. Joseph Biel under the name Computer Magic Video, which was shortened to Com Ma Vid, or CommaVid. It was based in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to developing its own titles, CommaVid ported the arcade game ''Venture'' to the 2600 for Coleco. Products Games The following games were released by CommaVid: *''Cakewalk'', similar to '' Tapper'' in gameplay *''Cosmic Swarm'' *''Mines of Minos'' *''Room of Doom'' *''Stronghold'' MagicCard ''MagiCard'' is an Atari 2600 programming tool on a cartridge that originally came with a 100-page manual and was only available via mail order. According to CommaVid co-owner Gaines, 50 to 100 ''MagiCard'' cartridges were produced. Video Life ''Video Life'' is a version of the cellular automaton known as Conway's Game of Life ...
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Venture (video Game)
''Venture'' is a fantasy-themed action game released in arcades in 1981 by Exidy. The goal of ''Venture'' is to collect treasure from a dungeon as a round smiley-face named Winky. It was released as a launch title for the ColecoVision in 1982 and then ported to the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Gameplay Winky is equipped with a bow and arrow and explores a dungeon with rooms and hallways. The hallways are patrolled by large, tentacled monsters named Hallmonsters, which cannot be killed, injured, or stopped in any way. Once in a room, Winky may kill monsters, avoid traps and gather treasures. If he stays in any room too long, a Hallmonster will enter the room, chase and kill him. In this way, the Hallmonsters serve the same role as "Evil Otto" in the arcade game '' Berzerk''. The more quickly the player finishes each level, the higher their score. The goal of each room is only to steal the room's treasure. In most rooms, it is possible (though difficult) to steal the treasure wi ...
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Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridgeinitially '' Combat'' and later '' Pac-Man''. Atari was successful at creating arcade video games, but their development cost and limited lifespan drove CEO Nolan Bushnell to seek a programmable home system. The first inexpensive microprocessors from MOS Technology in late 1975 made this feasible. The console was prototyped as codename Stella by Atari subsidiary Cyan Engineering. Lacking funding to complete the project, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976. The Atari VCS launched in 1977 with n ...
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Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the List of cities in Illinois#Most populous places, second most populous city in Illinois, after Chicago, and the List of United States cities by population, 144th most populous city in the United States. The population was 197,899 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and was 180,542 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. Founded within Kane County, Aurora's city limits have expanded into DuPage, Kendall, and Will counties. Once a mid-sized manufacturing city, Aurora has grown since the 1960s. From 2000 to 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the city as the 46th fastest growing city with a population of over 100,000. In 1908, Aurora adopted the nickname "City of Lights" ...
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Coleco
Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar dedicated consoles and ColecoVision. While the company ceased operations in 1988 as a result of bankruptcy, the Coleco brand was revived in 2005, and remains active to this day. Overview Coleco Industries, Inc. began in 1932 as The Connecticut Leather Company. The business supplied leather and "shoe findings" (the supplies and paraphernalia of a shoe repair shop) to shoe repairers. In 1938, the company began selling rubber footwear. During World War II demand for the company's supplies increased and by the end of the war, the company was larger and had expanded into new and used shoe machinery, hat cleaning equipment and marble shoeshine stands. By the early 1950s, and thanks to Maurice Greenberg's son, Leonard Gree ...
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Tapper (arcade Game)
''Tapper'', also known as ''Root Beer Tapper'', is a 1983 arcade game developed by Marvin Glass and Associates and released by Bally Midway. ''Tapper'' puts the player in the shoes of a bartender who must serve eager, thirsty patrons (before their patience expires) while collecting empty mugs and tips. It was distributed in Japan by Sega in 1984. Originally sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, the arcade version features a Budweiser motif. It was intended to be sold to bars, with cabinets sporting a brass rail footrest and drink holders. Early machines had game controllers that were actual Budweiser beer tap handles, which were later replaced by smaller, plastic versions with the Budweiser logo on them. The re-themed ''Root Beer Tapper'' followed in 1984, which was developed specifically for arcades because the original version was construed as advertising alcohol to minors. Gameplay The controls consist of a four-position joystick and a tap handle. The game screen features four b ...
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Conway's Game Of Life
The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. It is a zero-player game, meaning that its evolution is determined by its initial state, requiring no further input. One interacts with the Game of Life by creating an initial configuration and observing how it evolves. It is Turing complete and can simulate a universal constructor or any other Turing machine. Rules The universe of the Game of Life is an infinite, two-dimensional orthogonal grid of square ''cells'', each of which is in one of two possible states, ''live'' or ''dead'' (or ''populated'' and ''unpopulated'', respectively). Every cell interacts with its eight '' neighbours'', which are the cells that are horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent. At each step in time, the following transitions occur: # Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if by underpopulation. # Any live cell with two or three live neig ...
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Mail Order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing an order with a few travelling agents and paying by installments * Filling in a form on a website or mobile app — if the product information is also mainly obtained online rather than via a paper catalogue or via television, this model is online shopping or e-commerce Then, the products are delivered to the customer. The products are usually delivered directly to an address supplied by the customer, such as a home address, but occasionally the orders are delivered to a nearby retail location for the customer to pick up. Some merchants also allow the goods to be shipped directly to a third party consumer, which is an effective way to send a gift to an out-of-town recipient. Some merchants delivered the goods directly to the customer via t ...
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Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a group of friends from Carleton College. The ''Reader'' is recognized as a pioneer among alternative weeklies for both its creative nonfiction and its commercial scheme. Richard Karpel, then-executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, wrote: e most significant historical event in the creation of the modern alt-weekly occurred in Chicago in 1971, when the ''Chicago Reader'' pioneered the practice of free circulation, a cornerstone of today's alternative papers. The ''Reader'' also developed a new kind of journalism, ignoring the news and focusing on everyday life and ordinary people. After being owned by same four founders since 1971, by the early 2000s profits and readership of the ''Reader'' were dropping, and o ...
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Defunct Video Game Companies Of The United States
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...
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Video Game Companies Established In 1981
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, Display aspect ratio, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, Video file format, computer files, and Streaming media, network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally excl ...
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Video Game Companies Disestablished In 1983
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical video ...
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