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Pac-Man Clones
In video gaming, ''Pac-Man'' clones are unauthorized versions of Namco's popular maze chase arcade game '' Pac-Man'' or games that wholesale borrow the design of ''Pac-Man''. The combined sales of counterfeit arcade machines sold nearly as many units as the original ''Pac-Man'', which had sold more than 300,000 machines. Like the original game, ''Pac-Man'' clones typically have the goal of clearing a maze of dots while eluding deadly adversaries. When special dots are eaten, the protagonist can chase and consume the pursuers for a brief period. Clones may vary the audio/visual theme, use different maze layouts, slightly tweak features, or even invert elements such as filling the maze rather than emptying it, but they have the same general feel of ''Pac-Man''. ''The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers'' lists 57 ''Pac-Man'' clones released for various platforms. Arcade clones '' Lock 'n' Chase'' was developed and published by Data East in Japan in 1981, and was later publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback mostly commonly is shown on a video display device, such as a TV set, monitor, touchscreen, or virtual reality headset. Some computer games do not always depend on a graphics display, for example text adventure games and computer chess can be played through teletype printers. Video games are often augmented with audio feedback delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes with other types of feedback, including haptic technology. Video games are defined based on their platform, which include arcade video games, console games, and personal computer (PC) games. More recently, the industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through smartphones and tablet computers, virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summary Judgment
In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ... for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summary judgments may be issued on the merits of an entire case, or on discrete issues in that case. The formulation of the summary judgment standard is stated in somewhat different ways by courts in different jurisdictions. In the United States, the presiding judge generally must find there is "no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." In England and Wales, the court rules for a party without a full trial when "the claim, defence or issue has no real prospect of suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States. Some jurisdictions require "fixing" copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution. Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered "territorial righ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari, Inc
Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunnyvale, California, area in the center of Silicon Valley, the company was initially formed to develop arcade games, launching with ''Pong'' in 1972. As computer technology matured with low-cost integrated circuits, Atari ventured into the consumer market, first with dedicated home video game console, home versions of ''Pong'' and other arcade successes around 1975, and into programmable consoles using game cartridges with the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later branded as the Atari 2600) in 1977. To bring the Atari VCS to market, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976. In 1978, Warner brought in Ray Kassar to help run the company, but over the next few years, gave Kassar more of a leadership role in the company. Bushn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnavox Odyssey²
The Magnavox Odyssey 2 (stylized as Magnavox Odyssey²), also known as Philips Odyssey 2, is a second generation home video game console that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as the Philips Odyssey and in Japan as Odyssey2 (オデッセイ2 ''odessei2''). The Odyssey 2 was one of the four major home consoles prior to the 1983 video game market crash, along with Atari 2600, Intellivision and ColecoVision. In the early 1970s, Magnavox pioneered the home video game industry by successfully bringing the first home console to market, the Odyssey, which was quickly followed by a number of later models, each with a few technological improvements (''see Magnavox Odyssey series''). In 1978, Magnavox, now a subsidiary of North American Philips, decided to release an all-new successor, Odyssey 2. In 2009, the video game website IGN named the Odyssey 2 the 21st greatest video game console, out of its list of 25. Design The ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munchkin (video Game)
''K.C. Munchkin!'', released in Europe as ''Munchkin'', is a maze game for the Magnavox Odyssey 2. Its North American title is an inside reference to then president of Philips Consumer Electronics, Kenneth C. Menkin. Designed and programmed by Ed Averett, ''Munchkin'' is very heavily based on Namco's 1980 arcade game ''Pac-Man'', but not a direct clone. It was, however, similar enough for Atari to sue Philips and force them to cease production of ''Munchkin''. Atari was exclusively licensed to produce the first play-at-home version of ''Pac-Man'', but ''Munchkin'' hit store shelves in 1981, a year before Atari's game was ready. Atari initially failed to convince a U.S. district court to halt the sale of ''Munchkin'', but ultimately won its case on appeal. In 1982, the appellate court found that Philips had copied ''Pac-Man'' and made alterations that "only tend to emphasize the extent to which it deliberately copied the Plaintiff's work." The ruling was one of the first to esta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, including the first such game, ''Mystery House''. It is also known for its graphical adventure game series ''King's Quest'', ''Space Quest'', ''Police Quest'', ''Gabriel Knight'', ''Leisure Suit Larry'', and ''Quest for Glory'', as well as being the original publishers of Valve's ''Half-Life'' series. After seventeen years as an independent company, Sierra was acquired by CUC International in February 1996 to become part of CUC Software. However, CUC International was caught in an accounting scandal in 1998, and many of the original founders of Sierra including the Williamses left the company. Sierra remained as part of CUC Software as it was sold and renamed several times over the next few years; Sierra was formally disestablished as a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jawbreaker (video Game)
''Jawbreaker'' is a Pac-Man clone, ''Pac-Man'' clone programmed by John Harris (software developer), John Harris for the Atari 8-bit family and published by On-Line Systems. Released in 1981 before an official version of ''Pac-Man'' was available, it was widely lauded by reviewers, and became a major seller. The story of its creation and Harris's Atari 8-bit implementation of ''Frogger'' form a portion of Steven Levy's 1984 book, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution''. ''Jawbreaker'' was ported to the Apple II in 1981 and Harris's different take on the game for the Atari 2600 was released the following year. Legal issues resulted in the 2600 port being the template for subsequent versions—for the Commodore 64 and TI-99/4A—and sold confusingly as both ''Jawbreaker'' and ''Jawbreaker II''. Failed licensing and litigation In 1982, the initial Atari 800 version of ''Jawbreaker'' was so faithful to ''Pac-Man'' that the game (carelessly leaked by Harris himself) was assum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes. The first series, shot entirely in black and white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964. ''The Twilight Zone'' followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as ''Tales of Tomorrow'' (1951–53) and ''Science Fiction Theatre'' (1955–57); radio programs such as ''The Weird Circle'' (1943–45), '' Dimension X'' (1950–51) and ''X Minus One'' (1955–58); and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to a feature film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 8-bit Family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 central processing unit, CPU at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator ''Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB. While using the same internal technology, the Atari 800 was sold as a high-end model, while the 400 was more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by Apple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxman (video Game)
''Taxman'' is a clone of Namco's ''Pac-Man'' written by Brian Fitzgerald for the Apple II and published by H.A.L. Labs, a firm he cofounded with Greg Autry, in 1981. Featuring the same maze and yellow Pac-Man character as the arcade game, and promoted as "the definitive version of the popular game," HAL was asked to stop selling ''Taxman'' by Atari, Inc. who owned the home rights to ''Pac-Man''. Atari published a modified version of ''Taxman'' as the official Apple II port of ''Pac-Man'' under its Atarisoft label. HAL Labs then changed the mazes and some of the graphics of ''Taxman'' and rebranded it as ''Taxman 2'' in 1982. Fitzgerald publicly released the ''Taxman'' source code in 2015. Plot ''Taxman'' is set in the land of There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, Tanstaafl in which the rebellious citizens are rioting in the streets, and the player passes through tax centers located in each precinct to temporarily pacify the rebels. Reception Karl Westerholm reviewed ''Taxma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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