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Cube Quest
''Cube Quest'' is a shoot 'em up arcade laserdisc game by American company Simutrek released in 1983. It was primarily designed and programmed by Paul Allen Newell, who previously wrote some Atari 2600 games. It was introduced at Tokyo's Amusement Machine Show (AM Show) in September 1983 and then the AMOA show the following month, before releasing in North America in December 1983. It combines real-time 3D polygon graphics with laserdisc-streamed, animated backgrounds, making it the first arcade video game to use real-time 3D computer graphics. At around the same time, pre-rendered 3D computer graphics was used in Funai's arcade laserdisc game ''Interstellar'', introduced at the same AM Show in September 1983. ''Cube Quest'' was nevertheless the first game to use real-time 3D computer graphics, predating Atari's ''I, Robot'' (1984). Gameplay left, A game in progress The objective of the game is to guide a spaceship through the Cubic World to reach the Treasure of Mytha located ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoot 'em Up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives. The genre's roots can be traced back to earlier shooting games, including target shooting electro-mechanical games of the mid-20th-century and the early mainframe game '' Spacewar!'' (1962). The shoot 'em up genre was established by the hit arcade game ''Space Invaders'', which popularised and set the general template for the genre in 1978, and spawned many clones. The genre was then further developed by arcade hits such as ''Asteroids'' and ''Galaxian'' in 1979. Shoot 'em ups were popular throughout the 1980s to early 1990s, diversifying into a variety of subgenres such as scrolling shooters, run and gun games and rail shoote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond The Mind's Eye
The ''Mind's Eye'' series consists of several art films rendered using computer-generated imagery of varying levels of sophistication, with original music scored note-to-frame. The series was conceived by Steven Churchill of Odyssey Productions in 1990. The initial video was directed, conceptualized, edited and co-produced by Jan Nickman of Miramar Productions and produced by Churchill. The first three products in the series were released on VHS (by BMG) and LaserDisc (by Image Entertainment) and also released on DVD (by Simitar Entertainment). The fourth program in the series was released and distributed by Sony Music on DVD. Overview The typical entry in the ''Mind's Eye'' series is a short package film, usually 50 to 60 minutes long, with an electronic music soundtrack over a series of music video-like sequences. The original film, titled ''The Mind's Eye: A Computer Animation Odyssey'', by director and co-producer Jan Nickman and producer Steven Churchill, consisted of a non ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defender (1981 Video Game)
''Defender'' is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Williams Electronics in 1980 and released for arcades in 1981. A side-scrolling shooter, the game is set on either an unnamed planet or city (depending on platform) where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; ''Defender'' was Jarvis' first video game project and drew inspiration from ''Space Invaders'' and ''Asteroids (video game), Asteroids''. ''Defender'' was demonstrated in late 1980, before entering production in early 1981. It was distributed in Japan by Taito. ''Defender'' was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best-selling game and one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever. Praise among critics focused on the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis' best contributions to the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centipede (video Game)
''Centipede'' is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc. Designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg, it was one of the most commercially successful games from the golden age of arcade video games and one of the first with a significant female player base. The primary objective is to shoot all the segments of a centipede that winds down the playing field. An arcade sequel, ''Millipede'', followed in 1982. ''Centipede'' was ported to Atari's own Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit family. Under the Atarisoft label, the game was sold for the Apple II, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, VIC-20, IBM PC (as a self-booting disk), Intellivision, and TI-99/4A. Superior Software published the port for the BBC Micro. Versions for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color were also produced, as well as a version for the short-lived Game.com developed by Handheld Games and published by Tiger Electronics. Gameplay The player controls a small insect-like ''Bug Blaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tempest (video Game)
''Tempest'' is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface divided into lanes, sometimes as a closed tube, and viewed from one end. The player controls a claw-shaped "blaster" that sits on the edge of the surface, snapping from segment to segment as a rotary knob is turned. ''Tempest'' was one of the first games to use Atari's Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first to let players choose their starting level (a system Atari called "SkillStep"). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game, essentially allowing the player to continue the previous game. ''Tempest'' was one of the first video games with a progressive level design where the levels themselves varied rather than giving the player the same layout with increasing difficulty. Gameplay The goal in ''Tempest'' is to survive for as long as possible, and score ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points. Game development began in early 1979, directed by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to women as well as men, because most video games of the time had themes of war or sports. Although the inspiration for the Pac-Man character was the image of a pizza with a slice removed, Iwatani has said he also rounded out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi ( ja, 口). The in-game characters were made to be cute and colorful to appeal to younger p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age Of Arcade Video Games
The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978, which led to a wave of shoot 'em up games such as ''Galaxian'' and the vector monitor, vector graphics-based ''Asteroids (video game), Asteroids'' in 1979, made possible by new computing technology that had greater power and lower costs. Arcade video games transitioned from black-and-white to color, with titles such as ''Frogger'' and ''Centipede (video game), Centipede'' taking advantage of the visual opportunities of bright palettes. Video game arcades became a part of popular culture and a primary channel for new games. Video game genres were still being established, but included space-themed shooter games such as ''Defender (video game), Defender'' and ''Galaga'', List of maze video games#Maze chase games, maze chase games which foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Blinn
James F. Blinn (born 1949) is an American computer scientist who first became widely known for his work as a computer graphics expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), particularly his work on the pre-encounter animations for the Voyager project, his work on the 1980 Carl Sagan documentary series ''Cosmos'', and the research of the Blinn–Phong shading model. In 2000, Blinn was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the technology of educational use of computer graphics and for expository articles. He is credited with formulating Blinn's Law, which asserts that rendering time tends to remain constant, even as computers get faster. Animators prefer to improve quality, rendering more complex scenes with more sophisticated algorithms, rather than using less time to do the same work as before. Biography In 1970, he received his bachelor's degree in physics and communications science, and later a master's degree in engineering from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Whitney (animator)
John Hales Whitney, Sr. (April 8, 1917September 22, 1995) was an American animator, composer and inventor, widely considered to be one of the fathers of computer animation. Life Whitney was born in Pasadena, California and attended Pomona College. He is a descendant of the Whitney family through his father's direct line. His first works in film were 8 mm movies of a lunar eclipse which he made using a home-made telescope. In 1937-38 he spent a year in Paris, studying twelve-tone composition under René Leibowitz. In 1939 he returned to America and began to collaborate with his brother James on a series of abstract films. Their work, ''Five Film Exercises'' (1940–45) was awarded a prize for sound at the First International Experimental Film Competition in Belgium in 1949. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. During the 1950s, Whitney used his mechanical animation techniques to create sequences for television programs and commercials. In 1952, he directed engi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics to generate a three-dimensional picture. The target of the animation is sometimes the computer itself, while other times it is film. Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to stop motion techniques, but using 3D models, and traditional animation techniques using frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations. Computer-generated animations can also allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it but advanced slightly in time (usually at a ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vectrex
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console–the only one ever designed and released for the home market, developed by Smith Engineering. It was first released for the North America market in November 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally manufactured by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. Bandai released the system in Japan. The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, does not need to be hooked up to a television set. It has an integrated monochrome CRT monitor. A detachable wired control pad can be folded into the lower base of the console. Games came with translucent color overlays to place over the screen. Peripherals include a pair of 3D goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly on the screen. The ''Asteroids''-inspired ''Mine Storm'' is built into the system. The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, in la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
