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Head On (arcade Game)
''Head On'' is an arcade video game developed by Sega/Gremlin and released by Sega in 1979. It's the first maze game where the goal is to run over dots. Designed by Lane Hauck at Sega/Gremlin in the United States, the game was a commercial success, becoming the fourth highest-grossing 1979 in both Japan and the US. Sega released a sequel, ''Head On Part II'', later the same year. The original inspired a number of clones, as well as Namco's ''Rally-X'' (1980). Gameplay Arcade screenshot Two cars continuously drive forward through rectangular channels in a simple maze. At the four cardinal directions are gaps where a car can change lanes. The player goal is to collect all dots in the maze while avoiding collisions with the computer-controlled car that is travelling in the opposite direction. Development The game was developed by Sega/Gremlin in the United States, where it was designed by Lane Hauck. He came up with the concept in 1978, roughly around the time that Sega purchas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gremlin Industries
Gremlin Industries was an American arcade game manufacturer active from 1971 to 1983, based in San Diego, California. Following its acquisition by Sega in 1978, the company was known as Sega/Gremlin or Gremlin/Sega. The company's name was subsequently changed to Sega Electronics in 1982, before it closed in 1983. History Gremlin was founded in 1970 as a contract engineering firm by Harry Frank Fogleman and Carl E. Grindle. The duo had intended to name the company after themselves as "Grindleman Industries," but an employee of the Delaware Secretary of State's office misheard the name over the phone, so the company was incorporated as Gremlin instead. In 1973, Gremlin became a manufacturer of coin-operated wall games with their first release ''Play Ball'' (1973). Gremlin joined the video game industry in 1976 by releasing its first video arcade game entitled ''Blockade'' (1976). In 1978, Gremlin was acquired by Sega Enterprises Inc. and their games acquired the label of Greml ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set the template for the shoot 'em up genre. The goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser to earn as many points as possible. Designer Nishikado drew inspiration from North American target shooting games like '' Breakout'' (1976) and ''Gun Fight'' (1975), as well as science fiction narratives such as the novel ''The War of the Worlds'' (1897), the anime ''Space Battleship Yamato'' (1974), and the movie ''Star Wars'' (1977). To complete development of the game, he had to design custom hardware and development tools. Upon release, ''Space Invaders'' was an immediate commercial success; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion (equivalent to over adjusted for inflation ), with a net profit of $ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Famitsu DC
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special topical issues devoted to only one console, video game company, or other theme. the original ''Famitsu'' publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011, the company began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly. The name ''Famitsu'' is a portmanteau abbreviation of the word "Famicom" itself comes from a portmanteau abbreviation of "Family Computer" (the Japanese name for the Nintendo Entertainment System)—the dominant video game console in Japan during the 1980s. History , a computer game magazine, started in 1982 as an extra issue of ''ASCII'', and later it became a periodic magazine. was a column in ''Logi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 30 November 2000. It is the successor to the original PlayStation (console), PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles. As a sixth generation of video game consoles, sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox (console), Xbox. It is the List of best-selling game consoles, best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide. Announced in 1999, Sony began developing the console after the immense success of its predecessor. The PS2 offered Backward compatibility, backward-compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock#DualShock, DualShock controller, as well as its games. The PlayStation 2 received widespread critical accla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the successful Sega Genesis. The Saturn has a dual- CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, and its game library contains several ports of arcade games as well as original games. Development of the Saturn began in 1992, the same year Sega's groundbreaking 3D Model 1 arcade hardware debuted. The Saturn was designed around a new CPU from the Japanese electronics company Hitachi. Sega added another video display processor in early 1994 to better compete with Sony's forthcoming PlayStation. The Saturn was initially successful in Japan but failed to sell in large numbers in the United States, where it was hindered by a surprise May 1995 launch, four months before its scheduled release date. After the debut of the Ninte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units. It was described as "one of the first anti-spectatorial, non-esoteric computers by design...no longer relegated to hobbyist/enthusiasts or those with money, the computer Commodore developed was the computer of the future." The VIC-20 was called ''VC-20'' in Germany because the pronunciation of ''VIC'' with a German accent sounds like the German expletives "fick" or "wichsen". The term ''VC'' was marketed as though it were an abbreviation of ''VolksComputer'' ("people's computer," similar to Volkswagen and Volksempfänger). History Origin and marketing The VIC-20 was intended to be more economical than the PET computer. It was equipped with 5 KB of st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprint 2
''Sprint 2'' is a two player overhead-view arcade racing video game released in 1976 by Kee Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari, and distributed by Namco in Japan. While earlier driving games had computer-controlled cars that moved along a "canned predetermined" course, ''Sprint 2'' "introduced the concept of a computer car that had the intelligence to drive itself around the track" in "a semi-intelligent" manner. Technology ''Sprint 2'' evolved from ''Gran Trak 10'' and ''Gran Trak 20'', but included a microprocessor (the 6502), a first for racing games. This allowed ''Sprint 2'' to include two computer-controlled cars, better graphics, and more tracks. Unlike Gran Trak, this machine did not have brake pedals, but the players could still make their cars "fishtail" by turning their steering wheels abruptly. Reception In the United States, ''Sprint 2'' was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1977, below '' Sea Wolf''. It was also second highest-earning arcade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Football (1978 Video Game)
''Football'' (also known as ''Atari Football'') is a 1978 American football video game developed and released by Atari, originally for arcades and then the Atari 2600 console. In this game, the sport of American football is emulated, with players represented by Xs and Os. It is also notable for its use of a trackball; while predated by Sega's ''World Cup'', ''Football'' is credited with popularizing the trackball. The game was distributed in Japan by Namco in 1979. ''Football'' became the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States. In 1979, Atari released a more challenging four-player version of the arcade game programmed by Dave Theurer, the creator of ''Missile Command'' and ''Tempest''. Gameplay Arcade version Although not the first trackball game, predated by Sega's ''World Cup'' in March 1978, ''Atari Football'' was the game that is credited with popularizing the trackball. Considered physically exhausting to play, ''Atari Football'' involve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxian
is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them. Designed by company engineer Kazunori Sawano, ''Galaxian'' was Namco's answer to ''Space Invaders'', a similar space shooter released the previous year by rival developer Taito. ''Space Invaders'' was a sensation in Japan, and Namco wanted a game that could compete against it. Sawano strove to make the game simplistic and easy to understand. He was inspired by the cinematic space combat scenes in ''Star Wars'', with enemies originally being in the shape of the film's TIE Fighters. ''Galaxian'' is one of the first video games to feature RGB color graphics and the first ever to use a tile-based hardware system, which was capable of animated multi-color sprites as well as scrolling, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1979 In Video Games
1979 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ''Space Invaders Part II'' and '' Super Speed Race'', along with new titles such as ''Asteroids'', ''Football'', ''Galaxian'', '' Head On'', ''Heiankyo Alien'', '' Monaco GP'' , ''Sheriff'' and ''Warrior''. For the second year in a row, the highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game ''Space Invaders'' and the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS). Financial performance Highest-grossing arcade games ''Space Invaders'' was the top-grossing video game worldwide in 1979, having become the arcade game industry's all-time best-seller by 1979. The following table lists the year's top-grossing arcade game in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide. Japan In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1979, according to the annual '' Game Machine'' chart. Taito's ''Space Invaders'' was the highest-grossing arcade game for a second year in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
