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Star Castle
''Star Castle'' is a vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display a ... multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and white with the colors of the rings and screen provided by a transparent plastic screen overlay. ''Star Castle'' was designed by Tim Skelly and programmed by Scott Boden. Skelly created a number of other Cinematronics vector games, including ''Starhawk (arcade game), Starhawk'', ''Armor Attack'', and ''Rip-Off''. A Vectrex port of ''Star Castle'' for was released in 1983. Gameplay The object of ''Star Castle'' is to destroy an enemy cannon which sits in the center of three concentric, rot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari, Inc. released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look and a greater graphic capability (at the time), at the cost of being only black and white (initially). Cinematronics also published ''Dragon's Lair'' in 1983, the first major LaserDisc video game. Beginnings Cinematronics Inc. was founded in 1975 by San Diego Chargers football players Dennis Partee and Gary Garrison in Kearny Mesa, California. Soon after, they brought in a third partner named Jim Pierce to manage the company's day-to-day operations. Cinematronics' first games, a ''Pong'' clone, a ''Flipper Ball'' copy and their first original game design, ''Embargo'', were released in 1975, 1976, and 1977, but they were not particularly notable. In 1977, Pierce an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw (born July 30, 1957), also known as HSW, is an American psychotherapist and former game designer. He worked at Atari in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the Atari 2600 games ''Yars' Revenge'', ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', and '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. Warshaw has also written four books, and produced and directed three documentaries. Early life Warshaw was "Colorado-born, Jersey-raised, and New Orleans-schooled." He attended Tulane University, where he received a bachelor's degree with a double major in Math and Economics. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received a scholarship for his graduate work in Computer Science. One year later, he received his master's degree in Computer Engineering. Career After graduation, he was hired at Hewlett-Packard as a multi-terminal systems engineer. Feeling unfulfilled, he began looking for another job. In 1981, he was hired at Atari, Inc. Atari Warshaw's first success, ''Yars' Revenge'', had been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Arcade Video Games
Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics and physics *Vector (mathematics and physics) **Row and column vectors, single row or column matrices **Vector space ** Vector field, a vector for each point Molecular biology *Vector (molecular biology), a DNA molecule used as a vehicle to artificially carry foreign genetic material into another cell **Cloning vector, a small piece of DNA into which a foreign DNA fragment can be inserted for cloning purposes **Shuttle vector, a plasmid constructed so that it can propagate in two different host species **Viral vector, a tool commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic materials into cells Computer science *Vector, a one-dimensional array data structure **Distance-vector routing protocol, a class of routing protocols **Dope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinematronics Games
Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari, Inc. released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look and a greater graphic capability (at the time), at the cost of being only black and white (initially). Cinematronics also published ''Dragon's Lair'' in 1983, the first major LaserDisc video game. Beginnings Cinematronics Inc. was founded in 1975 by San Diego Chargers football players Dennis Partee and Gary Garrison in Kearny Mesa, California. Soon after, they brought in a third partner named Jim Pierce to manage the company's day-to-day operations. Cinematronics' first games, a ''Pong'' clone, a ''Flipper Ball'' copy and their first original game design, ''Embargo'', were released in 1975, 1976, and 1977, but they were not particularly notable. In 1977, Pierce an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcade Video Games
Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * Arcade (architecture), a series of adjoining arches * Shopping mall, one or more buildings forming a complex of shops, also sometimes called a shopping arcade Arcade or The Arcade may also refer to: Places Greece *Arcades (Crete), a town and city-state of ancient Crete, Greece Italy * Arcade, Italy, a town and commune in the region of Veneto United States * Arcade Building (Asheville, North Carolina) * Arden-Arcade, California * Arcade, Georgia, a city in Jackson County * Arcade (village), New York * Arcade (town), New York * The Arcade (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts), a historic site in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts * The Arcade (Providence, Rhode Island), a historic shopping center * Arcade, Texas Arts and entertainment Books an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Video Games
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai (or Jingfeng), Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. ... [...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] |
Cavalier Computer
Cavalier Computer, later Cavalier Computer Corporation, is a defunct software company that produced games for the Apple II series of computers. The company was founded in 1981 by high school classmates Jim Nitchals and Barry Printz and achieved an early success with ''Bug Attack'', a game similar to ''Centipede'' that ranked among the top 30 software titles of 1982. Jim Nitchals died at age 36 in 1998. Software * ''Asteroid Field'' by Jim Nitchals (1980) * '' Bug Attack'' by Jim Nitchals (1981) * ''Microwave'' by Jay P. Zimmerman and Jim Nitchals (1982) * ''Raiders of the lost Ring'', sometimes called ''Ring Raiders'', by Jim Nitchals (1981). A clone of ''Star Castle ''Star Castle'' is a vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associat ...''. * ''Star Thief'' by Jim Nitchals (1981) * ''Teleport'' by Mike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yars' Revenge
''Yars' Revenge'' is a video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw and is Atari's best-selling original game for the 2600. Gameplay The player controls an insect-like creature called a Yar who must nibble or shoot through a barrier in order to fire his Zorlon Cannon into the breach. The objective is to destroy the evil Qotile, which exists on the other side of the barrier. The Qotile can attack the Yar, even if the barrier is undamaged, by turning into the Swirl and shooting across the screen. In early levels the player is warned before the Swirl is fired and can retreat to a safe distance to dodge the attack, and in later levels, the Swirl turns into a guided missile after firing and will chase the Yar until it scrolls off either the top or the bottom of the screen. The Yar can hide from a pursuing destroyer missile within a "neutral zone" in the middle of the screen, but the Yar cannot shoot while in the zone. The Swirl can kill the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
