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Sirius Joyport
The Sirius Joyport is a game controller adapter for the Apple II computer designed by Keithen Hayenga and Steve Woita (who were employed by Apple at the time) and then licensed for manufacture and distribution in 1981 by Sirius Software. The device was meant to address a limitation in the built-in game control offered by the Apple II, by allowing either four Apple-compatible paddles or two Atari-style joysticks (but not both types at once) to be read by the computer simultaneously. The built-in game port on the Apple II, II+, IIe, and IIgs supports four analog paddles or two analog sticks, but only 3 buttons. With the Joyport, a game can support twice as many players as with a standard Apple game port, but game designers had to specifically modify their code to take input from the Atari side of the Joyport. Many of them did so, and this modification is what is often seen listed in Apple II game configuration screens as the "Atari Joyport" option. The recommended Atari joysticks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II Series
The Apple II series (trademarked with square brackets as "Apple ] ''" and rendered on later models as "Apple //") is a family of home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), and launched in 1977 with the Apple II, original Apple II. In terms of ease of use, features, and expandability, the Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, a limited-production bare circuit board computer for electronics hobbyists. Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. A model with more advanced graphics and sound and a 16-bit processor, the Apple IIGS, was added in 1986. It remained compatible with earlier Apple II models, but the IIGS had more in common with mid-1980s systems like the Atari ST, Amiga, and Acorn Archimedes. The Apple II was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crazy Climber
is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 and other video game consoles. It is one of the most acclaimed games in Nichibutsu's library. A precursor to the platform game genre, ''Crazy Climber'' was the first climbing-themed video game—specifically, climbing buildings—before Nintendo's 1981 release ''Donkey Kong''. It was the third highest-earning arcade game of 1980 in Japan, while also being a commercial success in North America. The game was ported to the Atari 2600, Arcadia 2001, PC-8801 (released in December 1981), MZ-80B (released in January 1982), Famicom, Super Famicom and Sharp X68000. A sequel, ''Crazy Climber 2'', was released for arcades in 1988. Description The player assumes the role of a climber attempting to reach the top of four skyscrapers. T ... [...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] |
RealSports Baseball
''RealSports Baseball'' (also known as ''Super Baseball'' and simply as ''Baseball'') is a 1982 sports video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. originally for the Atari 2600. It was also launched on the Atari 5200 and 7800 machines. A version for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers was also in development, but it was cancelled. The game was developed in response to an aggressive marketing campaign by Mattel and released as part of the '' RealSports'' game series. The Atari 5200 version of the game was positively reviewed both contemporarily and retrospectively. The game has been re-released by Atari SA who inherited the intellectual property in the game. Development The game was part of a series of games released under the ''RealSports'' title for the Atari 2600, including '' RealSports Football'', '' RealSports Volleyball'', and ''RealSports Soccer''. The series was conceived as an answer to Mattel Electronics's aggressive marketing campaign fronted by Georg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game ''Super Breakout'' which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively. The CPU and the graphics and sound hardware are almost identical to that of the Atari 8-bit computers, although software is not directly compatible between the two systems. The 5200's controllers have an analog joystick and a numeric keypad along with start, pause, and reset buttons. The 360-degree non-centering joystick was touted as offering more control than ... [...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] |
Taz (video Game)
''Taz'' is a video game developed and released by Atari, Inc. in 1983 for the Atari 2600. It features the Looney Tunes character the Tasmanian Devil in a food frenzy. Within the game, Taz only appears as a tornado. The same game was later released as ''Asterix'', with the character Asterix instead of Taz. Gameplay The player guides Taz between the stage lines in order to eat hamburgers and avoid the dynamites. The game does not use any buttons and the difficulty increases by increasing the speed of the objects on screen. As the game progresses, the burgers may change into other edible or drinkable objects such as root beers, hamburgers, etc. There are not many sound effects in the game except a blipping sound when the player hits an edible object and another sound that resembles of explosion when the player hits dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asterix (1983 Video Game)
''Taz'' is a video game developed and released by Atari, Inc. in 1983 for the Atari 2600. It features the Looney Tunes character the Tasmanian Devil in a food frenzy. Within the game, Taz only appears as a tornado. The same game was later released as ''Asterix'', with the character Asterix instead of Taz. Gameplay The player guides Taz between the stage lines in order to eat hamburgers and avoid the dynamites. The game does not use any buttons and the difficulty increases by increasing the speed of the objects on screen. As the game progresses, the burgers may change into other edible or drinkable objects such as root beers, hamburgers, etc. There are not many sound effects in the game except a blipping sound when the player hits an edible object and another sound that resembles of explosion when the player hits dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quadrun
''Quadrun'' is a video game for the Atari 2600 developed by Steve Woita and published in 1983 by Atari, Inc. One of the four Atari Club games available exclusively via mail order, this title may have been available later in stores in very limited quantities. Only approximately 10,000 cartridges were initially made. ''Quadrun'' is the first Atari 2600 game with voice synthesis ("Quadrun! Quadrun! Quadrun!"); the only other is ''Open Sesame'', made by Bit Corp. Gameplay left, upright=2, Gameplay screenshot The object of ''Quadrun'' is to destroy enemies ("captors") and rescue friendly characters ("runts") who are attempting to escape from the arena's central building. The player character is invincible, but has only a limited supply of their weapon, an energy ball that destroys the enemies on contact. The game is a series of waves of enemy characters. In a given wave, enemies appear one at a time in the vertical section of the arena. Enemies come in different shapes and attack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Budge
Bill Budge (born August 11, 1954) is a retired American video game programmer and designer. He is best known for the Apple II games ''Raster Blaster'' (1981) and ''Pinball Construction Set'' (1983). Early games Budge says he became interested in computers while obtaining a PhD at UC Berkeley. He purchased an Apple II and began writing games. He enjoyed it so much that he dropped out of school and became a game programmer. Budge's first game was a ''Pong'' clone, called ''Penny Arcade'', which he wrote using his own custom graphics routines. He traded the completed game to Apple Computer for a Centronics printer.An interview with Budge from ''Halcyon Days'' California Pacific published a collect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pascal (programming Language)
Pascal is an imperative and procedural programming language, designed by Niklaus Wirth as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring. It is named in honour of the French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal. Pascal was developed on the pattern of the ALGOL 60 language. Wirth was involved in the process to improve the language as part of the ALGOL X efforts and proposed a version named ALGOL W. This was not accepted, and the ALGOL X process bogged down. In 1968, Wirth decided to abandon the ALGOL X process and further improve ALGOL W, releasing this as Pascal in 1970. On top of ALGOL's scalars and arrays, Pascal enables defining complex datatypes and building dynamic and recursive data structures such as lists, trees and graphs. Pascal has strong typing on all objects, which means that one type of data cannot be converted to or interpreted as another without explicit conversi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
