''Air Raid'' is a 1982

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 chara ...

published for the

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- ...

by Men-A-Vision, the only game released by the company. The cartridge is a blue T-handle design with a picture of flying saucers attacking a futuristic city. It had extremely limited distribution, making it highly sought after by video game collectors.

Gameplay

The player controls a ship which scrolls side-to side directly above two buildings, with the objective of protecting the buildings from being destroyed by the bombs of enemy ships above.

Rarity

On April 10, 2010, the only copy at the time known to be complete (cartridge and box) sold for $31,600. The next known copy to surface on the internet was on October 22, 2011. The

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

auction offered an incomplete version of the game (cart only). ''Air Raid'' still sold for an impressive amount of $3,575 US. The transaction was completed, having both parties exchange positive feedback making this the second highest confirmed price paid for the game. On October 24, 2012, the first truly complete game (cartridge, instruction manual and box) was listed for auction and eventually sold for $33,433.30. Due to the media attention that this complete copy brought, on October 26, 2012, a third boxed copy (although without the instruction manual) surfaced on eBay. On June 28, 2021, a Goodwill employee in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

found and auctioned off a playable copy of the game at eBay for $10,590.79, which was a success for the company to raise more than $10,000.

References

{{Reflist

External links

*
Air Raid
' at

AtariAge AtariAge is a website focusing on classic Atari video games. The site features gaming news, historical archives, discussion forums, and an online store. It was founded in 1998. Taking its name from the 1982–84 '' Atari Age'' magazine, the site ...

1982 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Shoot 'em ups Video games developed in Taiwan