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''Astron Belt'' (アストロンベルト) is a
LaserDisc video game An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, ...
in the form of a third-person, space combat rail shooter, released in arcades in 1983 by Sega in Japan, and licensed to
Bally Midway Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', '' Rampage'', ''Spy Hunter'', ...
for release in North America. Developed in 1982, it was the first major arcade laserdisc video game. The game combines full-motion video (FMV) footage from the laserdisc with
real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
2D graphics 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. It may refer to the branch of computer sc ...
. The arcade game was available in both upright and cockpit
arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
s, with the latter having illuminated buttons on the control panel, a larger 25" monitor (the upright used a standard 19"), and a
force feedback Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer ...
vibrating seat. A prototype of the game was first unveiled at the 20th
Amusement Machine Show The Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) is an annual trade fair for amusement arcade products, such as arcade games, redemption games, amusement rides, vending machines, and change machines. The event is hosted one weekend per year in the Greater T ...
, held in Tokyo during September 1982, and then at Chicago's Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show, held during November 18–20, 1982. This marked the beginning of laserdisc fever in the video game industry, and released in Japan during early 1983, with Sega projecting to ship 10,000 cabinets that year. It was subsequently released in Europe, where it was the first laserdisc game released in the region. However, Bally Midway delayed the game's release in the United States to fix several hardware and software bugs, by which time it had been beaten to public release by several laserdisc games including '' Dragon's Lair''. The game was a commercial success in arcades, especially in Japan where it was the top-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game for four months. Critical reception was initially positive following its AMOA 1982 debut and then its European release, but was later mixed following its North American release as it drew unfavorable comparisons with other laserdisc games. ''Astron Belt'' was ported to the
MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...
home system in 1984 in Japan.


Gameplay

The player controls a lone spacecraft on a mission to singlehandedly take down the entire enemy armada. Enemy fighters and ships shoot at the player, and there are mines and other objects that must be shot or avoided. The game is divided into waves. At the end of each wave is a command ship that must be destroyed. In later waves the enemy fighters move and shoot more aggressively, and their shots are more accurate. Some waves take place in open space, while others require the player to battle enemies while flying through narrow trenches and tunnels. The player is on a timer at the beginning of the game, with an unlimited number of lives available. The length of the timer can be adjusted by the machine operator, but is normally 60 seconds. After the timer expires, the player is given a limited number of additional lives. When all of those lives are lost, the game ends. The background videos used in the game are a mixture of original artwork and borrowed material. In addition to the scenes created specifically for the game, the designers also incorporated footage from three
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
movies: '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', ''
Battle Beyond the Stars ''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...
'', and ''
Message from Space is a 1978 Japanese space opera film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It stars Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, and Vic Morrow. Produced by Toei Company, Toei with a cost between the equivalent of US$5 and 6 million, it was the most expensive film made ...
''.


Technical

''Astron Belt'' initially used a Pioneer laserdisc player. In total, it used one of four laserdisc players, either a Pioneer LD-V1000 or LD-V1001, or a
Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...
VIP-9500SG or VIP-9550. Two different versions of the laser disc itself were also pressed, a single-sided version by Pioneer and a double-sided version by Sega. However, both discs have the same information and may be used in any of the four players. Running on the Sega Laserdisc hardware, the game combines
pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typi ...
laserdisc footage with a
real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
2D computer graphics 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. It may refer to the branch of computer s ...
plane. The real-time graphics plane generates sprite graphics similar to an earlier Sega title, '' Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom'' (1982), and was overlaid by imitating a matting technique. As the CRT monitor scans horizontally across the screen, it is fed information from the laserdisc up until the point where it is fed information from the computer graphics system, after which information coming from the laserdisc stops, creating a black mask into which a sprite is inserted. It uses a
collision detection Collision detection is the computational problem of detecting the intersection (Euclidean geometry), intersection of two or more objects. Collision detection is a classic issue of computational geometry and has applications in various computing ...
system where both the laserdisc and sprite planes can interact with each other. Each frame of the laserdisc footage is coded with a hit detection spot stored in
ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...
memory. The
Zilog Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were ...
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
reads the number of the laserdisc frame, and checks the laserdisc hit spots with the shots fired by the player, and if the coordinates correspond, it instructs the laserdisc player to display an explosion sequence. For sections where the player must navigate between walls, the walls in the laserdisc footage are also coded and use collision detection.


Reception

In Japan, '' Game Machine'' listed ''Astron Belt'' as the top-grossing upright/cockpit arcade cabinet for four months in 1983. In June 1983, it was the top upright/cockpit cabinet of the month. It remained at the top of the ''Game Machine'' upright/cockpit charts through October 1, 1983, before being dethroned by
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung ...
's ''
Pole Position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
'' on October 15, 1983. ''Astron Belt'' remained in the top ten through December 1983. In the United States, ''Astron Belt'' topped the '' Play Meter'' laserdisc arcade charts for street locations by August 1, 1984, while being in the top three for arcade locations. It remained among the top five laserdisc arcade games for street locations and top ten for arcade locations through November 1984.


Reviews

''Video Games'' gave the arcade game a highly positive review following its AMOA 1982 demonstration, calling it a "large screen science fiction space shooting game that's played against ''film footage'' of spaceships, planets and explosions!" They stated that, for "''many'' players, this is the ''ultimate'' video game!" ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website w ...
'' gave it a positive review upon its European release, calling it a pioneering game and praising the realistic visuals and audio, the continue feature, the futuristic cockpit cabinet, and the vibrating seat, but criticizing "a few rough edges" in the gameplay, the high price of per play, and for sometimes vibrating "more than is comfortable." They concluded that "any arcade player who wants a future in gaming should try his hand at Astron Belt as soon as possible" but "it remains to be seen if Astron Belt is the shape of games to come."''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website w ...
'', issue 22 (August 1983)
page 30
, published 16 July 1983
Upon its North American release, the game received mixed reviews from ''Computer Games'' magazine, comparing it unfavorably with other laserdisc games. One of the two reviewers was game designer
Eugene Jarvis Eugene Peyton Jarvis is an American game designer and video game programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Atari and video games for Williams Electronics. Most notable among his works are the seminal arcade video games '' Defender'' an ...
, who criticized the collision detection and the lack of realistic gameplay or direction, but he praised the "sense of power" and "macho feel" it gives, particularly with the explosions.


Legacy

''Astron Belt'' was responsible for starting the LaserDisc
interactive movie Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", bu ...
craze when it was shown at the 1982 AMOA show. One of the games it inspired was '' Dragon's Lair'' (1983). Sega introduced a sequel, ''Star Blazer'', at Tokyo's
Amusement Machine Show The Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) is an annual trade fair for amusement arcade products, such as arcade games, redemption games, amusement rides, vending machines, and change machines. The event is hosted one weekend per year in the Greater T ...
(AM Show) in September 1983. It was unanimously hailed as the "strongest" LaserDisc game of the show. Bally Midway distributed it as ''Galaxy Ranger'' in North America in 1984. It had the same controls and very similar gameplay to ''Astron Belt'', and one machine could be converted to the other by simply changing the LaserDisc, game ROMs, and sound board. In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Starblazer'' on their January 15, 1984 issue as being the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.


References


External links

* *{{Coinop game, id=100009
''Astron Belt'' information from The Dragon's Lair Project

"Laser Daze," from The Dot Eaters - Classic Video Game History
Arcade video games MSX games Sega video games 1983 video games LaserDisc video games Rail shooters Sega arcade games Video games developed in Japan