is a

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

car driving

arcade racing Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

video game developed and released by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

in February 1976. Later the same year, Sega released two

motorbike racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

variants, (released in August) and ''Moto-Cross'', which were in turn re-branded as ''Fonz'', in November 1976. The game was based on the character

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

(portrayed by

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...

) from the 1970s TV show ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'', with the slogan being "TV's hottest name, Your hottest game." Sega licensed ''Fonz'' because at the time it was owned by

Charles Bluhdorn Charles George Bluhdorn (born Karl Georg Blühdorn; September 20, 1926 – February 19, 1983) was an Austrian-born American industrialist. Early life Bluhdorn was born in Vienna, Austria, to an Austrian Jewish mother Rosa Fuchs and father Paul B ...

's Gulf+Western Company and it was a

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

intellectual property. A

two-player A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

version of ''Man T.T.'' called was released in January 1977.

Overview

''Moto-Cross'' / ''Fonz'' is an early black-and-white

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

racing game, most notable for introducing an early

three-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...

third-person perspective. Both versions of the game display a constantly changing forward-

scrolling In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

road and the player's bike in a third-person perspective where objects nearer to the player are larger than those nearer to the horizon, and the aim was to steer the vehicle across the road, racing against the clock, while avoiding any on-coming motorcycles or driving off the road. The game also introduced the use of haptic feedback, which caused the

motorcycle handlebar A motorcycle handlebar is a tubular component of a motorcycle's steering mechanism. Handlebars provide a mounting place for controls such as brake, throttle, clutch, horn, light switches and rear view mirrors; and they help to support part of the ...

s to vibrate during a

collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...

with another vehicle.

Gameplay

The general premise has the player controlling

on a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

with handlebars on the cabinet. The player has to go as fast as possible without skidding off the road or colliding with other racing bikes on the screen. Turn the handlebars, and the bike will corner and bank. Twist the handle throttle open, and it will accelerate. When a collision with another bike occurs, the handlebars vibrate and the screen flashes a reverse image. To increase the challenge, the size of the bike can be regulated by the operator. Game time is adjustable from 45 to 100 seconds.

Reception

In Japan, ''Road Race'' was among the top twenty highest-grossing arcade video games of 1976, according to the first annual '' Game Machine'' chart. In North America, ''Road Race'' was reported to be doing strong business upon release. ''Man T.T.'' was among the top ten highest-grossing arcade video games of 1977 in Japan. ''Fonz'' was introduced at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's Music Operators Association (MOA) show in November 1976. It was the first time that a television character was licensed for a video game, with Sega co-founder

David M. Rosen David M. Rosen is an American anthropologist. Rosen holds a J.D. from Pace University School of Law and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois. He is Professor of Anthropology, at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He lived i ...

predicting the start of a new coalition between the

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...

and

amusement arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...

industries. Sega also advertised the game for having both the road and bikes seen in "true perspective on the game screen, while the player operates realistically functioning handle-bars to simulate high-speed competition riding complete with authentic motor sounds." Sega said the response to the game at the MOA show was "unanimous and enthusiastic" and that test location results were very positive. At the start of December 1976,

Sega of America is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

reported that it had manufactured several hundred ''Fonz'' arcade cabinets.

Notes

References

External links