''David's Midnight Magic'' is a

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

simulation video game written by David Snider for the Apple II and published by

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...

in 1982. The game was published in Europe by

Ariolasoft Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German video game developer, publisher and distributor. It started in 1983 as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records, itself the record division of Germany's large Bertelsmann empire. ...

. A port to the Atari 8-bit family was released the same year, then the Commodore 64 in 1983. In 1987

Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than two months later when Warner Communica ...

published a cartridge in the styling of the then-new

Atari XEGS The Atari XE Video Game System (Atari XEGS) is an industrial redesign of the Atari 65XE home computer and the final model in the Atari 8-bit family. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1987 and marketed as a home video game console alongsid ...

Gameplay

''David's Midnight Magic'' is closely modeled after the popular real-life pinball table ''

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

'', released by Williams in 1980.

Reception

'' Softline'' stated that ''David's Midnight Magic'' "ratifies

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 ...

's extraordinary program as a programming tour de force", as it was only equal to Budge's '' Raster Blaster'' despite being released nine months later. The magazine concluded that "the fact that 'David'' issecond should not dull the glitter of this effort". '' Computer Gaming World'' stated that ''Midnight Magic'' was a better game than ''Raster Blaster'', but lamented the requirement of removing

write protection Write protection is any physical mechanism that prevents writing, modifying, or erasing data on a device. Most commercial software, audio and video on writeable media is write-protected when distributed. Examples * IBM -inch magnetic tape r ...

from the floppy, thus voiding the warranty, in order to save high scores. ''The Commodore 64 Home Companion'' called the game "extraordinarily realistic ... complete with all the features that make pinball so seductive". ''David's Midnight Magic'' won "Computer

Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...

" at the 4th annual

Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

, where judges described it as "a program that is both an exciting video game and a fairly faithful evocation of pinball mystique".

Legacy

released a pinball game called '' Midnight Magic'' for the Atari 2600 that plays differently from the similarly named ''David's Midnight Magic''.

Doug Carlston Douglas Gene Carlston (born April 30, 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts) is the founder and current CEO of Tawala Systems based in San Rafael, California. He was previously CEO, chairman, and co-founder of Broderbund Software, a software publishin ...

of Broderbund said in 1983 that Snider earned "somewhere in the six figures" in royalties from ''David's Midnight Magic''. Snider's brother Eric later used his first name in the title of '' Eric's Ultimate Solitaire''. In 2005, a ''

Visual Pinball Visual Pinball is a freeware and source available video game engine for pinball tables and similar games such as pachinko machines. The software is composed of an editor and the simulator part itself. It runs on Microsoft Windows. The program ...

'' recreation of ''David's Midnight Magic'' was created called ''David's Midnight Magic 2005'' which is rendered with modern

3D graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Gamegrid (Telematch) - Interview with David Snider (in German)
Pinball video games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games 1982 video games Broderbund games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Ariolasoft games

Gameplay

Reception

Legacy

See also

References

External links