The Video Pinball

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is a series of first-generation

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...

dedicated

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

s manufactured, released and marketed by Atari, Inc. starting in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. Bumper controllers on the sides or a dial on the front are used to control the

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depending on the game selected. There are three game types in the first model of the Video Pinball series: ''Pinball'', ''Basketball'', and ''Breakout''. The first model is based on the single chip 011500-11/C011512-05 ("Pong-on-a-chip") produced by Atari.

Gameplay

Video Pinball allows 7 games—4 pinball variations, a basketball game, and two versions of ''Breakout'' (''Breakout'' and a variant called ''Break Away'') -- for one to two players. The unit provides digital on-screen scoring, automatic serves, and color graphics. Video Pinball uses a micro-controller and a small amount of RAM rather than the "Pong on a chip" IC's that had been used in the slew of pong machines Atari Inc. had been releasing. Pinball was played primarily with the side bumper buttons, and Breakout and Basketball with the dial and top buttons.

Models

There were three different models of Video Pinball released over its lifetime. Atari released both woodgrain and cream colored versions as "Atari Video Pinball" Model C-380. An OEM version whose name was changed to "Pinball Breakaway" was also produced for Sears under the

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

' Tele-Games label.Winter, David.
Atari PONG: The Home Systems
. Pong-Story.com. 2013.

Arcade

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

version, called ''Video Pinball'', was released by Atari in February 1979. It sold a total of 1,505

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 ...

References

External links

Atari Video Pinball (Model C-380)
at old-computers.com {{Breakout series Dedicated consoles First-generation video game consoles Home video game consoles Products introduced in 1977 Video games developed in the United States 1970s toys 1977 in video gaming Pinball