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Crossfire (1981 Video Game)
''Crossfire'' is a multidirectional shooter created by Jay Sullivan for the Apple II and published by Sierra Entertainment, On-Line Systems in 1981. Using keyboard-based twin-stick shooter controls, the player maneuvers a ship in a grid-like maze. Versions with joystick-control use the stick for movement and switch to firing mode when the button is held down. ''Crossfire'' was ported to Atari 8-bit computers, VIC-20, Commodore 64, and IBM PC (as a self-booting disk). A cartridge version was a 1984 launch title for the IBM PCjr, announced in late 1983. Gameplay The player uses the IJKL keys to move or the joystick (the Atari and Commodore versions are joystick only) and ESDF to shoot left, right, up, and down through the pathways on an evenly-spaced grid of blocks, avoiding incoming fire and dispatching enemies. The player can move and fire in four directions, but can only stop in intersections. The player advances a level when all enemies are destroyed. Along the left, right, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded in 1979 by Ken Williams (game developer), Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, including the first such game, ''Mystery House''. It is known for its graphical adventure game series ''King's Quest'', ''Space Quest'', ''Police Quest'', ''Gabriel Knight'', ''Leisure Suit Larry'', and ''Quest for Glory'', and as the original publisher of Valve Corporation, Valve's ''Half-Life (series), Half-Life'' series. After seventeen years as an independent company, Sierra was acquired by CUC International in February 1996 to become part of CUC Software. However, CUC International was caught in an accounting scandal in 1998, and many of the original founders of Sierra including the Williamses left the company. Sierra remained as part of CUC Software as it was sold and renamed sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floppy Disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk. The three most popular (and commercially available) floppy disks are the 8-inch, 5¼-inch, and 3½-inch floppy disks. Floppy disks store digital data which can be read and written when the disk is inserted into a floppy disk drive (FDD) connected to or inside a computer or other device. The first floppy disks, invented and made by IBM in 1971, had a disk diameter of . Subsequently, the 5¼-inch (133.35 mm) and then the 3½-inch (88.9 mm) became a ubiquitous form of data storage and transfer into the first years of the 21st century. 3½-inch floppy disks can still be used with an external USB floppy disk drive. USB drives for 5¼-inch, 8-inch, and other-size floppy disks are rare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Video Games
Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz following his death on December 24. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments. * January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican. * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. * January 21 – The first DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. * January 24 – An earthquake of magnitude in Sichuan, China, kills 150 people. Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Addison-Wesley
Addison–Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson plc, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison–Wesley also distributes its technical titles through the O'Reilly Online Learning e-reference service. Addison–Wesley's majority of sales derive from the United States (55%) and Europe (22%). The Addison–Wesley Professional Imprint produces content including books, eBooks, and video for the professional IT worker including developers, programmers, managers, system administrators. Classic titles include '' The Art of Computer Programming'', '' The C++ Programming Language'', '' The Mythical Man-Month'', and '' Design Patterns''. History Lew Addison Cummings and Melbourne Wesley Cummings founded Addison–Wesley in 1942, with the first book published by Addison–Wesley being Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Francis Weston Sears' ''Mechanics''. Its first comput ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
InfoWorld
''InfoWorld'' (''IW'') is an American information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a Web-only publication. Its parent company is International Data Group, and its sister publications include '' Macworld'' and '' PC World''. ''InfoWorld'' is based in San Francisco, with contributors and supporting staff based across the U.S. Since its founding, ''InfoWorld''s readership has largely consisted of IT and business professionals. ''InfoWorld'' focuses on how-to, analysis, and editorial content from a mixture of experienced technology journalists and working technology practitioners. The site averages 4.6 million monthly page views and 1.1 million monthly unique visitors. History The magazine was founded by Jim Warren in 1978 as ''The Intelligent Machines Journal'' (IMJ). It was sold to IDG in late 1979. On 18 February 1980, the magazine name was changed to ''InfoWorld''. In 1986, the Robert X. Cringely colum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahoy!
''Ahoy!'' was a computer magazine published between January 1984 and January 1989 in the US, covering on all Commodore color computers, primarily Commodore 64 and Amiga. History The first issue of ''Ahoy!'' was published in January 1984. The magazine was published monthly by Ion International and was headquartered in New York City. It published many games in BASIC and machine language, occasionally also printing assembly language source code. ''Ahoy!'' published a checksum A checksum is a small-sized block of data derived from another block of digital data for the purpose of detecting errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. By themselves, checksums are often used to verify dat ... program called ''Flankspeed'' for entering machine language listings. ''Ahoy!'s AmigaUser'' was a related but separate publication dedicated to the Amiga. It was spun off from a series of columns in ''Ahoy!'' with the same title, and the first two issues were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video (magazine)
''Video'' is a discontinued American consumer electronics magazine that was published from 1977 to 1999 by Reese Communications with a focus on video and audio devices. The magazine showcases new audiovisual products, analyzes current practices and trends in the field, and provides critical reviews of newly marketed products and equipment. During its early years, it competed fiercely with contemporary journals like ''Video Review'' and ''Video Buyer's Review''—ultimately culminating in a 1980 trademark infringement suit over use of the term "Video Buyer's Guide". In March 1995, ''Video'' was acquired from Reese by Hachette Filipacchi, and in 1999 it was merged with their bi-monthly ''Sound & Image'' magazine to become '' Sound & Vision''. Today, the legacy of ''Video'' lies in the history of video game journalism as its regular column, "Arcade Alley", represents the earliest example of a video game column in a mainstream publication. Arcade Alley is credited with having popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arkie Awards
''Electronic Games'' was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz. History The history of ''Electronic Games'' originates in the consumer electronics magazine, ''Video''. Initially video games were covered sporadically in Deeny Kaplan's regular "VideoTest Reports" column. In the summer of 1979, ''Video'' decided to launch a new column to focus on video games. '' Arcade Alley'' became a regular column and would represent a journalistic first. Written by Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz (initially pseudonymously writing as Frank T. Laney II), and Joyce Worley, the three writers became close friends and in 1981 they founded ''Electronic Games'' magazine. The magazine was active from Winter 1981, during the golden age of arcade video games and the second generation of consoles, up until 1985, following the video game crash of 1983 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magazine'' provides reviews and previews of the latest hardware and software for the information technology professional. Other regular departments include columns by long-time editor-in-chief Michael J. Miller ("Forward Thinking"), Bill Machrone, and Jim Louderback, as well as: * "First Looks" (a collection of reviews of newly released products) * "Pipeline" (a collection of short articles and snippets on computer-industry developments) * "Solutions" (which includes various how-to articles) * "User-to-User" (a section in which the magazine's experts answer user-submitted questions) * "After Hours" (a section about various computer entertainment products; the designation "After Hours" is a legacy of the magazine's traditional orientation to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BYTE
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures. To disambiguate arbitrarily sized bytes from the common 8-bit definition, network protocol documents such as the Internet Protocol () refer to an 8-bit byte as an octet. Those bits in an octet are usually counted with numbering from 0 to 7 or 7 to 0 depending on the bit endianness. The size of the byte has historically been hardware-dependent and no definitive standards existed that mandated the size. Sizes from 1 to 48 bits have been used. The six-bit character code was an often-used implementation in early encoding systems, and computers using six-bit and nine-bit bytes were common in the 1960s. These systems often had memory words of 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, or 60 bits, corresponding t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Softline (magazine)
''Softalk'' () was an American magazine of the early 1980s that focused on the Apple II computer. Published from September 1980 through August 1984, it featured articles about hardware and software associated with the Apple II platform and the people and companies who made them. The name was originally used on a newsletter of Apple Software pioneer company, Softape, who in 1980 changed its name to Artsci Inc. The startup capital for ''Softalk'' came from Margot Comstock, who had won on the television game show ''Password (American game show), Password,'' along with a generous contribution after a few months from John Haller and from Comstock and Al Tommervik's second mortgage on their house. Partners William V R Smith III, William Depew contributed early office space in their Softape storeroom and arrived unexpectedly with office desks when Softalk moved into its own location. Unlike other computer magazines that generally focused on a specific, narrow subject matter or market se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
