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Stratovox
''Stratovox'', known in Japan as ''Speak & Rescue'' (スピーク&レスキュー), is a 1980 arcade fixed shooter developed and published in Japan by Sun Electronics and released in North America by Taito. It is the first video game with voice synthesis. The player must shoot UFOs attempting to kidnap astronauts that appear on the right side of the screen. If all astronauts are kidnapped, the game is over. Among the voices the player hears are the phrases "Help me, help me", "Very good!", "We'll be back" and "Lucky". The phrase "Help me" is played during attract mode. The Japanese version of the game features Japanese speech, such as 「助けて！」 ( "Tasukete!") instead of "Help Me!" Legacy ''Bandits'' from Sirius Software for the Apple II (1982) is a ''Stratovox'' clone that even has the same screen layout, with the moon on the right side of the screen containing the items to protect. In ''Bandits'' these items are fruits instead of astronauts. '' Spider Fighter'' (1982 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 In Video Gaming
1980 saw the release of a number of games with influential concepts, including ''Pac-Man'', '' Battlezone'', ''Crazy Climber'', ''Mystery House'', ''Missile Command'', '' Phoenix'', ''Rally-X'', ''Space Panic'', '' Stratovox'', ''Zork'', ''Adventure'', and '' Olympic Decathlon''. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game ''Pac-Man'', while the best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch. The Atari VCS (later called the Atari 2600) also grew in popularity with a port of ''Space Invaders'' and support from new third-party developer Activision. Financial performance * The arcade video game market in the US generates $2.81 billion in revenue ($ adjusted for inflation). * Home video games sell ( adjusted for inflation) in the United States, with the Atari VCS leading the market with a 44% share. Highest-grossing arcade games The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games worldwide in 1980. Japan and United States In Japan and the Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bandits (video Game)
''Bandits'' is a 1982 fixed shooter written by Tony and Benny Ngo for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software. The game is a clone of Taito's 1980 ''Stratovox'' arcade video game where the goal is to prevent aliens from stealing objects. ''Bandits'' was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20. Gameplay Supplies stored on the moon–represented as fruit–are coveted by alien invaders. Various types of those bandits enter, via a mothership, in waves. The player's job is to shoot them using the spaceship at the bottom of the screen. If an invader reached the bottom right part of the screen, it steals an item. The player can activate a shield which makes the spaceship invulnerable for a limited time. There are 28 levels. Reception David H. Ahl found the game to be "sensational" and "great fun." He liked the wide range of alien types, but found the best control scheme to be the one the fewest people were likely to use: an Atari CX40 joystick connected through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berzerk (video Game)
''Berzerk'' is a multidirectional shooter designed by Alan McNeil and released for arcades in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago. Following Taito's '' Stratovox'', it is one of the first arcade video games with speech synthesis. ''Berzerk'' places the player in a series of top-down, maze-like rooms containing armed robots. Home ports were published for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Vectrex. A sequel, ''Frenzy'', was released in 1982. Gameplay When the game begins, the player controls a green stick man on the left of the screen. In two-player games, the second player controls a purple stick man on the right of the screen. Each player plays until they lose a life, allowing the other player to have a turn. Using a joystick and a firing button that activates a laser-style weapon, the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the player character. A player can be killed by being shot, by running into a robot or an exploding robot, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speech Synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal language text into speech; other systems render symbolic linguistic representations like phonetic transcriptions into speech. The reverse process is speech recognition. Synthesized speech can be created by concatenating pieces of recorded speech that are stored in a database. Systems differ in the size of the stored speech units; a system that stores phones or diphones provides the largest output range, but may lack clarity. For specific usage domains, the storage of entire words or sentences allows for high-quality output. Alternatively, a synthesizer can incorporate a model of the vocal tract and other human voice characteristics to create a completely "synthetic" voice output. The quality of a speech synthesizer is judged by its similarit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spider Fighter
''Spider Fighter'' is a fixed shooter designed by Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1982. According to the manual, Miller was "the newest addition to the Activision design team." He went on to create the Atari 2600 racing game ''Enduro'' for Activision, released in 1983. The object of ''Spider Fighter'' is to protect an orchard containing fruit—grapes, strawberries, oranges, and bananas—from four kinds of bugs. ''Digital Press'' described it as "much like the coin-op game '' Stratovox'' but w/o the voice." Gameplay In each level, the player must protect three pieces of fruit. The player's blaster moves left and right along the bottom of the screen, and the joystick button fires a shot upward toward four types of attackers. Each level contains a set number of "master nests", which are enemies who can grab a piece of fruit and drag it off the left side of the screen. A nest drops the fruit when shot. The game ends if all fruit has been sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunsoft
, stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, as in Japan, games published there showed a logo that read only Sunsoft. History In April 1971, Sun Electronics Corporation (alternatively called Sun Denshi) was founded in Kōnan, Aichi as a manufacturer and vendor of electronics equipment. Sun Corporation's history in video games began in October 1978 in arcades with two titles: ''Block Challenger'' and ''Block Perfect''. Sun Corporation had several arcade hits in the early 1980s such as '' Arabian'', '' Ikki'' and ''Kangaroo''. At the time, its arcade video games were released under its own corporate name of Sun Electronics Corporation. The brand Sunsoft first appeared in the latter of the 1980s when Sun Corporation began developing original games and technology for the home video ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcade Video Games
Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * Arcade (architecture), a series of adjoining arches * Shopping mall, one or more buildings forming a complex of shops, also sometimes called a shopping arcade Arcade or The Arcade may also refer to: Places Greece * Arcades (Crete), a town and city-state of ancient Crete, Greece Italy * Arcade, Italy, a town and commune in the region of Veneto United States * Arcade Building (Asheville, North Carolina) * Arden-Arcade, California * Arcade, Georgia, a city in Jackson County * Arcade (village), New York * Arcade (town), New York * The Arcade (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts), a historic site in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts * The Arcade (Providence, Rhode Island), a historic shopping center * Arcade, Texas Arts and entertainment Boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Video Games
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai (or Jingfeng), Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies is an organization and social media platform for people involved in the culture and activity of playing video games. It facilitates their interaction as well as their competition and recognizes their achievements. Twin Galaxies is the official supplier of video game records to Guinness World Records. History In mid-1981, Walter Day, founder of Twin Galaxies, Inc., visited more than 100 video game arcades over four months, recording the high scores that he found on each game. On November 10, 1981 he opened his arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, naming it Twin Galaxies. On February 9, 1982, his database of records was released publicly as the Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard. Twin Galaxies became known as the official scoreboard, arranging contests between top players. Twin Galaxies' first event attracted international media attention for gathering the first teams of video game stars. Top players in North Carolina and California were formed into state teams that f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridgeinitially ''Combat'' and later ''Pac-Man''. Atari was successful at creating arcade video games, but their development cost and limited lifespan drove CEO Nolan Bushnell to seek a programmable home system. The first inexpensive microprocessors from MOS Technology in late 1975 made this feasible. The console was prototyped as codename Stella by Atari subsidiary Cyan Engineering. Lacking funding to complete the project, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976. The Atari VCS launched in 1977 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by App ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
