Videogames: A Complete Guide by Len Buckwalter Copyright 1977 Len Buckwalter Published by Tempo Books, New York ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The New Playing Field America's love affair with toys that contain teeny computers heated up in 1976. During that year some 4 million customers bought videogames--the latest gadget in a growing line of space-age products. It was a replay of what happened in 1973, when the digital watch bowed in at $2,000, then tumbled below $20. A year later, the electronics industry topped itself with another digital delight--the pocket calculator--and a worldwide market raced toward 40 million units. During 1975 the public's appetite for technological goodies exploded into a national craze called CB radio. But 1976 will go down as the year of the videogame. After languishing as a curiosity in the home, or limited to a coin-operated amusement in cafes, airports and arcades, videogames suddenly shot skyward. From 1975 to 1976, manufacturers saw their sales increase ten times. Almost overnight, millions of TV viewers began twiddling the knobs on over a dozen videogames that were rushed to market. Although plagued by parts shortages and slow deliveries, manufacturers watched their sales curves zoom and predicted that 12 million games a year would be sold by 1980. What unleashed the buying frenzy? Dropping prices and a welter of new models launched the new industry, but that's only half the reason. The other is that videogames captured the public's fancy. Some observers say the appeal is that anyone can become an instant athlete while sitting safely at home. There's no risk of a sprained ankle, tennis elbow or the agonizing slipped disk. That argument--well-- baloney. Ask any tennis player to compare the reality of the game to the video version and you'll get anything from a sneer to the whack of a backhand. How can a flicker on a boob tube compare with an invigorating set of tennis? The video image is a mere shadow of the real thing. No, the lure of the game lies elsewhere. The videogame's delight is that it's a computerized magic lantern. Dancing images radiate the kind of lure that attracted our grandparents to the nickelodeon and the stereopticon viewer. You can see it in the radio-TV department of almost any large store on a Saturday afternoon. Huddled around TV screens are people enchanted by the careening images, psychedelic colors, and digits that tot up the score with the authority of a cash register. Soon the spectators examine the price tag and make the connection: a videogame can illuminate their TV screen at home with the excitement of a penny arcade. Much of the game's intrigue is in the eye, but not all. Videogames feed the ear with a cacophony of zonks, plinks and beeps. As they pluck your auditory nerve, these sounds fill a practical role, signalling when you've gained a point, bounded off a wall or scored a goal. They give weight and momentum to the fleeting wisps of light that represent ball and paddle. Besides appealing to the senses, videogames satisfy a fierce competitive spirit lurking in players of any age or sex. I recall showing a game to friends--a married couple--visiting my home. The hour was late and they were ready to leave but politely agreed ta play my newest toy. As the first streaks of light arched across the screen, and the players saw the tallying score, the innocent game became a battleground. The pIayers fought for nearly an hour and wouldn't leave for home until each had won an equal number of victories. Through uncanny coincidence, a cartoon appeared in The New York Times two days after that episode. It pictured a man and woman seated before a videogame. As the action unfolded over a series of six drawings, each player scored a point, until the man scored two points in a row. In the last panel, the woman bolts upright--while yanking the game's plug out of the wall. Whatever the reason, videogames bring people together. No other human activity besides sleep, say psychologists, takes up more time than watching television. With a videogame attached to the TV, not all those hours are spent in passive looking. The newest games open endless possibilities for home entertainment and education. I recall an electronics convention in the late 1960s where I was invited by an exhibitor to play tic-tac-toe against his million-dollar computer. The machine competed with a spooky intelligence that stroked in crafty X's against my desperate O's. Today you can buy a videogame that does the same thing, and more, for under $150. The new machine is a sassy contender--and calls you "turkey" if you lose. That's a far cry from what happened when the first video game appeared in 1972. Introduced by Magnavox and dubbed "Odyssey," it was a simple apparatus by today's standards. The circuits weren't smart enough to electronically paint the playing field, so the player had to tape a transparent overlay on the TV screen to represent the court. The nation got its first glimpse of the new game in 1973 on a Sunday night special starring Frank Sinatra. Although the game's below-$100 price was in reach of many buyers, it remained a curiosity. Four years would pass before the videogame could become a household item. During that time, a new generation of video jocks fed a king's ransom in quarters to coin-operated videogames in bars and truck stops everywhere. The high cost and complexity of these machines didn't matter--they were money-makers. The breakthrough to the consumer market happened in 1974 when Atari (a coin-op manufacturer) landed a model in the Sears Roebuck catalog. Called Pong, it was designed to work with any TV, new or old. By 1975, scores of new models and plummeting prices triggered the boom in videogames. The technical star of this success story is the "chip"--an affectionate name given by engineers to a sliver of silicon about the size of a baby's fingernail. Silicon is one of the most plentiful substances on earth (it's a major ingredient of beach sand), but in the hands of electronics outfits like Texas Instruments or National Semiconductor, the element is refined to amazing purity, etched in delicate layers and doped with exotic chemicsls that enrich it with electrical charges. Out of this brew emerge thousands of microscopic switches joined in patterns of exquisite complexity. Because the switches have no moving parts--they snap on and off electronically--there's nothing to wear out. What is more, each switch can operate thousands of times each second. This combination--a tremendous number of switching elements connected in intricate path-ways--gives the designer "logic" circuits to create a videogame. By flipping on and off at different rates, the switches generate bursts of electricity within the TV set that drive lighted blips across the screen in a curving path to represent a ball, or paint the slash of light for a paddle. As you play the game and move its controls, you are changing the switching rates and thus the direction and speed of elements on the screen. Another remarkable feature of the chip is the number of functions it provides at a low price. At the beginning of 1977, one company offered a new chip to game-makers containing the logic for tennis, hockey and handball. That's not all. The electronic mite could also handle scoring, ball size, ball angle and automatic or manual serve--and generate the beeping sounds. Cost of the chip was a piddling $4, thanks to high-volume production and little hand labor. By eliminating dozens of circuits used in earlier models, the new "single-chip" game could slash retail prices by about 40 percent. The chip described so far is in the so-called "ball-and-paddle," or first-generation, videogame. As 1975 drew to a close, the engineers added another facet to their electronic jewel. Advancing chip technology enabled them to contrive a second-generation game of nearly limitless playing ability. The brainy new breed would have something called a microprocessor, popularly known as a computer-on-a-chip. The breakthrough is that the new games are "programmable." In earlier games, the chip received its program, or instructions, during the manufacturing process. The games could not be changed once they left the factory. A microprocessor, on the other hand, is vastly more flexible. With a plug-in cartridge, the player can insert a new set of instructions into the microprocessor at any time. By purchasing additional cartridges that contain the logic for other games, the possibilities are endless. The microprocessor is more elaborate than a single chip (itself a complex device). To the consumer it means that sophisticated second-generation games will cost two or three times that of the ball-and-paddle variety. But even here there is cause for excitement. Early in 1977, a major manufacturer offered the microprocessor to the game makers at a wholesale price of about $25. It's an impressive figure, considering that a home videpgame can now have more calculating power than an IBM computer of the early 1950's! The IBM model, incidentally, took up a whole room and probably cost more than $1,000--to rent, per month. Is the videogame the hula hoop of the seventies--to evaporate when the next electronic gewgaw comes along? Not likely. The videogame, most people in the industry believe, is the tip of an iceberg, the vanguard of the coming age of the "home computer." When you're tired of playing a videogame, you'll plug in a cartridge and ask the device to flash your bank balance, recall a rare recipe or take the headache out of figuring income tax. The educational and amusement possibilities are staggering. Today's videogames are marvels of technology, but that's no guarantee you'll get a good one at the right price. As mass-produced products, some samples will suffer manufacturing defects, uneven quality-control or shoddy assembly. You'll see promotional blurbs that confuse or baffle. So before you buy a videogame, learn how to judge a prospective model--and what to do if its circuits fall sick after you get it home. That's what the rest of this book is about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: What Is A Videogame? [This chapter describes, in aguishing detail, the common aspects of videogames available in 1977. The section titles are: The Game Console, Boundaries, Paddle, Ball Speed, Ball Angle, Scoring, Bleep-Zonk-Plink, and The B&P .] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Playing With Ball-And-Paddle [Section titles: Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Squash, and Catch.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: How To Shop For A Videogame [Section titles: Number of Players, Solo Play, Control Movement, Control Feel, Playing Speed, English, Serve, Handicap Control, Scoring, Remote Controls, Repeating Patterns, Color, Time-Out, Realism, and Other Shopping Tips.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: Hooking It To Your TV Set [This chapter describes the standard swtich-box hookup you'll find in any videogame manual.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6: What To Do In Case Of Trouble [This chapter describes what to do if your videogame malfunctions and gives the standard trouble-shooting tips.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 7: Secrets Of The Video Champs [This chapter describes various tricks for playing ball-and-paddle games.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8: Shoot-em-ups and Road Racers "Sick sick sick." "Insidious." "Morbid." Those were the words of a shocked National Safety Council in 1976 when a new coin-operated game appeared in amusement arcades and cocktail lounges. Called Death Race, it became the hottest entry in a field of fierce competition and quick turnover. For twenty-five cents, a player would grip a steering wheel, jam down an accelerator and peer over an automobile hood. Ahead on a TV screen he would see humanoid figures called "gremlins" darting across the road. The object of the game--heh, heh, heh--was to run down the gremlins. When a hit was scored, a tombstone appeared in the roadway. The game wasn't one-sided. As tombstones littered the road, the driver found it increasingly difficult to elude them. Each time his car struck a tombstone, the driver heard a resounding crash and had to begin again. Although newspapers and TV decried the macabre character of Death Race, the manufacturer didn't mind the publicity. All he got, in his words, were: "More orders!" Whether such games can trigger violent behavior is still a raging controversy--but one trend is clear. When law-abidin' folk gather around video games, guess which models attract the most interest? Not sports that turn average people into tennis stars or hockey heroes--but to fighter pilots and tank commanders. [This chapter then goes on to describe other shooting and driving games.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: Games With Brains Ball-and-paddle games and the "action" models are marvels of electronic wizardry, but they are only the beginning. If estimates are correct, simple games will drop to less than half the market. These models are the mom and pop of a third-generation offspring called the programmable games--truly the games with brains. The earliest games were manufactured with rigid instructions for limited types of play. That makes them cheap to produce, but it also creates their greatest single shortcoming--loss of player interest. After a couple of weeks your enthusiasm sags, and the game is played only on occasion or pulled out to demonstrate to friends. Programmable games, on the other hand, are far more versatile. Instead of a "dedicated" electronic chip, they contain a "microprocessor," a mountain of transistors compressed to thimble size--and constructed with a remarkable provision. You can slide a cartridge into the game and refresh it with a new set of instructions. With a continuing supply of cartridges, the programmable model vastly multiplies the number of games. It's like owning a phonograph, then selecting records to suit your taste and interest. Channel F The first programmable game to reach the consumer market was the Fairchild Video Entertainment System in a model called Channel F (for the company name). At first glance the basic console is not unusual: it has an array of buttons for choosing a game, degrees of skill and a time limit. By pressing the right keys, you can choose the two "resident" games--built into the basic console--of tennis and hockey. But soon the similarity ends. Slide a cartridge through a slot on the console, and the circuit is instantly programmed for four more games. One is the classic Tic-Tac-Toe; no ordinary challenge because your opponent isn't flesh and blood but microprocessor and semiconductor memory. As you stroke in X's, the brain responds with an appropriate O, and play continues until either contender wins. Other games on the same cartridge include a shooting gallery and two doodling games. By manipulating the controls in one doodle game the TV becomes a canvas where you can create your own designs in color. You can change the path and thickness of a line on the screen or select a color. The other doodling game is self-completing: press a button and the game traces colorful lines that grow increasingly complex, until the whole screen is criss-crossed with intricate patterns. Video Vegas When you're tired of those games, you can obtain additional plug-in cartridges. There are tank battles, skeet-shooting and a video version of Black Jack. In the card game. two people play against an electronic dealer and begin by wagering a sum of money indicated on the screen. When betting is complete, cards are dealt to you, the other player and the dealer. Upon your command the dealer "hits" you with additional cards (each appearing on the screen) as long as the total doesn't go over 21. After the human players "stick" (ask for no more cards), the dealer receives his own cards. Just like Las Vegas. The dealer takes another card if he totals 15 or less--and sticks with 16 or more. At the end of each round winners are paid off (digits appear on the screen), and the next play begins as the dealer inquires, "Bets?" To avoid any hint of foul play, the dealer shuffles the deck before continuing. Another variety of the same game is shown in the illustration. Studio II As RCA's entry, Studio II is another programmable game. Instead of conventional controls, the player presses buttons that resemble the keyboard of a pocket calculator. In one game, for example, secret numbers are scrambled on the screen and a player presses buttons in an attempt to arrange the digits in sequence. Because it's a solo game, the correct sequence must be discovered in a limited number of moves (thirty or less). It becomes a competition between two players when you compare final scores: the lower figure (meaning fewest moves) wins. Another numbers game tests a player's power of deduction. Nine random numbers are displayed on the screen, and you must determine which of three selected numbers (chosen by an opponent or by the machine) are correct. For example, if the secret numbers are 269, and you try 257 on the keyboard, you'll be informed that one number is correct. Next, punch in 259 and you'll be told that two digits are correct. You'll probably take ten more trials to discover the correct numbers, plus several moves to arrange them in the right sequence. The player with the greatest concentration does it in fewest moves. Another numbers game gives an educational slant by administering an arithmetic test. After reading a question in a booklet, the player presses the keyboard to flash an answer on the screen. The machine checks the answer and the number of seconds the player needed to respond. These factors--time and accuracy--are combined to calculate the score. Bowling Another Studio II game is a bowling match. The TV image consists of ten pins at one end of an alley, and a blip of light to represent the ball. Before each frame, a player operates keyboard buttons to position the ball for a strike. If all pins aren't knocked down on the first try, you'll aim and deliver a second ball. After each throw, ball and pins disappear and are replaced by the score. The screen also tells the status of a spare or strike-- until ten frames are completed and a final tally appears. The Home Computer With its dancing lights and intriguing challenge, the videogame has won a durable place near the TV set. But experts of consumer products believe it's just the tip of an electronic iceberg. As exploding electronic technolo- gy hands the game makers exotic hardware at bargain-basement prices, the games will grow in complexity. But predictions say it won't only mean bigger and better games. The outlook, rather, is toward the "home computer". It's already arrived in limited numbers. One clue is a programmable game that now includes many basic elements and functions of a computer: memory, storage, instructions, addressing, processing, readout, digits and display. One manufacturer, in fact, sees the videogame as the perfect introduction to computers for millions of people who would otherwise be turned off by electronic instruments of high technology. Not just the dream of a crystal-ball gazer, the home computer has already attracted national attention. One of the first such instruments was "Pet" by Commodore. An acronym for personal-electronic-transaction computer, it is a basic unit introduced in 1977 for under $500. Besides playing TV games, the device can help teach a foreign language, regulate household appliances, figure the cost and number of calories in a meal, calculate income taxes, balance a checkbook and solve scientific equations. When not playing games, "Pet" can sit on a kitchen counter, ready to spew out reams of stored information. Another interesting feature of the home computer: it can talk through a telephone. In this hookup, it will answer and record an incoming call--or dial a number and carry on a conversation with another computer tied to the phone line. It will exchange information, as is now done on a mammoth scale in business. Do you have difficulty remembering birthdays and other important occasions? It won't be a problem with your personal computer. Feed dates, phone numbers, appointments and correspondence into the computer's tape memory by typing on a keyboard. As each important occasion arises, a warning will appear on a TV screen. That's the ultimate promise of the videogame. By 1976, hundreds of hobby computer stores were spreading over the country in response to the leaping demand by electronic buffs. As in CB, hi-fi and other special interest fields, the public's demand for these technological goodies won't lag by more than a few years. It's a safe prediction that by 1980 these minibrains will be a basic appliance in millions of homes. When that happens, it may not be unusual for your computer to phone my computer and say "Tennis anyone?" You and I, of course, will be out on the court, playing the real thing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 10: Consumer's Guide To Videogames Nearly 60 videogames of every description appear on following pages. Although prices shown are manufacturer's suggested retail, prices will probably be considerably lower at your local dealer. At the outset of 1977, the videogame industry expected a 30 to 40 percent drop in the original price levels. Where no price is given, it was unavailable from the manufacturer, or the model carried no suggested price. Nearly all games included here have on-screen digital scoring, so this feature is not mentioned further. If you encounter a hold-out model with manual scoring, avoid it; this feature is obsolete. Some games, however, offer manual scoring in addition to automatic on-screen scoring. In these models, consider manual scoring a minor convenience for tallying the results of several games. (On-screen scoring displays only the game in progress, not a cumulative total of many games.) When a game adds manual scoring, this feature is mentioned in the description. Whether a game can generate color images is also described. If the words "color display" are missing, the game produces only black-and-white players, paddles and fields--on either a color or black and white TV. Few games provide as standard equipment an AC adaptor for drawing power from a wall outlet. They function from flashlight batteries. In nearly all cases, however, an AC adaptor is available as an optional accessory. If the adaptor is included with the game, this is mentioned in the description. [Scanned and edited by Dennis Brown -- dgbrown (at) pixesthesia (dot) com]