Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.
The Sorcerer is a home computer system released in 1978 by the video game company Exidy, of Sunnyvale, California, and later marketed as a small business computer system under their Exidy Systems subsidiary. Based on the Zilog Z80 and the general layout of the emerging S-100 standard, the Sorcerer was comparatively advanced when released, and especially when compared to the contemporary and more commercially successful Commodore PET and TRS-80. Sorcerer sales worldwide, of around 20,000 units, is comparable to the TRS-80 model II, both targetting Small or Home Business Computer users. The overall concept originated with Paul Terrell, formerly of the Byte Shop, a pioneering computer store. Coincidentally, the TRS-80 model I was designed by Steve Leininger, a former Byte Shop employee.
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a company that produced disk operating systems, programming languages with integrated development environments, and applications primarily for Atari 8-bit computers. The founders of OSS previously developed Atari DOS, Atari BASIC, and the Atari Assembler Editor for Atari, Inc., and many OSS products are substantially improved versions. OS A+ and DOS XL are based on Atari DOS. BASIC A+, BASIC XL, and BASIC XE are based on Atari BASIC. EASMD and MAC/65 are modeled on the Atari Assembler Editor. Action! is an ALGOL-inspired compiled programming language with an integrated full-screen editor. OSS also sold some software for the Apple II.
Lazer's Interactive Symbolic Assembler (Lisa) is an interactive 6502 assembler for Apple II computers written by Randall Hyde in the late 1970s.
Synapse Software Corporation was an American software developer and publisher founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. Synapse published application software and developer tools and was primarily known for video games. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit computers, then later developed for the Commodore 64 and other systems. Synapse was purchased by Broderbund in late 1984 and the Synapse label retired in 1985.
Datamost was a computer book publisher and computer game company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers, with some for the IBM PC. It also published educational and reference materials related to home computers and computer programming.
Sneakers is a fixed shooter video game for the Apple II written by Mark Turmell and published by Sirius Software in 1981. A version for Atari 8-bit computers was released the same year. Sneakers was Turmell's first published game. He later was the lead designer and programmer of 1993's NBA Jam.
Many games, utilities, and educational programs were available for Atari 8-bit computers. Atari, Inc. was primarily the publisher following the launch of the Atari 400/800 in 1979, then increasingly by third parties. Atari also distributed "user written" software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984. After APX folded, many titles were picked up by Antic Software.
Carol Shaw is one of the first female game designers and programmers in the video game industry. She is best known for creating the Atari 2600 vertically scrolling shooter game River Raid (1982) for Activision. She worked for Atari, Inc. from 1978 to 1980, where she designed multiple games including 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (1978) and Video Checkers (1980), both for the Atari VCS before it was renamed to the 2600. She left game development in 1984 and retired in 1990.
Mission Asteroid is a graphic adventure game for the Apple II written by Ken and Roberta Williams and released in 1980 by On-Line Systems.
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 computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20.
Air Traffic Controller is a video game written by air traffic controller David Mannering. It was released by Creative Computing for the TRS-80 Model I and Exidy Sorcerer in 1978, and for the Apple II and Sol-20 in 1979. It was rewritten by Will Fastie and Bill Appelbaum for Data General AOS in 1980 and ported to MS-DOS for release by PC Disk Magazine in 1983.
Starbase Hyperion is a strategy video game written by Don Ursem for the Exidy Sorcerer and published by Quality Software in 1980. A port to Atari 8-bit computers followed in 1981.
Apple-Oids is a clone of Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade video game. It was written by Tom Luhrs for the Apple II and published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. The asteroids in Apple-oids are in the shape of apples.
Adventure in Time is a text adventure written by Paul Berker for the Apple II. It was published in 1981 by Phoenix Software, followed by a version for Atari 8-bit computers in 1983.
Voyager I: Sabotage of the Robot Ship is a computer game designed and programmed by William D. Volk, and published by the Microcomputer Games division of Avalon Hill. It was originally released for the Apple II in 1981, with later versions for the Atari 8-bit computers, TRS-80 Color Computer, TRS-80, and Commodore PET.
Star Blazer is a horizontally scrolling shooter programmed by Tony Suzuki for the Apple II and published by Broderbund Software in 1982. A version for Atari 8-bit computers was released in 1983 as Sky Blazer.
Labyrinth is a maze shooter written by Scott Schram for the Apple II, published in 1982 by Broderbund. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers by Corey Kosak.
Threshold is a space-themed fixed shooter written by Warren Schwader and Ken Williams for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Inspired by Sega's Astro Blaster arcade video game, Threshold introduces many enemy ship types and wave formations as the game progresses. Reviewers found the variety distinguished the game from the many similar shoot 'em ups.
