| Skiing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | Bob Whitehead [1] |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | 1980 |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Skiing is a video game cartridge for the Atari 2600. [2] It was authored by Bob Whitehead and released by Activision in 1980. [3] It is one of the first video games developed by Activision.
Skiing is a single-player only game, in which the player uses the joystick to control the direction and speed of a stationary skier at the top of the screen, while the background graphics scroll upwards, thus giving the illusion the skier is moving. The player must avoid obstacles, such as trees and moguls. The game cartridge contains five variations each of two principal games.
In the downhill mode, the player's goal is to reach the bottom of the ski course as rapidly as possible, while a timer records his relative success.
In the slalom mode, the player must similarly reach the end of the course as rapidly as he can, but must at the same time pass through a series of gates (indicated by a pair of closely spaced flagpoles). Each gate missed counts as a penalty against the player's time. [4]
Skiing was promoted via a 30-second TV commercial featuring a man demonstrating how to play the game (including the various obstacles into which a player can crash), while speaking in a stereotypical French accent. The commercial ends with a close-up of the game box, with the man's voice heard off-screen (now speaking in a general American accent) saying, "I think I hurt myself", in reference to his numerous virtual crashes.[ citation needed ]
Richard A. Edwards reviewed Skiing in The Space Gamer No. 43 [5] and called it a simple game with "excellent" graphics and varying scenarios. [5]
The Atari 2600 is a discontinued home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, 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 cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man. Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. Atari rebranded the VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982 alongside the release of the Atari 5200.
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984, Mattel sold its video game assets to a former Mattel Electronics executive and investors, eventually becoming INTV Corporation. Game development ran from 1978 to 1990, when the Intellivision was discontinued. From 1980 to 1983, more than 3.75 million consoles were sold. As per Intellivision Entertainment the final tally through 1990 is somewhere between 4.5 and 5 million consoles sold.
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as a player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after the release of the game. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.
Star Raiders is a space combat simulator video game created by Doug Neubauer and published in 1980 by Atari, Inc. Originally released for the Atari 400/800 computers, Star Raiders was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST. The player assumes the role of a starship fighter pilot, who must protect starbases from invading forces called Zylons. Piloting and combat are shown in the 3D cockpit view, while a 2D galactic map shows the state of the Zylon invasion. Neubauer made the game in his spare time at Atari, inspired by contemporary media such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, as well as the 1971 mainframe game Star Trek.
Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.
Golf is a 1980 sports video game programmed by Michael Lorenzen for Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It is based on the traditional sport of golf. The game allows one or two players to play nine holes of the game, featuring various obstacles.
Space War is a video game cartridge released by Atari, Inc. in 1978 for the Atari Video Computer System. The game is a version of Spacewar!, the 1962 computer game by Steve Russell. It was released by Sears as Space Combat, for its Atari compatible Tele-Games system. An Atari Lynx update was planned but never released.
Freeway is an action video game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1981. In the game, one or two players control chickens who cross a ten lane highway filled with traffic. The goal is to set a high score in an allotted time. Every time a chicken gets across a point is earned for that player. Depending on the difficulty mode, a chicken is forced back a lane or sent back to the bottom of the screen when hit by a vehicle.
Grand Prix is a Formula One Grand Prix motor racing-themed video game. It was designed and programmed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1982.
In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex, all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fuelled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. Space Invaders, the first "killer app" arcade game to be ported, was released in 1980 for the Atari 2600, though earlier Atari-published arcade games were ported to the 2600 previously. Coleco packaged Nintendo's Donkey Kong with the ColecoVision when it was released in August 1982.
Ice Hockey is an ice hockey video game designed by Alan Miller for the Atari VCS, and published by Activision in 1981. Actor and comedian Phil Hartman starred in the commercial for the game.
Barnstorming is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1982. It was the first game designed by Cartwright. The idea for Barnstorming came to him as he watched a biplane one day while driving home from work.
Video Chess is a chess game for the Atari VCS programmed by Larry Wagner and Bob Whitehead and released by Atari in 1979. Both programmers later developed games for Activision.
Superman is a video game programmed by John Dunn for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls Superman, whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find three pieces of a bridge that was destroyed by Lex Luthor, capture Luthor and his criminal gang, and return to the Daily Planet building. The game world is populated by antagonists such as a helicopter that re-arranges the bridge pieces and roving kryptonite satellites that cause Superman to revert into Clark Kent.
Stampede is a video game written by Bob Whitehead for the Atari Video Computer System and published by Activision in 1981. Stampede is a left-to-right, horizontally-scrolling, action game with a cattle round-up theme. An Intellivision version was released the following year.
Laser Blast is a single-player video game developed and published by Activision in March 1981 for the Atari VCS console. Designed by David Crane, one of Activision's co-founders, Laser Blast places players in control of flying saucers attacking land targets.
A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom to create the illusion that the player character is moving in the game world.
Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space is a space flight simulator game designed by Steve Kitchen for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It is one of the first realistic spacecraft simulations available for home systems. Space Shuttle was adapted to the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari 5200 by Bob Henderson (1984), then ported to the ZX Spectrum (1984), Commodore 64 (1984), Amstrad CPC (1986), and MSX (1986). The 1984 Activision Software catalog also mentions an Apple II version.
Othello is a 1980 video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for its Atari Video Computer System. It is based on the variant of Reversi of the same name, originally created in 1971. The VCS game was programmed by Ed Logg and Carol Shaw.
