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 Atari 2600 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. Branded as the Atari Video Computer System from its release until November 1982, the VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man.
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". 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 VCS. It was programmed by Larry Kaplan, and David Crane coded the overlaid sprites. The game was well received and sold over one million cartridges by 1983.
Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous river.
Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari Video Computer System 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.
Warlords is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1980. The game resembles a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong ; up to four players play the game at the same time, and the "castles" in the four corners of the screen are brick walls that can be broken with a flaming ball.
Demon Attack is a fixed shooter programmed by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. It sold over 2 million cartridges. Demon Attack was ported to the Intellivision, Magnavox Odyssey 2, Atari 8-bit family, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Tandy 1000, TRS-80, IBM PCjr, and TRS-80 Color Computer. There is also a port for the TI-99/4A titled Super Demon Attack.
Chopper Command is a horizontally scrolling shooter released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in June 1982. It was written by Bob Whitehead. The player flies a helicopter left and right over a scrolling, wraparound landscape, shooting down enemy airplanes to protect a convoy of trucks below.
Atlantis is a fixed shooter video game released by Imagic in July 1982 for the Atari 2600. It was written by Dennis Koble who also wrote Trick Shot, Solar Storm, and Shootin' Gallery for Imagic. Atlantis was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, VIC-20, Intellivision, and the Magnavox Odyssey 2. The game was inspired by Taito's 1981 Colony 7 arcade game.
River Raid is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Activision later ported the title to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, and Intellivision consoles, as well as to the Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, MSX, ZX Spectrum, and Atari 8-bit family. Shaw did the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 ports herself.
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.
Megamania is an Atari 2600 game by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1982. Versions were released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit family in 1983. Megamania is similar to Sega's 1981 arcade title Astro Blaster. Both games have nearly identical patterns of approaching enemies with the player relying on an "energy" meter. The player's ships are remarkably similar in both games.
Enduro is a racing video game designed by Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. Miller previously wrote Spider Fighter for Activision. The object of the game is to complete an endurance race, passing a certain number of cars each day to continue the next day. The visuals change from day to night, and there is occasional inclement weather. A ZX Spectrum port was published in 1984
Loco-Motion, known as Guttang Gottong in Japan, is an arcade puzzle game developed by Konami in 1982 and released by Sega in Japan. The North American rights were licensed to Centuri. In Loco-Motion, the player builds a path for their unstoppable locomotive by moving tracks which will allow it to pick up passengers.
Cosmic Avenger is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Universal Entertainment Corporation and released in arcades by Universal in July 1981. It is one of the first shooters with forced horizontal scrolling along with Konami's Scramble released earlier in the year. The final installment in Universal's Cosmic series, players take control of the Avenger space fighter and use bullets and bombs against enemy forces.
Games by Apollo Inc. was a third-party developer of games for the Atari 2600 video game system, based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded in October 1981 by Pat Roper as a subsidiary of his National Career Consultants (NCC). Apollo's first title was Skeet Shoot, and neither it nor the ten games that followed caught on, and the company was one of the first to declare bankruptcy as a result of the video game crash of 1983.
M Network was a video game division of Mattel that, in the 1980s, produced games in cartridge format for the Atari 2600 video game system.
Home Run is a 1978 sports video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. It was the first baseball-themed game released for an Atari platform. The game received mostly negative critical reception due to its unrealistic portrayal of the sport. It was one of the games used by console competitor Mattel to show the quality improvement of Intellivision sports games over the Atari VCS.
