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An Easter egg is a message, image, or feature hidden in software, a video game, a film, or another, usually electronic, medium. The term used in this manner was coined around 1979 by Steve Wright, the then-Director of Software Development in the Atari Consumer Division, to describe a hidden message in the Atari video game Adventure, in reference to an Easter egg hunt. The earliest known video game Easter egg is in Moonlander (1973), in which the player tries to land a Lunar module on the moon; if the player opts to fly the module horizontally through several of the game's screens, they encounter a McDonald's restaurant, and if they land next to it the astronaut will visit it instead of standing next to the ship. The earliest known Easter egg in software in general is one placed in the "make" command for PDP-6/PDP-10 computers sometime in October 1967–October 1968, wherein if the user attempts to create a file named "love" by typing "make love", the program responds "not war?" before proceeding.
Battlezone is a first-person shooter tank combat game released for arcades in November 1980 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a tank which is attacked by other tanks and missiles, using a small radar scanner to locate enemies around them in the barren landscape. Its innovative use of 3D graphics made it a huge hit, with approximately 15,000 units sold.
Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them.
Spy Hunter is a vehicular combat action game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is to drive down roads in the technologically advanced "Interceptor" car and destroy various enemy vehicles with a variety of onboard weapons. Spy Hunter was produced in both sit-down and standard upright versions with the latter being more common. The game's controls consist of a steering wheel in the form of a futuristic aircraft-style yoke with several special-purpose buttons, a two-position stick shift, and a pedal used for acceleration.
Stargate is a side-scrolling shooter game released for arcades in 1981 by Williams Electronics. Created by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, it is a sequel to Defender which was released earlier in the year. It was the first of only three productions from Vid Kidz, an independent development house formed by Jarvis and DeMar.
Gorf is an arcade video game released in 1981 by Midway Manufacturing, whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force". It is a fixed shooter with five distinct levels, the first of which is based on Space Invaders and another on Galaxian. The game makes heavy use of synthesized speech for the Gorfian robot which teases the player, powered by the Votrax speech chip. Gorf allows the player to buy 2 additional lives per quarter before starting the game, for a maximum of 7 lives.
Crystal Castles is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls Bentley Bear who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well. Crystal Castles is one of the first arcade action games with an ending, instead of continuing indefinitely, looping, or ending in a kill screen, and to contain advance warp zones.
Phoenix is a fixed shooter arcade video game released in December 1980 by Taito. It was then released in Europe, and then in the Americas by Centuri and Amstar Electronics in January 1981.
Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter video game designed by Mike Hally and released in arcades in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, Star Wars has been included on lists of the greatest video games of all time.
Starhawk is a 1979 vector arcade game designed and programmed by Tim Skelly and manufactured by Cinematronics. Starhawk is a shoot 'em up unofficially based on the Star Wars: Episode IV trench run, one of the first arcade games to blatantly use concepts from Star Wars. The game was unique at the time for its pseudo-3D graphics. It was distributed in Japan by Sega, and was later ported for the Vectrex home system in 1982.
Star Fire is a first-person arcade coin-operated space combat video game created by Technical Magic for Midway-Bally and licensed for manufacture to Exidy in December 1978. It was distributed in Japan by Taito and Esco Trading in 1979. Designed by Caltech engineers Ted Michon, and David Rolfe and inspired by the movie Star Wars, the game is not based on a licensed property.
Space Dungeon is a multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Taito in 1981. Designed and programmed by Rex Battenberg, it was available both as a conversion kit and full arcade cabinet. An Atari 5200 port was released in 1983.
Vanguard is a scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by TOSE. It was released by SNK in Japan and Europe in 1981, and licensed to Centuri for manufacture in North America in October and to Zaccaria in Italy the same year. Cinematronics converted the game to cocktail arcade cabinets in North America. The player flies a ship through forced-scrolling tunnels with sections that move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, to reach a boss at the end. The ship is controlled with an 8-way joystick, and it can fire in four directions via four buttons in a diamond arrangement.
Space Eggs is a fixed shooter video game for the Apple II computer programmed by Nasir Gebelli and published by Sirius Software in 1981. An Atari 8-bit family port by Dan Thompson was released the same year. Space Eggs is an unofficial version of the arcade video game Moon Cresta.
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator is a space combat simulation arcade game based on the original Star Trek television program and movie series, and released by Sega in 1983. Star Trek uses color vector graphics for both a 2D display and a 3D first-person perspective. The player controls the Starship Enterprise and must defend sectors from invading Klingon ships. The game includes synthesized speech
Starblade is a 1991 3D rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. Controlling the starfighter FX-01 "GeoSword" from a first-person perspective, the player is tasked with eliminating the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species (UIMS) before they wipe out Earth. Gameplay involves controlling a crosshair with a flight yoke stick and destroying enemies and their projectiles before they inflict damage on the player.
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.
Space Lords is a video game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1992. It is a first-person perspective space combat video game.
Space Zap is a space-themed reflex action arcade game developed by Game-A-Tron and licensed to Midway Manufacturing in 1980. Space Zap shipped in three form factors: standard upright, cocktail, and Bally's Mini-Myte reduced size cabinet. An official port of Space Zap for the Bally Astrocade was released in 1981 as Space Fortress.
Starblade: Operation Blue Planet is an unreleased 3D rail shooter arcade game in development by Namco. A sequel to the game Starblade (1991), the player controls the GeoCalibur starship in its mission to wipe out an alien race known as the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species. Gameplay involved using a flight-yoke controller to control a crosshair and shoot down enemies, while avoiding incoming obstacles and projectiles. The player has a shield that depletes when inflicted with enemy fire. Only one level was completed. It ran on the PlayStation 2-based Namco System 246 arcade hardware.
References
- 1 2 "Video Game Flyers: Starship 1, Atari, Inc. (Germany)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Star Ship 1". Media Arts Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs . Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ↑ Fries, Ed (25 March 2017). "The Hunt For The First Arcade Game Easter Egg". Kotaku .
- ↑ Weiss, Brett. Classic Home Video Games, 1972–1984: A Complete Reference Guide. McFarland & Co. p. 112.
Publisher: Atari. Developer: Atari. First-Person Shooter.
- ↑ Starship 1 at the Killer List of Videogames
- ↑ Interview with Bob Whitehead from DP Interviews
- ↑ Starship 1 service manual, Atari.
- ↑ Fries, Ed (March 22, 2017). "Chasing the First Arcade Easter Egg".