 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video game publishing |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Products | Double-Ender |
| Parent | K-tel Software Inc. |
Xonox, a division of K-tel Software, was an American third-party manufacturer of cartridges for the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, and VIC-20 in the early 1980s. Xonox was one of many small video game companies to fold during the Video Game Crash of 1983.
Xonox, based in Minnesota, started developing Atari cartridges during the height of the 2600's popularity. [1] Xonox capitalized on the novelty and perceived value of "double-ender" cartridges. These could be inserted into the console on one of the two ends, each end offering a different game. Different double-ender configurations could package the same game with different counterparts. Xonox was not the first company to try this; Playaround did it earlier with their adult-themed titles. [2] Xonox eventually abandoned this idea and began releasing single versions of some of the titles previously offered as double-enders as well as a few new titles.
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 Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively.
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one of the first consoles with backward compatibility. It shipped with a different model of joystick from the 2600-standard CX40 and Pole Position II as the pack-in game. Most of the announced titles at launch were ports of 1981–83 arcade video games.
Adventure is a video game developed by Warren Robinett for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1980 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a square avatar whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find a magical chalice and return it to the golden castle. The game world is populated by roaming enemies: three dragons that can eat the avatar and a bat that randomly steals and hides items around the game world. Adventure introduced new elements to console games, including a play area spanning multiple screens and enemies that continue to move when offscreen.
Joseph Warren Robinett Jr. is a designer of interactive computer graphics software, notable as the developer of the Atari 2600's Adventure — the first graphical adventure video game — and as a founder of The Learning Company, where he designed Rocky's Boots and Robot Odyssey. More recently he has worked on virtual reality projects.
In video game parlance, a multicart is a cartridge that contains more than one game. Typically, the separate games are available individually for purchase or were previously available individually. For this reason, collections, anthologies, and compilations are considered multicarts. The desirability of the multicart to consumers is that it provides better value, greater convenience, and more portability than the separate games would provide. The advantage to developers is that it allows two or more smaller games to be sold together for the price of one larger game, and provides an opportunity to repackage and sell older games one more time, often with little or no changes.
Chuck Norris Superkicks is a video game produced by Xonox in 1984. It was later sold as Kung Fu Superkicks when the license for the use of the name Chuck Norris expired. The game was produced for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Atari 2600, and ColecoVision as part of Xonox's double-ender cartridge line.
The TV Boy and its successors TV Boy II and Super TV Boy are 1990s handheld TV games sold by many different companies, including Systema, Akor, and NICS, based upon an unlicensed clone of Atari 2600 hardware. They were widely available across Europe. In the UK, they were most visibly available through Argos. They were released around 1992 and three years later, an improved version of the TV Boy 2, the Super TV Boy, was also made by Akor.
Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty. Ltd. is an Australian company that distributes computer games and gaming equipment. HES' offices are based in Riverwood, Sydney. HES's founder and managing director is Sebastian Giompaolo.
Chase the Chuck Wagon is a 1983 promotional video game written by Mike Schwartz for the Atari 2600 and distributed by Purina. It was available only via mail order by sending in proofs of purchase to Purina. In the 1970s and 1980s, popular television commercials for Purina dog food included a dog chasing a tiny chuckwagon. The gameplay is loosely based on this premise.
Artillery Duel is an artillery game originally written for the Bally Astrocade by Perkins Engineering and published by Bally in 1982. John Perkins wrote the game first in Astro BASIC, submitting it to The Arcadian fanzine, from which it was adapted for the Astro BASIC manual. Perkins subsequently developed the Astrocade cartridge.
Rebecca Ann Heineman is an American video game designer and programmer. Heineman was a founding member of video game companies Interplay Productions, Logicware, Contraband Entertainment, and Olde Sküül. She has been chief executive officer for Olde Sküül since 2013.
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 1982 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.
Pac-Man is a 1982 maze video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. under official license by Namco, and an adaptation of the 1980 hit arcade game of the same name. The player controls the title character, who attempts to consume all of the wafers while avoiding four ghosts that pursue him. Eating flashing wafers at the corners of the screen will cause the ghosts to turn temporarily blue and flee, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
Ghost Manor is a horror video game that was released by Xonox in 1983 for the Atari 2600 and VIC-20. It was generally packaged in a double ended cartridge and a cassette tape along with one of three other games in an effort to appeal to budget conscious buyers who would purchase two games for the price of one cartridge and one cassette tape. There was also a more limited release of single ended cartridges and cassette tapes containing Ghost Manor by itself. The double ended cartridges and cassette tapes paired Ghost Manor with the platform game Spike's Peak, the fighting game Chuck Norris Superkicks, and a strategy game called Artillery Duel.
The Atari video game burial was a mass burial of unsold video game cartridges, consoles, and computers in a New Mexico landfill site, undertaken by the American video game and home computer company Atari, Inc. in 1983. Before 2014, the goods buried were rumored to be unsold copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), one of the largest commercial video game failures and often cited as one of the worst video games ever released, and the 1982 Atari 2600 port of Pac-Man, which was commercially successful but critically maligned.
Slot Racers is a video game for the Atari VCS published by Atari, Inc. in 1978. It was the first game written by Warren Robinett, who went on to create one of Atari's most successful games for the 2600, Adventure.
Telegames, Inc. is an American video game company based in Mabank, Texas, with a sister operation based in England.
Atari 2600 homebrew is a term describing hobbyist-developed games for the Atari 2600 video game console. The first such game was written in 1995, and more than 100 have been released since then. The majority of games are unlicensed clones of games for other platforms, and many were written for the technical challenge. There are also ROM hacks and some original games. Several games have received attention outside the hobbyist community. Some have been included in a game anthology by Activision.
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