24 Dec
2012
24 Dec
'12
9:01 a.m.
On Mon, 24 Dec 2012, John Wilson wrote:
On Sun, Dec 23, 2012 at 09:16:55PM -0800, Rick Bensene
wrote:
I remember seeing that exact game at the theatre at the Tacoma Mall when I
was a child. I don't think I've ever seen another arcade machine with a
keypad like that.
g.
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Jay wrote
Has anyone already mentioned Space Wars? This was an arcade version that I
don't think is directly descended from the real thing, but anyway it's a
similar game. It was rare but there was one at 1001 Plays (pinball/video
arcade in Cambridge MA), which probably isn't a coincidence (Wikipedia says it
was developed by an MIT grad). It had various options for whether the sun was
visible or how its gravity worked or whether the universe wrapped around at the
edges of the screen or went on forever, which you'd set on a small keypad
(maybe six keys?) with keyboard-like full-stroke keys. It's weird what you
remember... Anyway it was a lot of fun.
I also recall their being a free-standing game
version of the thing.
Nolan Bushnell, of Atari fame, built what he felt could be an arcade
version of Spacewar in 1970. He built it in his daughter's bedroom.
Bushnell licensed the design to a company (I can't remember the name)
that ended up building about 1500 or so of them, calling them
"Computer Space". They are extremely sought-after collector's items
today. I have no idea what hardware was in the machines.