1 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/computer_space_flyer_5.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:300:Not Included: LadyNotAppearingInThisGame]] |
3 | |
4 | ''Computer Space'' is the first commercially sold MediaNotes/ArcadeGame, created by [[Creator/{{Atari}} Nolan Bushnell]] and released in November 1971. It's a one or two player version of ''VideoGame/SpaceWar''. ''Space War'' had previously been software running on [[Platform/MainframesAndMinicomputers $20,000 general-purpose hardware]]; Bushnell's innovation was to use cheap logic chips to create a machine specifically for playing this one game. |
5 | |
6 | Some versions were one-player against two flying saucers, others were PlayerVersusPlayer. It's a simplified version of ''Space War'', without the planet and gravity. Your ship fires OneBulletAtATime, and you can guide it by turning your ship. In one-player versions, if you [[ScoringPoints score more points]] than the saucers at the end of [[TimedMission 90 seconds]], you get another 90 seconds of gameplay. |
7 | |
8 | Bushnell created ''Computer Space'' at home, and sold the game to Nutting and Associates, a maker of mechanical coin-op games. It was not a success, because drunks in a bar couldn't understand how to play a game designed for college students. Bushnell left Nutting and founded his own company, Syzygy Corp., later Creator/{{Atari}}. |
9 | |
10 | Notably, it has a brief cameo in ''Film/SoylentGreen'' as one of the expensive toys left behind in William Simonson's lavishly equipped apartment after his murder. |
11 | |
12 | ---- |
13 | !!''Computer Space'' provides examples of: |
14 | |
15 | * TwoDSpace: Your spaceships can only move up, down, left and right around the screen. |
16 | * ArbitraryWeaponRange: Missiles disappear at a certain distance. |
17 | * CollisionDamage: Destroys both you and the saucers, scoring a point for each of you. |
18 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The two player versions of Computer Space had their cabinets painted green. The one player ones were painted red, yellow, and blue. |
19 | * EveryBulletIsATracer: Your missiles and the enemy's are always visible. |
20 | * LadyNotAppearingInThisGame: Probably the UrExample for an actual game. The [[http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=1530&image=1 game's flyer]] features a woman in a low-cut white gown (which is translucent enough her panties are visible) leaning on the cabinet. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210712123327/https://xtremeretro.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Computer-Space-Nutting-Associates-1971-Arcade-Flyer-Xtreme-Retro-2.png An alternate flyer]] goes a step further, featuring the same woman in another pose that has her [[LegFocus showing some leg]]. |
21 | * NoPlotNoProblem: No mention is given as to who you are, who the enemies are, why you're fighting, or where in space you are. |
22 | * OneBulletAtATime: Everyone has to wait until their missile reaches maximum range and disappears to fire again. Even if you hit an enemy, because that ''doesn't'' destroy your missile! |
23 | * OneHitPointWonder: All the spaceships explode with a single hit. |
24 | * PlayerVersusPlayer: Some versions pit two player-controlled spaceships against each other. |
25 | * ScoringPoints: Players and computer-controlled saucers all score a point each time they destroy an enemy. |
26 | * TimedMission: 99 seconds to score more points than the saucers in one-player versions. |
27 | * WrapAround: In both versions, every ship that goes off the screen reappears on the other side. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext VideoGame / ComputerSpace
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load