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It was 10 years ago that the first man landed on the moon.
Now, with Atari's new LUNAR LANDER™ game, anyone can at-
tempt this astronautical challenge. This game gives players the
opportunity to try landing their own lunar capsule on the moon
while battling the realistically simulated effects of gravity, fric-
tion and velocity.
LUNAR LANDER gives the feel of commanding a real space
mission. The responsive thrust and rotation controls are used
to direct the lunar module to the selected landing site. Watching
the altitude, vertical and horizontal speed displays, the player
guides the ship to a perfect touchdown. To avoid a crash there is
an abort button that can be used at the cost of extra fuel units;
this will start a new mission. As skill is developed, a more dif-
ficult mission can be selected from the four different choices.
The level of difficulty relates to the gravity and friction effect on
the landing module.
The popular Add-a-Coin™ feature also encourages longer
landing missions. There is a distinct audio signal when fuel is
low to remind the player that extra coins can be added to ex-
tend their time. After each landing attempt a new mission
begins immediately, keeping the adventure and excitement
level high.
''Player response has proven LUNAR LANDER to be one of
the top games ever introduced,'' reported Frank Ballouz,
Atari's Marketing Director. ''It is a realistic simulation of land-
ing on the moon that challenges players to keep trying for bet-
ter scores.'' Atari's new QuadraScan ™ video display system and
close-up landing site magnification also adds to the visual ap-
peal and player excitement.
~~
QuadraScan
Introduced by Atari
Service Schools
A Success
TM
With LUNAR LANDER™ and
ASTEROIDS™, Atari introduces
their new generation of video games
with precision visual effects created
by the QuadraScan™ display
system. This specially developed
random scan display system allows
for more realistic animation and
three-dimensional effects.
The new system includes com-
plete control of the video beam from
the main PCB rather than being in-
ternally controlled by the monitor.
For ease of replacement, there are
only three boards with the Quadra-
Scan display: power supply, deflec-
tion, and high voltage. Overall,
there are fewer hardware com-
ponents on the monitor boards than
most other similar systems. An ad-
ditional service advantage on
Atari's system is an LED indicator
on the monitor board that clearly
shows whether a potential problem
is on the monitor or the main PCB.
The Quad.raScan display works by
drawing vectors on the screen. The
vector generator also controls the
brightness of the beam, allowing
consistent linear displays. This
system makes a picture with much
finer detail, greater resolution, and
smoother movement.
''Atari's QuadraScan display
system gives us the opportunity to
develop a wider variety of unique
games, offering superior visuals,"
noted Frank Ballouz, Director of
Marketing. "LUNAR LANDER is
the first of these new high impact
games, and the response from the
field has been excellent.''
Fred McCord and the field service
staff, Russ MacDonald and Bob
Salmons, conducted over 70 Atari
service schools in 1979. They were
held all over the world. Thousands
of distributors, operators and ser-
vice technicians attended these one
and two day sessions. Subjects
covered included a wide range of in-
formation on troubleshooting,
repair and maintenance of Atari
video and pinball games.
The Atari field service staff will be
at their both at the AMOA to off er
technical information and advice to
operators and their service
representatives. If you would like to
attend an Atari service school in the
next year, contact Fred McCord,
Field Service Manager, or any Atari
distributor.