Next Decade at
negative legislation. In an ongoing effort
Atari Public Relations releases these
'
localized success stories to the trade
publications. If you have a news story of
your own, please write in to the attention
of Ms. Jamie Pinto, Media Relations
Specialist.
Along with the debut of the exhibit
came the introduction of the Atari Coin
Executive T~ a complete coin accounting
system for today's complex operator col-
l~ction contr
vides the entrre system to make detailed
information quickly available and to elim-
inate time-consuming hand entry or ex-
pensive computer time-sharing. The ACE
Work Station incorporates the ATARI
800™ Home Computer system. The in-
itial raves are still reverberating all the
way back to California. Availability is
slated for March/ April of 1983.
But most of all, the Next Decade
brings incredible new games ... including
the spine-tingling Millipede™. The creepy
crawlers of Centipede TM have given way
to the ultimate generation of "nasties" in
this all new video adventure fantasy from
Atari. Armed only with bow and arrows,
the player-as the Archer-is deep in a
mystical forest where he must fire
through a field of giant mushrooms to
QA
continued
stop the advancing hordes of larger-than-
life insects .. . hundreds of them. He
risks the sting of defeat, but the chal-
lenge is undeniable. Players can now
select a starting score level from Novice
to Expert. Once upon a time there was
Centipede ... now its magic multiplies.
And the hi~h performance powered
Pole Position M from Atari Racing ... a
new driving game that puts players be-
hind the wheel of a screaming Formula I
racer at the internationally famous Fuji
Speedway. Players first drive a qualifying
lap to enter the Gran Prix race and to
achieve the best position on the starting
grid. Then it's flat out racing against the
clock and other cars. The game's super
realistic point of view makes it fast track
excitement from start to finish, and suc-
cessful drivers can enter their initials in
the "Top 300" Score Table.
And the graphically unparalleled Lib-
erator T~ an intergalactic search and
destroy mission that challenges astro-
pilots to liberate worlds enslaved by the
evil Malaglon Army. Each player controls
a fleet of four drone spaceships. His ob-
jective is to fight off enemy fighter craft
and satellites to zero in on the Malaglon
missile bases. Soaring through hyper-
space, he challenges destiny. With the
' j
•
"Dial-a-Planet" feature, the player can
select his beginning level of play with
each new game.
And the uniquely featured Quantum TM
where the player probes the subatomic
world trying to capture stray atoms
without getting zapped by deadly par-
ticles. Using a Trak-Ball™ controller, he
guides a "sparkler" over the screen to
ensnare particles by drawing a complete
circle around them with its tail. But he
must move adeptly or the tail will begin
to disintegrate. If the player achieves the
top high score, he can actually "draw"
his signature or initials on the screen. It's
super-charged, high energy excitement
for the whole family.
Four separate banks of these new
games lined the Atari AMOA exhibit and
provided an opportunity for operators to
really test out the individual game play.
Marketing Services conducted a high
score T-shirt promotion to encourage a
little friendly competition. Players who
scored over a certain point level on a
designated game were awarded a cor-
responding T-shirt for their efforts. Upon
discovering the "earning power" of skill-
ful video playing, one operator instructed
his son to "get to work!"
The dawning of the Next Decade
brings new light on the horizon. We here
at Atari are committed to maintain our
leadership stance in the industry-in
terms of product earnings potential,
manufacturing reliability, and develop-
ment of positive community awareness.
Join us_ in all the excitement as we forge
ahead rnto 1983 with our continued vi-
sion to challenge technology and cre-
ative game design.
• Pole Position is engineered and designed by Namco Ltd.,
manufactured under license by Atari, Inc.
Did You Know?
In a recent national consumer study
sponsored by Atari, 1940 coin-op game
users and non-users were questioned
about home video game ownership.
There is a high correlation between coi11-. .
op game playing and programmable
home video game ownership. In fact,
46°/o of all home game owners are
heavy coin-op players (play coin-op
games at least once a week.)
A Meteoric Rise in High
Score Points on Asteroids®
It's proven again that records are made
to be broken. After a grueling 53 hours
and 8 minutes on November 13th, Scott
Saffran, age 16, broke a long-standing
record on Asteroids. He amassed an in-
credible score of 41,336,440 points at
the All-American Billiard and Shuffleboard
Company in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Pro-
ceeds for the high score event were do-
nated to Multiple Sclerosis. The previous
Asteroids champ, Leo Daniels of North
Carolina, had achieved 40, 101,91 O points
on February 6, 1982.
~
• , .
Technical Tips
Game: Dig Dug™
Problem: Game play freezes while all
characters cycle through the center of
the playf ield (starting location for Dig
Dug).
Solution: Change 3rd-priority CPU ad-
dress buffers. New boards (A038575):
74LS367 at 3H and 3J. Old boards
(A038156): 74LS367 at location 7M and
7K/L.
Game: Centipede
Problem: Picture flips in upright game.
Solution: Check to see if pins Z and 15
are connected on the large 44-pin con-
nector.