''Boxing'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

interpretation of the sport of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

developed by programmer

Bob Whitehead Robert A. Whitehead (born November 1, 1953) is an American video game designer and programmer. While working for Atari, Inc. he wrote two of the nine Atari Video Computer System launch titles: ''Blackjack'' and ''Star Ship''. After leaving Atar ...

for the Atari VCS (later renamed to the Atari 2600). It was published by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

in 1980. It's one of the first video games developed by Activision. The game is based on ''Boxer'', an unreleased 1978 arcade game from Whitehead's previous employer,

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

''Boxer'' was written by Mike Albaugh who also wrote ''Drag Race'' for Atari, a game cloned by Activision as '' Dragster''.

Gameplay

''Boxing'' shows a top-down view of two boxers, one white and one black. When close enough, a boxer can hit his opponent with a punch (executed by pressing the fire button on the Atari joystick). This causes his opponent to reel back slightly. Long punches score one point, while closer punches (power punches, from the manual) score two. There are no knockdowns or rounds. A match is completed either when one player lands 100 punches (a "knockout") or two minutes have elapsed (a "decision"). In the case of a decision, the player with the most landed punches is the winner. Ties are possible. While the gameplay is simple, there are subtleties, such as getting an opponent on the "ropes" and "juggling" him back and forth between alternate punches.

Reception

''Boxing'' was reviewed by ''Video'' magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was described as "demonstrat ngActivision's willingness to strike out boldly in new directions" and praised for keeping things from "becoming needlessly complex" by making automatic punch-type selection for the player.

Legacy

''Boxing'' was made available on Microsoft's ''

Game Room Game Room was a social gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room let players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores. ...

'' service in 2010. In 2011, an extended academic version of the game, called ''Clever Boxer'', was developed as a benchmark for

Game AI In video games, artificial intelligence (AI) is used to generate responsive, adaptive or intelligent behaviors primarily in non-player characters (NPCs) similar to human-like intelligence. Artificial intelligence has been an integral part of vid ...

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers, url=http://dadgum.com/giantlist/, last1=Hague, first1=James

External links

*
Boxing
' at AtariAge 1980 video games Activision games Boxing video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games Top-down video games Video games developed in the United States

Gameplay

Reception

Legacy

See also

References

External links