''TX-1'' is an arcade

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

simulation game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...

developed by Tatsumi and released in 1983. It was licensed to

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

, who in turn licensed it to Atari, Inc. for release in the United States, thus the game is considered a successor to ''

Pole Position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

'' and ''

Pole Position II is the sequel to Racing video game, racing Sim racing, simulation game ''Pole Position'', released by Namco for Arcade game, arcades in 1983. As with its predecessor, Namco licensed this game to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution. ...

''. It was also released in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe via Atari Ireland.

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

handled distribution in the

Eastern Hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...

. ''TX-1'' placed a greater emphasis on realistic

simulation racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

than previous games in the genre, with details such as forcing players to brake or downshift the gear during corners to avoid the risk of losing control, and let go of the accelerator when going into a skid in order to regain control of the steering. It was also the first car driving game to use force feedback technology, which caused the steering wheel to vibrate, and the game also featured a unique three-screen arcade display for a more

three-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...

perspective of the track. It also introduced

nonlinear gameplay A video game with nonlinear gameplay presents players with challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences. Each may take on (or even encounter) only some of the challenges possible, and the same challenges may be played in a ...

by allowing players to choose which path to drive through after each checkpoint, eventually leading to one of eight possible final destinations. A sequel, ''TX-1 V8'', was released in 1984. Both ''TX-1'' and its sequel were highly successful in Japan, where they were the top-grossing upright/cockpit

arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

s for a combined sixteen months between 1983 and 1985. The sequel was not licensed by Atari for North American release.

Gameplay

Gameplay is similar to ''Pole Position'', in that the player, piloting a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racecar, needs to reach a

check point Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is an Israeli multinational provider of software and combined hardware and software products for IT security, including network security, endpoint security, cloud security, mobile security, data security ...

in a certain period of time in order to continue playing. While negotiating the course, the driver needs to exercise caution in the turns, as excessive speed will cause the car to skid; additionally, the driver needs to pass slower cars carefully to avoid a fiery crash. Unlike ''Pole Position'', each stage ends at a branch point; depending on which way the driver turns, the course will be substantially different. The final two stages of this five-stage game were based upon famous Formula One races of the time and are identified by the name of the country; the path chosen during the previous three stages determines which "races" can be run in the final two stages. ''TX-1'' was a pioneer in this style of play, which would be copied by myriad other games, especially

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

's successful ''

Out Run (also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and ...

'' series.

Development

Though ''TX-1'' uses

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

similar to the 1982 release ''

'', developed by Namco and published by Atari, ''TX-1'' uses a unique surround-style, sit-down three-screen display. In this design, the primary monitor is mounted directly in front of the steering wheel and secondary monitors, angled at thirty degrees, are mounted both to the left and the right of the primary monitor. At the top of the left monitor is a display of the score and the car's current position; at the top of the right monitor is a running total of cars passed during the race. A display of stage, speed, and time remaining is at the top of the primary screen. The immense size of the cabinet limited the number of arcades which could display this game.

Reception

''Game Machine'' listed ''TX-1'' as Japan's top-grossing upright/cockpit

of December 1983. ''TX-1'' continued to top the Japanese upright/cockpit arcade charts for six months into 1984, through January, February, March and April up until May. It was later Japan's tenth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the latter half of 1986. Upon release, ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...

'' magazine called it "possibly the most sophisticated racing simulation game on the market to date" and said it was "a thrilling game!"

Legacy

A sequel, ''TX-1 V8'', was released by Tatsumi in 1984 and was licensed to

. In Japan, it topped the ''Game Machine'' upright/cockpit arcade charts for about ten months, from September 1984, through October, November and December, up until July 1985. Both ''TX-1'' games topped the ''Game Machine'' upright/cockpit charts for a combined sixteen months between December 1983 and July 1985. It was later Japan's eighth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the first half of 1986. This game was not licensed by

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and was rare in North America.

References

External links

*
A short video
from the

Starcade ''Starcade'' is an American game show where contestants competed against one another by playing arcade video games. The series originally aired on WTBS from 1982 to 1983, followed by a run in syndication for the following season. The seri ...

TV show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...