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Checkpoint (pinball)
''Checkpoint'' is a 1991 pinball machine released by Data East. It featured the first dot matrix display (DMD) ever incorporated into a pinball game. For ''Checkpoint'', Data East used a "half-height" DMD. By way of comparison, Williams later produced machines with standard DMDs that were twice the height. ''Checkpoint'' also features video mode minigames on its display. In 2008, the ''Popular Mechanics'' website included the machine on a list of the top eight most innovative pinball machines of all time.Porges, SethTop 8 Most Innovative Pinball Machines of All Time 5 August 2008, ''Popular Mechanics'' website. Retrieved 22 May 2014. Gameplay The machine's gameplay centers on a ramp with a so-called ''Lasermatic'' speed detection feature that "clock" a pinball's speed by measuring the time between the ball hitting one switch and then a second, translating that time into a speed analogous to that of a racing car. The minimum is 80 MPH; a skilled player can achieve a speed upw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data East
, also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. At one time, the company had annual sales of 20 billion yen in the United States alone but eventually went bankrupt. The American subsidiary, Data East USA, was headquartered in San Jose, California. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The majority of Data East's video games, its trademark and logo, are owned today by the mobile gaming company G-Mode, a subsidiary of Marvelous (company), Marvelous. A small number of Data East video games are owned by other companies, notably Paon DP. History Data East was founded on April 20, 1976, by Tokai University alumnus Tetsuo Fukuda. Data East developed and released in July 1977 its first arcade game ''Jack Lot'', a medal game based on Blackjack for business use. This was followed in January 1978 by ''Super Break'' which was its first actual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haptic Technology
Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer simulation, to control virtual objects, and to enhance remote control of machines and devices (telerobotics). Haptic devices may incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the user on the interface. The word '' haptic'', from the (''haptikos''), means "tactile, pertaining to the sense of touch". Simple haptic devices are common in the form of game controllers, joysticks, and steering wheels. Haptic technology facilitates investigation of how the human sense of touch works by allowing the creation of controlled haptic virtual objects. Vibrations and other tactile cues have also become an integral part of mobile user experience and interface design. Most researchers distinguish three sensory systems related to sense of touch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WMS Industries
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that became WMS Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc. Williams initially was a manufacturer of pinball machines. In 1964, Williams was acquired by jukebox manufacturer Seeburg Corp. and reorganized as Williams Electronics Manufacturing Division. In 1973, the company branched out into the coin-operated arcade video game market with its ''Pong'' clone ''Paddle Ball'', eventually creating a number of video game classics, including '' Defender'', ''Joust'', and '' Robotron: 2084.'' In 1974, Williams Electronics, Inc. was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Seeburg, which changed its name to Xcor International in 1977. Williams Electronics was spun out as an independent company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the ''Color/Graphics Adapter'' or ''IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter'', introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card for the IBM PC and established a De facto standard, de facto computer display standard. Hardware design The original IBM CGA graphics card was built around the Motorola 6845 display controller, came with 16 kilobytes of video memory built in, and featured several graphics and text modes. The highest display resolution of any mode was 640 × 200, and the highest color depth supported was 4-bit (16 colors). The CGA card could be connected either to a direct-drive CRT monitor using a 4-bit digital (Transistor-transistor logic, TTL) RGB(I), RGBI interface, such as the IBM 5153 color display, or to an NTSC-compatible television or composite video computer monitor, monitor via an RCA connector. The RCA connector provided only baseband video, so to connect the CGA card to a television set w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zaccaria (company)
Zaccaria (later briefly operating as Mr. Game before ending production) was an Italian manufacturer of pinball and arcade machines that operated in Bologna from 1974 until 1990. The factory was sold to tecnoplay. History The company was founded as a manufacturer of pinball arcade games in Bologna by the three brothers Marino, Franco and Natale Zaccaria. The logo consists of their initials. Zaccaria was led by Marino Zaccaria, a former manager of a bar near Bologna. At their peak, Zaccaria was the third largest manufacturer of pinball machines in the world after Bally and Williams. The company also entered into the video arcade game sector in the late 1970s. They both licensed games and developed games of their own design. Zaccaria was briefly reorganized under the label Mr. Game before ending production. The company Mr. Game produced pinball machines from 1988 until 1990. Under the Mr. Game label, the company introduced a radical redesign of the traditional pinball cabinet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baby Pac-Man
''Baby Pac-Man'' is a hybrid maze and pinball game released in arcades by Bally Midway on October 11, 1982, nine months after the release of '' Ms. Pac-Man''. The cabinet consists of a 13-inch video screen seated above a shortened, horizontal pinball table. The combination fits into roughly the same size space as an upright arcade machine. 7,000 units were produced. Gameplay Play begins on the video screen, where the player controls Baby Pac-Man through a maze. Play mechanics are similar to ''Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...'' in that the object is to navigate the maze while gobbling dots and avoiding ghosts. In contrast to earlier games in the series, ''Baby Pac-Mans maze starts with no energizers, which allow Baby Pac-Man to eat the ghosts. Instead, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gottlieb
Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games (including ''Q*bert'') throughout much of the 20th century. History Gottlieb's main office and plant was at 1140-50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s, when a new modern plant and office were opened at 165 W. Lake Street in Northlake, IL. A subassembly plant was also built in Fargo, ND. The company was established by David Gottlieb in 1927 with his brother Sol, and initially produced only pinball machines. In October 1932 the company moved to a factory four times the size of its previous one. It later expanded into various other games, including pitch-and-bats, bowling games, and eventually video arcade games (notably '' Reactor'', ''Q*bert'' and ''M*A*C*H*3''.) Like other manufacturers, Gottlieb first made mechanical pinball machines, including the first successful coin-operated pinball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neon
Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of air. Neon was discovered in 1898 alongside krypton and xenon, identified as one of the three remaining rare inert elements in dry air after the removal of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide. Its discovery was marked by the distinctive bright red emission spectrum it exhibited, leading to its immediate recognition as a new element. The name ''neon'' originates from the Greek word , a neuter singular form of (), meaning 'new'. Neon is a chemically inert gas; although neon compounds do exist, they are primarily ionic molecules or fragile molecules held together by van der Waals forces. The synthesis of most neon in the cosmos resulted from the nuclear fusion within stars of oxygen and helium through the alpha-capture proce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plasma Display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat-panel display that uses small cells containing Plasma (physics), plasma: Ionization, ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over diagonal) flat-panel displays to be released to the public. Until about 2007, plasma displays were commonly used in large televisions. By 2013, they had lost nearly all market share due to competition from low-cost liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). Manufacturing of plasma displays for the United States retail market ended in 2014, and manufacturing for the Chinese market ended in 2016. Plasma displays are obsolete, having been superseded in most if not all aspects by OLED displays. Competing display technologies include cathode-ray tube (CRT), organic light-emitting diode (OLED), CRT projectors, AMLCD, digital light processing (DLP), SED-tv, LED display, field emission display (FED), and quantum dot display (QLED). History Early development Kálmán Tihanyi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American Video Game Crash Of 1983
The video game crash of 1983 (known in Japan as the Atari shock) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985 in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in the number of video game consoles and available games, many of which were of poor quality. Waning interest in console games in favor of personal computers also played a role. Home video game revenue peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985 (a drop of almost 97%). The crash abruptly ended what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. To a lesser extent, the arcade video game market also weakened as the golden age of arcade video games came to an end. Lasting about two years, the crash shook a then-booming video game industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing home computers and video game consoles. Analysts of the time e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, most commonly shown in a video format on a television set, computer monitor, flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices, or a virtual reality headset. Most modern video games are audiovisual, with Sound, audio complement delivered through loudspeaker, speakers or headphones, and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback (e.g., haptic technology that provides Touch, tactile sensations). Some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for voice chat in online gaming, in-game chatting and video game livestreaming, livestreaming. Video games are typically categorized according to their hardware platform, which traditionally includes arcade video games, console games, and PC game, comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
