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Epoch (video Game)
''Epoch'' is a space combat simulator for the Apple II written by Larry Miller and published by Sirius Software in 1981. Gameplay ''Epoch'' uses a first-person camera to aim at oncoming enemy spaceships. The player must steer the reticle in-line with the enemy ships in order to destroy them before they destroy the player's ship. The player does not have infinite ammo or fuel, but can steer the ship towards friendly spaceships and bases to refuel. Reception Ron Boerger reviewed ''Epoch'' in ''The Space Gamer'' No. 48, commenting that "this is an excellent game. If you like arcade-type games, ''Epoch'' is a must; it's among the best out for the Apple." Barry Gittleman reviewed the game for ''Computer Gaming World'', and stated that "If you are the type that likes simple games, like ''Space Invaders'', pinball, etc., you will probably have a bit of trouble adjusting to ''Epoch'', which at times can be a very high speed game. Most computer gamers, especially space and shoot-em-up love ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sirius Software
Sirius Software was a video game publisher of Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20 games in the early 1980s. Sirius also developed games for the Atari 2600 which were published by 20th Century Fox Video Games. History The company was founded in the early 1980s by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley. It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after 20th Century Fox (Fox Video Games) failed to pay over USD$18 Million in owed royalties.S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984 Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer video games, software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author Steven Levy in his book '' Hackers''. Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by programmer Nasir Gebelli. Gebelli's breakthrough game was ''Gorgon'', which brought the gameplay of the arcade's '' Defender'' to the Apple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II Series
The Apple II series (trademarked with square brackets as "Apple ] ''" and rendered on later models as "Apple //") is a family of home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), and launched in 1977 with the Apple II, original Apple II. In terms of ease of use, features, and expandability, the Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, a limited-production bare circuit board computer for electronics hobbyists. Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. A model with more advanced graphics and sound and a 16-bit processor, the Apple IIGS, was added in 1986. It remained compatible with earlier Apple II models, but the IIGS had more in common with mid-1980s systems like the Atari ST, Amiga, and Acorn Archimedes. The Apple II w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 In Video Gaming
Fueled by the previous year's release of the colorful and appealing ''Pac-Man'', the audience for arcade games in 1981 became much wider. ''Pac-Man'' influenced maze games began appearing in arcades and on home systems. ''Pac-Man'' was again the year's highest-grossing video game for the second year in a row. Nintendo released the arcade game ''Donkey Kong'', which defined the platformer genre. Other arcade hits released in 1981 include '' Defender'', '' Scramble'', ''Frogger'', and ''Galaga''. The year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch, for the second year in a row. Financial performance * The arcade video game market in the US generates $4.8 billion in revenue. * The home video game market in the US generates $1 billion in sales revenue, with Atari remaining the market leader. * The home video game market in Europe is worth $200 million. Highest-grossing arcade games The year's highest-grossing video game was ''Pac-Man'' with in arcade game revenue, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Combat Simulator
A space flight simulation is a genre of flight simulator video games that lets players experience space flight to varying degrees of realism. Common mechanics include space exploration, space trade and space combat. Overview Some games in the genre aim to recreate a realistic portrayal of space flight, involving the calculation of orbits within a more complete physics simulation than pseudo space flight simulators. Others focus on gameplay rather than simulating space flight in all its facets. The realism of the latter games is limited to what the game designer deems to be appropriate for the gameplay, instead of focusing on the realism of moving the spacecraft in space. Some "flight models" use a physics system based on Newtonian physics, but these are usually limited to maneuvering the craft in its direct environment, and do not take into consideration the orbital calculations that would make such a game a simulator. Many of the pseudo simulators feature faster than light tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reticle
A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, to provide measurement references during visual inspections. Today, engraved lines or embedded fibers may be replaced by a digital image superimposed on a screen or eyepiece. Both terms may be used to describe any set of patterns used for aiding visual measurements and calibrations, but in modern use ''reticle'' is most commonly used for weapon sights, while ''graticule'' is more widely used for non-weapon measuring instruments such as oscilloscope display, astronomic telescopes, microscopes and slides, surveying instruments and other similar devices. There are many variations of reticle pattern; this article concerns itself mainly with the most rudimentary reticle: the crosshair. Crosshairs are typically represented as a pair o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Space Gamer
''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The magazine is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title ''Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer''. History ''The Space Gamer'' (''TSG'') started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts company in March 1975. Howard M. Thompson, the owner of Metagaming and the first editor of the magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now" (after their first game, ''Stellar Conquest''). Initial issues were in a plain-paper digest format. By issue 17, it had grown to a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper. When Steve Jackson departed Metagaming to found his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the creation of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', SJ Games created several role-playing and strategy games with science fiction themes. SJ Games' early titles were microgames initially sold in 4×7 inch ziploc bags, and later in the similarly sized Pocket Box. Games such as ''Ogre'', '' Car Wars'', and ''G.E.V'' (an ''Ogre'' spin-off) were popular during SJ Games' early years. Game designers such as Loren Wiseman and Jonathan Leistiko have worked for Steve Jackson Games. Today SJ Games publishes a variety of games, such as card games, board games, strategy games, and in different genres, such as fantasy, sci-fi, and gothic horror. They also published the book '' Principia Discordia'', the sacred text of the Discordian religion. Raid by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through the 1990s and became one of the largest dedicated video game magazines, reaching around 500 pages by 1997. In the early 2000s its circulation was about 300,000, only slightly behind the market leader '' PC Gamer''. But, like most magazines of the era, the rapid move of its advertising revenue to internet properties led to a decline in revenue. In 2006, Ziff announced it would be refocused as ''Games for Windows'', before moving it to solely online format, and then shutting down completely later the same year. History In 1979, Russell Sipe left the Southern Baptist Convention ministry. A fan of computer games, he realized in spring 1981 that no magazine was dedicated to computer games. Although Sipe had no publishing experience, he formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Personal Computer World
''Personal Computer World'' (''PCW'') (February 1978 - June 2009) was the first British computer magazine. Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content (reflecting the state of the IT field), the magazine's title was not intended as a specific reference to this. At its inception in 1978 'personal computer' was still a generic term (the Apple II, PET 2001 and TRS-80 had been launched as personal computers in 1977.) The magazine came out before the Wintel (or IBM PC compatible) platform existed; the original IBM PC itself was introduced in 1981. Similarly, the magazine was unrelated to the Amstrad PCW. History ''PCW'' was founded by the Croatian-born Angelo Zgorelec"About the authors" visit-croatia.co.uk. Article retrieved 2006-11-24. in 1978, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronic Games
An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common forms of electronic game including handheld electronic games, standalone systems (e.g. pinball, slot machines, or electro-mechanical arcade games), and exclusively non-visual products (e.g. audio games). Teletype games The earliest form of computer game to achieve any degree of mainstream use was the text-based Teletype game. Teletype games lack video display screens and instead present the game to the player by printing a series of characters on paper which the player reads as it emerges from the platen. Practically this means that each action taken will require a line of paper and thus a hard-copy record of the game remains after it has been played. This naturally tends to reduce the size of the gaming universe or alternatively to r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Video Games
Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments. * January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican. * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. * January 21 – The first DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. * January 24 – An earthquake of magnitude in Sichuan, China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day. * January 25 – In South Africa the largest part of the tow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II Games
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ''Malus sieversii'', is still found today. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were brought to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition. Apples grown from seed tend to be very different from those of their parents, and the resultant fruit frequently lacks desired characteristics. Generally, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks. Apple trees grown without rootstocks tend to be larger and much slower to fruit after planting. Rootstocks are used to control the speed of growth and the size of the resulting tree, allowing for easier harvesting. There are more th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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