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Phasor Zap
''Phasor Zap'' is a game for the Apple II family of computers, created in 1978 by programmer Chris Oberth and published by The Elektrik Keyboard of Chicago, Illinois. Game play ''Phasor Zap'' presents the player with a purple-tinted starfield that represents the view from the player's spacecraft. Enemy spacecraft appear from the edges of the screen and move straight across it, and it's up to the player to use to the paddles to focus four "phasor" beams onto each ship to destroy it, earning points. The player begins with a limited amount of phasor energy, one point of which is consumed each time the player shoots. When the amount of remaining energy reaches zero, the phasor is depleted and the game is over. When an enemy ship crosses either the vertical or horizontal center line of the screen, it fires, scoring a hit. When this happens, the word "ZAP!" briefly fills the screen. If the player hasn't already run out of phasor energy, the game will end when the enemies score 99 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Elektrik Keyboard
The Elektrik Keyboard was a computer and musical instrument store located on North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, Illinois in the 1970s and 1980s. In the late '70s it added personal computers to its lineup, and began publishing Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mold ... computer software written by programmer Chris Oberth. The software, advertised in the company's catalog and sold on cassette, largely consisted of games including some that emulated popular arcade titles. Software The Elektrik Keyboard published the following titles written by Chris Oberth in 1978 and 1979: File:Elektrik keyboard catalog 1of6.jpg File:elektrik keyboard catalog 2.jpg File:elektrik keyboard catalog 3.jpg File:elektrik keyboard catalog 4.jpg File:elektrik keyboard catalog 5.jpg File:el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Oberth
Christian H. "Chris" Oberth (died July 16, 2012) was a game programmer who created early titles for the Apple II family of personal computers, handheld electronic games for Milton Bradley, and games for coin-operated arcade machines published in the early 1980s. Though not a hit in arcades, Oberth's 1982 ''Anteater'' for Stern Electronics was an influential concept, cloned by a number of developers for 8-bit home computers, including Sierra On-Line as ''Oil's Well''. The following year he wrote his own home version as ''Ardy the Aardvark'' (Datamost, 1983). Oberth's first commercial games, '' Phasor Zap'' (1978) and ''3-D Docking Mission'' (1978) for the Apple II, were published by Programma International, a company which also published games from future arcade game designers Bob Flanagan and Gary Shannon as well as rejecting the first effort from Mark Turmell. His next thirteen Apple II games, in addition to ''Phasor Zap'' and ''3-D Docking Mission'', were published by The Elektr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 In Video Gaming
1978 saw the release of new video games such as '' Space Invaders''. The year is considered the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. The year's highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game ''Space Invaders'', while the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS). Financial performance Highest-grossing arcade games '' Space Invaders'' was the top-grossing video game worldwide in 1978. The following table lists the top-grossing arcade games of 1978 in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide. Japan In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1978, according to the third annual '' Game Machine'' chart, which lists both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same arcade game chart. Taito's '' Space Invaders'' was the first video game to become highest-grossing overall arcade game on the annual ''Game Machine'' charts, after the two previous charts w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single-player
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player, though the game also contains multi-player modes. Most modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player; although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played. The '' Unreal Tournament'' series is one example of such. History The earliest video games, such as '' Tennis for Two'' (1958), '' Spacewar!'' (1962), and '' Pong'' (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as '' Speed Race'' (1974) and '' Spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II Family
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 wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , subdivision_type2 = List of counties in Illinois, Counties , subdivision_name1 = Illinois , subdivision_name2 = Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage , established_title = Settled , established_date = , established_title2 = Municipal corporation, Incorporated (city) , established_date2 = , founder = Jean Baptiste Point du Sable , government_type = Mayor–council government, Mayor–council , governing_body = Chicago City Council , leader_title = Mayor of Chicago, Mayor , leader_name = Lori Lightfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paddle (game Controller)
A paddle is a game controller with a round ''wheel'' and one or more ''fire buttons'', where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. A paddle controller rotates through a fixed arc (usually about 330 degrees); it has a stop at each end. Design The paddle wheel is usually mechanically coupled to a potentiometer, so as to generate an output voltage level varying with the wheel's angle relative to a fixed reference position. A paddle is thus an absolute position controller. That is, without any previous knowledge, the sensor can be read and the result directly indicates the position of the paddle knob. This is in contrast to a rotary encoder-based device or "spinner". Where employed Paddles first appeared in video arcade games with Atari Inc.'s ''Pong'' in 1972, while the first console to use paddles was Magnavox's Odyssey that same year. The Apple II shipped with paddles until 1980. The Atari 2600 used paddles fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weapons In Star Trek
The ''Star Trek'' fictional universe contains a variety of weapons, ranging from missiles (the classic photon torpedo) to melee (primarily used by the Klingons, a race of aliens in the ''Star Trek'' universe). The ''Star Trek'' franchise consists primarily of several multi-season television shows and a dozen movies, as well as various video games and inspired merchandise. Many aspects of the fictional universe impact modern popular culture, especially the lingo and the idea of a spacecraft launching space torpedoes and firing lasers, and have had a wide influence in the late 20th to early 21st century. ''Star Trek'' is popular enough that its science fiction concepts have even been studied by real scientists, and NASA described its science in relation to the real world as "entertaining combination of real science, imaginary science gathered from lots of earlier stories, and stuff the writers make up week-by-week to give each new episode novelty." For example, NASA noted that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Original Series
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began. The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, circa 2266–2269. The ship and crew are led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer and Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Chief Medical Officer Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose: Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship ''Enterprise''. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. Norway Productions and Desilu Productions produced the series from September 1966 to December 1967. Paramount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 Video Games
Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II. * January 10 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, a critic of the Nicaraguan government, is assassinated; riots erupt against Somoza's government. * January 18 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. * January 22 – Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany ''persona non grata''. * January 24 ** Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. ** Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted priso ... [...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] |
