Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 88

1982 FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM SATURDAY MARCH 13 1982 The mystique of Pac-Man continues to beckon 6F Pac-Man offered a more positive type of skill: Mind yourbusiness and follow the right path and you won't get in trouble (does this sound like a sermon?) many as 10 game cartridges that will fit the current Artari consoles The other major entry in the field is Activision a three-year-old company formed specifically to design and sell cartridges that fit in Artariconsoles So far its success has been spectacular going from an initial sales total of $5 million to more than $50 million last year (Another firm also makes two cartridges for Atari: Apollo of Richardson Tex which makes Skeet Shoot and Space Chase) Activision has had its successes by featuring different types of games (skiing tennis calf-roping hockey a chicken crossing the road and catching bombs dropped by a mad bomber) that also don't depend on macho appeal (although there is a drag race a boxing game and a Laser Blast cartridge) and also provide a little finer detail than the Atari units It has also come up with what admittedly was something of a gimmick in its initial stages but has proved to be a highly popular item: Clubs With most of the Activision cartridges comes a challenge that if a certain score can be reached the owner can become a member of an honor society of sorts For instance on the "Freeway" cartridge in which the object is to guide a chicken across a traffic-laden freeway withouth getting smushed (the worst freeway in the game: Dallas) high scorers can become members of the "Save the Chicken Foundation" Seven of the game cartridges now have these honorary societies and total membership is more than 12000 Club members get membership certificates and a quarterly newsletter Proof of scoring is simple: A photograph of the TV screen with the required score is all that's necessary Everybody is looking for the answer But for the time being and that's a time being that appears to be a long time being Pac-Man rules the world Even without a quarterly newsletter with a slightly high-pitched squeaking voice saying "baka baka baka" That's close) As a result the game is credited with being the item which brought women into video game parlors "Women aren't much interested in just shooting rocks out of space" said Jef Hof of Atari in a published interview "They are more attracted to Pac-Man because it is non-violent and involves a little more of the thought process" he said One teen-age aficionado was a little more succinct about why she likes Pac-Man above all others: "I can beat it" But that's not all: "Besides he's so cute" Simplicity of operation apparently has some bearing on the game's popularity It's a difficult game to score astronomically high on but it's easy enough to master some successes "The joystick or control lever is simpler than with most games" said Dr Rich Citrin of the counseling center at Texas Christian University "It can be played with one hand Most (games) need an extra hand for thrusting or firing "Neophytes like Pac-Man initially because it's fairly easy to control: all linear moves in a fixed direction simpler in design even though complex" A spokesman for the American li-cencee of the game Bally Manufacturing Corp's Midway Division in Chicago says Pac-Man "is the first game that came along with a character people can identify with a cute character Even the monsters are cute" As a matter of fact Pac-Man is really patterned after a hockey puck (although it is difficult to imagine a "cute" hockey puck) and in Japan his homeland he's known as "Puck-Man" a not-very-appealing name in America (Pac by the way is a loose translation of a Japanese word meaning "to gobble or eat" Atari people say Atari itself means "You are about to be Whatever the reason Pac-Man is the most successful video parlor game to date Midway-Bally has manufactured 100000 of the consoles and a spokesman said there are probably Continued from Page 1 through patience or reading was able to plop down one quarter and play for hours This obviously just wouldn't do Ms Pac-Man of ers at least a temporary answer to that challenge: While the game is essentially the same it eatures a constantly-changing pattern that may make it more trouble than it's worth to try to beat the system So perhaps there's a whole 'nother world of teen-age (and some not-so-teen-age) groupies to develop vying for their spot in line quarters or tokens in sweaty hands Pac-Man has established a new direction for video games The first real superstar of the video parlors was Space Invaders followed in somewhat less spectactular fashion by Asteroids (The original biggie Pong doesn't count because it didn't have any competition) -There are other pretenders and various game ideas come and go (Defender Centipede Missile Command are all pretty "hot" right now) but all have one element in common: They depended on a macho appeal thiit involves blasting away at monsters and other assorted baddies who if you don't get them first will smash bljist eat zap or otherwise do away with you Pac-Man offered a more positive type of skill: Mind your business and follow the right path and you won't get in trouble (does this sound like a sermon?) Pac-Man has its threats of course: The four little ghosts who chase the man (or miz as the case may be) just waiting for a stumble But even if one of the ghosts catches our hero before he gobbles up all the little dots on a maze or before he eats a power pill there is none of the blasting into oblivion When caught Pac-Man simply deflates like a leaky balloon No violence When Pac-Man eats a power pill he can then turn around and chase the ghosts getting points for each one he gobbles up But again it's clean and quick with no obvious violence Even its sound effects are non-threatening (Talk into a plastic cup ployees said In a world as highly competitive as the video game business Pac-Man is leading at the moment But it like its pattern is being chased and not by ghosts either Already there are signs of a new champion on the horizon Something of a consensus of hardcore game parlor residents points to a game called "Donkey Kong" as the heir apparent This one with some of the most impressive graphics of any current game involves a King Kong who steals a Fay Wray or a Hope Lange and carries her up to the top of an under-construction building The hero has to climb up the girders all the while Kong drops barrels and fire-things down upon him which he must dodge and evade in order to stay in action Not exactly the same non-violence emphasis of Pac-Man but also not quite the same macho-hyping blasting away at invading monsters either But it is also not quite so easy to master apparently "I may be the only person in the world who has not scored a single point on Donkey Kong" said one woman who has had better successes with Pac-Man The Pac-Man home cartridge will likewise be attacked on several fronts Mattel's Intellivision a more-expensive console unit which offers more complicated games and detailed graphics isn't going to sit by and watch Pac-Man turn it into a ghost The company one news report said is developing a system for sale to cable TV firms that will allow use of the Intellivision console on the TV without having to purchase cartridges So far Intellivision has about 15 percent of the market but Atari (with 80 percent) is planning to counter some of that with a more expensive and bigger capacity console unit selling for about $350 Knight-Ridder News Service reports Naturally the new unit will not accept the cartridges from the old unit But there are also reports that Intellivision is coming out with as another 250000 in Japan and Europe "There's almost a cult" he said Strangely enough the game almost flopped at first "It was not very successful when introduced on a trial basis and only became popular in the past four or five months" With the kind of popularity it has had it was only a matter of time before the home video game market was tapped Coleco was essentially the first with a Pac-Man home game a table-top 8-inch deep by 6-inch wide by 8-inch tall unit that lists for $53 and is on the market now Another Pac-Man copy is Odyssey's "KC Munchkin" cartridge which avoids calling itself Pac-Man but which has all the characters to make it look like ol' Pac It looks exactly like ol' Pac in fact and the holder of the American home game cartridge license Atari didn't like it At all North American Philips Consumer Electrics Corp developer of the Munchkin got sued by Atari and a judge ruled the character was a copyright violation and blocked sale of it while a court holds a trial So where is the Atari cartridge? It's coming Boy is it coming Advance demand for the unit is go high some stores are selling advance orders Pay now deliver later Atari and when it speaks in the game business people listen expects the Pac-Man cartridge to be its biggest seller Ever At an expected list price of $37 (less at some discount outlets) the cartridge is the among the highest priced Atari cartridges And with a potential market of perhaps 65 million homes that already have Atari video console units the economics are staggering There may be some initial disappointment in the Pac-Man cartridge Like other Artari cartridges the detail is not as fine as it could be (compare them for instance with Activi-sion cartridges which fit in the same Atari console) Consequently ol' Pac and his followers are a little rough but recognizable The pattern is not the same as the video parlor version either not only by necessity because of the shape of a television set but by electronic capacity "The capacity and power of an arcade game is like the storage room in a trunk" said Atari's Hof "When you go to a home game cartridge it is like trying to get all that material from the trunk into a briefcase" Nonetheless according to those who have played it the cartridge is faithful to the basic concepts of the game The sound is different the joystick control is a little harder to get used to but the idea is the same So is the popularity "I've had a zillion calls" said a salesman for the Target store on Hulen The store has been getting calls for six months he said The cartridges are expected to be on sale in this area about April 1 That store is not taking advance orders Pacific Stereo stores in Fort Worth-Dallas are Full payment is required in advance The downtown Edison's store is taking advance orders with a minimum 20 percent down payment said saleswoman Carla Jones "The phone's been ringing off the wall" Sears and JC Penney stores here are not taking advance orders but have been receiving many calls em Typical Atari video game str-tiwmDALE MQWSE Read only memory (cartridge) Central processing unit Inputs Random access memory NO DOWN payment mjav7Juu a mja ajv NO PAYMENT CURTIS MATHES teiune Basic principles involved Regularly $79995 Curtis Mathes 25 Inch Diagonal Modern Styling Color Console Brighten your home entertainment viewing with this outstanding value! Porwi USHING video La tv processor screen able ROM capacity Owens said) The reason is "basically a factor of the amount of time and energy you put into (designing) the game and the people we have have been doing it longer than anybody else in the business" said Activision vice president Tom Lopez Although Activision has been in business less than three years (and has been shipping cartridges for only 19 months) many of its designers worked for Atari before that "In any kind of creative exercise it's the detail that really produces a superior product It's spending more time on it" WORK WEAR Safety Shoe Store THE EAST Rostte Leather 8" £r- 7I Continued from Page 1 $AM from drawer and changing a couple of wires It took several years just to create the Pac-Man program he said "That's why most companies are extremely critical about letting information about their particular game out" he said It also may explain why some cartridges are more detailed than others Atari has been criticized by some hard-core game players because its graphic displays don't appear to be as detailed as say Activision games are $nd they both operate out of the same console (Atari rarely uses all unavail HY-TESX Regularly $10995 Curtis Mathes 12 Inch Diagonal Black White Portable The perfect set for the lad's room breakfast nook or kitchen MODEL CMS ALL TV PICTURES ARE SIMULATED LIMITED QUANTTTECS ON ALL MODELS Regularly $117995 Curtis Mathes 25 Inch Diagonal Remote Control Color Console Deluxe features include Super Chromalite 84n 1 In-Line Picture Tube MfEj frrp he AWE 1 1 H726 Brown and Tan Leather 12" Cowboy Boot jr i Curtis Mathes VCR Color Camera Regularly $89995 Tulgum oil resistant Scotchgrlp sole and heel Full cushioned insole Leather lined Shalt Cowboy heel and shank Western last 1-1691 Black With purchase of any Curtis Mathes portable VCR TfLfVTMOH WOCIAMf njtt VMMUTtm JVO OTnr MAtiiiA: may itfTtmnt oh trnr or Ccmiatff OWN AND COKftAIT TO COmiOHT UkW Metatarsal Guard Boot AU REGULAR PRICES SHOWN MANUFACTURER'S SUGGESTED RETAIL The Most Expensive Television Set In America And Worth MODEL G759 It Aaktoaa comptota copy of thla warranty HURST Ml MXbourn Vulcanized nailess sole and heel Full cushioned Insole with arch comfort pad Water and chemical resistant leather Mattes AikteMt a oompktt oopy of thla warranty HOME ENTERTAINMENT CENTER FORT WEST FORT EAST Mdowbroofc at Hsndtvy STORE HOURS: MON TUES-WtD SAT 10-fl THURS FRI 10-8 FORT SOUTH IBM Hwnptlill m-rioi 104 Mon-Saf AftC A Ct CaK Ct Uzsrih TV Matrn AtQ-KIKl US1-A QRSEN OAKS ROAD RIDOMAM MALL rrr-mi lOtMOM-rni ioT tack ol Mall I4-IM.