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Asteroids (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Asteroids is a video arcade game
released in 1979
by Atari Inc. It was one of the most popular and influential games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Asteroids uses a vector display and a two-dimensional view that wraps around in both screen axes. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid
field which is periodically traversed by flying saucer
s. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and saucers while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire.
and programmed and designed by Ed Logg
. It was implemented on hardware developed by Howard Delman. Asteroids was a hit in the United States
and became Atari's best selling game of all time. Atari had been in the process of manufacturing another vector game, Lunar Lander
, but demand for Asteroids was so high "that several hundred Asteroids games were shipped in Lunar Lander cabinets." Asteroids was so popular that video arcade
operators sometimes had to install larger boxes to hold the number of coins that were spent by players.
Asteroids is also the first game to use Atari's "QuadraScan" vector-refresh system; a full-color version known as "Color-QuadraScan" was later developed for games such as Space Duel
and Tempest.
The objective of Asteroids is to score as many points as possible by destroying asteroids and flying saucers. The player controls a triangular
-shaped ship
that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. As the ship moves, momentum
is not conserved — the ship eventually comes to a stop
again when not thrusting. The player can also send their ship into hyperspace
, causing it to disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen (with the risk of self-destructing or appearing on top of an asteroid).
Each stage starts with a few asteroids drifting in random directions on the screen. Objects wrap around screen edges — for instance, an asteroid that drifts off the top edge of the screen reappears at the bottom and continues moving in the same direction. As the player shoots asteroids, they break into smaller asteroids that frequently move faster and are more difficult to hit. Smaller asteroids also score higher points. Periodically, a flying saucer
appears on one side of the screen and moves across to the other before disappearing again. The saucers are of two kinds: Large saucers fire in random directions, while small saucers aim at the player's ship.
The minimalist soundtrack features a memorable deep-toned electronic "heartbeat", which quickens as the asteroid density is reduced by the player's fire.
Once the screen has been cleared of all asteroids and flying saucers, a new set of large asteroids appears. The number of asteroids increases each round up to a maximum of 12. The game is over when the player has lost all of his/her lives.
Like many games of its time, Asteroids contains several bugs
that were mostly the result of the original programmers underestimating the game's popularity or the skill of its players. The maximum possible score in this game is 99,990 points, after which it "rolls over
" back to zero. Other common terms for this bug were "turn over" and "flip over". Also, an oversight in the small saucer's programming gave rise to a popular strategy known as "lurking" — because the saucer could only shoot directly at the player's position on the screen, the player could "hide" at the opposite end of the screen and shoot across the screen boundary, while remaining relatively safe. Another popular method of exploiting this bug was to simply use thrust to keep the ship in motion with 1 or 2 asteroids in the play field, allowing the player to pick off as many 1,000 point UFOs as possible. This led to experienced players being able to play indefinitely on a single credit. This oversight was addressed in the game's sequel, Asteroids Deluxe, and led to significant changes in the way game developers designed and tested their games in the future.
On some early versions of the game, it was also possible to hide the ship in the score area indefinitely without being hit by asteroids.
. The hardware consists primarily of a standard MOS 6502
CPU
, which executes the game program, and the Digital Vector Generator (DVG), vector processing circuitry
developed by Atari
themselves. As the 6502 by itself was too slow to control both the game play and the vector hardware at the same time, the latter task was delegated to the DVG.
The original design concepts of the DVG came out of Atari's off-campus research lab in Grass Valley, California, in 1978. The prototype was given to engineer Howard Delman, who refined it, productized it, and then added additional features for Atari's first vector game, Lunar Lander
. When it was decided that Asteroids would be a vector game as well, Delman modified a Lunar Lander circuit board for Ed Logg. More memory was added, as was the circuitry for the many sounds in the game. That original Asteroids prototype board still exists, and is currently in Delman's personal collection.
For each picture frame, the 6502 writes graphics commands for the DVG into a defined area of RAM
(the vector RAM), and then asks the DVG to draw the corresponding vector image on the screen. The DVG reads the commands and generates appropriate signals for the vector monitor. There are DVG commands for positioning the cathode ray, for drawing a line to a specified destination, calling a subroutine with further commands, and so on.
Asteroids also features various sound effects, each of which is implemented by its own circuitry. There are seven distinct audio circuits, designed by Howard Delman. The CPU activates these audio circuits (and other hardware components) by writing to special memory addresses (memory mapped ports). The inputs from the player's controls (buttons) are also mapped into the CPU address space
The main Asteroids game program uses only 6 KB
of ROM
code. Another 2 KB of vector ROM contains the descriptions of the main graphical elements (rocks, saucer, player's ship, explosion pictures, letters, and digits) in the form of DVG commands.
in 1982 and Blasteroids
in 1987.
The Killer List of Videogames
(KLOV) credits this game as one of the "Top 100 Videogames." Readers of the KLOV credit it as the seventh most popular game.
The gameplay in Asteroids was imitated by many games that followed. For example, one of the objects of Sinistar
is to shoot asteroids to get them to release resources which the player needs to collect.
Asteroids has been ported to multiple systems, including many of Atari
's systems (Atari 2600
, 7800
, Atari Lynx) and many others. The 2600 port was the first game to use a bank-switched cartridge, doubling available ROM space. A port was in development for the 5200
and advertised as a launch title but never officially released, although an unofficial release was produced by AtariAge
. The Atari 7800
version was a launch title and featured co-operative play, it was the built in game on the European Atari 7800
release. 1993 saw a release for PCs with Windows 3.1 as part of the original Microsoft Arcade
package. Also, a new version of Asteroids was developed for PlayStation, Nintendo 64
, Windows
, and the Game Boy Color
in the late 1990s. A port was also included on Atari's Cosmos
system, but the system never saw release. Many of the recent TV Games series of old Atari games have included either the 2600 or arcade versions of Asteroids. Atari also used the game for its other late '90s and 2000's anthology series.
Asteroids Hyper 64 is an update to the 1979 arcade
shooter Asteroids released for the Nintendo 64
on December 14, 1999. It includes fully 3D
environments, new weapons, over 50 levels, and a 2 player split-screen mode; including a Versus mode, a Co-op mode, and a Team mode.
In 2001, Infogrames released Atari Anniversary Edition
for the Sega Dreamcast and PC compatibles which included emulated versions of Asteroids and other classics.
In 2004, Asteroids (Including both the Atari 2600
port and the arcade original, along with Asteroids Deluxe) were included as part of Atari Anthology
for both Xbox
and PlayStation 2
, using Digital Eclipse's emulation technology. (This package was released for the PC a year earlier under the title Atari: 80 Classic Games in One.)
Asteroids was released via Xbox Live Arcade
for the Xbox 360
on November 28, 2007, with an option for special revamped HD graphics and a high-speed "throttle monkey" mode.
Both Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe were also re-released to Microsoft's
Game Room
download service for the Xbox 360
and Windows-based
PC
s in 2010. The Atari 2600
version of Asteroids was also released in July 2010 for Game Room
.
Glu Mobile released a licensed cellular phone version of Asteroids that includes the original game as well as updated gameplay, skins, and modes.Game Room - Asteroids was released on the Windows Phone 7
on 2/23/2011.
Asteroids was released as part of Atari Greatest Hits for iPhone on June, 2011..
Asteroids Gunner was released for iPhone on November, 2011.
Meteors and Ambrosia Software
's Maelstrom, as well as those with expanded gameplay and background, such as Asterax
, Astrogeddon, Stardust, Spheres of Chaos
and Astro Fire. The Vectrex
had a built-in similar game called "Minestorm".
of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, set a world record
of 41,336,440 points on the arcade game Asteroids. He beat the 40,101,910 point score set by Leo Daniels of Carolina Beach on February 6, 1982. To congratulate Safran on his accomplishment, the Twin Galaxies
Intergalactic Scoreboard searched for him for four years until 2002, when it was discovered that he had died in an accident in 1989. In a ceremony in Philadelphia on April 27, 2002, Walter Day of Twin Galaxies presented an award to the surviving members of Safran's family, commemorating the Asteroid Champion's achievement.
On April 6, 2010, John McAllister set a preliminary record score of 41,338,740 after 58 hours, streamed live over the Internet, breaking the record set by Scott Safran 27 years earlier.
had won the rights to adapt the game into a film. Matthew Lopez will write the script and Lorenzo di Bonaventura
will be producing.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
released in 1979
1979 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Richard Garriott creates Akalabeth, a computer role-playing game for the Apple IIe. It launches Garriott's career and is a precursor to his highly successful Ultima series....
by Atari Inc. It was one of the most popular and influential games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Asteroids uses a vector display and a two-dimensional view that wraps around in both screen axes. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
field which is periodically traversed by flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
s. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and saucers while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire.
Description
The game was conceived by Lyle RainsLyle Rains
Lyle Rains was a senior executive at the arcade game company Atari and is sometimes, with Ed Logg, listed as a co-developer of the video game Asteroids. In fact, Rains called Logg into his office and said "what about a game where you smash asteroids -- big rocks into small rocks?" Rains also served...
and programmed and designed by Ed Logg
Ed Logg
George Edward Logg born in Seattle in 1948 is a retired arcade video game designer, employed first at Atari and after at Atari Games. He co-developed the video game Asteroids with Lyle Rains...
. It was implemented on hardware developed by Howard Delman. Asteroids was a hit in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and became Atari's best selling game of all time. Atari had been in the process of manufacturing another vector game, Lunar Lander
Lunar Lander (arcade game)
Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. Although not particularly successful, a vector-graphics generator was the impetus of Atari's most successful coin-operated game: Asteroids. The object of the game is to pilot a...
, but demand for Asteroids was so high "that several hundred Asteroids games were shipped in Lunar Lander cabinets." Asteroids was so popular that video arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
operators sometimes had to install larger boxes to hold the number of coins that were spent by players.
Asteroids is also the first game to use Atari's "QuadraScan" vector-refresh system; a full-color version known as "Color-QuadraScan" was later developed for games such as Space Duel
Space Duel
Space Duel is an arcade game released in 1982 by Atari Inc. It is a direct descendant of the original Asteroids, with asteroids replaced by colorful geometric shapes like cubes, diamonds, and spinning pinwheels. Shoot all objects to complete a level. Space Duel is the first and only multi-player...
and Tempest.
Gameplay
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
-shaped ship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. As the ship moves, momentum
Momentum
In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...
is not conserved — the ship eventually comes to a stop
Newton's laws of motion
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces...
again when not thrusting. The player can also send their ship into hyperspace
Hyperspace (science fiction)
Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...
, causing it to disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen (with the risk of self-destructing or appearing on top of an asteroid).
Each stage starts with a few asteroids drifting in random directions on the screen. Objects wrap around screen edges — for instance, an asteroid that drifts off the top edge of the screen reappears at the bottom and continues moving in the same direction. As the player shoots asteroids, they break into smaller asteroids that frequently move faster and are more difficult to hit. Smaller asteroids also score higher points. Periodically, a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
appears on one side of the screen and moves across to the other before disappearing again. The saucers are of two kinds: Large saucers fire in random directions, while small saucers aim at the player's ship.
The minimalist soundtrack features a memorable deep-toned electronic "heartbeat", which quickens as the asteroid density is reduced by the player's fire.
Once the screen has been cleared of all asteroids and flying saucers, a new set of large asteroids appears. The number of asteroids increases each round up to a maximum of 12. The game is over when the player has lost all of his/her lives.
Like many games of its time, Asteroids contains several bugs
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
that were mostly the result of the original programmers underestimating the game's popularity or the skill of its players. The maximum possible score in this game is 99,990 points, after which it "rolls over
Integer overflow
In computer programming, an integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation attempts to create a numeric value that is too large to be represented within the available storage space. For instance, adding 1 to the largest value that can be represented constitutes an integer overflow...
" back to zero. Other common terms for this bug were "turn over" and "flip over". Also, an oversight in the small saucer's programming gave rise to a popular strategy known as "lurking" — because the saucer could only shoot directly at the player's position on the screen, the player could "hide" at the opposite end of the screen and shoot across the screen boundary, while remaining relatively safe. Another popular method of exploiting this bug was to simply use thrust to keep the ship in motion with 1 or 2 asteroids in the play field, allowing the player to pick off as many 1,000 point UFOs as possible. This led to experienced players being able to play indefinitely on a single credit. This oversight was addressed in the game's sequel, Asteroids Deluxe, and led to significant changes in the way game developers designed and tested their games in the future.
On some early versions of the game, it was also possible to hide the ship in the score area indefinitely without being hit by asteroids.
Technical description
The Asteroids arcade machine is a vector game. This means that the game graphics are composed entirely of lines which are drawn on a vector monitorVector monitor
A vector monitor or vector display is a display device used for early computers. It is a type of CRT, similar to the oscilloscope, but typically uses magnetic, rather than electrostatic, deflection...
. The hardware consists primarily of a standard MOS 6502
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, which executes the game program, and the Digital Vector Generator (DVG), vector processing circuitry
Electronic circuit
An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow...
developed by Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
themselves. As the 6502 by itself was too slow to control both the game play and the vector hardware at the same time, the latter task was delegated to the DVG.
The original design concepts of the DVG came out of Atari's off-campus research lab in Grass Valley, California, in 1978. The prototype was given to engineer Howard Delman, who refined it, productized it, and then added additional features for Atari's first vector game, Lunar Lander
Lunar Lander (arcade game)
Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. Although not particularly successful, a vector-graphics generator was the impetus of Atari's most successful coin-operated game: Asteroids. The object of the game is to pilot a...
. When it was decided that Asteroids would be a vector game as well, Delman modified a Lunar Lander circuit board for Ed Logg. More memory was added, as was the circuitry for the many sounds in the game. That original Asteroids prototype board still exists, and is currently in Delman's personal collection.
For each picture frame, the 6502 writes graphics commands for the DVG into a defined area of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
(the vector RAM), and then asks the DVG to draw the corresponding vector image on the screen. The DVG reads the commands and generates appropriate signals for the vector monitor. There are DVG commands for positioning the cathode ray, for drawing a line to a specified destination, calling a subroutine with further commands, and so on.
Asteroids also features various sound effects, each of which is implemented by its own circuitry. There are seven distinct audio circuits, designed by Howard Delman. The CPU activates these audio circuits (and other hardware components) by writing to special memory addresses (memory mapped ports). The inputs from the player's controls (buttons) are also mapped into the CPU address space
Address space
In computing, an address space defines a range of discrete addresses, each of which may correspond to a network host, peripheral device, disk sector, a memory cell or other logical or physical entity.- Overview :...
The main Asteroids game program uses only 6 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
of ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
code. Another 2 KB of vector ROM contains the descriptions of the main graphical elements (rocks, saucer, player's ship, explosion pictures, letters, and digits) in the form of DVG commands.
Legacy
Due to the game's success, a sequel followed in 1980 dubbed Asteroids Deluxe. Similar to the original game, the onscreen objects were tinted blue and a shield that depleted with use replaced the hyperspace feature. In addition, the asteroids rotated, a new enemy dubbed a killer satellite was added to the game, and would break apart into two smaller ships that homed on the player's position if shot. Also included was a "3-D" monitor surround that glowed in the white-UV light. The ship and asteroids appeared to "float" over this cardboard backdrop. Two more sequels followed this, Space DuelSpace Duel
Space Duel is an arcade game released in 1982 by Atari Inc. It is a direct descendant of the original Asteroids, with asteroids replaced by colorful geometric shapes like cubes, diamonds, and spinning pinwheels. Shoot all objects to complete a level. Space Duel is the first and only multi-player...
in 1982 and Blasteroids
Blasteroids
Blasteroids is one of the sequels to the original 1979 shoot 'em up video game Asteroids. It was developed by Atari Games and published in 1987 by Image Works for: arcade cabinet, in 1989 for: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64/128, MSX, MS-DOS PC, ZX Spectrum.- Gameplay :The gameplay for the game...
in 1987.
The Killer List of Videogames
Killer List of Videogames
The Killer List of Videogames is a web site featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for players."....
(KLOV) credits this game as one of the "Top 100 Videogames." Readers of the KLOV credit it as the seventh most popular game.
The gameplay in Asteroids was imitated by many games that followed. For example, one of the objects of Sinistar
Sinistar
Sinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. It belongs to a class of video games from the 1980s called "twitch games". Other "twitch games" include Tempest, Defender, and Robotron: 2084. Sinistar was developed by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical and Richard Witt...
is to shoot asteroids to get them to release resources which the player needs to collect.
Ports and follow-ups
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
's systems (Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
, Atari Lynx) and many others. The 2600 port was the first game to use a bank-switched cartridge, doubling available ROM space. A port was in development for the 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
and advertised as a launch title but never officially released, although an unofficial release was produced by AtariAge
AtariAge
Atari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...
. The Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
version was a launch title and featured co-operative play, it was the built in game on the European Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
release. 1993 saw a release for PCs with Windows 3.1 as part of the original Microsoft Arcade
Microsoft Arcade
Microsoft Arcade is a series of classic arcade game compilations, the first of which was released in 1993 on a single 1.44MB floppy. Available for both Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the Apple Macintosh, it contained versions of Tempest, Battlezone, Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command...
package. Also, a new version of Asteroids was developed for PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
in the late 1990s. A port was also included on Atari's Cosmos
Atari Cosmos
The Atari Cosmos was an unreleased product by Atari Inc. for the handheld/tabletop video game system market that uses holography to improve the display. It is similar to other small video games of the era that used a simple LED-based display, but superimposes a two-layer holographic image over the...
system, but the system never saw release. Many of the recent TV Games series of old Atari games have included either the 2600 or arcade versions of Asteroids. Atari also used the game for its other late '90s and 2000's anthology series.
Asteroids Hyper 64 is an update to the 1979 arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
shooter Asteroids released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
on December 14, 1999. It includes fully 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
environments, new weapons, over 50 levels, and a 2 player split-screen mode; including a Versus mode, a Co-op mode, and a Team mode.
In 2001, Infogrames released Atari Anniversary Edition
Atari Anniversary Edition
Atari Anniversary Edition is a collection of classic Atari coin-op games, and was released in June 28, 2001 on the Dreamcast, PlayStation, and PC, and in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance...
for the Sega Dreamcast and PC compatibles which included emulated versions of Asteroids and other classics.
In 2004, Asteroids (Including both the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
port and the arcade original, along with Asteroids Deluxe) were included as part of Atari Anthology
Atari Anthology
Atari Anthology is a collection of 85 Atari, Inc. games released in 2003 as Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! for Microsoft Windows, and in 2004 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. It reproduces both Atari arcade games and titles from the Atari 2600 game console. The Windows version features a slightly...
for both Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, using Digital Eclipse's emulation technology. (This package was released for the PC a year earlier under the title Atari: 80 Classic Games in One.)
Asteroids was released via Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on November 28, 2007, with an option for special revamped HD graphics and a high-speed "throttle monkey" mode.
Both Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe were also re-released to Microsoft's
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
download service for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Windows-based
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s in 2010. The Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
version of Asteroids was also released in July 2010 for Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
.
Glu Mobile released a licensed cellular phone version of Asteroids that includes the original game as well as updated gameplay, skins, and modes.Game Room - Asteroids was released on the Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
on 2/23/2011.
Asteroids was released as part of Atari Greatest Hits for iPhone on June, 2011..
Asteroids Gunner was released for iPhone on November, 2011.
Clones and bootlegs
There have been many unofficial ports of Asteroids produced. These include near-copies such as Acornsoft'sAcornsoft
Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers Ltd, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, they also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and utility packages - these included ROM-based word...
Meteors and Ambrosia Software
Ambrosia Software
Ambrosia Software is a predominantly Macintosh software company located in Rochester, New York. Ambrosia produces utilities and games. Its products are distributed as shareware; demo versions can be downloaded and used for up to 30 days....
's Maelstrom, as well as those with expanded gameplay and background, such as Asterax
Asterax
Asterax is a Macintosh adaptation of the classic shoot 'em up Asteroids, unique for its addition of a monetary element that can be used to purchase persistent power-ups and score bonuses...
, Astrogeddon, Stardust, Spheres of Chaos
Spheres of Chaos
Spheres of Chaos is a space shooter created by Iain McLeod with the basic gameplay being similar to the game Asteroids. The game uses very bright colours and patterns, with many enemies on screen at once. The audio is similar to that of Robotron: 2084 and Defender. The game was originally written...
and Astro Fire. The Vectrex
Vectrex
The Vectrex is a vector display-based video game console that was developed by Western Technologies/Smith Engineering. It was licensed and distributed first by General Consumer Electric , and then by Milton Bradley Company after their purchase of GCE...
had a built-in similar game called "Minestorm".
Highest score
On November 13, 1982, 15 year old Scott SafranScott Safran
Scott Safran was an American video gamer noted for setting the world record score on the arcade game Asteroids which stood for 27 years.- Background :...
of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, set a world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
of 41,336,440 points on the arcade game Asteroids. He beat the 40,101,910 point score set by Leo Daniels of Carolina Beach on February 6, 1982. To congratulate Safran on his accomplishment, the Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies is an American organization that tracks video game world records and conducts a program of electronic-gaming promotions. It operates the Twin Galaxies website and publishes the Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, with the Arcade Volume released on June...
Intergalactic Scoreboard searched for him for four years until 2002, when it was discovered that he had died in an accident in 1989. In a ceremony in Philadelphia on April 27, 2002, Walter Day of Twin Galaxies presented an award to the surviving members of Safran's family, commemorating the Asteroid Champion's achievement.
On April 6, 2010, John McAllister set a preliminary record score of 41,338,740 after 58 hours, streamed live over the Internet, breaking the record set by Scott Safran 27 years earlier.
Film
In July 2009, it was revealed that Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
had won the rights to adapt the game into a film. Matthew Lopez will write the script and Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
-Life and career:He spent the 1990s as an executive at Warner Bros. Pictures, eventually rising to President of Worldwide Production. His production company di Bonaventura Pictures is based at Paramount Pictures. His tenure at Warner Bros. included discovering and shepherding The Matrix into...
will be producing.
External links
- Official updated online version of Asteroids at Atari
- All About Asteroids at Atari Times
- Article at The Dot Eaters, featuring a history of Asteroids
- Twin Galaxies High Score Rankings for Asteroids Deluxe
- Edge Magazine The Making Of: Asteroids