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Tank (arcade game)
Encyclopedia
Tank is a two-player arcade game
by Atari Inc.
subsidiary Kee Games
, originally released on November 5, 1974 and designed by Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains. The game is famous for causing such demand that Atari made its "secret" ownership of Kee Games public, merging the company back in to Atari and releasing Tank under the Atari label as well.
Inserting coins immediately starts the game, placing the players in the upper right and lower left corners of the maze respectively. The first 50 or so cabinets produced have a protruding wooden coin box area between the two speaker grills.
Tank was the first game to use IC
-based ROM
to store graphical data. Although Gran Trak 10
, released in July 1974, was the first arcade game to use ROM data, Gran-Trak's ROM used an earlier diode-based ROM technology.
The custom game cabinet was designed by Peter L. Takaichi and patented Oct. 20, 1975 (US Patent # D243,624).
, and mines are denoted by an "X". Points are scored by shooting the opponent or when a player runs over a mine, the player with the highest score at the end of the time limit winning the game.
The tanks are controlled by two joysticks in a dual configuration. Pushing both joysticks will move the player's tank forward, and pulling them both back causes the tank to stop. Moving the right joystick forward while pulling the left joystick back will cause the tank to turn right, while reversing the motion will cause the tank to turn left.
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...
by Atari Inc.
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...
subsidiary Kee Games
Kee Games
Kee Games was an arcade game manufacturer that released games from 1973 to 1978. Kee was headed by Joe Keenan, a long-time friend of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Keenan managed to hire several defectors from Atari, and began advertising itself as a competitor...
, originally released on November 5, 1974 and designed by Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains. The game is famous for causing such demand that Atari made its "secret" ownership of Kee Games public, merging the company back in to Atari and releasing Tank under the Atari label as well.
Technology
Tank uses a black and white Motorola television for its display. The control panel consists of four military style joysticks, two per player, with a fire button mounted on top of the right joystick of each pair.Inserting coins immediately starts the game, placing the players in the upper right and lower left corners of the maze respectively. The first 50 or so cabinets produced have a protruding wooden coin box area between the two speaker grills.
Tank was the first game to use IC
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
-based 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...
to store graphical data. Although Gran Trak 10
Gran Trak 10
Gran Trak 10 was a single-player racing arcade game released by Atari in 1974. The player raced against the clock, accumulating as many points as possible....
, released in July 1974, was the first arcade game to use ROM data, Gran-Trak's ROM used an earlier diode-based ROM technology.
The custom game cabinet was designed by Peter L. Takaichi and patented Oct. 20, 1975 (US Patent # D243,624).
Gameplay
Players move their tanks through a maze on screen, avoiding mines and shooting each other. The players are represented by one black and one white tank spriteSprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
, and mines are denoted by an "X". Points are scored by shooting the opponent or when a player runs over a mine, the player with the highest score at the end of the time limit winning the game.
The tanks are controlled by two joysticks in a dual configuration. Pushing both joysticks will move the player's tank forward, and pulling them both back causes the tank to stop. Moving the right joystick forward while pulling the left joystick back will cause the tank to turn right, while reversing the motion will cause the tank to turn left.
Ports
- The Atari 2600Atari 2600The 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...
game CombatCombat (video game)Combat is an early video game by Atari for the Atari 2600. It was released as one of the nine launch titles for the system in October 1977, and was included in the box with the system from its introduction until 1982...
, released in 1977, included several variations of Tank.
Clones
- The ColecoColecoColeco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...
Telstar Combat!, released in 1977, played four variations of Kee GamesKee GamesKee Games was an arcade game manufacturer that released games from 1973 to 1978. Kee was headed by Joe Keenan, a long-time friend of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Keenan managed to hire several defectors from Atari, and began advertising itself as a competitor...
' Tank using a General Instruments AY-3-8700 Tank chip.
Legacy
- Tank II in 1974.
- Tank III in 1975.
- The full color and Motorola 6800Motorola 6800The 6800 was an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips...
microprocessor based Tank 8 in 1976. - The 6502MOS Technology 6502The 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...
microprocessor based Ultra Tank in 1978. - Battlezone was released in 1980, using the same control mechanism. Designed by Ed Rotberg, the game play was moved to 3D first person format displayed by vector graphicsVector graphicsVector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
. The player also now competed against computer controlled opponents.
External links
- Armchair Arcade commentary
- Entries at Killer List of VideogamesKiller List of VideogamesThe 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."....
: Tank, Tank II, Tank III, Tank 8, Ultra Tank - PCB and Artwork images from Andy's Arcade