http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Computer_SpaceComputer Space - Revision history2026-05-06T15:38:26ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.1http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Computer_Space&diff=4653304&oldid=previmported>Dervidblinky: amending my last edit - linked to the wrong video game page2025-12-22T23:26:40Z<p>amending my last edit - linked to the wrong video game page</p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Previous revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 23:26, 22 December 2025</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Bushnell and Dabney designed the game in 1970–71 to be a coin-operated version of ''Spacewar!''. After the pair were unable to find a way to economically run the game on a [[minicomputer]] such as the [[Data General Nova]], they hit upon the idea of instead replacing the central computer with custom-designed hardware created to run just that game. While they were working on an early [[proof of concept]], Bushnell found a manufacturer for the game in [[Nutting Associates]]. Working in partnership with Nutting, the pair completed the game and ran their first location test in August 1971, a few months prior to the display of a similar prototype called ''[[Galaxy Game]]'', also based on ''Spacewar!''. It was first shown to industry press and distributors at the annual Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo in October. With encouraging initial interest, though mixed responses from distributors, Nutting ordered an initial production run of 1,500 units, anticipating a hit game.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Bushnell and Dabney designed the game in 1970–71 to be a coin-operated version of ''Spacewar!''. After the pair were unable to find a way to economically run the game on a [[minicomputer]] such as the [[Data General Nova]], they hit upon the idea of instead replacing the central computer with custom-designed hardware created to run just that game. While they were working on an early [[proof of concept]], Bushnell found a manufacturer for the game in [[Nutting Associates]]. Working in partnership with Nutting, the pair completed the game and ran their first location test in August 1971, a few months prior to the display of a similar prototype called ''[[Galaxy Game]]'', also based on ''Spacewar!''. It was first shown to industry press and distributors at the annual Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo in October. With encouraging initial interest, though mixed responses from distributors, Nutting ordered an initial production run of 1,500 units, anticipating a hit game.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While the game was successful and validated Syzygy's belief in the future of arcade video games, selling over 1,000 cabinets by mid-1972 and ultimately 1,300–1,500 units, it was not the runaway success that Nutting had hoped for. The game spawned one clone game, <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">''</del>Star Trek<del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">'' </del>(1972), and Nutting produced a two-player version of ''Computer Space'' in 1973 without involvement from Bushnell and Dabney. The pair left Nutting in June 1972 and incorporated Syzygy as [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]], launching the successful ''[[Pong]]'' (1972) as their next arcade game. ''Computer Space''{{'}}s release marked the ending of the [[early history of video games]] and the start of the commercial [[video game industry]].</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While the game was successful and validated Syzygy's belief in the future of arcade video games, selling over 1,000 cabinets by mid-1972 and ultimately 1,300–1,500 units, it was not the runaway success that Nutting had hoped for. The game spawned one clone game, Star Trek (1972), and Nutting produced a two-player version of ''Computer Space'' in 1973 without involvement from Bushnell and Dabney. The pair left Nutting in June 1972 and incorporated Syzygy as [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]], launching the successful ''[[Pong]]'' (1972) as their next arcade game. ''Computer Space''{{'}}s release marked the ending of the [[early history of video games]] and the start of the commercial [[video game industry]].</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Background==</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Background==</div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[[Category:World Video Game Hall of Fame]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
</table>imported>Dervidblinkyhttp://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Computer_Space&diff=698104&oldid=previmported>Chris the speller: /* Location tests and release */ replaced: externally-connected → externally connected2025-06-19T14:15:54Z<p><span class="autocomment">Location tests and release: </span> replaced: externally-connected → externally connected</p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:15, 19 June 2025</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The final ''Computer Space'' design uses no [[microprocessor]]; the entire computer system is a [[finite-state machine|state machine]] made of [[7400-series integrated circuits]], with monochrome graphic elements held in [[diode]] arrays.<ref name="Tech"/> The arrays, which Bushnell designed to let him rotate the rocket in 16 directions with only 4 arrays, are laid out in the shape of the ships, to make it obvious to game operators what would need to be replaced if something broke.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="Technol"/> These arrays reduced the amount of work that the game had to perform to update the screen: instead of refreshing the entire screen for any change, like ''Spacewar!'', each element could be moved independently of the others. The ships themselves are drawn on the screen as a pattern of dots, rather than connected lines, and were essentially hardwired [[bitmap]]s, and are considered an early form of the concept of [[sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]] graphics.<ref name="Essays"/> The cabinet includes a [[General Electric]] 15-inch black and white television screen as the monitor, specially modified for the game.<ref name="Tech"/><ref name="Atari3239"/> In the rudimentary algorithm constructed by Bushnell, the enemy ships fire towards the quadrant of the screen that the player's rocket is in, rather than directly at the player's rocket.<ref name="Atari4046"/></div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The final ''Computer Space'' design uses no [[microprocessor]]; the entire computer system is a [[finite-state machine|state machine]] made of [[7400-series integrated circuits]], with monochrome graphic elements held in [[diode]] arrays.<ref name="Tech"/> The arrays, which Bushnell designed to let him rotate the rocket in 16 directions with only 4 arrays, are laid out in the shape of the ships, to make it obvious to game operators what would need to be replaced if something broke.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="Technol"/> These arrays reduced the amount of work that the game had to perform to update the screen: instead of refreshing the entire screen for any change, like ''Spacewar!'', each element could be moved independently of the others. The ships themselves are drawn on the screen as a pattern of dots, rather than connected lines, and were essentially hardwired [[bitmap]]s, and are considered an early form of the concept of [[sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]] graphics.<ref name="Essays"/> The cabinet includes a [[General Electric]] 15-inch black and white television screen as the monitor, specially modified for the game.<ref name="Tech"/><ref name="Atari3239"/> In the rudimentary algorithm constructed by Bushnell, the enemy ships fire towards the quadrant of the screen that the player's rocket is in, rather than directly at the player's rocket.<ref name="Atari4046"/></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As Syzygy and Nutting prepared for the MOA show, Bushnell learned that another pair of engineers, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, were also creating an arcade version of ''Spacewar!'' In August 1971 Bushnell called Pitts and Tuck, who were operating as Mini-Computer Applications, so that they could meet and discuss their solutions to the problem of running ''Spacewar!'' on an inexpensive computer.<ref name="Replay70s"/> Pitts and Tuck were developing a prototype machine of ''[[Galaxy Game]]'' when they met with Bushnell; the game, however, while a faithful recreation of ''Spacewar!'', ran on an externally<del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">-</del>connected DEC [[PDP-11]] with a [[Hewlett-Packard]] 1300A Electrostatic Display, and the total cost of the prototype unit was {{USD|20,000|1971|about=yes|round=-3}}.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="StanfordGG"/> The Syzygy duo were relieved, though also somewhat disappointed, to find that ''Galaxy Game'' was not using an innovative solution Syzygy had missed to build an economically-competitive arcade game. Pitts and Tuck, conversely, felt that ''Computer Space'' was a pale imitation of ''Spacewar!'', while ''Galaxy Game'' was a superior adaptation of the game. They eventually produced two game prototypes, both displayed in the Stanford student union building, but never produced the game commercially due to the high cost of the cabinet.<ref name="TCW129135"/></div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As Syzygy and Nutting prepared for the MOA show, Bushnell learned that another pair of engineers, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, were also creating an arcade version of ''Spacewar!'' In August 1971 Bushnell called Pitts and Tuck, who were operating as Mini-Computer Applications, so that they could meet and discuss their solutions to the problem of running ''Spacewar!'' on an inexpensive computer.<ref name="Replay70s"/> Pitts and Tuck were developing a prototype machine of ''[[Galaxy Game]]'' when they met with Bushnell; the game, however, while a faithful recreation of ''Spacewar!'', ran on an externally connected DEC [[PDP-11]] with a [[Hewlett-Packard]] 1300A Electrostatic Display, and the total cost of the prototype unit was {{USD|20,000|1971|about=yes|round=-3}}.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="StanfordGG"/> The Syzygy duo were relieved, though also somewhat disappointed, to find that ''Galaxy Game'' was not using an innovative solution Syzygy had missed to build an economically-competitive arcade game. Pitts and Tuck, conversely, felt that ''Computer Space'' was a pale imitation of ''Spacewar!'', while ''Galaxy Game'' was a superior adaptation of the game. They eventually produced two game prototypes, both displayed in the Stanford student union building, but never produced the game commercially due to the high cost of the cabinet.<ref name="TCW129135"/></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''Computer Space'' debuted at the MOA show on October 15–17, 1971. Dabney's wooden cabinet for the initial prototype was replaced with a curvy, futuristic fiberglass cabinet designed by Bushnell with modelling clay and built by a swimming pool manufacturer. A control panel extended from the main body of the cabinet and contained the four control buttons; Syzygy had hoped to use a joystick to control the rocket's movement, but found that it broke too easily, failing to last a single night in a location test.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="Atari4046"/> The ''Galaxy Game'' designers had run into the same issue, but had solved it with expensive customized military surplus joysticks.<ref name="TCW129135"/> The cabinet displayed the Nutting Associates name and logo, along with the term "Syzygy engineered". Nutting displayed four cabinets at the MOA show, one each in red, blue, white, and yellow, with the implication that the game was already in production, though they were in fact the only four cabinets then produced.<ref name="TCW129135"/> These initial cabinets were in solid colors, though later ones would use a sparkle finish. The cabinets were damaged during transport, and one monitor was broken; Syzygy repaired the three working cabinets and opened up the fourth to demonstrate the internals to attendees.<ref name="Technol"/> The game was popular with viewers, with a crowded display area, and trade magazine ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' called it "very promising" and "very glamorous".<ref name="CB197101030"/> Game distributors, however, were hesitant about the game, with concerns raised about the game's potential, reliability, and the embedded monitor's attractiveness to thieves; recollections are mixed as to whether Nutting took a handful of orders or none at the show. Nutting ordered a large production run regardless, on the expectation that the distributors would come around with further exposure. The game entered initial production sometime in November or December, and began full production around the end of January 1972.<ref name="TCW129135"/></div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''Computer Space'' debuted at the MOA show on October 15–17, 1971. Dabney's wooden cabinet for the initial prototype was replaced with a curvy, futuristic fiberglass cabinet designed by Bushnell with modelling clay and built by a swimming pool manufacturer. A control panel extended from the main body of the cabinet and contained the four control buttons; Syzygy had hoped to use a joystick to control the rocket's movement, but found that it broke too easily, failing to last a single night in a location test.<ref name="TCW129135"/><ref name="Atari4046"/> The ''Galaxy Game'' designers had run into the same issue, but had solved it with expensive customized military surplus joysticks.<ref name="TCW129135"/> The cabinet displayed the Nutting Associates name and logo, along with the term "Syzygy engineered". Nutting displayed four cabinets at the MOA show, one each in red, blue, white, and yellow, with the implication that the game was already in production, though they were in fact the only four cabinets then produced.<ref name="TCW129135"/> These initial cabinets were in solid colors, though later ones would use a sparkle finish. The cabinets were damaged during transport, and one monitor was broken; Syzygy repaired the three working cabinets and opened up the fourth to demonstrate the internals to attendees.<ref name="Technol"/> The game was popular with viewers, with a crowded display area, and trade magazine ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' called it "very promising" and "very glamorous".<ref name="CB197101030"/> Game distributors, however, were hesitant about the game, with concerns raised about the game's potential, reliability, and the embedded monitor's attractiveness to thieves; recollections are mixed as to whether Nutting took a handful of orders or none at the show. Nutting ordered a large production run regardless, on the expectation that the distributors would come around with further exposure. The game entered initial production sometime in November or December, and began full production around the end of January 1972.<ref name="TCW129135"/></div></td></tr>
</table>imported>Chris the spellerhttp://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Computer_Space&diff=190115&oldid=previmported>IceWelder: /* Reception and Legacy */ l2025-05-02T16:49:48Z<p><span class="autocomment">Reception and Legacy: </span> l</p>
<a href="http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Computer_Space&diff=190115">Show changes</a>imported>IceWelder