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1982 Ray Mueller - Reference
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- 1982 -
©1997-2004 - Donald
A. Thomas, Jr.
all rights reserved - http://www.icwhen.com
(Revised 01/14/04)
F
ACTS and STATS (1982)n Combined video game advertising expenditures by Atari Inc., Coleco Industries, Mattel and other software companies surpass $200 million for the year.
n Apple Computer claims an installed base of more than 650,000 systems worldwide. There are about 10,000 Apple compatible software programs offered by more than 1,000 developers. About 60 companies now make Apple peripherals. Apple Computer?s Research and Development (R&D) budget is $38 million; an increase of 81 percent over the previous year.
n The number of video game arcades have doubled since 1980.
n Up to 32K ROM may be required to store and execute contemporary arcade video games.
n Atari, Inc. has over 50 office buildings in the Silicon Valley and employs almost 10,000 people.
n Average weekly coin-operated game revenues in general has dropped by over $30 to $40 to $109 per machine.
n There is an estimated 3 million computer terminals "networked" with larger "host" computers.
n Cray Research, Inc., established by Mr. Seymour Cray in 1972, sells 15 supercomputers during the year.
n There is an estimated number of 5 million desktop computers in use within the United States.
n The Federated Group of Electronics Stores has 15 retail store locations.
n According to the Electronic Industries Association, wholesale sales of home video games peak at $950 million for the year.
n Namco?s PAC-MAN coin-operated arcade machine attracts an average of $250 per week in each of around 250,000 machines worldwide.
n For the year, about 1.4 million personal computers are sold worldwide with about 1 million in the U.S. alone.
n More than 100 companies make personal computers.
n According to figures provided by Nintendo of America, video game sales this year are $1 billion.
n Seven million American homes have one or more video games connected to televisions.
n Video game systems are priced between $60 to $300 and support a little more or less than 4K of memory.
HISTORICAL BENCHMARKS (1982)
n Mr. Dan Kitchen joins Activision, Inc..
n Having outgrown the original 800 square feet of operating space, Activsion moves to a new facility in Milpitas, CA. The facility includes 85,000 square feet of office space and 93,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
n Activision releases PITFALL! By Mr. David Crane for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). It will become one of the hottest selling games with over 4 million copies purchased worldwide, yet it was no more than a 4K game. Crane says the concept got underway when he found a way to simulate a man running that looked pretty realistic. Then he needed an environment where the man could run, so he designed a jungle around the man with the appropriate obstacles to run, jump and climb past. The technology to create the jungle vines he used for PITFALL! were similar to the lasers he developed for LASER BLAST in 1981.
n Activision releases CHOPPER COMMAND by Mr. Bob Whitehead for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). It is Whitehead?s only non-sports-like game and it becomes his biggest seller with almost one million copies sold through it?s life cycle.
n Activision releases GRAND PRIX by Mr. David Crane for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). The game is the first to feature full-color shaded objects, 6 digit scoring and other shading on the system.
n Activision releases RIVER RAID by Ms. Carol Shaw for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). According to Shaw, she was originally hired by Activision to make games for girls. Wanting to do a space game, she was told there were already too many, so she settled on the concept of a river. Shaw says the plane in RIVER RAID was originally designed as a boat, but she found she just couldn?t get the boat to look right.
n Activision releases SKY JINKS by Mr. Bob Whitehead for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). Whitehead refers to SKY JINKS as a ?pseudo-sequel? to his previous hit, SKIING.
n Activision releases SPIDER FIGHTER by Mr. Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Activision releases BARNSTORMING by Mr. Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). The inspiration came to Steve during his first week working at Activision when he saw an airborne biplane towing an advertising banner. It is the first Atari 2600 game to use a colorful sunset in the horizon of the playfield.
n Mr. Matthew Hubbard leaves Atari, Inc. to join Activision.
n Activision releases MEGAMANIA by Mr. Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Mr. Jay Miner, quits his job at Atari, Inc. and forms his own company called Amiga. After heading up the chip design team for the Atari 2600 as well as the Atari 400 and 800 computers, Miner tried to convince Atari to consider building a computer based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor. Atari declined based on anticipated costs which inspired Miner to go off on his own. While at Amiga, Miner will develop the Amiga 1000. Custom chips developed by Amiga included names such as Agnus, Portia and Daphne.
n Arcadia releases the Supercharger peripheral for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). Designed by Mr. Bob Brown, the Supercharger was installed like a cartridge, but it had a special connector to be used with audio cassette tape recorders. Games for the system were distributed on cassette tape and a ROM-based system instructed gamers when to push play on their players. Games would take a while to load, but often offered much greater graphics and game play appeal than standard cartridges. In addition, previews of other games were included on the tapes so gamers could consider what new games looked like before purchasing them. Within a couple months of release of the Supercharger, Arcadia was compelled to change their name to Starpath in order to avoid confusion with the Arcadia 2001 game system by Emerson.
n Arcadia Corporation (later to be renamed Starpath Corporation) releases the first game Mr. Stephen H. Landrum designed for them called COMMUNIST MUTANTS FROM SPACE for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). The game is one of a few cassette based games (living up to the term ?tape?) ever released for the Arcadia (Starpath) Supercharger. If the player holds down the joystick button while the game loads, the HI on the score screen changes to ?SHL?, which are the designer?s initials.
n MSX computers, based on the Z-80 and designed by ASCII, emerge as an attempt to establish a home computer standard. It will become popular in Korea, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Netherlands, France, Spain and the former Soviet Union. It will die in 1988, giving away to more advanced technologies.
n MISSILE COMMAND & ASTEROIDS, by Atari, Inc., are the fastest selling home video games in the United States. These are also the first 8K cartridges for the Atari 2600 made possible by "bank switching" two 4K programs within each cartridge.
n Atari, Inc. releases three versions of PAC-MAN; one each of three popular Atari gaming platforms. Mr. Joe Robbins, president of Atari?s coin-op operations, makes the deal to purchase PAC-MAN home rights while in Japan to negotiate a settlement with Namco on another issue. Mr. Ray Kassar, chairman of the board, is furious that the deal was made without consulting him first without regard to Namco?s pressure on Robbins to make an immediate decision or forfeit the title completely.
n Atari, Inc. introduces "Atari Force" DC comic books packaged with select Atari 2600 game cartridges. The first is 48-pages and is packaged with DEFENDER.
n Atari, Inc. releases POLE POSITION as a realistic racing coin-operated arcade game in the United States. It will become the biggest arcade game in 1983. Namco originally offered POLE POSITION to Bally/Midway, however, Bally opted for MAPPY instead and the second choice was tossed to Atari.
n Atari, Inc. reduces the suggested retail of the 800 home computer to just under $900.
n Atari, Inc. officially renames the Video Computer System (VCS) to 2600.
n Referencing the unexpected success of a secret message hidden in the game ADVENTURE written by Mr. Warren Robinett for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS), Atari, Inc. promises to include "Easter Eggs" in nearly all new home video games. Warren had hidden his name in the game due to Atari's company policy of not permitting author credits. After a 12-year-old boy discovered the secret room which was accomplished by locating an invisible pixel in one room and carrying it to another, Warren was certain he would be punished for his action. He never was and became known for a phenomenon that continues today of purposely hiding undocumented features and/or messages in a video game.
n Atari, Inc. releases the 5200 (codename "Pam") gaming system. It features 16K RAM and sells for $299. It is essentially a stripped down 400 computer in a package designed just for game playing. It will become known as the first system to include a pause button and to be equipped with four built-in controller ports. An earlier model 5200 that never made it to market was codenamed "Sylvia". This earlier version was intended to compete directly with the Mattel Intellivision.
n Atari, Inc. finalizes deal for coin-operated and home version rights to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial; the highest grossing movie of all time. Mr. Steven Spielberg promises to work closely with Atari and confesses his fascination with video games and technology. An unnamed source will be quoted in the February 1984 issue of Computer Games to say that Mr. Spielberg was paid $21 million for the rights to E.T. The deal was made by Mr. Steve Ross, chairman of Warner Communications with a firm belief a video game by the name of E.T. would be a winner. E.T. (the video game) was pushed out in just five weeks by designer, Mr. Howard Scott Warshaw. Only three million cartridges were sold, but false sales expectations inspired buyers to make more E.T. cartridges than any one other. Several sources agree millions of unsold cartridges found their way to dump sites and bulldozed deep underground.
n One of the five original Activision founders and creator of KABOOM! (the popular Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS)) Mr. Larry Kaplan, resigns and returns to work for Atari, Inc. citing that Activision "monitored phone calls", was "not interested in hardware development" and was "simply not any fun anymore".
n Atari, Inc. named as "Official Video Game of the 1984 Olympics" in Los Angeles.
n The Bally's Professional Arcade video game system changes to Astrocade having been taken over by Astrovision, Inc.
n Broderbund Software, Inc. relocates from Eugene, Oregon to Marin County, California.
n Broderbund Software, Inc. releases CHOPLIFTER, by Mr. Dan Gorlin, for Atari 8-bit computer systems. This version of the game is directly transferred from the Apple II. CHOPLIFTER will become the first computer video game to be released as an arcade game by Sega.
n Coleco Industries, Inc. introduces PAC-MAN, GALAXIAN, DONKEY KONG and FROGGER in self-contained "mini-arcade" formats. The tiny vacuum fluorescent screens are housed in a hand held design that resemble tiny coin-operated machines... complete with thumb-size joysticks. The PAC-MAN version (model 2390) offers two switchable skill levels and four game select options; Eat & Run, Pac-Man, Head-to-Head Pac-Man (for 2 players) and a demo. The units operate on four ?C? size batteries and sell for $55 each. Almost three million units are sold by mid '83.
n Coleco Industries, Inc. releases DONKEY KONG licensed by Nintendo and programmed by Mr. Garry Kitchen for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Coleco Industries, Inc. release CARNIVAL by Mr. Steve Kitchen for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). It is licensed from Sega Enterprises, Inc. If the player holds down the fire button as the system is turned on, a dot will appear in the top row of targets. Shooting the dot before it scrolls off the screen will reveal the programmer?s name ("S. Kitchen").
n Buckner & Garcia (Mr. Jerry Buckner and Mr. Gary Garcia) release Pac-Man Fever as an album on the Columbia Records label after having shot success with the single in '81. Songs on the album include Pac-Man Fever, Froggy's Lament, Ode to a Centipede, Do the Donkey Kong, Hyperspace, The Defender, Mousetrap and Goin' Berzerk. Of the two, Garcia does all the vocals on this album.
n Mr. Ron Luks convinces CompuServe to allow Atari user support forums on the online service. He creates the SIG*Atari forum for 8-bit Atari computer users.
n Mr. Joe Kaminkow, Mr. Barry Ousler and Mr. Cary Kolker create a DEFENDER pinball machine.
n Electronic Data Systems (EDS) is awarded a $656 million, 10-year contract to renovate the computer systems at 47 Army bases.
n Emerson, a maker of economy electronics, releases the Arcadia 2001 video game console system with a $100 retail price. The system featured 28K RAM, but none of the optional games used any more than 8K.
n The Epson HX-20 computer is introduced as the first notebook-sized computer. It weighs four pounds, has its own built-in display, full-size keyboard and costs around $800.
n Fox Video Games, Inc. releases WORM WAR I by Mr. David Lubar for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). It is the first two player cooperative game for the 2600 and the first to implement a game pause feature by using the black and white/color switch on the console.
n Fox Video Games, Inc. releases FANTASTIC VOYAGE (based on the film by the same name) by Mr. David Lubar for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Fox Video Games, Inc. releases FLASH GORDON (based on the science fiction character) by Mr. David Lubar for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Franklin Computer Corporation presents the first licensed clone of the Apple II called the ACE 100.
n Hewlett-Packard Company, Inc. (HP) introduces the HP9000 technical computer which incorporates 32-bit Superchip technology with the power in a desktop mainframe that room-size computers had in the 1960?s.
n Hewlett-Packard Company, Inc. (HP) introduces the first computing device which combines features of calculators and computers as the HP-75C. The unit was equipped with VISICALC spreadsheet software and an Operating System (OS) that sustained 169 instructions; 147 being BASIC language commands.
n Mr. James J. Renier replaces Mr. Stephen G. Jerritts as president of Honeywell Information Systems.
n Imagic releases ATLANTIS by Mr. Dennis Koble for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). Koble was the third programmer hired by Atari in 1971 and a co-founder of Imagic.
n Imagic releases COSMIC ARK by Mr. Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). Contrary to the marketing ploy that COSMIC ARK was designed as a spin-off of ATLANTIS, it was actually a last minute decision to have the shuttleship in ATLANTIS tied to COSMIC ARK.
n At the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago, Imagic unveils 3 video game titles for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS): DEMON ATTACK by 24-year-old Mr. Rob Fulop, STAR VOYAGER by Mr. Bob Smith and TRICK SHOT by Mr. Dennis Koble. Based on the game GALAXIAN, DEMON ATTACK, has seven different monsters colored eight different ways spawning 56 game variations. According to Fulop, the game is ?programmed? to quit after surpassing the 84th wave. Within two days of the game's release and to everyone's surprise, a kid complains that his game suddenly ended. As a result, subsequent published copies of the cartridge had the one line of code changed so the game continues on after the 84th level. Also shown at CES was a demo that animated the Imagic logo on the Intellivision game system written by Mr. Gary Kato.
n At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Imagic unveils 2 video game titles for the Intellivision game system: DEMON ATTACK by Mr. Gary Kato and ATLANTIS by Mr. Pat Ransil. During this time Activision was in the process of porting STAMPEDE to Intellivision. Mr. Kato later states that Imagic engineers were very worried about the release of STAMPEDE. "We do remember running in the lab fearing the worst", states Kato, "and it turned out to be an EXACT port of the 2600 game. We breathed a sigh of relief.? But the market surprised Kato when it was released. ?Turns out Intellivision players didn't expect an exact port, but something capitalizing on the unique assets of the Intellivision," Kato adds.
n DEADLINE is published by Infocom and introduces an adventure game that permits characters within the game to take actions as it is being played. A simulation of ?real time? is controlled by the game as it is played. Characters and objects can change locations as influenced by time of day as well as the player?s movements and actions.
n International Business Machines (IBM) file a civil trade-secret theft suit against Hitachi.
n Mr. Kevin Mitnick, 18, caught breaking into computers at the University of Southern California. He will be jailed for six months.
n K-Mart offers home computers, peripherals and software by Timex-Sinclair, Atari, Inc., Commodore and Texas Instruments, Inc.
n McDonald's restaurants invest over $20 million with a hand out scratch-off cards offering diners a chance to win arcade, video game and computer prizes. Each card has two sections and is based on one of four popular video games: ASTEROIDS, CENTIPEDE, MISSILE COMMAND and STAR RAIDERS.
n Midway releases TRON as a coin-operated arade game based on the movie from Disney by the same name. The game will succeed to take in more gross funds than the movie itself. DISCS OF TRON, to be released the following year, was originally part of the original game, but removed due to technical constraints.
n Midway introduces SPACE PANIC as a coin-operated arcade video game.
n DIG DUG, by Namco, Ltd., makes it as the first video game advertised in theaters and on the silver screen with a 142 second commercial produced by Young and Rubicam. Intended as a satirical movie trailer, the short took five days to film and featured the talents of Jim Spencer from the SFX crew of Poltergeist.
n Parker Brothers releases STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). A month later they release FROGGER licensed by Sega.
n Mr. Nolan Bushnell, 39, has opened over 60 Pizza Time Theaters combining pizza with a video game arcade and animated characters.
n Quantel releases Mirage which introduces a system to become known as Page Turn and becomes the first digital effects machine to manipulate 3D objects with a 3D environment.
n Radio Shack introduces the TRS-80 Model MC-10. It measures 8.5 inches by seven inches by 1.5 inches high, has built-in BASIC and offers a 16K RAM upgrade module. Similar to popular video games, it conects by way of an RF adapter to any television.
n Satori Software releases BULK MAILER for the Apple II computer. It is Satori?s first release capable of sorting 32,000 addresses on a 5 Meg hard disk.
n How to Win at Video Games by Mr. George Sullivan is published by Scholastic Book Services.
n Sega releases ZAXXON as a startling (first to feature all-raster "isometric" graphics) new arcade coin-operated game featuring diagonal background scrolling and becomes one of the most popular games during this year.
n Sharp offers the PC-1500 pocket computer/calculator for around $300.
n Sharp offers the PC-1500A pocket computer/calculator for around $200.
n Ken Uston is published by Signet with a book entitled Ken Uston's Guide To Buying And Beating The Home Video Games. This 676-page paperback includes tips and strategies for over 180 video game titles.
n Spectravision International, Ltd. releases NEXAR by Mr. David Lubar for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Starpath Corporation (formerly Arcadia Corporation) releases the second game Mr. Stephen H. Landrum designed for them titled DRAGONSTOMPER by for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). The game is one of a few cassette based games (living up to the term ?tape?) ever released for the Starpath Supercharger. If the player enters the Use Shield command while the image of the axe is on the screen, ?SHL?, the designer?s initials, will appear.
n Stratus Computer, Inc., founded in 1980, install their first hardware-based fault-tolerant computers at West Lynn Cremery and Thom McAnn. Olivetti signs an OEM agreement with Stratus Computer, Inc. Stratus Computer also establishes their first Customer Assistance Center. Bank of America signs as the first banking customer for Stratus.
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) introduces the first single-chip Digital Signal Processor (DSP).
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) invest $25 million promotional dollars, complete with celebrity spokesperson Mr. Bill Cosby, to push the new TI-99/4a home computer. A $100 rebate on the $299 base system is offered in September.
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) introduces the TI-30 SLR as the first solar powered, slide-rule calculator. It offers more than fifty functions, a four-key memory and an eight-digit Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). It sells for $18.95.
n The Timex-Sinclair 1000, based on the design of the ZX81, is introduced by Timex Corporation. It will sell 600,000 units at $100 to $300.
n U.S. Games releases SPACE JOCKEY by Mr. Garry Kitchen for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).
n Video magazine?s ?Arkies? Arcade Awards for 1982 are ASTEROIDS (Atari) as video game of the year, PAC-MAN (Namco/Midway) as best arcade game, QUEST FOR THE RINGS (Odyssey2) as most innovative game, TENNIS (Activision) as best competitive game, MISSILE COMMAND (Atari) as best play-alone game, UFO (Odyssey2) as best sci-fi game, USAC AUTO RACING (Mattel) as best sports game, KABOOM! (Activision) as best audio-visual effects, STAR RAIDERS (Atari) as best computer game of the year, JAWBREAKER (Sierra On-Line) as best computer action game, COMPUTER BASEBALL (Strategic Simulations) as best computer sports game and EMPIRE OF THE OVERMIND (Avalon-Hill) as best computer adventure.
n Mr. Roger W. Johnson becomes president and chief operating officer of Western Digital.
n Western Digital offers the WD1010; the first single-chip Winchester controller.
n Mr. William Gibson invents the term cyberspace to define the intangible universe of computer data storage and communication.
n Williams Electronics releases ROBOTRON: 2084 which was designed by Mr. Eugene Jarvis and his design team; the same people behind DEFENDER. The original working title was ROBOT WAR: 1984 before its release.
n Williams Electronics releases the arcade version of JOUST; a fighting game with no fire button. The game was conceptualized by Mr. John Newcomer, an ex-toy designer who submitted his resume to Williams Electronics in the throat of a rubber chicken. The lead programmer was Mr. Bill Pfutzenreuter. Ms. Jan Hendricks was the artist that bit mapped the ostriches and buzzards. JOUST was the third coin-operated machine that would accept two coins from two players for the same play time (2 player game). SPACE WAR and WIZARD OF WOR were the forerunners. Eventually, more than 26,000 JOUST units will ship. A ?belly flop? bug in the software of the first machines shipped allowed players to repeatedly kill the pterodactyl by remaining stationary on a cloud that was created in the final phase of programming. The pterodactyl was denoted as invincible and Williams Electronics soon issued new ROMs that made certain it was.
n Mr. Wilton Jones is contracted by an insurance company to create a PC word processor that emulates Wang?s existing product.
INDUSTRY I/O?s (1982)
n Aaron Marcus & Associates, Inc. is founded.
n Access Software, Inc. is founded.
n Actronics, Inc. is founded.
n Adcetera Design Studio is founded.
n Mr. John Warnock and Mr. Charles Geschke form Adobe Systems in Mountain View, California. The name was derived from a creek that ran in close proximity to the founders? homes.
n Alice Mathias Studio Graphics is founded by Ms. Alice Mathias.
n Alpha Partners is founded.
n Alpha Software Corporation is founded.
n Associated Venture Investors III is founded.
n Aura Systems, Inc. is founded.
n Autodesk, Inc. is founded.
n AVI Management Partners is founded.
n Books-on-Disk is founded.
n Buckmaster Publishing is founded.
n Businessland opens their first computer store.
n Capitol Multimedia, Inc. is founded.
n Cognetics Corporation is established.
n Compaq Computer Corporation is founded.
n Davidson & Associates, Inc. is founded.
n Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. is founded.
n DiskCopyLabs is founded.
n Dragon Systems, Inc. is founded.
n Electronic Arts, Inc. is founded.
n Encryption Technology Corporation is founded.
n Ensoniq Corporation is founded.
n Expert Software, Inc. is founded.
n Fathom Pictures, Inc. is founded.
n Gamestar is founded by Mr. Scott Orr. The company will release 3 hits within its first year including STAR LEAGUE BASEBALL. Mr. Keith Orr, Scott?s brother, will become the company?s first employee.
n Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. is founded.
n Hercules Computer Technology is founded.
n Inacom Corporation is founded.
n Intersound, Inc. is founded.
n James Grunder & Associates, Inc. is founded.
n Japanese Language Services, Inc. is founded.
n Knowledge Access International, Inc. is established.
n Lotus Development Corporation is founded.
n Filmmaker, Mr. George Lucas founds LucasArts; a software entertainment development and publishing company.
n Lyben Computer Systems is founded.
n Market Trends is founded.
n Micrografx, Inc. is founded.
n Micro-Pace, Inc. is founded.
n Midwest Micro is founded.
n Motion Tool Works USA Corporation is founded.
n Mr. Dick German, a former computer government consultant, establishes the National Association of Free-Lance Programmers (NAFLP).
n National Data Conversion Institute is founded.
n Odyssey Adventure, a quarterly magazine published by Ceco Publishing Company, premieres with a winter issue.
n Orchid Technology is incorporated. In their first year, they release PCnet; the first personal computer Local Area Network (LAN).
n Origin Software is founded by Mr. Richard and Robert Garriott in their parent?s garage.
n PC Connection, Inc. is founded.
n PC World Communications is founded.
n Proxima Corporation is founded.
n Satori Software is founded specializing in mail list and billing/accounting software.
n Sega Ozisoft (Pty), Ltd. is founded.
n Dr. James Clark founds Silicon Graphics.
n Sun Microsystems, Inc. is founded by four 27-year-old men; Mr. Andreas Bechtolsheim, Mr. Vinod Khosla, Mr. Scott McNealy and Mr. Bill Joy. Bechtolsheim, the catalyst, built a workstation for himself when he found it inconvenient to always have to go to the campus computer center while in school. After building the first Stanford University Network (SUN) computer, he unleashed a demand for more that he would license out for $10,000 each. He eventually invested $25,000 to build prototypes of an open UNIX system which soon became high in demand and attracted the attention of Khosla, a native of India who helped found Daisy in 1980. After all four men gathered, Sun Microsystems was founded and, within three months, the first commercial hand-built systems, the Sun-1, were shipped.
n Tenex Computer Express is founded.
n Visual Eyes is founded by Mr. Alan Kozlowski.
n The Weather Channel is founded.
FISCAL FINANCIALS (1982)
n Activision reports $66 million in revenues.($60 more than the previous year.)
n Apple Computer reaches $1 billion in annual sales for the year and is the first personal computer company to do so.
n Atari, Inc.'s sales for the year exceed $2 billion; 2/3 of the entire market. Atari International is ranked among the largest advertisers in the U.S. Atari is making back the price it paid to buy out Nolan Bushnell in 1979 at a rate of about every two days.
n Coleco Industries financially explodes with $510 million in gross sales. Net income is $40 million.
n Microsoft swells with annual sales of $34 million and 200 employees.
n Sun Microsystems, Inc. does $8 million in its first year with 80% originating from the university markets.
JANUARY (1982)
n On Thursday, January 7, through Sunday, January 10, the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
n On Thursday, January 7, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Commodore had five C-64 computers on display for the first time. They feature a 6510 processor, 64KB RAM, 20KB ROM and Microsoft BASIC as well as custom sound and 16 color graphics with an MSRP of $600 (to be sold to consumers for as low as $200 in 1983). The Ultimax, an unexpandable 2K RAM computer, was also announced at the show for a suggested retail price of $149.
n On Thursday, January 7, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) announces the release of the Peripheral Expansion Box for the TI-99/4a home computer. The price including a disk controller, RS232, 32K memory and one single-sided/single-density disk drive is $1474.75US.
n On Monday, January 18, through Thursday, January 21, the Amusement Trades Exhibition (ATE) takes place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the first year in which Atari, Inc. participates with an independent booth. TEMPEST is the main feature in Atari's booth.
n In the Monday, January 18 issue of Time magazine, Mr. Steve Juraszek, a Mount Prospect, Illinois high school student, is profiled as the DEFENDER champion of the world. The cover story immortalizes Juraszek?s 16 straight hour play on a single quarter that earned 16 million points. The fact is there are many expert players who discovered that a scoring bug enables players to rack up a great number of extra lives (ships) when a score of 990,000 is attained; enabling them to take brief breaks from their sessions. As a result, some players were known to play for multiple days on one quarter.
n In the Monday, January 18 issue of Time magazine, it is revealed that 96,600 PAC-MAN arcade machines have been produced in the United States. There have been 70,000 ASTEROIDS machines and 60,000 SPACE INVADERS.
n On Friday, January 22, Mr. Steven Paul Jobs of Apple Computer and Mr. William Henry Gates, III sign an agreement which will evolve to become BASIC and MULTIPLAN as well as others.
n On Friday, January 29, through Saturday, January 30, Mr. Tim Vargo, 20, scores 51,957,175 points on MISSILE COMMAND by Atari Inc. after playing the game for thirty hours and forty minutes at Play Palace arcade in Kent, Ohio.
n The United States Justice Department throws out a 13 year-old suit anti-trust suit initiated against International Business Machines (IBM) on the last day of the Johnson administration. During those 13 years, IBM was compelled to move slowly with development and design to minimize threats of being forcibly split apart into smaller companies. Court proceedings were recorded on more than 200,000 pages of paper.
n Eleven music-industry manufacturers meet and agree to standardize Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) specifications.
FEBRUARY (1982)
n On Saturday, February 6, Mr. Leo Daniels, 20, scores 40,101,910 points on ASTEROIDS by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 36 hours and four minutes at Ocean View Corporation in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
n On Tuesday, February 16, Thursday, February 18 and Friday, February 19, Atari Inc. hosts a series of luncheon meetings for their distributors to preview the new coin-operated game, SPACE DUEL.
n On Saturday, February 20, Mr. Ken Chevalier, 16, scores 12,900,000 points on BATTLEZONE by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 12 hours at the Star Station 101 arcade in Atascadero, California.
n Mr. Bruce Carso, founder of B&C ComputerVisions, meets up with Mr. Mark Dahldorf (San Jose Computers) and buy out the end-of-season supplies of Atari 8-bit computers from Emporium. Mr. Carso becomes one of the most faithful Atari resellers on through the 80's and into the 90's.
n Ex-senior Texas Instruments, Inc. managers (Mr. Rod Canion, Mr. Jum Harris and Mr. Bill Murto) form Compaq Computer Corporation.
n The personal computer development team at International Business Machines (IBM) is split three ways. One group is assigned the PC XT. Another is assigned the PCjr and the third group is assigned the PC AT.
n The "MUNCHMAN Plan" is launched by Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) as an offer to send a free copy of MUNCHMAN to TI-99/4a computer users if they make qualifying purchases of three Solid State Software Command Modules or one significant hardware peripheral between February and May.
MARCH (1982)
n On Wednesday, March 3, United States (U.S.) Federal Appeals Court in Chicago, Illinois overturns an earlier U.S. District decision and ordered K.C MUNCHKIN, a PAC-MAN look- a-like published by North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corporation, off store shelves. K.C. MUNCHKIN was fast becoming one of the popular character games for the Odyssey2. Midway Manufacturing Company and Atari, Inc filed the suit jointly.
n On Thursday, March 4, Mr. Kent MacMaster, Mr. Jack Browne and Mr. Paul Allgyer of Motorola Semiconductor Products, Inc. meet with engineers of Atari, Inc. In attendance is Mr. Jerry Jessop who kept notes on page nine of his Atari Engineering Log Book. Motorola presents the 68000 family of microprocessors promising the ability to start shipping in the fourt quarter. Their 12MHz model operates at a speed of 150 nanoseconds. For delivery in 1983, Motorola promises the 68020 as a 32-bit chip. Atari feels the pricing is unreachable and forgoes short term opportunities with the new chips.
n On Monday, March 8, The Dallas Morning News prints a story titled Pac-Man?s doing Navy duty, a syndicated article by Mr. Bob Greene. In the article, Bob introduces Chief Petty Officer Julie Red, 27, who had been named the best of the Navy?s 3,500 recruiters. Petty attributes her success to her tactic of hanging out in video game arcades and challenging young men to games of PAC-MAN.
n On Tuesday, March 16, resellers of the Texas Instruments, Inc. TI-99/4a home computer begin receiving shipments of EDITOR/ASSEMBLER. These were originally promised to arrive at retailers during the third week of January.
n On Tuesday, March 23, Mr. Michael Weisberg, 27, scores 638,651 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc. after playing the game for fifty minutes at Space Port Arcade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
n On Saturday, March 27, Buckner & Garcia's (Mr. Jerry Buckner and Mr. Gary Garcia) Pac-Man Fever peaks as number nine on the pop singles charts.
n On Monday, March 29, Mr. Allen Toney, 23, scores 583,750 points on WARLORDS by Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour at Scratch & Tilt in Huntington, West Virginia.
n Commodore introduces the VICModem for the VIC-20 computer at $109.95 retail.
n Microsoft U.K., Ltd. is incorporated.
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) releases ARCADE GAMES, COMPUTER INTRODUCTORY PACKAGE, ELEMENTARY EDUCATOR, FAMILY ENTERTAINER, HOME FINANCIAL MANAGER, MUSIC EDUCATOR, PERSONAL REPORT GENERATOR, READING FUN, SPEAKING MATH TEACHER, SPEAKING READING TEACHER and SUPER PROGRAMMER for the TI-99/4a home computer.
APRIL (1982)
n On Friday, April 2 through Sunday, April 4, radio station WDVE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hosts the first WDVE Video Olympics tournament featuring Atari coin-operated video games including ASTEROIDS. The event is held at the Village Square Mall and is co-sponsored by Computer Tech, a Pittsburgh area computer school.
n Saturday, April 3 is National Pac-Man Day as declared by Atari, Inc. when it introduces the game as a video game cartridge for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS) at a suggested selling price of $44.95. In a short time it becomes the best-selling cartridge ever for the 2600. The Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS) version of PAC-MAN was written by Mr. Todd Fry. Some say this was the video game industry?s first brass ring for a programmer. Todd was given three months and, ultimately, a million dollars to be virtually locked in a room by himself to generate the 2600 code. As one of the best-hyped games, it was also one of the best sellers until the public absorbed how insincere the version was to the popular coin-op version. Almost as fast as it tops the sales charts, it falls off due to relatively poor gameplay and visual quality caused by rushing it to market. Within a year, Atari proved what really could be done with ample programming time when they released MS. PACMAN. Fry later revealed that he could have done so much more if Atari did not restrict him to just 4K and would allow him to rework the screen draw kernel into a one line of code he discovered after originally implementing a two-line version. According to many reports, Fry blew his fast million almost as quickly as he earned it. Co-workers recall how Fry flaunted his money; reportedly pinning a copy of his first big check on his office door.
n On Saturday, April 3, Mr. Peter Bukowski suffers a heart attack and dies while playing BERZERK at the Friar Tuck game room in River Oaks Shopping Center in Calumet City, Illinois. He has since become known as the first person to have died while playing a video game.
n On Sunday, April 4, Mr. Walt Stewart scores 52,454,815 points on MISSILE COMMAND by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 40 hours and twenty minutes at Odyssey Fun Center in Sacramento, California.
n On Monday, April 5, the New York Times reveals in a front page story that IBM's BASIC returns an error when .1 is divided by 10.
n On Wednesday, April 7, Mr. Rijanto Joesoeff, 22, scores 4,421,232 points on CENTIPEDE by Atari Inc. after playing the game for eight hours at Captain Video in Los Angeles, California.
n On Friday, April 9, Atari Inc. opens Atari Far East (Japan) Ltd. located at Fukide Building, 2nd Floor, 4-1-13, Toranomon, MinatoKu, Tokyo, Japan 105. In celebration, a reception is held at the Hotel Okura hosted by Mr. John Farrand, president of Atari's Coin Games International Division and Mr. Rivington Hight, president of Atari Far East. Attending the reception is Masaya Nakamura-san, president of Namco, Limited.
n On Sunday, April 11, Mr. Joe Ergo scores 674,437 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc. after playing the game for twenty minutes at Just for Kicks in Baldwin, New York.
n On Monday, April 19, Atari's Consumer Electronics Division Engineering Technical Staff submits a signed petition to Mr. Dave Remson, department head, complaining that the Atari 5200 (PAM) game system analog controller that was decided upon by the company suffered a number of distinct performance and "human engineering" (ergonomic) problems. The staff recommends formalized focus groups to solicit solutions. Atari elected not to accommodate the proposal.
n On Friday, April 30, Ms. Katy Lawson of Advance Automaic Sales in San Fransisco, California is presented Atari Inc.'s Outstand Parts Manager of the Year award.
n Atari, Inc. introduce Namco?s DIG DUG as an arcade game.
n Mr. Mitch Kapor founds Lotus Development Corporation.
n Microsoft establishes in England a European subsidiary.
n Universal Studios threaten lawsuits against Coleco and Nintendo claiming that DONKEY KONG was an infringement on their King Kong. Coleco settled by agreeing to pay 3% of all related sales. Later, Coleco recouped some of those royalties after discovering that Nintendo won their court battle against Universal.
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) release READING RONDUP and TUNNELS OF DOOM for the TI-99/4a home computer.
n A Z80 co-processing internal PC expansion card is made by Xedex Corporation. BABY BLUE, as it was called, is designed to exploit an existing library of Z80 compatible software for the PC.
MAY (1982)
n On Saturday, May 1, the World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee and continues through Sunday, October 31. Attendance the first day is 87,659. The Magnavox Odyssey2 is the "Official Game" of the fair. The system ranks third behind the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision, but Knoxville-based Magnavox decides to hold the finals for a PICK-AXE PETE competiton during the final weekend of the fair.
n On Sunday, May 2, the 5th annual Devil Mountain Run is held in Danville, California. It is the second largest ten-kilometer race held in Northern California attracting over 8,000 runners and 25,000 attendees. Atari Inc. participates as a corporate sponsor with over twenty employees attending including some dressed as PAC-MAN, the ghosts and a specially created CENTIPEDE character. Mr. Don Osborne, vice president of sales and marketing for Atari, presents Children's Hospital with a CENTIPEDE arcade style video game during the event.
n On Thursday, May 6, Mr. Eric Ginner, 20, scores 1,140,070 points on DIG DUG by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 55 minutes at Central Park Center in Mountain View, California.
n On Saturday, May 15, Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 397,460 points on SPACE DUEL by Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour and seven minutes at Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada.
n On Saturday, May 15, Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) initiates a promotion to offer a free TexNet subscription to purchasers of a modem, RS232 and TERMINAL EMULATOR II cartridge for the TI-99/4a home computer between May 15 and Saturday, October 16.
n On Friday, May 21, Mr. Scott Macalino scores 342,720 points on SPACE DUEL by Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour and thirty minutes in Millinocket, Maine.
n On Saturday, May 22 through Wednesday, May 26, the 63rd annual Restaurant and Hotel-Motel Show is held in Chicago. That industry's largest trade show draws 85,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors including Atari Inc.
n On Saturday, May 22, Mr. Eric Glick, 18, scores 1,311,290 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour and thirty minutes at a 7-11 convenience store in Houston, Texas.
n On Tuesday, May 25, Philips, an electronics company, introduces Laservision as a playback media on laserdiscs plus a playback unit.
n On Sunday, May 30, Kyle Riley and Jo Linda Richardson were wed next to the PAC-MAN game where they had met in a Fun Factory arcade in Des Moines, Iowa. Their wedding cake was adorned by "Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man" and their bridal suite was furnished with a PAC-MAN arcade game.
n Atari, Inc. introduces volume 1, number 1 of Atari Age magazine as a May/June issue featuring an exclusive interview with Pac-Man.
n Atari, Inc. releases YARS? REVENGE for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS). The game, originally assigned to be a version of STAR CASTLE was designed by Mr. Howard Scott Warshaw within about six months and changed to model gameplay better suited for the platform. The title was given by the designer noting that YAR was RAY spelled backwards. Mr. Ray Kassar was the then CEO of Atari. Warshaw ?leaked? to marketing that Ray liked the title and within a short time, marketing adopted it formally. If the player ?kills? the swirl in mid-air, then positions Yar so it is within the third quarter of the vertical black line, the designer?s initials appear after the explosion (and the game is terminated).
n Atari, Inc. launches a three-phase attraction at Marriott's Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California featuring a coin-operated arcade and a gift shop full of Atari merchandise.
n Atari, Inc. enters the U.K. marketplace with games and computers. Mr. Graham Clark, Managing Director of Atari International U.K. scrambles to hire skilled management experts.
n Microsoft publishes its first computer application. MULTIPLAN was the company's answer to VISICALC.
n Microsoft releases MS-DOS version 1.1.
n Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) offers FREEFORM, a spreadsheet application by Aardvark Soiftware for the TI-99/4a home computer , with the purchase of TI's new p-Code system.
n Walt Disney Productions charges Williams Electronics for copyright and patent infringement regarding Williams use of ?tron? in ROBOTRON. Walt Disney?s Tron, the movie, will be released in July.
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