Tank (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title= Tank


caption=
publisher= Kee Games
developer= Kee Games
designer= Steve Bristow, Lyle Rains
series=
released= ^{North America} 1974
genre= military
platforms= Arcade
input= 4 joysticks, two stick mounted fire buttons
cabinet= custom
cpu= discrete
sound= Amplified Mono (one channel)
display= Vertical orientation, Black-and-white raster display, Standard Resolution

"Tank" is a 2 player arcade game by Atari Inc. subsidiary Kee Games, originally released on November 5, 1974 and designed by Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains.cite web
last = Fulton
first = Steve
title = Atari Timeline: 1974
url=http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=3540
accessdate = 2007-08-17 ] 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.cite web
title = Tank Killer List of Video Games Entry
url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=12989
accessdate = 2007-07-17 ]

Technology

"Tank" uses a black and white Motorola television for its display.cite
title = Tank Operation and Service Manual
author= Kee Games
publisher= Kee Games
date= ] The control panel consists of 4 military style joysticks, 2 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 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).

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 sprite, 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 with the dual joystick 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, reversing the motion will cause the tank to turn left.

Ports

* The Atari 2600 game "Combat", released in 1977, included several variations of "Tank".

Clones

* The Coleco "Telstar Combat!", released in 1977, played four variations of Kee Games' "Tank" using a General Instruments AY-3-8700 Tank chip.

Legacy

* "Tank II" in 1974.
* "Tank III" in 1975.
* The full color and Motorola 6800 microprocessor based "Tank 8" in 1976.
* The 6502 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 using vector technology. The player also now competed against computer controlled opponents.

References

External links

* [http://www.armchairarcade.com/aamain/content.php?article.102 Armchair Arcade commentary]
* Entries at Killer List of Videogames: [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=12989 Tank] , [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10029 Tank II] , [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10030 Tank III] , [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10025 Tank 8] , [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10261 Ultra Tank]
* [http://users.tkk.fi/~eye/videogames/arcade.html History of Arcade Games]
* [http://www.andys-arcade.net/personal/bronzeage/ PCB and Artwork images from Andy's Arcade]