Fall 1982 Complete Home Video Game Buyer’s Guide

Which is the best system for you? Which cartridges are great and which are duds? How should you spend your video game dollar? Turn the page and find out!

So, you want to buy a home video game system and suddenly you’re faced with a choice. A vast choice. Choosing a system has become, in recent months, a Herculean task. If you had had better timing, you’d have gone for the consoles about two years ago when there were only three of them available. Instead, you waited until now, and you’ve got to choose from among at least five system. That’s the price you pay.

Actually, you did the right thing by waiting. Although your choice is harder, it is from among better systems with a wider range of features to offer you. So you didn’t do badly after all. Don’t you feel relieved?

There are a few things you ought to know before we go any further; simple terms you’re likely to come across while searching for the home video game system that’s just right for you.

Hardware

This refers to the console, the system on which the software (next word) is played. The software refers to the game cartridges themselves, the stuff of which games are made.

The system works as follows: Inside each console is a CPU, or central processing unit which is the hub around which everything turns. The CPU extracts information from various inputs and transfers it to the TV screen.

Within each cartridge is a RAM and ROM chip. RAM (random access memory) is the changing information, such as your game score, while ROM (read-only memory) is the unchanging information, such as the rules of the game (although there are times I, for one, wish the rules would change a little and let me win for once).

The CPU takes information from both the chip and the player’s input (your orders given through the joystick) and sends it almost instantaneously to the screen.

There are different kinds of software with cartridges being the most common. Unfortunately, you cannot play any old cartridge on any old system.

This is the beauty of free enterprise. Each company has its own system and format. Therefore, if you own, say, an Atari VCS, you can’t play Intellivision games on it. This is another good reason to choose your game system wisely. Let’s get on to the available systems.

ATARI

The Atari system is one that offers the widest selection of games for play on it. The VCS 2600 costs about $149 though it can be had for as little as $120. It consists of a console with several switches, including one that varies the difficulty from (a) to (b) with (a) being the most difficult. (Guess what (b) is) The system also comes with four controls: two joysticks and two paddle controls. The joysticks feature eight position movement and each has a red “fire” button. The paddle controls (used with games such as Circus Atari and Kaboom!) also feature a red fire button, though in a different location. Sold separately is a set of Atari Keyboard Controllers for use with some of the educational cartridges available from Atari.

For the most part, the player will deal with the joysticks. If you’re used to playing arcade games, these are going to be sorry disappointments. The joysticks offer neither the precision nor the sensitivity of the arcades. However, it is unfair, I believe, to compare them with the arcade joysticks. If you think of them as an entirely different species and get used to them that way, you’ll be better off.

The VCS has the widest selection of cartridges available but it is important to note that the graphics on the unit are chunky at best. The asteroids in Asteroids look like nothing so much as pieces of colored popcorn and not very tasty popcorn at that. The rocket is awfully clumsy to have gotten that far into space.

But if you’ve waited this long, think about waiting just a little but longer for the new Atari system due out next month. Called the “System 5200,” this one is going to beat everything. No joke. Priced at about $210 (marked down from $349 list), the 5200 offers improved graphics, and several features not found on any other system…so far.

The controllers are closer to Intellivision’s in that they have a small calculator-sized keyboard and the firing buttons are located at the side towards the top. There is a speed control built-in which, on specific cartridges, will allow the player to speed up the action. In addition, the joystick offers 360 degree mobility instead of the usual eight positions. Also found on the control is a “pause” button which enables the player to put any game on hold for as long as he likes. Say your friend is beating the pants off you in Defender. Simply put the game on hold until you are ready to resume play. Like after he moves away. The game will pick up exactly where, you left it when you come back. And while the game is in the pause mode, the screen will constantly change colors to prevent phosphor burn from occurring.

I saw Pac-Man played on this new system, and let me tell you it is great! The graphics are easily as good as the arcade version and even include those intermissions which you get to see if you’re good enough. I, for one, have never seen them.

The bad news Is that the 5200 is not compatible with the 2600. This means all the software you have bought for the VCS will not fit into the new system.

The good news is that there will soon be an expansion module sometime in the future for the 5200 which will make it VCS compatible. So don’t throw all those games away yet.

Atari is perhaps the strongest with arcade titles. See, it has a distinct advantage in that it also has a coin-op division, which means that it doesn’t have to go too far to buy the rights to any popular arcade game. Its vast library of software includes Asteroids, Space Invaders, Defender, Missile Command (which, incidentally, is one of the better translations) and Pac-Man, which, on the VCS, is just awful. The ghosts are hard to see and just forget about the joystick. (The 5200 has corrected all this and there’s hardly a negative thing that can be said about the new system.)

In addition, there are presently about 16 independent software manufacturers all making games for the Atari system. (see next section). So if variety is what you’re looking for, Atari is the system for you.

One added note—if you’re going to spend more than $200 for any video game system, you might think about getting a home computer instead. They also play games and the prices are getting lower and lower.

INTELLIVISION

Mattel’s Intellivision system outdoes the Atari VCS in as far as graphics goes. Priced at around $210 if you shop around the Intellivision is very strong in the way of two person sports games. The baseball cartridge, for example, is superb with each player independently controlled.

The console comes with two controllers, both with calculator-sized keyboards and disc/joystick combinations as well as two firing buttons on the sides. Each game comes with an overlay which fits over the keyboard and further defines the function of each key in that game. So in the baseball cartridge, the overlay is a baseball diamond and each player corresponds to one of the keys. It is awkward, however, and the overlay keeps slipping around so you’re liable to be throwing the ball to right field when you think you’re pressing your shortstop. It’s best to memorize who each key stands for as quickly as possible and to learn to “touch play,” as the time spent glancing up and down could cost you the pennant.

The baseball cartridge is wonderfully detailed. The players run out amid cheering crowds. You can have a rousing warmup catch in the outfield before the pitch. Pitches can come in fast or slow, curved or straight. The one complaint I have is that there are no walks. In fact, if a ball is inside and hits the player, it simply passes right through him. This makes it difficult to put any real confidence behind the density of your players.

Intellivision offers about forty cartridges divided into six categories: sports, space. action. strategy, gaming and children’s learning. In addition, several independent software manufacturers have begun producing games for Intellivision as well—thus the library of games should expand.

Intellivision stresses thinking games over pure action games, and two-player games over single player games. So if you just want to sit down for fifteen minutes by yourself and blast some aliens, the Atari system is better for you.

INTELLIVOICE

Sometime later this year, Intellivoice is coming. Intellivoice is a module which attaches to the Intellivision system and, when played with new cartridges such as Tron: Solar Sailor and B-17 Bomber, adds voice-not just sound effects-to the game. For example, in B-17 Bomber, one of the voices giving occasional advice to the player sounds just like John Wayne. I swear.

The module will cost under $100 and regular Intellivision cartridges can be played on it, but without enhancement.

It bears mentioning that there will be a keyboard add-under to be attached to the Intellivision, making it into a personal computer on which you will be able to learn languages, plot family budgets and learn Basic programming.

ODYSSEY²

Odyssey two is like the poor relative of the previous systems. Whether it’s because it doesn’t receive enough advertising to get attention or doesn’t receive enough attention to merit further advertising support, I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem able to keep up with the other systems. The games, however, are not bad. There are over 30 cartridges to choose from but none, so far, is an arcade title.

The console has a keyboard, and in this way Odyssey² is significantly different from the other systems. The keys are flat, unlike a typewriter and each key can perform a specific function depending on which cartridge is plugged in. The graphics are fair, not great, not as bad as Atari’s VCS. But where Odyssey really falls down is in its sparse game selection. The best cartridge—KC Munchkin—was taken off the market after a suit was filed by Atari charging KC with being too similar to Pac-Man. Odyssey plans to release another cartridge—KC’s Crazy Chase—soon, in which KC will return. And a good thing, too. KC was much better-looking than the VCS version of Pac-Man. He smiled each time he stopped gobbling and often, I would stop the game and risk being eaten just to see him grin.

The keyboard is really the key difference. With the Keyboard Creations cartridge, for example, the user can program in messages, times, and alarms, something that cannot be done on Atari or Intellivision.

And the keyboard makes the difference between Odyssey’s new voice module and Intellivoice. There are new games to be played on The Voice but, in addition, you can put messages on the screen and The Voice will speak them to you when you press the “enter” key. The Voice can pronounce just about anything, although it does tend to be phonetic about it—pronouncing “weather” as “weether.” It is also very poor at hailing taxicabs.

Odyssey also is strongest in the video/board strategy game area. Offering three games in its Master Strategy Series, which use both boards and screens. They are Quest For the Rings, Conquest of the World and The Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt.

The console, including the Speedway, Spinout and Crypto-Logic cartridge, runs about $199.95 list price. The Voice lists for about $99.95 and cartridges range from $34.95 (for voice games) to $49.95 (Master Strategy Series.)

COLECOVISION

ColecoVision will be rivalled only by the Atari 5200. ColecoVision is indeed a third generation video game.

The controllers are everything rolled into one—small keyboards, paddle controls and joysticks with a speed roller similar to the one on the 5200’s controllers.

ColecoVision’s graphics are superb. Just superb. There’s none of this chunky, angular blocky resolution found in the other games. Coleco’s screens are rounded and very clear and all its reproductions of arcade games are about as close as anything has come so far. Its Donkey Kong cartridge, for example, is almost an exact duplicate, graphically as well as in play, of the popular arcade game.

And Coleco has done a very smart thing. It has an Atari expansion module which attaches to the ColecoVision console and allows the player to play all the Atari cartridges available. All. From all the manufacturers. This means the owner of the Coleco system has the most comprehensive software library of any other system. It should be pointed out that when Atari VCS games are played on the Coleco expansion module, the graphics do not improve. Rats.

Coleco plans to have other expansion modules as well. Its second will be a driving module for use with games such as Turbo. It comes with a steering wheel and accelerator and greatly enhances game play.

The ColecoVision is under $200 and the expansion module runs about $60. Each cartridge is in the neighborhood of $32.

ASTROCADE

Astrocade is the latest name change for what once was the Bally Professional Arcade system. For some reason, this system is simply not well known. Not known well, that is. And this is unfortunate because the graphics are terrific and there is one game in particular which is quite unique. But first to the console and controllers.

The Astrocade console has a calculator built into it which is used when playing the unique game mentioned above as well as when using the Astrocade Basic cartridge. See, the Astrocade is also a personal computer and Basic programming can be learned from this cartridge. The keyboard might be a little small but otherwise it is quite efficient.

As are the controls. They are models of efficiency. Shaped like pistol handles, they have triggers for firing buttons and a small knob on the end which doubles as joystick and paddle control. They are easy to hold and easy to use. And they’re quite precise, too.

Of the games I’ve played, I have found none really exciting. All seem to be copies, and not excellent ones, of existing arcade games. Some games are much better than others. The graphics and precision of the controls make playing on this machine a pleasure.

The console (which costs $299—but remember it is a personal computer of sorts, too) comes with three resident games-which means they live there and require no cartridge. They are Gunfight—a shoot out at the Video Corral, Checkmate—a strategy game, and Scribbling, the unique one. Scribbling utilizes the controllers and keyboard to turn the player into a video artist. Varying color shade and intensity, the player can draw just about anything on his TV set.

The controller becomes a paintbrush with the joystick determining the width and length of the stroke. Quite remarkable, really. In fact, I would say Astrocade’s greatest strength lies in the creative cartridges of which there are two more—Creative Crayon and Music Maker, which enables the user to compose and play back music. Just remarkable!

GCE

General Consumer Electronics is the newest and, in my opinion, one of the most significant entrants in last few months. Their system Vectrex will be a major contender in the video game arena.

Vectrex is a self-contained system—meaning it is not played on your TV set. This is an advantage not only because it frees up the TV but also because the graphics on Vectrex can be—are—outstanding. It uses a Vector screen—as opposed to the vaster screen found in TV sets—which gives the illusion of 3-D. The driving games particularly are outstanding, with the distance perspective almost frightening. At one point during the game Hyperchase you enter a tunnel so realistic you feel claustrophobic.

The control panel consists of a small 360 degree joystick and four buttons, each with a different function depending on the game being played. Vectrex has a black and white screen, so each game also comes with an overlay which adds color to the graphics.

There are thirteen games available, in eluding the resident game, Mine Storm. The system runs about $200 and will be available early this fall.

There are at least five other manufacturers, including Emerson, SJA, Video Technology Inc., Entex, and Tryom but, at present each is simply, in my opinion, a facsimile of the ones we’ve just covered.

SOFTWARE

Every company manufactures games for its own system. Thus Atari has a line of over 60 cartridges for its VCS and, so far, 14 for the 5200 including Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Qix. Mattel has over 40 games for the Intellivision. However, in addition to making games for themselves, several of them have taken to making games for their competitors as well. The Intellivision M Network is devoted strictly to games for the Atari VCS, including translations of such popular Intellivision titles as Astrosmash (called Astroblast) and Baseball (called Super Challenge Baseball). Coleco markets games for both the Atari and Intellivision systems. So its most popular games (such as Donkey Kong) are available in all formats. But, more importantly, there are currently about 16 software-only manufacturers, all making software for the Atari VCS. This naturally expands the library available for that system and is something the buyer should take into account. While several companies are beginning to make games for Intellivision, most of the attention is concentrated on the VCS. Remember that.

Among these suppliers are some well-known ones who we will describe in greater detail here. Others will be noted for your information, but won’t be dealt with in too much detail. There is only so much a writer can do before wanting to destroy her typewriter.

ACTIVISION

Activision is the oldest and largest of the software companies making games for the VCS. Among the games offered are Laser Blast—an award winning space game; Kaboom!—in which a mad bomber drops, well, bombs, and you have to catch them before then hit the ground; and Freeway—the old joke in which you have to get a chicken safely across one of eight major highways at rush hour.

Activision currently has 18 games out for Atari and one—Pitfall, and adventure game in which the player has to maneuver “Harry” through the jungle watching out for scorpions, crocodiles and other hazards—for Intellivision. Pitfall is also available in the Atari format.

Activision’s games reflect the dynamic nature of its president Jim Levy who puts the premium on creativity. All the games are very original-no arcade titles here and Levy sees no need to acquire any in the immediate future—and all extremely imaginative. The graphics, incidentally, are excellent.

IMAGIC

Imagic has about seven games for the VCS, including the popular Demon Attack, where swarms of cosmic birds swoop down from space. In one of its newer games, Cosmic Ark, the player has to capture reluctant aliens from other worlds in order to re-populate a planet.

Cosmic Ark is a continuation of the second installment, as it were, to one of Imagic’s other games, Atlantis. After the player loses (and the player must always lose eventually, curses), he rejoins the characters from Atlantis in Cosmic Ark. They are the ones flying the spaceship that is picking up the reluctant aliens.

In addition, Imagic has five titles for Intellivision—including Demon Attack and MicroSurgeon, in which the player travels through the human body via the circulatory and cures illness. (It’s cuter, really, than it sounds) And the company will have at least one (Demon Attack) for the Odyssey! system by January of 1983, making it the first independent company to produce games for three systems.

It would be hard to pinpoint Imagic’s strength. It’s got excellent graphics and you can see that a lot of attention has been paid to detail—for example, the body in MicroSurgeon is anatomically correct and the graphics of the face are superb, with teeth and everything. And the games are eminently playable—within just a few months of its release, Demon Attack became one of the top ten.

GAMES BY APOLLO

Games by Apollo currently has six Atari compatible cartridges and says its got future plans for Intellivision games as well, but so far no dice. Among the games is Skeet Shoot, a rather boring game about shooting skeet. In some of the first releases of this game, a flaw which caused the screen to roll was found. Apollo admitted that because it was in such a big rush to get product to market it didn’t pay enough attention to the program. It did accept returns of flawed copies, replacing them with sound ones. After Skeet Shoot came Space Chase, Space Cavern and several others including its most recent one, Lost Luggage, in which a baggage claim carousel goes wild and flings bags all over the airport.

Apollo’s games, so far, are somewhat ordinary in playability but the graphics aren’t bad—in Lost Luggage, for example, a plane comes in for a landing from the upper right hand corner and taxis to a stop in the upper left, so attention is paid to detail—and there have been no more flaws in the programs.

Other companies making games for the Atari are Telesys (which has a game called Fast Food in which the player ingests all sorts of junk food flying across the screen and racks up calories instead of points), Tigervision (which owns the rights to several of the more popular computer games, such as Jawbreaker), Twentieth Century-Fox, Spectravision (whose game Planet Patrol goes from daylight to nighttime to daylight during the course of the game, Comma-Vid (with two games, Cosmic Swarm and Room of Doom), Data Age, and US Games (which was recently acquired by Quaker Oats and is now the first company with high resolution breakfast cereal compatible with the Atari VCS).

The list is by no means complete and just about any list given wouldn’t remain complete for very long. New companies spring up faster than unwanted blemishes on pron night. So I recommend that you run out and get your system as quickly as possible before you have to narrow your choice down from an even higher number of companies. (And before I am forced to write an update on this article.) Thank you.