IOMOG

Iodine Opossum's Museum of Gaming

Introduction

Gaming is something that has been around for ages. one can only imagine the games our ancestors must have played, be it Chess from Medieval times, or maybe Tafl with the Vikings. If your ancestors were the physical type, perhaps they competed in the Ancient Olympics. Let us go on a journey, from gaming's humble beginnings with our early ancestors, to the digital video games that appear in the Arcades and finally, in your home today. What will the past tell us about what is to come in the future? Let's find out.

Part I - The History of Board Games

Operation [Smoking Doctor] (1965)

Scrabble [1976 Edition] (1976)

Scrabble [1982 Edition] (1982)

Radio Shack Sea-Battle (1990)

Part II - The History of Coin Operated Games

1968 - 1979

Wild Cycle (1970)

Back of the Wild Cycle flyer

Wild Cycle is another Electro-Mechanical, motorcycle stunt game made in the Evel Knievel era.

The game features a track that is projected onto a mirror.

There are 3 different tracks

Novice Track

Daredevil Track

Champion Track**

** Not Selectable, you reach this track by completing one of the others

Other Features also include a Crash feature where red lights underneath the track lights up, the motorcycle falls over and the handlebars on the unit jump (perhaps on of the earliest examples 'force feedback' controllers).

History

Front of Wild Cycle Flyer

In the early part of the year 1969 a company by the name of Chicago Coin released a game called Drive Master. Compared to earlier driving games, where players just raced against each other in slot car-like tracks. Drive Master introduced a new type of driving game where instead of controlling slot cars, the players controlled a plastic model car. Also, instead of racing on a slot track, the track map was printed on large plastic discs and projected onto the playfield. Shortly after Drive Master was released, many other arcade companies tried to use this new gameplay mechanic and make it their own. Then in April 1970, Allied Leisure Industries replaced the little model car with a brightly colored motorcycle and also added an 8-track player to play music while you raced around the track and released Wild Cycle. 

Wild Cycle was so popular at the time, there were two other companies that attempted to buy out Allied Leisure Industries, but Allied refused and continued to make arcade games for another nine years.

 

Part III - The History of Video Games

The history of video games starts way before the concept of video games was even thought of. If we go all the way back to 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi creates the Marufuku Company, which creates and distributes Hanafuda, which are Japanese playing cards. Later, in 1951, the Marufuku Company was renamed to Nintendo, which means "Leave luck to Heaven". 

Years later in 1932, A Russian immigrant named Maurice Greenberg established The Connecticut Leather Company. The company was meant to distribute leather products to shoemakers. This may seem unrelated now, but in the 1970's and 1980's, this leather company made a big dent in the video game market with the Coleco Telstar series and the ColecoVision. 

The earliest known written computer game is a chess program written by Alan Turing and David Champernowne named Turochamp in 1948. Due to the limited capacity computers at the time had, The program was never actually placed on a computer. In 1952, Alan Turing tested the code by mimicking it's operation in actual chess games. An early game against David Champernowne's wife it won, but lost against Alick Glennie. 

The purpose of Turochamp was meant to be a demonstration to show what computers could actually do.




First Generation of Home Video Game Consoles

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)



Game Card #1 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #1
Table Tennis*

Game Card #2 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #2
Fun Zoo**
Percepts**
Simon Says
Ski

Game Card #3 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #3
Analogic
Baseball**
Brain Wave**
Football (Game Card #3 & Game Card #4)
Hockey
Tennis

Game Card #4 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #4
Cat & Mouse
Football (Game Card #3 & Game Card #4)
Haunted House
Invasion (Game Card #4, Game Card #5 & Game Card #6)

 

 W.I.N.**

Game Card #5 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #5
Invasion (Game Card #4, Game Card #5 & Game Card #6) 

Submarine
Wipeout**

Game Card #6 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #6
Invasion (Game Card #4, Game Card #5 & Game Card #6)

 

Roulette
States

Game Card #7 (1972) --- C/I/B

Games That Use Game Card #7
Volleyball

* = No Overlay
** = Not Yet Owned

Game Pieces
Invasion (1972)

Treasure Loot Cards (x4 each/40 in all)

  
Magnavox Odyssey 200 (1975)

After the Magnavox Odyssey 100 was released, Magnavox released another model shortly after, called the Magnavox Odyssey 200. The Magnavox Odyssey 200 is almost identical to the Magnavox Odyssey 100 except for the 200 added two more Texas Instruments chips. These extra chips added an extra game called smash and primitive on-screen scoring that consisted of two rectangles on the lower left of the screen which move to the right when you score. The 200 also had score sliders right on the console itself so that you can also keep the score that way. At the time, the 200 was more advanced than the Atari Pong home consoles, for it consisted of 3 games that can be played either by 2 or 4 players.


Sears Tele-Games Super Pong IV (1976)

Gulliver Triple Challenge (1977)

Magnavox Odyssey 2000 (1977)

Magnavox strikes again in 1977 with a new line of pong consoles, the Odyssey 2000, 3000 and 4000. Each of them were top of the line at the time of pong consoles and arguably the most advanced ones of the 1970s. The Magnavox Odyssey 2000 consisted of 4 games and could handle 2 to 4 players. 


Radio Shack TV Scoreboard [60-3061] (1977) 

Unisonic Tournament 2000 (1977)

Coleco Telstar Colortron (1978)

Unisonic Olympian 2600 (1978)

Second Generation of Home Video Game Consoles


Activision Patches
Back in the early 1980's, many video game companies gave away prizes for achieving high scores in many of their games. One of these companies was Activision. What one would do is photograph their high score and then send it in to Activision and they would send the player a cloth patch and a congratulatory letter.

Atari 2600 Patches
Spider Fighter - 40,000+ Pts.

Atari VCS 2600 [Light Sixer] (1978)

Atari VCS 2600 Games

1977
Street Racer [Numbered Label] (1977) --- C

1978
Combat ["Made in Taiwan" Text Label] (1978) --- C

Programmer(s): Joe Decuir; Larry Wagner
Company: Atari


Combat [Text Label] (1978) --- C/I

Programmer(s): Joe Decuir; Larry Wagner
Company: Atari


Hangman [Blue Text Label] (1978) --- C
 












Indy 500 [Picture Label] (1978) --- C
 












Maze Craze: A Game Of Cops 'N Robbers (1978) --- C

Night Driver [Picture Label] (1978) --- C

Space War [Picture Label] (1978)--- C

 












Street Racer [Picture Label] (1978) --- C

1979
Bowling [Red Text Label] (1979) --- C

Programmer(s): Larry Kaplan
Company: Atari


Target Fun [Sears - Text Label - 49-75102] (1979) --- C/I

1980
Boxing (1980) --- C

Programmer(s): Bob Whitehead
Company: Activision



Dodge 'em [Picture Label - No Warranty Notice on Box] (1980) --- C/B

Programmer(s): Carla Meninsky
Company: Atari


Skiing (1980) --- C/B
 
1981 
Asteroids (1981) --- C/I

Programmer(s): Brad Stewart
Company: Atari


Asteroids [Sears - Text Label - 64 Games] (1981) --- C

Programmer(s): Brad Stewart
Company: Sears



Breakout [Picture Label] (1981) --- C

Programmer(s): Brad Stewart
Company: Atari

Circus Atari [Picture Label] (1981) --- C

Programmer(s): Mike Lorenzen
Company: Atari



Combat [Picture Label] (1981) --- C

 













 
Programmer(s): Joe Decuir; Larry Wagner
Company: Atari



Haunted House (1981) --- C

World Map

 














*For larger image download our free reference guide in our downloads section, located here


Ice Hockey (1981) --- C/B
Kaboom! (1981) --- C

 












Space Invaders [Picture Label] (1981) --- C

Surround [Picture Label] (1981) --- C

Tennis (1981) --- C/B
Video Olympics [Picture Label] (1981) --- C/I

Video Pinball (1981) --- C

Warlords (1981) --- C

 













1982
Armor Ambush (1982) --- C/B
Atlantis [Picture Label - Day Scene Box] (1982) --- C/B

Programmer(s): Dennis Koble
Company: Imagic
 

Barnstorming (1982) --- C

Programmer(s): Steve Cartwright
Company: Activision


Bermuda Triangle (1982) --- C
 












Programmer(s):
Company: Data Age



Berzerk (1982) --- C

Programmer(s): Dan Hitchens
Company: Atari 



Carnival [Atari 2600 VCS Label] (1982) --- C/I/B

Programmer(s): Steve Kitchen
Company: Coleco



Chopper Command (1982) --- C/B

Programmer(s): Bob Whitehead

Company: Activision

Dark Cavern (1982) --- C/B
Defender (1982) --- C/I

Programmer(s): Bob Polaro
Company: Atari
 

Defender [Sears] (1982) --- C/I

Programmer(s): Bob Polaro
Company: Sears


Demon Attack [Picture Label] (1982) --- C/B
Demons To Diamonds (1982) --- C

Programmer(s): Nick Turner
Company: Atari




Donkey Kong (1982) --- C/I/B

Programmer(s): Garry Kitchen 

Company: Coleco

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) --- C/I

Programmer(s): Howard Scott Warshaw
Company: Atari
 
World Map

*For larger image download our free reference guide in our downloads section, located here


Fire Fighter (1982) --- C
 
Programmer(s): Brad Stewart
Company: Imagic
 

Frogger (1982) --- C/I/B

Programmer(s): Ed English
Company: Parker Bros.


Gopher (1982) --- C

Gorf (1982) --- C

Grand Prix (1982) --- C/B
International Soccer (1982) --- C/B
Lock 'N' Chase (1982) --- C/I
Mega Force (1982) --- C

Megamania (1982) --- C/I/B

Pac-Man (1982) --- C/I/B

Atari National Pac-Man Day (April 3, 1982) 

As part of a huge multi-media promotional campaign for the Atari VCS 2600 home port of Pac-Man. Atari decided to declare April 3, 1982 National Pac-Man Day. During this time they held special events and gave away prizes. Also, touring in total 27 major cities in an official Pac-Van, Pac-Man and Speedy (the red monster) themselves showed up to share in the celebration. In the cities that they visited, they made frequent stops at hospitals, where they donated Atari VCS 2600 game consoles and games to patients. 
 

Source: Pac-Mania. New York: Beekman House, 1982. Print

Source: Pac-Mania. New York: Beekman House, 1982. Print

Other places they visited included Shopping Malls, Sporting Events (where for the first time ever, a video game character threw out the first ball at a baseball game), and they even paid a visit to Washington D.C.


Release & Acceptability

National Pac-Man Day was meant to mark the official release day of the Atari port of Pac-Man, but some stores started receiving their stock in the early part of March. The demand was so high for the game that these stores advertised the availability of Pac-Man, encouraging customers to 'buy it now.'

Once Atari's Pac-Man was released. It caused much disappointment to the gaming community as stated in various sources of the time.  The reasons for the disappointment were largely due to the graphics. All of the monsters were the same color and did not really change when you collected a "Power Pellet." Other complaints say that the joysticks were not responsive enough to move properly.

 
Pac-Man [Sears] (1982) --- C/I
Pitfall! (1982) --- C

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982) --- C

RealSports Baseball (1982) --- C
RealSports Football (1982) --- C/B

River Raid (1982) --- C

Sky Jinks (1982) --- C/I/B

Space Attack [Printed in Singapore] (1982) --- C/B
Super Challenge Baseball (1982) --- C/B
Super Challenge Football (1982) --- C/B 
SwordQuest: EarthWorld (1982) ---C/I
Venture (1982) --- C
Warplock (1982) --- C
Wizard of Wor (1982) --- C
Word Zapper (1982) --- C/I/B

Yars' Revenge (1982) --- C


1983
Battlezone (1983) --- C

Programmer(s): 
Company: Atari



Big Bird's Egg Catch (1983) --- C

Programmer(s): Christopher Omarzu
Company: Atari/CCW



Centipede (1983) --- C/I/B 

Programmer(s):
Company: Atari
  

Congo Bongo (1983) --- C/I

 
Programmer(s):
Company: Sega


Custer's Revenge (1983) --- C/I

Programmer(s):
Company: Mystique

 

Dolphin (1983) --- C

Programmer(s): Matthew Hubbard
Company: Activision

Galaxian (1983) --- C
Mountain King (1983) --- C/B

Ms. Pac-Man (1983) --- C/I

Oink! (1983) --- C

Pac-Man [Not For Resale] (1983) --- C/I/B

Pole Position (1983) --- C













Robot Tank (1983) --- C  
 

Sky Skipper (1983) --- C/I

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1983) --- C/I/B

Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1983) --- C/I
SwordQuest: FireWorld (1983) --- C/I/B
Vanguard (1983) --- C


1984
Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em (1984) ---C/I

Programmer(s):
Company: Mystique


Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984) --- C

Spy Hunter (1984) --- C

1987
California Games (1987) --- C

Programmer(s): Steve Baker; Peter Engelbrite
Company: Epyx

Missile Command [1987 Rerelease] (1987) --- C/I

Pole Position [1987 Rerelease] (1987) --- C/I
Space Invaders [1987 Rerelease - Silver Label] (1987) --- C













Super Breakout [1987 Rerelease] (1987) --- C/I
Winter Games (1987) --- C/I/B {Sealed}

1988

Football: RealSports Soccer [1988 Rerelease] (1988) --- C/I/B

Mario Bros. [1988 Rerelease] (1988) --- C/I

RealSports Football [1988 Rerelease] (1988) --- C/I/B

RealSports Tennis [1988 Rerelease] (1988) --- C/I/B
Space Invaders [Red Label] (1988) --- C/I/B

Super Baseball (1988) --- C/I/B
Super Football (1988) --- C/I/B


1989
Secret Quest (1989) --- C

Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade [Light Sixer] (1978)

Magnavox Odyssey^2 (1978)*

1978
Speedway!/Spinout!/Crypto-Logic (1978) --- C/I/B

1982
Pick Axe Pete (1982) --- C

Mattel Intellivision (1980)

1979
Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack --- (1979) C/I/B

1980
Major League Baseball (1980) --- C/I/B
PBA Bowling (1980) --- C/I/B
PGA Golf (1980) --- C/I/B
Sea Battle [Sears] (1980) --- C/I/B

1981
Armor Battle [Sears] (1981) --- C/I/B
Astrosmash (1981) --- C/I/B
Auto Racing [Sears] (1981) --- C/I/B
Backgammon [Sears] (1981) --- C/I/B
Football [Sears] (1981)--- C/I/B
Skiing [Sears] (1981) --- C/I/B
Space Armada (1981) --- C/I/B
Triple Action (1981) --- C/I/B

1982
Lock 'N' Chase (1982) --- C/I/B
Night Stalker (1982) --- C/I/B

1983
Q*Bert (1983) --- C/I/B

Atari VCS 2600 [Four Switch "Vader"] (1982)

 

ColecoVision (1982)

1982
Donkey Kong (1982) --- C
Zaxxon (1982) --- C

1983
Centipede (1983) --- C
Donkey Kong Junior (1983) --- C
Frogger (1983) --- C
Popeye (1983)--- C

1984
Keystone Kapers (1984) --- C

Atari VCS 2600 [Junior - Long Rainbow] (1986)

Next>>