Software:Slot Racers

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Short description: 1978 video game
Slot Racers
Box art by John Enright[1]
Developer(s)Atari, Inc.[2]
Publisher(s)Atari, Inc.[2]
Designer(s)Warren Robinett
Platform(s)Atari 2600
ReleaseOctober 1978
Genre(s)Maze
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Slot Racers[lower-alpha 1] is a maze game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS).[lower-alpha 2] The game involves the players controlling cars equipped with missiles with the goal of firing their missiles at their opponents for points. Each player earns one point for each time they hit their opponent with a missile. The first player to earn 25 points wins.

Slot Racers was designed by Warren Robinett and was the first game he designed for Atari. The game was developed under the name Traffic and was influenced by Atari's earlier game Combat (1977). He initially wanted to include roving police cars in the maze but was unable to add this to the game at the time. The game was released in October 1978. A review in Video of the game in 1981 declared it "the most important of the classic labyrinth games."[5] Howard J. Blumenthal of The Complete Guide to Electronic Games (1981) found its gameplay inferior to tank-themed games of the era.

Writing for AllGame, Brett Weiss echoed Blumenthal's comments saying that Slot Racers was the inferior game and critiqued its lack of a single-player mode and simplistic graphics. Kevin Bunch found it to be a decent, if not classic, early Atari game, noting that it was an ambitious game from a first-time developer that expanded on the gameplay of earlier maze games such as The Amazing Maze Game (1976). Robinett felt the game was merely okay and on its completion began developing his next game, which would become Adventure (1980).

Gameplay

File:Slot-racers-gameplay.jpg
Gameplay in Slot Racers with a missile being fired from the player two's vehicle. The score is presented at the top with corresponding colors for the vehicle and points.

Slot Racers is a two-player maze game.[2][6] Unlike other early games for the Atari 2600, like Indy 500 (1977) or Blackjack (1977), where the title of the game implied the theme of the game, Slot Racers is not about slot car racing.[3] The game's setting has each player controlling a "Super Chasemobile", a car that is equipped with powerful technology. Each player steers their vehicle through a maze where they fire missiles at each other from the front of their car. The goal is to chase the opponent and attempt to hit them with one of the missiles the player can fire from the front of their own car. Each hit on an enemy's car gives the player one point. The first player to get 25 points first wins.[7]

There are nine variations of games that adjust the layout of the maze, the speed of the cars, the missiles, and the direction of the missile path. Depending on the difficulty modes set, the player can either fire consecutive missiles where one missile will vanish if another is fired, or another mode where only one missile can be fired at a time; missiles must either hit the opponent's car or otherwise be re-collected by driving over it.[7]

Development

Slot Racers was the first game developed by Warren Robinett, who joined Atari, Inc. in November 1977.[3] At this time at Atari, each game was made by one person who wrote the code, tested, and debugged the games.[8] He developed a game he initially called Traffic which he envisioned as a game where two cars would drive around a city maze firing rockets at each other.[3]

Robinett looked to the video game Combat (1977) for inspiration. He liked the idea of a player having to orient themselves to the direction of a vehicle but did not enjoy how a tank moved when too close to a wall and wanted to ensure that the cars could move around corners smoothly.[3] He then continued working on the game developing different maze layouts and adjusting the speed and momentum of the vehicles.[9] He was unable to include one feature he wanted in the game, which would include police cars with blinking lights that would cruise around the maze to chase players. Robinbett said he turned in the final code for the game in April 1978 after five months of development.[10]

Release

Atari announced the game shortly before the June 1978 Consumer Electronics Show trade show under the title The Maze.[9] Slot Racers was released for the Atari VCS in October 1978.[3] Robinett commented that "the only reason that it got published is that Atari published everything we created in 1978; they needed product."[3][9] The Telegrams-branded version of the game was released as Maze.[3] The game would later be re-released in 1982, where it was bundled with Indy 500 (1977).[11]

Slot Racers was re-released in various video game compilation formats, such as the Atari 80 in One for Windows in 2003, Atari Anthology for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004, Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1 for the Nintendo DS in 2011, and dedicated consoles such as the Atari Flashback 4 in 2012.[12][13][14]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame1.5/5[15][6]
The Complete Guide to Electronic Games2/5[16]
Electronic Games 1983 Software Encyclopedia7/10[17]

In 1981, Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz (under the name Franke Laney, Jr.) reviewed Slot Racers, Take the Money and Run! (1978), and Maze Craze (1980) in their article in Video magazine on the rise of maze games.[5][18] They described the game as requiring quick thinking and fast reactions and concluded that it is "the most important of the classic labyrinth games".[5] The writers would re-iterate similar comments in Electronic Games magazine's 1983 Software Encyclopedia.[17] Howard J. Blumenthal wrote in his book The Complete Guide to Electronic Games that the game is an odd combination of a tank-themed game with race cars and suggested audiences play the tank-themed games which had more variety and action instead.[16] In brief reviews from the early 1980s, Sonya Bradford of the British magazine TV Gamer wrote that poor graphics diminished the overall quality of the game.[19] Annene Kaye and Simon Fellowes of Vidiot magazine briefly commented on Slot Racers, with Fellowes summarizing it being "really, really boring."[20]

Writing for AllGame, Brett Weiss echoed Blumenthal's comments saying that Slot Racers was "little more than a maze variation on the Combat theme, and a not very good one."[6] He also found the game lacking in terms of variety compared to what Combat offered and that it had poor controls and graphics "so simplistic it's almost an embarrassment."[6] In his book Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978, Kevin Bunch said that Slot Racers was a remarkable feat for a first-time developer and while it was not a classic, it was better when set to the more complicated mazes and faster speeds.[10] He complimented the game for expanding on the maze-exploration gameplay that was established by earlier titles like The Amazing Maze Game (1976).[21]

Robinett later described the development of the game as being "a learning exercise" and that Slot Racers was a "pretty average game. It was not great; I think it was not terrible, either."[9] Around the time Robinett completed Slot Racers, he visited a Stanford AI lab and played the text adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure. This led him to develop his next game for Atari, which would become Adventure (1980).[8]

See also

  • List of Atari 2600 games
  • List of maze video games

Notes

  1. ↑ Known as Maze for the Sears release of the Atari VCS[3]
  2. ↑ The Atari VCS became known as the Atari 2600 only after the release of the Atari 5200 in 1982.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Lapetino 2016, p. 88.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Weiss 2007, p. 105.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Bunch 2023, p. 214.
  4. ↑ Montfort 2006.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kunkel & Laney, Jr. 1981, p. 18.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Weiss 2014a.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Atari, Inc. 1978.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wawro 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Bunch 2023, p. 216.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bunch 2023, p. 217.
  11. ↑ Bunch 2023, pp. 217–218.
  12. ↑ Harris 2004.
  13. ↑ Humphries 2010.
  14. ↑ Tach 2012.
  15. ↑ Weiss.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Blumenthal 1981, p. 250.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Katz, p. 30.
  18. ↑ Willaert 2020.
  19. ↑ Bradford 1983, p. 52.
  20. ↑ Kaye & Fellowes 1983, p. 40.
  21. ↑ Bunch 2023, pp. 216–217.

Sources

  • Slot Racers Game Program Instructions. Atari. 1978. Co11402-06 Rev. 3. 
  • Blumenthal, Howard J. (June 1981). The Complete Guide to Electronic Games. Plume. ISBN 0-452-25268-7. 
  • Bradford, Sonya (Winter 1983). "Atari Games Guide". TV Gamer (London, England: Boyton Brook Ltd.). 
  • Kaye, Annene; Fellowes, Simon (February–March 1983). "Vidiot's Consumer Guide to Home Games". Vidiot (CREEM Magazine, Inc.) 1 (2). 
  • Kunkel, Bill; Laney, Jr., Frank (June 1981). "Arcade Alley: Lure of the Labyrinth - Exploring Maze Games". Video (Reese Communications) 5 (3). ISSN 0147-8907. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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