How Atari created the Star Wars arcade game (2017) (opens in new tab)

This was in my college dorm's game room and I spent a lot of time in that trench. But weirdly I could have sworn it wasn't in color. Was there a green-and-black version?

when I was a kid, the cockpit version was the coolest most immersive experience ever. all my boyish excitement for the films was captured; I really did feel, for a moment, that I was Lukeskywalker.

One of the first arcade games I "beat" when I was a kid. The local bowling lanes had a cockpit style cabinet I would play on when the parents did their league days.

Once you blow up the Deathstar, you repeat the game, but the missiles and ships are faster and more numerous. Also, timing the final shot gets harder as well. Those sparkle missiles got super fast after awhile. I only once got to level '4'.

They don't mention in the article, but this was probably the first game to use sampled dialog from a motion picture... as far as I can tell. It was extremely clear and crisp for the day as well. I was amazing to hear Obi-wan say 'Use the force Luke!' when firing the final shot.

If anyone is near the Pittsburgh, PA area, Pinball PA has a working version of the sit down (and I think the upright too?) for play. Played it and it is an experience that still holds up. I'd recommend a visit for anyone with an arcade interest or nostalgia itch: https://www.pinballpa.com/

I saw an Atari Star Wars cockpit at Atari Cambridge Research Labs, with a huge mess of cables draping out of it, hooking it up to some other equipment.

Here are some demos of other stuff they did there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR2CwKculBU&index=3&list=PL8...

I had the pleasure of trying this game for the first time well past its prime only a few years ago. There's an amazing classic video arcade near my hometown in Mesa, Arizona called Starfighters Arcade, and they have the cockpit version of this game in fantastic condition.

The graphics in this game are seriously impressive for 1983. Both the cockpit and the standup version have color vector CRTs, which really makes an interesting picture (it was only the second game to have this, after Tempest in 1981). You really have to see it in person to know what I'm talking about, it's not something you can reproduce with an LCD or OLED screen.

Another thing I really miss about arcade games from this time is just how difficult they are. If you're just playing it for the first time, you shouldn't expect your game to last more than 30 seconds. A good run could last you more than 15 minutes though, once you get the hang of it.

If you are in the Rochester NY area, go to the Strong Museum of Play. They have this arcade game plus many many others - all still in playable condition. Plus their collection of video games is amazing - all the way to the beginnng of the history.

http://www.museumofplay.org/collections/video-and-other-elec...

I had a chance to try out an early version of the game which was mounted on actuators; it would tilt and shake according to inputs and explosions and so forth.

It was also a little buggy, and you could easily get into feedback loops where the machine would jerk you around a little, which would cause your hands to wiggle the controls, which would cause a larger jerk and even more control wiggling . . . it was touchy and a bit wild and could get violent. I was told that it tossed one guy out of the machine.

If there was an arcade game that I would make space for in my living room, it would be the cockpit version of Star Wars. I spent a lot of quarters, and then got good enough that I could play forever on just one quarter :-).

Finding Amplifone XY scopes (the monitor in the machine) is really difficult. I saw a paper that discussed using a 4K display and an FPGA to emulate those displays in real time. If that got reasonable I might get the other bits.

There used to be one of the cockpit versions at SFO airport in the old United terminal near the AMEX Lounge back in the late 80s/early 90s. What a time. Can't imagine seeing an arcade machine anywhere these days...

I had a chance to play on the cockpit version in a huge arcade in Akihabara, Tokyo this year. I'm not sure whether Atari exported any units to Japan and I couldn't see any markings on it that would indicate that it was intended for the Japanese market. Presumably the arcade had paid a lot of money to import it from the US.

It's an excellent game that has aged very well, although the locals seemed more interested in their rhythm and fighting games. ;)

As a teenager I worked for my uncle who had a video game business. The Star Wars game stands out as a memorable game. The one thing I distinctly remember is the sound (Obi-Wan saying "use the force" etc.) it was wonderful, far better than most games during that time.