February 1983

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

Atari announces mass layoffs, Time names the personal computer the man of the year & Nintendo launches the Game and Watch in North America

These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in February 1983. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost. Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book

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Links: 7 Minutes in Heaven: Spider-Man Video Version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/79440858 https://www.mobygames.com/game/9960/spider-man/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/1870/spider-man/ https://www.spidermancrawlspace.com/2018/06/podcast-512-interview-with-atari-2600-spider-man-game-designer-laura-nikolich/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Nikolich Corrections: January 1983 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-1983-78434711 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Supercade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Lair_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax#Launch_and_early_models https://joeclark.org/beta/BetterBetaList.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm5VedvD2Q https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzdCyWY3GCI http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/_Books/101_BASIC_Computer_Games_Mar75.pdf https://www.mobygames.com/game/5050/jumping-flash/

1973.02 Pong gets more notices https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94010891/pong-noted-in-orange-mall-in-los-angeles/

Odyssey gets write up in Popular Electronics https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/70s/1973/Poptronics-1973-02.pdf pg. 64 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnavox-Odyssey-Video-Cable.jpg

1983.01 Al Lowe enters gaming biz https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AjAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=7EFL48Dot0&dq=Bop-A-Bet%20computer%20game%20Al%20Lowe&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q=Bop-A-Bet%20computer%20game%20Al%20Lowe&f=false https://www.mobygames.com/company/25974/sunnyside-soft/ Al Lowe - Sierra https://www.patreon.com/posts/29977733

1983.02 Atari profits nosedive as Coleco ascends https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/17/business/warner-s-profit-falls-by-56.5.html?searchResultPosition=10 Kevin Hayes - Atari - Namco htttps://www.patreon.com/posts/50612798 The Video Game Crash 40th Anniversary - Part 2: Everyone Else https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-game-crash-76259421 The Video Game Crash 40th Anniversary - Part 1: Atari https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-game-crash-75643983

Atari lays off 1,700 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62352386/atari-inc-mass-layoffs-begin/ https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/business/atari-moving-most-production.html?searchResultPosition=15

Editors plead not to give up on games https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 1 Double Dragon C64 https://www.mobygames.com/game/1839/double-dragon/screenshots/c64/

Atari snags microchip Intel luminary https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/01/business/atari-hires-inventor-of-microprocessor-chip.html?searchResultPosition=1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcian_Hoff Leonard Tramiel - Part 2 - Atari https://www.patreon.com/posts/71643153 Leonard Tramiel - Part 1 - Commodore https://www.patreon.com/posts/leonard-tramiel-69195513 https://engineering.stanford.edu/news/ted-hoff-birth-microprocessor-and-beyond

Showbiz turns Apple iis into coinops Play Meter Feb. 1, 1983, pg. 54 https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2015/09/peek_through_time_showbiz_pizz.html https://www.facebook.com/showbizpizzacom/photos/a.307884760553/10156663089730554/?type=3

Kiddie rides meet video games Play Meter Feb. 15, 1983 pg. 68 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n2/mode/1up https://www.kiddieridesusa.com/

Atari announces "My First Computer" https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/10/business/atari-game-converter.html?searchResultPosition=2 https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue36/020_Ataris_New_Add-On_Computer_For_VCS_2600_Game_Machine.php

Mattel shows off Intellivision 3 behind closed doors https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14 https://history.blueskyrangers.com/hardware/intellivision3.html Coleco announces Gemini https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 11 The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 14 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Gemini

Add-ons are the new name of the game! https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 6, 10, 11 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n7/mode/1up Toy & Hobby World Feb. 1983 http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-crash-that-almost-was/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Adam

Amiga's Joyboard brings motion controls to the VCS https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/business/what-s-new-in-the-toy-industry-exercising-with-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Meditation

Atari goes after pre-schoolers https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/business/what-s-new-in-the-toy-industry-exercising-with-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTp_wBnSW9k The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 5 https://www.mobygames.com/game/22900/alpha-beam-with-ernie/cover/group-97061/cover-265056/

Sega enters cartridge market Leisure Time Electronics Feb. 1983 pg. 22 https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/company:8665/platform:atari-2600/sort:moby_score/page:0/ Playthings Feb. 1983 Fox announces MASH game https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 5 https://www.mobygames.com/game/19861/mash/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/22975/porkys/screenshots/

Video game rentals take off https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_04_1983-02_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n89/mode/1up

Toy retailers plan shift from consoles to computers Playthings Feb. 1983 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHujs7ka_K0 Time crowns the computer Man of the Year https://archive.org/details/TeleMatch.N02.1983.02-KCz.pdf/page/n9/mode/1up https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19830103,00.html

CES and Toy Fare see new computers galore https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update Toys Hobbies and Crafts Feb. 1983 http://www.atarihq.com/museum/nonatari/ultravision.php https://www.samdal.com/sv318.htm https://www.samdal.com/svhistory.htm http://www.atari-computermuseum.de/1200xl.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattel_Aquarius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99/4A#TI-99/4A_successors

Byte looks at the Lisa https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n34/mode/1up ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n87/mode/1up

PC upgraders pose a problem for IBM https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n430/mode/1up

IBM goes abroad https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n3/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-17/page/n9/mode/2up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer

Intel begins work on 386 https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n433/mode/1up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I386

Tandy cuts CoCo price https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n434/mode/1up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer

ZX Spectrum hits retail https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-011/page/n14/mode/1up https://youtu.be/-BLM1naCfME https://youtu.be/kUSHiHmOdvE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

TI 99 could go B-O-O-M https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/business/texas-instruments.html?searchResultPosition=1

Michael Katz moves to Epyx https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/28/business/business-people-a-new-chief-for-epyx-game-software-maker.html?searchResultPosition=2 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14/page/n7/mode/1up Michael Katz Part 1 - Coleco - Epyx - Mattel https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258 https://www.mobygames.com/game/10151/gi-joe-a-real-american-hero/

Cosmi announces Tri-compatible cassette The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmi_Corporation

Broderbund goes multiplatform https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14/page/n2/mode/1up Gary Carlston- Broderbund https://www.patreon.com/posts/50036733

TSR gets into video games https://archive.org/details/BlipMagazineCollection/Blip%2001%20%28Feb%201983%29%20TV%20Star%20Matthew%20Laborteaux/page/n34/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/game/53549/theseus-and-the-minotaur/screenshots/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/93453/dawn-patrol/screenshots/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/99272/dungeon-computer-adventure-game/

Virgin gets into games https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-24/page/n4/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-03/page/n4/mode/1up

Brian Fargo's first gets reviewed https://archive.org/details/softalkv3n06feb1983/page/133/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/game/1795/the-demons-forge/

Save money on "expensive adventure game dice" https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n4/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/syncmagazine-v3_n1/page/n97/mode/1up

Nintendo launches Game and Watch in North America Leisure Time electronics Feb. 1983 pg. 26 Replay Feb. 1983 pg. 75 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_%26_Watch https://nintendo.fandom.com/de/wiki/Panorama

Massachusettes judge calls game content "inconsequential" Games People Feb. 19, 1983 pg. 1 https://casetext.com/case/caswell-v-licensing-commission-for-brockton

GCC seeks a piece of Pacman merch pie https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_05_1983-02_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n97/mode/1up https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/History_of_Ms._Pac-Man_legal_issues https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Ms._Pac-Man#Pac-Mom

Ronnie Lamm on MacNeil/Lehrer https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-507-6d5p844g0b

Xrated games to feature in movie Games People Feb. 19, 1983 pg. 1 http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/03/rare-games-more-1975-atari-photos-and.html https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085764/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt_i_2

First US cases of video game induced seizures reported Games People Feb. 19, 1983 pg. 1 Sega gets into robots Play Meter Feb. 15, 1983 pg. 69 https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_Chan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.O.B.

Leisure Dynamics announces Crossbows and Catapults Toy & Hobby World Feb. 1983 pg. 197 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2129/crossbows-and-catapults https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wars

Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play.

Copyright Karl Kuras

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