January 1983

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

Compaq gives birth to the PC clone, Commodore and TI declare war on Sinclair & A day of reckoning awaits the software business

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 January 1983. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Jon from the Retro Games Squad is our cohost. You can find his other fine retrogaming work here: https://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/

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Links: 7 Minutes in Heaven: River Raid Video Version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78434628 https://www.mobygames.com/game/river-raid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Raid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Shaw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Pictures#1980s:_Coca-Cola,_Tri-Star,_and_other_acquisitions_and_ventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kassar https://www.amoa.com https://www.mobygames.com/game/astron-belt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEEwZkbSmEU

Corrections: December 1982 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/december-1982-77433012

Ethans new series: https://www.youtube.com/@play_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserDisc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEEwZkbSmEU

1973 Pong doing well https://archive.org/details/cashbox34unse_28/page/37/mode/1up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong

1983 Retailers rethink games https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/24/business/stores-reassess-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=20

Nassau County wants big money from operators https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/02/nyregion/battle-for-the-dollar-looms-in-albany.html?searchResultPosition=3

SNK sells direct to operators Replay Jan. 1983 pg. 88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxEzVjfkELo

Japan recognizes game copyrights Replay Jan. 1983 pg. 18 Games People Jan. 8, 1983 pg. 1

Bally Midway wins pillow fight Games People Jan. 22, 1983 pg. 1

Pacmania continues Games People Jan. 8, 1983 pg. 1 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n12a/page/n3/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083461/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085008/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Supercade

Winter CES sees the rise of the software providers https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/08/business/the-new-software-suppliers.html?searchResultPosition=4 https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/08/arts/electronics-fair-views-consumer-s-tomorrow.html?searchResultPosition=5 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n2/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/Creative_Computing_1983-01/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater

Repackaged Consoles to debut at CES https://retrocdn.net/File:ComputerEntertainer_US_Vol.1_10.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJDy0XC6vDg http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/classics/odyssey_3.htm https://history.blueskyrangers.com/parkerbro/unreleasedparker.html

Big names are being attracted to games https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/13/arts/makers-vie-for-millions-in-home-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=7 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n11/page/n1/mode/1up Buy 2 get 1 free is the post Xmas slogan https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92300722/video-game-market-profile-part-1/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92300741/video-game-market-profile-part-2/

MB buys Sanders license https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/06/business/milton-bradley-license.html?searchResultPosition=6

Imagic settles with Atari https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/05/business/atari-suit-settled.html?searchResultPosition=2

Imagic delays stock offering https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n12a https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n3/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n3/mode/1up

Custer's Revenge resolution goes to court https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/23/nyregion/video-games-pose-thorny-legal-issue.html?searchResultPosition=18 Games People Jan. 1 1983, pg. 4 https://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/swedish-erotica-custers-revenge

Custer's Revenge discontinued https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92040119/custers-revenge-pulled-from-shelves/

Atari warns users against 3rd party carts in Germany https://archive.org/details/atari-club-magazin-1983-1/page/4/mode/1up

Modify your games with Answer's PGP1 https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-personal-game-programmer-pgp-1_20131.html

Turn your VCS into a computer https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater http://atarihq.com/museum/2678/piggybak.html https://books.google.de/books?id=7y8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=entex+2000+piggyback&source=bl&ots=OX0w8DE4xG&sig=ACfU3U3WG9VdcJUcR9NCX3q7LdlLJxWc8Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJ9830hfn8AhVUgf0HHVo_AZQQ6AF6BAgdEAM#v=onepage&q=entex%202000%20piggyback&f=false

Palmtex takes gaming on the go https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n3/mode/1up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmtex_Portable_Videogame_System https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP7wtw4rk4g

Byte gets hands on with Compaq https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1983-01_OCR/page/n31/mode/1up?view=theater Apple unveils the Lisa https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-27/page/n4/mode/1up https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=265&st=1

Intel introduces the 80286 https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1983-01_OCR/page/n473/mode/1up?view=theater

3.5" floppy standard agreed on https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/11/business/sony-agreement.html?searchResultPosition=6 https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1983-01_OCR/page/n475/mode/1up?view=theater

CPM compatibility grows more difficult https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1983-01_OCR/page/n472/mode/1up?view=theater

Commodore announces portable 64 https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-20/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater

Tramiel declares war on Sinclair https://archive.org/details/Creative_Computing_1983-01/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater Texas Instruments targets ZX81 with TI99/2 https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-27/page/n4/mode/1up https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=267

Timex to distribute Speccy in USA https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-06/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_2068

Clive sells 10% stake in Sinclair Research https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-27/page/n4/mode/1up

Competition Pro Joystick debuts https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-27/page/n4/mode/1up https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_Pro Roklan moves into cartridges https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n12a/page/n3/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/company/roklan-corporation

Cosmi brings budget software to home micros https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n13/page/n1/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/company/cosmi-corporation

Survival Software pioneers the demo disk https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n11/page/n1/mode/1up

Gamestar advertises Starbowl https://archive.org/details/Creative_Computing_1983-01/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,7082/

Epyx gets cash infusion https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n12a/page/n1/mode/1up Michael Katz Part Part 1 - Coleco - Epyx - Mattel https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258

Bug Byte defectors dare to Imagine https://archive.org/details/computer-and-videogames-015/page/n114/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/arcadia/credits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3QtuL29Cs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnzE4Oawtww https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-06/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater https://www.mobygames.com/company/imagine

Bug Byte ditches mail order https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-01-06/mode/1up?view=theater

Creative Computing drops out of the software game https://archive.org/details/Creative_Computing_1983-01/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater

Independent computer stores are closing https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1983-01_OCR/page/n475/mode/1up?view=theater

Returns loom as threat to software industry https://archive.org/details/software-merchandising-january-1983/page/70/mode/1up

Console tech comes to phones https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/07/business/baby-bell-offers-its-first-2-phones.html?searchResultPosition=7

Graphics are holding online shopping back https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/13/business/technology-retailing-by-computer.html?searchResultPosition=14

The Internet is born https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml

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

Find out on the VGNRTM

40 years ago: Compaq gives birth to the PC clone, Commodore and TI declare war on Sinclair & A day of reckoning awaits the software business

These stories and many more on the latest episode of the VGNRTM

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