1976 in video games

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1976 has several new titles such as Road Race, Night Driver (video game) and Heavyweight Champ.

Events

October – Warner Communications acquires Atari from Nolan Bushnell for $28 million USD. Bushnell stays on as chairman.^[1]
3.5 million video games are sold, earning the retail video game industry $242 million in revenue.^[2]

Business

New companies: Apple Computer, Data East

Notable releases

Games

January – Sega releases Heavyweight Champ,^[3] the first video game to feature hand-to-hand fighting.^[4]^[5]^[6] It uses controls that simulate throwing actual punches.^[4]
February – Sega releases Road Race.^[7]
April 1 – Exidy releases Death Race to video arcades. News of the game's existence breaks nationally in newspapers in the first week of July after a quiet nationwide rollout.^[8] The game sparks a public outcry over violence in video games, and is banned in many areas.^[9]
April – Taito releases Speed Race Twin,^[10] a sequel to Speed Race that allows simultaneous two-player competitive gameplay^[11]
May 13^[12] – Atari releases Breakout, whose prototype was designed by Apple Computer cofounders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, to video arcades.^[1]
August – Sega releases Man T.T.,^[13] also known as Moto-Cross, an early motorbike racing game, using a pseudo-3D, forward-scrolling, third-person perspective,^[14] similar to Road Race.^[15] It also introduces haptic feedback, causing the handlebars to vibrate during collisions.^[16] Sega-Gremlin re-brands it as Fonz.^[17]
October – Atari releases Night Driver,^[18] a first-person perspective racing video game.
October – Gremlin releases Blockade, the first of what become known as snake games.
While working at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, Don Woods discovers and expands Will Crowther's Adventure. Later in the year, James Gillogly ports Woods's version of the interactive fiction title from Fortran to the C programming language for Unix-based computers.^[19]

Hardware

August – Fairchild Semiconductor releases the Video Entertainment System (later known as the VES or Channel F), the first video game console to use a microprocessor and cartridges.^[20]
Coleco releases the Telstar, a console clone of Pong based on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 microchip.^[21]
Radofin releases the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System video game console in Europe.^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b Thomas, Donald A. Jr (2005). "–1976–". ICWhen.com. Archived from the original (shtml) on March 17, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
^ TV Games Probed, Reading Eagle (December 21, 1976)
^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/567840-heavyweight-champ/data
^ ^a ^b Spencer, Spanner, The Tao of Beat-'em-ups, EuroGamer, February 6, 2008, Accessed February 23, 2009
^ Ashcraft, Brian, (2008) Arcade Mania! The Turbo-Charged World of Japan's Game Centers, (Kodansha International), p. 94
^ Nadia Oxford, 20 Years of Street Fighter, 1UP.com, November 12, 2007
^ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=road-race&page=detail&id=14493
^ AP (July 2, 1976). "It Offers That Run-Down Feeling". The Minneapolis Star. p. 3A. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Gonzalez, Lauren. "When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy / The Major Offenders". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
^ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=speed-race-twin&page=detail&id=19477
^ Speed Race Twin at the Killer List of Videogames
^ "Atari - 1972 - 1984". www.atari.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
^ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=man-t.t.&page=detail&id=26084
^ Moto-Cross at the Killer List of Videogames
^ Road Race at the Killer List of Videogames
^ Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to PlayStation and beyond, p. 39, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 0-313-33868-X
^ Fonz at the Killer List of Videogames
^ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=night-driver-upright-model&page=detail&id=26054
^ Adams, Rick. "A history of 'Adventure'". The Colossal Cave Adventure page. Retrieved February 17, 2006.
^ "Fairchild Video Entertainment System/Channel F". ClassicGaming.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
^ Winter, David (2006). "Coleco Telstar". PONG-Story. Archived from the original on March 2, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
^ Hansen, Dale (2002). "1292 Advanced Programmable Video System FAQ version APVS.01". Archived from the original (text) on May 13, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

[icwhen-1] Thomas, Donald A. Jr (2005). "–1976–". ICWhen.com. Archived from the original (shtml) on March 17, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

[2] TV Games Probed, Reading Eagle (December 21, 1976)

[3] ttp://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/567840-heavyweight-champ/data

[tao-4] Spencer, Spanner, The Tao of Beat-'em-ups, EuroGamer, February 6, 2008, Accessed February 23, 2009

[ashcraft-5] Ashcraft, Brian, (2008) Arcade Mania! The Turbo-Charged World of Japan's Game Centers, (Kodansha International), p. 94

[6] Nadia Oxford, 20 Years of Street Fighter, 1UP.com, November 12, 2007

[7] ttp://www.arcade-history.com/?n=road-race&page=detail&id=14493

[8] AP (July 2, 1976). "It Offers That Run-Down Feeling". The Minneapolis Star. p. 3A. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[deathrace-9] Gonzalez, Lauren. "When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy / The Major Offenders". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

[10] ttp://www.arcade-history.com/?n=speed-race-twin&page=detail&id=19477

[11] Speed Race Twin at the Killer List of Videogames

[12] "Atari - 1972 - 1984". www.atari.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2017.

[13] ttp://www.arcade-history.com/?n=man-t.t.&page=detail&id=26084

[Moto-Cross-14] Moto-Cross at the Killer List of Videogames

[road_race-15] Road Race at the Killer List of Videogames

[16] Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to PlayStation and beyond, p. 39, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 0-313-33868-X

[Fonz-17] Fonz at the Killer List of Videogames

[18] ttp://www.arcade-history.com/?n=night-driver-upright-model&page=detail&id=26054

[adventure-19] Adams, Rick. "A history of 'Adventure'". The Colossal Cave Adventure page. Retrieved February 17, 2006.

[channelf-20] "Fairchild Video Entertainment System/Channel F". ClassicGaming.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

[telstar-21] Winter, David (2006). "Coleco Telstar". PONG-Story. Archived from the original on March 2, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

[1292apvs-22] Hansen, Dale (2002). "1292 Advanced Programmable Video System FAQ version APVS.01". Archived from the original (text) on May 13, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

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