Hobbies And Interests
Asteroids Deluxe
Atari's "Asteroids Deluxe" was the sequel to the hit game "Asteroids" and featured a triangular-shaped spaceship that was under your control. Once the game began, large asteroids would drift into space, and the spaceship had to fire ammunition to destroy them, or be crushed. Asteroids Deluxe added a new option known as "shields," which created a protective barrier around your spaceship when you pressed a button. But in order to keep the shields on, you had to keep the button pressed, and as time passed, the shield would grow weaker until it couldn't be used anymore. In addition to the asteroids, other dangers included two flying saucers that zipped at a much faster rate than the asteroids and were worth more points if you shot them down, and a "killer satellite" which was shaped like a snowflake that broke into three when it was shot, and came after your spaceship.
Centipede
Atari released "Centipede" as a cabinet-style arcade game and the traditional stand-up for one or two players. "Centipede" used a button and trackball, and the object of the game was to shoot a centipede that worked its way down into the playing area past a field of mushrooms. For each level of the game, you had to destroy all segments of the centipede, but the closer it got to your position at the bottom of the screen, the greater the likelihood that it would destroy you. Each time you shot the centipede, it would break into pieces which you also had to try to shoot. When the centipede hit a mushroom, it changed direction, but at every level, the centipede was configured differently, sometimes with segments attached, other times moving with separate segments, making it more challenging for you to hit. If you managed to reach 12,000 points, you received an extra life.
Pac-Man
In the arcade game "Pac-Man," released by Midway, you controlled a round yellow icon that traveled through a maze compiling points by eating small dots until they were all consumed. As you zipped through the maze, four ghosts chased you, hoping to catch and destroy you before you ate all the dots. There were also four flashing dots referred to as "energizers," that when eaten, made you immune for a short period of time and allowed you to consume the ghosts for more points. In addition, fruits would sometimes show up in the middle of the maze, and could be eaten for bonus points as well. Once you ate all the dots in a maze, a new level would begin, with a higher degree of difficulty.
Missile Command
Released by Atari, "Missile Command" featured six cities under assault by enemy missiles. As the player, you controlled three atomic missile launching bases to defend against the incoming missiles, which sometimes split into two or three mini-missiles as they headed toward you. The goal was to shoot down missiles as quickly as possible, as you only had 10 missiles in each battery. A trackball was used to move the cross hairs of your missiles across the screen prior to you firing. If you made it through the assault, you would receive bonus points based on the number of surviving cities and the number of unused missiles; a new level would then appear with even more enemies. If all your cities were destroyed or you ran out of missiles, you lost points in that round.