Episode 480: Breakout
Added 2022-09-05 12:00:09 +0000 UTCWe don't venture into 1970s video game history too often, if only because there wasn't all that much video game history to discuss in the ’70s. A handful of consoles, a handful of breakout titles, and a whole heck of a lot of derivative works—there's only so much you can say about Pong clones and variants on Gran Trak 10, you know? But the games that did matter back then really, really mattered, and Atari's Breakout certainly qualifies in the regard. Atari Archive historian Kevin Bunch joins me this week to talk about how Breakout came to exist and how immensely influential it turned out to be. It's a bigger deal than you might think!
Art by Greg Melo and edits by Greg Leahy. Music this episode:
- 10:01 - Space Battleship Yamato Theme (1974)
- 23:51 - Breakout (PSX, 2000): Robot Rampage
- 37:38 - Breakout (PSX, 2000): Hay Hassle
- 44:43 - Breakout (PSX, 2000): Demented Ducks
- 52:19 - Breakout (PSX, 2000): Henvaders
- 58:57 - Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders: Title Theme
- 1:08:47 - Yellow Magic Orchestra: Computer Game "Theme from The Circus" | Breakout 2000 (1996, Jaguar): Title Theme
- 1:20:47 - Alleyway: Bonus Theme
- 1:29:11 - Arkanoid DS: Fairy Reflection
- Closing - Breakout (PSX, 2000): Puzzle Pipe
Comments
Alex Smith of They Creates World did a lot of research about EM games. He got the answer of the question you asked in this podcast.
pochepiller
2022-10-15 13:43:12 +0000 UTCNever drew the line between Breakout and Exidy/Taito Circus Really quite disturbing sound effects in the game when the clowns due. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9w-yc_d1q8 Friend of a friend gave me a bunch of 2600 games because he got an NES and one of these was the 2600 port of Circus from ninteen-dickety-seventy-eight. Looked incredibly primitive next to other games like pacman jr, Pitfall II, Chopper Command, etc. - Also without any context, this thing looks completely insane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud-fI2bg_M8 Probably my first Breakout game was the arcade version of Arkanoid 2, which I still think has an incredibly slick presentation, glowing blocks, bright pingy sound effects, lots of variation in stages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1E15FOYmKc
John Simon
2022-09-10 05:24:32 +0000 UTC
