Atari Video Cube
| Atari Video Cube | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Atari[1] |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle[1] |
Atari Video Cube is a puzzle video game developed by for the Atari 2600 and published by Atari in 1983. Atari Video Cube was sold exclusively through the Atari Club, run by Atari itself. It was later re-released as Rubik's Cube.
Gameplay
[edit]
The game implements a Pocket Cube, Rubik's Cube and Rubik's Revenge.[citation needed] The player takes control of "Hubie the Cube Master" as he tries to solve a scrambled "Video Cube". Hubie's method for solving the cube is to pick up the colored segments one-by-one and place them in their correct spaces. Picking up a square, however, limits Hubie's movements; he cannot move onto a square that matches the color of the one he is carrying.
The game manual encourages players to try and solve the cube in as few moves as possible, with their total number of moves being counted at the bottom of the screen.[2] Atari Video Cube has several game modes that alter the difficulty of the game, such as square count and color range.
Development
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2024) |
Atari Video Cube was developed by Doug Macrae.[3] Macrae was one of the founders of General Computer Corporation (GCC).[4] Following legal disputes with Atari, Inc. the company hired him to create games. He was told Atari would pay them $50,000 a month for two years to develop games, with no stipulation of how many games were to be developed.[5] This led to GCC making arcade games Food Fight (1982) and Quantum (1982) for Atari.[6]
Macrae said that as a lot of Atari programmers left to work at Activision and Imagic, this led to Atari asking GCC to develop games for Atari's home consoles. Macrae reflected on this in an interview published in 2024 sating "being the young, arrogant engineers out of MIT and Harvard that we were, we said, "Of course, absolutely.""[6]
Release
[edit]
Atari Video Cube was initially released in 1983 and was only available through mail to Atari Club members.[1][7] The game was later re-released as Rubik's Cube, a licensed title based on Rubik's Cube, a popular toy in the 1980s.[1][8] in a form Tim Lapetino in Art of Atari described as a "marginally different" form than Atari Video Cube. Both releases features the same artwork on the packaging.[8]
Atari Video Cube has been re-released for consoles and home computers in video game compilations, such as the Atari Anthology (2004) for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and as downloadable content in 2024 for Atari 50 (2022) for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Xbox One.[9][10][11] It was also available in compilations for handheld formats, such as Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2010) for the Nintendo DS and Atari's Greatest Hits for various iOS-based devices.[12][13]
Reception
[edit]From retrospective reviews, Brett Weiss in his book Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984 (2011) found the game had crude sound that grew annoying, while complimenting the 3D-like effect of the cube turning as impressive.[1] On reviewing the first two volumes of Atari Flashback Classics for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Channing King specifically highlighted Atari Video Cube as one of the many Atari 2600 games that have aged poorly.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Weiss 2011, p. 33.
- ^ "AtariAge - Atari 2600 Manuals (HTML) - Atari Video Cube (Atari)".
- ^ Drury 2024, p. 88.
- ^ Drury 2024, p. 86.
- ^ Drury 2024, p. 89.
- ^ a b Drury 2024, p. 90.
- ^ Electronic Fun with Computers and Games 1983, p. 96.
- ^ a b Lapetino 2016, p. 254.
- ^ Harris 2004.
- ^ Machkovech 2022.
- ^ Reynolds 2024.
- ^ Humphries 2011.
- ^ Code Mystics.
- ^ King 2016.
Sources
[edit]- "Atari's Greatest Hits". Code Mystics. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
- "Top Secret". Electronic Fun with Computers and Games. Vol. 1, no. 9. Fun & Games Publishing, Inc. July 1983.
- Harris, Craig (November 30, 2004). "Atari Anthology". IGN. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- Drury, Paul (2024). "In the Chair with... Doug Macrae". Retro Gamer. No. 263. ISSN 1742-3155.
- Humphries, Matthew (November 10, 2011). ">Review: Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 for Nintendo DS". Geek.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
- King, Channing (October 6, 2016). "Things to Do". The Indianapolis Star. p. 4N.
- Lapetino, Tim (2016). Art of Atari. Dynamite Entertainment. ISBN 978-1-5241-0103-9.
- Machkovech, Sam (September 12, 2022). "The 103 Classic Games That Did, and Didn't, Make the Atari 50 Anniversary Cut — Retailer Leak Suggests Games from Arcade to Jaguar; Surprises Apparently Still Await". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- Morgenstern, Steve, ed. (May–June 1983). "It's a Whole New Cube!". Atari Age. Vol. 2, no. 1. Atari Club. ISSN 0731-5686.
- Reynolds, Ollie (September 25, 2024). "Every New Game For Atari 50's New Paid DLC Has Been Revealed". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024.
- Weiss, Brett (2011). Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984 A Complete Reference Guide. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786487554. Retrieved 27 February 2021 – via Google Books.