Distributor(s) Atari Inc. CPU discrete Genre Racing video game Developers Atari, Namco | Release date(s) 1976 Initial release date October 1976 Publishers Namco, Atari, Inc. | |
Cabinet unique, sitdown cockpit Sound Amplified mono (one channel) Display Horizontal orientation, projection (color) Similar F‑1 Grand Prix Part II, F‑1 Grand Prix, F‑1 Grand Prix Part III, Human Grand Prix III: F1 Trip, Human Grand Prix IV: F1 Dre | ||
F-1 is a racing arcade game developed by Namco and distributed by Atari Inc., originally released in 1976.
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Technology
F-1 is based on electromechanical (em) projection technology. The race track is a pre-rendered animation stored on film and projected on the screen. The player's opponents and the player themselves are static transparent pieces within the machine that are also projected on the screen. Steering and collision are done through direct mechanical control.
This game is the first and only projection game released by Atari. It also was the first game licensed from Namco by Atari, a practice that would increase by the early 1980s.
Gameplay
The player steers a car around a race track, trying to avoid all cars.
Popular culture
In the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, one of the characters is playing this game at the mall. Also, in the 1978 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder In a Year of 13 Moons, the game is displayed upon many at the arcade scene.