Developer(s) Atari Designer(s) General Computer Corp. Release December 1982 | Publisher(s) Atari Platform(s) Arcade Genre(s) Skill | |
Quantum is a color vector arcade game designed by General Computer Corp. for Atari Inc. and released in December 1982. The premise of the game is related loosely to quantum physics in that the player directs a probe with a trackball to encircle atomic "particles" for points, without touching various other particles. Once the particles are surrounded by the probe's tail they are destroyed.
Contents
High score table
Entering one's initials for the game's high score table was unique compared to all other games of the era; the player would use the trackball to circle the letters of his or her initials in the same fashion that was used to circle the particles during gameplay. If the player achieved the highest score on the table, the initials screen was preceded by another in which the player would use the trackball to actually draw his or her initials in an entry box. Some players were adept enough with the trackball to actually write their names legibly in the box.
Clones
A screenshot of a clone called Tachyon was previewed in Atari 8-bit family magazine ANALOG Computing, but the game was never completed.