Initial release date 1982 Publisher Brøderbund Software | Developer Doug Carlston | |
Platforms Apple II, Atari 8-bit family | ||
The Arcade Machine is a 1982 game creation system video game by Brøderbund Software. It was released on Apple II and Atari 8-bit family. The software was created by Chris Jochumson and Doug Carlston.
Contents
Development
The game was officially announced in a November 16, 1981 issue of InfoWorld. According to InfoWorld, there was a contest run from January-June 1984 where Brøderbund would award the best user-derived game with a prize of $1,500 in hardware and aoftware
Gameplay
The game allows players to create alien attacks like those seen in Galaxian. The inbuilt editor allows players to: design/animate enemies, players and explosions; give enemies instructions on moving/firing; drawing backgrounds/title screens, creating sound effects/music, and setting various gameplay rules. According Finished games can be saves to a self-bootable disk to allow them to run without this program.
Critical reception
InfoWorld deemed it a "fabulous program", and compared it favourably to Pinball Construction Set. The New York Times described the game as a "heirophant" due to giving non-programmers the ability to create games; furthermore, the site suggested that with a bit of aesthetic improvement, The Arcade Machine would "be a game one can play almost forever".
The game is "a best seller", according to Atari Magazines. Meanwhile, Aderack considers it a" "fairly important" piece of video gaming history due to being the first game creation system (even earlier than Pinball Construction Set), despite its obscurity.