VCS UPDATE...

by Lee Pappas

If you owned an ATARI Video Computer System before the purchase of your 400 or 800 Computer, and have hung on to it all these months (or years), well, you are in for a treat! ATARI plans to release a cartridge a month during 1982 - and the titles certainly sound intriguing. Of course, you'll still have Activision to provide you with additional entertainment. If these aren't enough to support your game habit, two new companies are about to provide even more games! APOLLO of Richardson, Texas has recently released "Skeet Shoot" (ATARI & Activision have nothing to fear from the graphics on this first release).

Imagic of Saratoga, California, is currently gearing up for their manufacturing of VCS compatible cartridges.

ATARI titles for '82 are

Super Breakout	January
Haunted House	February
PacMan*	March
Yar's Revenge TM	May
Defender**	June
Math Gran Prix	July
Bezerk***	August
Star Raiders	September

Believe it or not, Star Raiders isn't too bad on this. The Difficulty Switches turn the shields and attack computer on & off. There are no sectors to jump to; the enemy ships just keep coming at you.

In Haunted House you have to find the three lost pieces of the silver urn before using up your 9 lives as you prowl the corridors and rooms of a haunted mansion. Yar's Revenge is an exciting space/action game where you control a 'YAR SCOUT' out to destroy alien craft.

Of course, PacMan, Defender, and Bezerk are all based on the arcade games of the same names. Two new adventure games will be released, part of a series totalling four interrelated games. Each game involves a theme-element: Earth, Fire, Air, or Water. Your goal is to find the secret of the first game, then proceed to the second, etc. However, the games may be played individually if you prefer.

Two games tentatively scheduled for later release are Hot Rox and Fox Bat.

*PacMan is a trademark of Namco-America, Inc.

**Defender is a trademark of Williams Electronics, Inc.

***Bezerk is a trademark of Stern Electronics, Inc.