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==Gameplay and story== |
==Gameplay and story== |
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''Western Gun'' was an early [[Multiplayer|two-player]], [[run and gun|run & gun]], [[multi-directional shooter]]. It was also the first video game to depict a gun on screen, introduced two distinct controls per player, with one [[joystick]] for moving the computerized cowboy around on the screen and the other for changing the shooting direction.<ref name=Kotaku> |
''Western Gun'' was an early [[Multiplayer|two-player]], [[run and gun|run & gun]], [[multi-directional shooter]]. It was also the first video game to depict a gun on screen,<ref name=Kotaku>{{cite web|author=Stephen Totilo|title=In Search Of The First Video Game Gun|publisher=[[Kotaku]]|date=August 31, 2010|url=http://kotaku.com/5626466/in-search-of-the-first-video-game-gun|accessdate=2011-03-27}}</ref> introduced two distinct joystick controls per player, with one eight-way [[joystick]] for moving the computerized cowboy around on the screen and the other joystick for changing the shooting direction.<ref name=Kotaku/><ref>{{KLOV game|10420|Western Gun}}</ref> Unlike most other arcade games, ''Western Gun'' / ''Gun Fight'' has the main [[joystick]] on the right instead of the left. It was the first known video game to feature [[Player character|game characters]] and fragments of story through its visual presentation.<ref name="kohler19">Chris Kohler (2005), ''Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life'', p. 19, [[BradyGames]], ISBN 0744004241</ref> |
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Unlike most other arcade games, ''Western Gun'' / ''Gun Fight'' has the main [[joystick]] on the right instead of the left. It was the first known video game to feature [[Player character|game characters]] and fragments of story through its visual presentation.<ref name="kohler19">Chris Kohler (2005), ''Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life'', p. 19, [[BradyGames]], ISBN 0744004241</ref> |
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==Development and technology== |
==Development and technology== |
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Revision as of 11:38, 27 March 2011
| Gun Fight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Taito (Western Gun) Midway (Gun Fight) |
| Publisher(s) | Taito (Japan) Midway (United States) |
| Designer(s) | Tomohiro Nishikado |
| Programmer(s) | Tomohiro Nishikado (JP) Dave Nutting (US) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release | 1975 |
| Genre(s) | Multi-directional shooter Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | 2-player |
Gun Fight is an arcade game that was released by Midway Games in 1975, based on the Tomohiro Nishikado designed Taito game Western Gun released in Japan earlier that year.[1][2] The theme of the game involves two Old West cowboys armed with a revolver and squaring off in a duel. Whoever shoots the other cowboy first wins the duel. Unlike in a real-life duel, however, both cowboys get numerous opportunities to duel in order to score points (one point per successful draw).
Gameplay and story
Western Gun was an early two-player, run & gun, multi-directional shooter. It was also the first video game to depict a gun on screen,[1] introduced two distinct joystick controls per player, with one eight-way joystick for moving the computerized cowboy around on the screen and the other joystick for changing the shooting direction.[1][3] Unlike most other arcade games, Western Gun / Gun Fight has the main joystick on the right instead of the left. It was the first known video game to feature game characters and fragments of story through its visual presentation.[4]
Development and technology
Taito licensed its game Western Gun to Midway for release in North America (the second such license after the 1974 scrolling racing game Speed Race) The title Western Gun, while making perfect sense for Japanese audiences in that it conveys the setting and theme as simply as possible, was considered to have sounded odd to American audiences, so it was renamed Gun Fight instead for its American localization.[5]
Tomohiro Nishikado's original Western Gun design was based on discrete logic, like most video arcade games of the time.[1][2] When Dave Nutting adapted it for Midway, he decided to base it on the Intel 8080, which made Gun Fight the first video arcade game to use a microprocessor[6], after his company Dave Nutting Associates had already included the first microprocessor in a pinball machine it licensed this technology for, Spirit of '76. Nishikado believed that his original version was more fun, but he was impressed with the improved graphics and smoother animation[4] of Gun Fight. This led him to design microprocessors into his subsequent games, including the blockbuster 1978 shoot 'em up game Space Invaders.[2]
The game uses a black-and-white raster monitor and a yellow screen overlay.
Series
- Gun Fight (1975)
- Boot Hill (1977)
Ports
In 1983 Epyx ported Gun Fight and another Midway game, Sea Wolf II, to the Atari 8-bit family, and released them in an "Arcade Classics" compilation.[7]
Popular culture
In 1978 movie Dawn of the Dead, Peter and FlyBoy are enjoying this game. Peter loses as the allusion of Flyboy is bad shooter in real life.
References
- ^ a b c d Stephen Totilo, In Search Of The First Video Game Gun, Kotaku Cite error: The named reference "Kotaku" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c Chris Kohler (2005), Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life, p. 18, BradyGames, ISBN 0744004241
- ^ Western Gun at the Killer List of Videogames
- ^ a b Chris Kohler (2005), Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life, p. 19, BradyGames, ISBN 0744004241
- ^ Chris Kohler (2005), Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life, p. 211, BradyGames, ISBN 0744004241
- ^ Steve L. Kent (2001), The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world, p. 64, Prima, ISBN 0761536434
- ^ "Atarimania - Arcade Classics: Sea Wolf II / Gun Fight". Retrieved 2011-02-01.