Tempest (video game)
Atari · 1981
Tempest is a 1981 arcade tube shooter developed and published by Atari, Inc. It places a claw-shaped blaster on the near edge of a 3D, lane-based surface — often a closed tube — viewed from one end.
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Asteroids (video game)
Atari · 1979
Asteroids (1979) is a multidirectional shooter developed by Atari, Inc. It uses custom vector-display hardware derived from Lunar Lander. The player controls a triangular spaceship with rotation, forward thrust, and forward fire. Movement obeys inertia: the ship continues drifting until thrust alters direction or friction halts it. Asteroids break into smaller, faster fragments when shot. Two types of flying saucers traverse the field and fire back. Screen edges wrap both horizontally and vertically. Hyperspace teleports the ship to a random location at risk of self-destruction or collision. The game features a high-score table with player initials. It was designed for arcade play and includes exploitable behaviours like edge-lurking to evade saucer aim.
Centipede (video game)
Atari · 1981
Centipede is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc. in 1981. The player controls the Bug Blaster at the bottom of the screen with a trackball and shoots upward at a segmented centipede descending through a field of mushrooms. Shooting a segment turns it into a mushroom and splits the centipede; the rear piece grows a new head. The centipede moves horizontally until hitting a mushroom or screen edge, then drops one level and reverses. Mushrooms take four shots to destroy and award one point each. Their accumulation speeds the centipede’s descent. A 1998 Windows PC remake was released by Hasbro Interactive.
Millipede (video game)
Atari · 1982
Millipede is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc. in 1982. The player controls Archer, an elf, using a trackball and fire button to destroy a descending millipede and other insect enemies while avoiding collisions. The millipede moves horizontally, drops one row upon hitting obstacles or edges, and splits when shot — its rear segment growing a new head. Gameplay includes varied enemy behaviours, special items like DDT bombs, bonus swarm levels, and dynamic mushroom field changes inspired by Conway's Game of Life.