April 1981

Apr 22, 2021

Data East goes Cassette
Sony introduces the 3.5 inch floppy
and
Xerox reinvents the desktop

These stories and many more on this episode of the Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in April of 1981.
As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

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Links:
7 Minutes in Heaven
https://www.patreon.com/posts/50315337
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defender_(1981_video_game)
https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/defender

Corrections:
https://videogamenewsroomtimemachine.libsyn.com/march-1981
https://storybundle.com/books/2836
https://www.patreon.com/posts/49206968
https://www.mobygames.com/game/asteroids-deluxe
https://www.mobygames.com/game/gravitar
https://www.mobygames.com/game/blasteroids
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970977
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyx

1981:
Computer glitch grounds first shuttle flight... temporarily
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/12/weekinreview/another-try.html?searchResultPosition=21
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/07/science/special-shuttle-issue-voyage-spaceship-columbia-overview-columbia-s-maiden.html?searchResultPosition=56
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle

Data East launches Casette System in US
Play Meter April 15, 1981 pg. 52, 101
Play Meter April 15, 1981 pg. 100
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECO_Cassette_System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BurgerTime
https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7200
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder_Dash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_%27n%27_Jump

Survey predicts electronic games to beat video in '95
Toy & Hobby World, April 1981 pg. 4
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Video_game_industry

Mattel announces Intellivision Keyboard again... and a price!
https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1981-04/page/n49/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision#Keyboard_Component
https://www.patreon.com/posts/38445119

Sony announces the 3.5 inch floppy
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-04_OCR/page/n7/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#%E2%80%8B3_1%E2%81%842-inch_disk

Xerox introduces the 8010 Star Information System
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/business/xerox-s-simpler-computer.html?searchResultPosition=4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn4vC80Pv6Q

The Osborne takes computing on the go
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-04_OCR/page/n9/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6PUWZ0FOZM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbnTZREMEJI

Compute magazine reviews the Vic20
https://archive.org/details/1981-04-compute-magazine/page/n34/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_VIC-20
https://www.mobygames.com/game/vic-20/pac-man

NYT Profiles Clive Sinclair
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/12/business/inventor-trying-again-in-consumer-electronics.html?searchResultPosition=57
http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/uncle-clives-radionics/
http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/sir-clive-of-zx/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM

Softalk talks to Microsoft
https://archive.org/details/softalkv1n08apr1981/page/30/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS

Cathy Carlston joins Broderbund
https://archive.org/details/softalkv1n08apr1981/page/60/mode/1up
https://www.patreon.com/posts/50036733

Thomas Whitney leaves Apple
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/23/business/business-people-shift-at-apple-computer.html?searchResultPosition=1
https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Whitney
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_III

Recommended Links:
The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/
Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/
They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/
Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/
The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/
Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/
Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play and Enzo Maida.