October 1981

Oct 28, 2021

Arcade board mobility has coinop spooked
George Plimpton is pimping Intellivision &
The youth of America sees pro-gaming as their future

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 October 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:
Video version - https://www.patreon.com/posts/57968609
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qix
https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/qix

Corrections:
September 1981 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/56209373
7 Minutes in Heaven - Castle Wolfenstein - https://www.patreon.com/posts/56209208
https://www.mobygames.com/game/frogger-ancient-shadow
Jerry Jewell Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/57602735

1941:
Judges denounce Pinball as Gambling
https://www.nytimes.com/1941/10/09/archives/judges-denounce-pinball-as-gambling-but-reserve-decision-in-jersey.html?searchResultPosition=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball#1947:_Flippers_introduced
https://www.nytimes.com/1941/10/19/archives/nickel-monte-carlo-the-pinball-box-cashes-in-on-a-love-of-gadgets-a.html?searchResultPosition=2
https://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/flintstones-the-treasure-of-sierra-madrock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6aguUfV2XQ

1961:
Satellite positioning system underway
https://www.nytimes.com/1961/10/08/archives/star-substitutes-satellites-to-replace-heavenly-bodies-as-guides.html?searchResultPosition=24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_(satellite)

1981:
US Arcade industry hesitant about interchangeable kits
Play Meter Oct. 1 1981 pg. 22
https://segaretro.org/Sega_G80

Taito's Moon Shuttle introduces continuous play
Replay Oct. 1981, pg. 56
https://www.mobygames.com/game/moon-shuttle
https://www.denofgeek.com/games/the-origins-of-the-video-game-continue-screen/

Atari and GCC drop suits
Replay Oct. 1981 pg. 16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Computer_Corporation

Atari settles with Cinematronics
Play Meter Oct. 15, 1981 pg. 148
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematronics

Williams revenues double
Replay Oct. 1981, pg. 14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMS_Industries

Coleco signs licensing deal with Midway
Toy & Hobby World Oct. 1981 pg. 16
https://archive.org/details/hh_cpacman
https://www.miniarcade.com/coleco/coleco.php
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/sunset-bowl-in-ballard-will-close-in-april/
Michael Katz Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258
https://archive.org/details/hh_cdkong
https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1982-Sears-Christmas-Book/0003
https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1982-Sears-Christmas-Book/0636
https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1982-Sears-Christmas-Book/0646

George Plimpton to promote Intellivision sweepstakes
Toy & Hobby World Oct. 1981 pg. 58
https://wearethemutants.com/2017/05/18/george-plimpton-advertisements-for-intellivision-1980-1983/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPUMfUvRAOE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Plimpton
February 1980 Jump - https://www.patreon.com/posts/34288179

Imagic enters the game publishing fray
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/08/business/advertising-imagic-account.html?searchResultPosition=2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagic
They Create World Imagic ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/mysteries-of-57377105

Byte takes a first look at the IBM PC
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-10_OCR/page/n25/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-10_OCR/page/n31/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer

Atari muscles in on Apple's educational turf
https://archive.org/details/1981-10-compute-magazine/page/n5/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family
https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/

Nasir Gebelli goes it alone
https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n02oct1981/page/39/mode/1up
Jerry Jewell Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/57602735

Computers can win big at chess tournaments
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-10_OCR/page/n305/mode/1up

Coining of phrase arcade-adventure
https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n02oct1981/page/55/mode/1up

The Dirty Book is looking for your raunchy software creations
https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n02oct1981/page/80/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/TheDirtyBookV2N1/page/n3/mode/2up?q=the+dirty+book

The Gamemaster beckons you to enter his mansion
https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n02oct1981/page/82/mode/1up
http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/softline_3.2.pdf
https://books.google.de/books?id=-dgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=harlow+stevens+jr&source=bl&ots=UxMV-u2BB_&sig=ACfU3U0VAEzuFq0DpEWWDkGS07PAFMjsqw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSpdOb_MfzAhWrgP0HHQHgCLsQ6AF6BAgUEAM#v=onepage&q=harlow%20stevens%20jr&f=false

Mike Blanchet profiled in New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/25/magazine/video-games-star-war.html?searchResultPosition=1
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/blanchet/blanchet.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius_(urban_legend)

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/
Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/

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