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Information About

Night Driver




  developer Atari Games
  publisher Atari Games
  designer Ted Michon
  release 10/ 1976
  genre Racing
  modes 1 Player
  ports Atari 2600 , Commodore 64
  cabinet Standard and cockpit
  arcade System (@ 1008 MHz), Sound Chips : Discrete (@ 1008 MHz)
  monitor 23 inch Raster resolution 256&times256 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 2
  input Steering wheel, gas pedal, gear shift (1-4)


''Night Driver'' is a 1976 Arcade Game by Atari . It is the first ever first-person racing game.

The player controls a car which must be driven along a road at nighttime without crashing into other vehicles or into the sides of the road. As the game progresses, the road becomes narrower and harder to negotiate. Aside from other vehicles, players will also see houses and trees along the sides of the road.

Due to limitation of arcade technology at the time, the car that the player is driving is not actually drawn by the game. Instead, the car is a printed plastic insert that is laid under the screen.

There were two versions of the cabinet manufactured, an upright and a cockpit. The upright version had a blacklight installed inside the cabinet which illuminated the bezel.


PORTS

After the success of the arcade, Rob Fulop ports the game over to Atari's home system at the time, the Atari 2600 , and the Commodore 64 .

The Atari version uses the paddles to control the vehicle. The player pushes the fire button to accelerate the car forward, and uses the paddle to steer the vehicle. You do not shift gears in this version. Every frame the program toggles drawing ''either'' the vehicle and road hazards OR the road posts that defined the track. This causes the game graphics to flicker continually. The game offers eight different levels. Some of the levels are timed, and the player tries to score as much as they can in 90 seconds, and others are not timed.

The Commodore 64 version is called ''Night Drive''.


TRIVIA

  • Midway , also in 1976, gains rights to a game called '' Midnight Racer '' a game that is remarkably similar in theme and design to Night Driver. Later that year they release it under the name '' 280 ZZZAP ''.

  • The game appeared in the 1978 film '' Dawn Of The Dead ''



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