Atari's answer to the Intellivision "running man"

[tz101]

I plugged in my VCS copy of Swordquest Fireworld today and realized that the avatar looked an awful lot like Intellivisions ubiquitous "running man". Was this a not-so-subtle attempt to rip off the Intellivision and their unofficial mascot?

[+Omegamatrix]

I fired up Swordquest, and then looked at a .gif of Intellivision's running man. I've got to say it didn't look very similar to me at all. I mean the man kind of hunched down as he ran, but the sprite itself didn't look very similar to me.

 

 

Maybe any similarity could be due to a limited amount of pixels to build a sprite?

[rockman_x_2002]

When you're dealing with low screen resolutions and limited colors and memory, there's only so many ways you can combine pixles to make a running man.

 

Actually I was always under the impression that Atari's unofficial mascot was the Yar.

[tz101]

Did you try Earthworld or Fireworld (don't know about Waterworld)? The avatars are different between earth and fire.

[OldAtarian]

When you're dealing with low screen resolutions and limited colors and memory, there's only so many ways you can combine pixles to make a running man.

 

Actually I was always under the impression that Atari's unofficial mascot was the Yar.

 

No, it's 2600 Pac Man. *runs for cover*

[tetrode kink]

When you're dealing with low screen resolutions and limited colors and memory, there's only so many ways you can combine pixles to make a running man.

 

Actually I was always under the impression that Atari's unofficial mascot was the Yar.

 

No, it's 2600 Pac Man. *runs for cover*

[OldAtarian]

When you're dealing with low screen resolutions and limited colors and memory, there's only so many ways you can combine pixles to make a running man.

 

Actually I was always under the impression that Atari's unofficial mascot was the Yar.

 

No, it's 2600 Pac Man. *runs for cover*

 

At least I didn't say it was E.T.

[+RevEng]

I was curious, so I ripped the sprites from Atari's SwordQuest:Fireworld and Intellivision's NFL Football...

 

(click on the image to see the animated gif)

 

I can see some resemblance, but I think it's only inspiration or co-incidental.

Edited October 12, 2010 by RevEng

[Rex Dart]

I always figured atari's mascot was Joust, or one of those other games they trot out on every system.

[Lord Helmet]

Atari never really had a mascot. The logo was what appeared uniformly across consoles, games, accessories and ads. The Intellevision running man appeared across many different games, so I suppose you could say it was their mascot.

[psquare75]

Huh, when I was little I assumed it was Pac Man.

[ZylonBane]

I always figured atari's mascot was Joust, or one of those other games they trot out on every system.

 

Huh, when I was little I assumed it was Pac Man.

 

Apparently it didn't occur to either of you that those aren't Atari games. They're Williams and Namco games, respectively.

 

If memory serves, the reason so many INTV games use the same "running man" sprite is because it's built into the system ROM.

[jaybird3rd]

I think the 2660 "mascot" is a square (or rectangular) block. In one form or another, he shows up in every game.

[psquare75]

I always figured atari's mascot was Joust, or one of those other games they trot out on every system.

 

Huh, when I was little I assumed it was Pac Man.

 

Apparently it didn't occur to either of you that those aren't Atari games. They're Williams and Namco games, respectively.

 

If memory serves, the reason so many INTV games use the same "running man" sprite is because it's built into the system ROM.

 

I was 7. Cut me some slack.

 

FWIW, I've come across lots of other people that the first game/thing they think of when I mention "Atari" is "Pac-Man".

[OldAtarian]

I think the 2660 "mascot" is a square (or rectangular) block. In one form or another, he shows up in every game.

 

Oooh that's a good one. The official Atari mascot is now the colored square from Adventure.

[Pioneer4x4]

I think the 2660 "mascot" is a square (or rectangular) block. In one form or another, he shows up in every game.

 

Oooh that's a good one. The official Atari mascot is now the colored square from Adventure.

Or should it be grayscale? ■ (PC Keyboard <ALT>+254)

[Frizo]

■ ■ ■ ■GO ATARI!■ ■ ■ ■