Atari 400/800 Pac-Man: When did you first see it or a demo in 1982?

[+Random Terrain]

If you were alive and old enough to keep track of such things, do you remember the month you got Atari 400/800 Pac-Man or the first time you remember seeing it in a store or the first time you saw a demo of it playing on an Atari computer in 1982?

 

Understanding that I hit my head on the ice in 2011 and lost some memories and others got mangled, what I posted about Pac-Man before 2011 doesn't seem to have changed in my memory that much. My memory is that my mother and I played official Atari 400/800 Pac-Man at Woolco department store (or at least saw a demo of it playing on an Atari computer) and assumed that Atari 2600 Pac-Man would look similar, so we pre-ordered Atari 2600 Pac-Man at that same Woolco.

 

I have a clear memory of seeing Atari 400/800 Pac-Man on a computer screen at Woolco and wondering if Atari 2600 Pac-Man would be as good. I don't remember holding a joystick. Once we brought home the Atari 2600 abomination called Pac-Man in April, my mother and I talked about how shocked we were that it didn't even look close to the Atari computer version we saw at Woolco. Since I don't remember holding a joystick, there is a very good chance that we saw some kind of demo.

 

I got an E-mail yesterday saying that it was impossible for for me and my mother to have played Atari computer Pac-Man before Atari 2600 Pac-Man was released in March/April of 1982 since Atari 400/800 wasn't released until around June. As I posted above, if my mother and I didn't play it, it's highly possible that we saw a demo. Either way, we were seeing what official Pac-Man looked like on a real Atari computer before the Atari 2600 version was released. It looked just like this:

 

youtu.be/rDkOgIAR91w

 

 

Does anyone remember seeing a demo or the actual game in a store before March/April of 1982?

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Update:

 

I made a new thread that has a bunch of Atari 400/800 Pac-Man newspaper ads and they seem to show that Pac-Man for Atari computers was released in May of 1982:

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/317589-atari-400800-pac-man-newspaper-ads-from-1982/

 

Since Atari 2600 Pac-Man was released in March/April of 1982 and May is only about a month or a month and a half later, I wonder if Woolco really did have some kind of preview demo playing that pretty much showed what the finished version of Atari 400/800 Pac-Man would look like.

 

 

[invisible kid]

I won't be able to help you with any exact date, but I was a fairly early adopter of an atari 8 bit. Possibly the first time I saw Pacman was at a local dealer(on a pirate disk no less!) in the early days. If I was to put a date on it it could have been in 1982. Sorry! not quite helpful I know! And that is quite the story you linked there!

[SoundGammon]

I think I still have the "full" version of this game on a disk.

 

The full version has the intro screen where the ghosts and their names appear!

 

It was 10K in size and it had to be cut to fit in a 8K cartridge.

 

Anyone on here have it?

[TGB1718]

I know I had it and played it, but it could have been the 2600 version, I bought my 800 in 1982 and 

still have it, but I don't have the cartridge, nor the 2600, so I must assume I had the 2600 version.

[Rybags]

I never liked the game much but found Ms, Jr and Super Pacman to be somewhat more lasting.

 

From memory probably saw the 2600 version first and was suitably unimpressed.  I knew of course the technical limitations would have hampered efforts but they at least could have kept the maze something like the original.

Technically I was impressed by the computer version though of course it wasn't exactly pushing hardware boundaries even in the early 1980s.

[Gunstar]

In 1982 I only had a 2600 and a Timex/Sinclair 1000 (I think, that could have been '83). The only home version I played was the 2600 version, which I knew was nothing like the arcade version really, but we still had fun playing it on the 2600, many hours were spent with it, until Ms. Pac-man 2600 came out, and then it was forgotten. All my Atari 8-bit experiences, games old and new, started in the summer of '85 when I bought my 130XE. But I was impressed with the 8-bit version even in '85/86 time-frame. My 2600 is only ever used to play a few games, like Solaris, in '85 I graduated to Atari computers and prefer all the A8 versions over 2600 versions, obviously (IMHO), though I do intend to one day by a couple of the newer home-brew 2600 games in the AA store.

 

These days I only play the Pac-man Arcade hack version, I do believe it's as close to the arcade as you can get on an 8-bit, ignoring screen ratio. A first rate job, it renewed my interest in the original instead of always playing the sequels.

 

I did come across an 800 at a K-mart, sometime in the early 80's, but I don't remember what was demoing or if it was even turned on, but I ran across an 800 displayed in an aisle, not one of the ATARI displays, just on a cart-on-wheels or something. I was mesmerized by it, but I was quickly told "NO." as soon as I turned back to my parents, and then I forgot about it and all Atari computers until '85, having not encountered them again sooner. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have bought a discounted 800 or 1200XL instead of the 130XE...but it is Jack, and his new Atari corp. with the new ST/XE lines that allowed me to rediscover Atari computers as the headlines in computer magazines that I was reading by then.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Gunstar

[zzip]

I know I saw the 400/800 version before I saw the 5200 version.   I saw the 5200 version at Christmas 82, so I saw the 8-bit version earler in the year.

 

Here's where my memory gets weird though:   I recall 8-bit Pacman having a green maze instead of blue, and having similar sound effects to the 2600 version (everything else was the same as the 8-bit version).   And that's a pretty vivid memory, so I wonder if I drempt it.

 

I'm pretty sure I first saw it after the 2600 version though.   In those days, I didn't really follow the computer line though because they were still pretty pricey I didn't think my parents would ever be able to buy me one.

[FifthPlayer]

I remember seeing the 2600 version appear before the 400/800 version.  Everyone was so disappointed by the 2600 version- at least they could have chosen arcade-appropriate colors for the maze and the ghosts.  Then the 8-bit version appeared and we all marveled at it in comparison.

 

I can't remember dates, except to say my friends and I played the heck out of A8 Pac-Man (and Miner 2049er) over the summer of 1982.  My friend got a Colecovision about the same time; with it and my 800 we were in home gaming heaven.

Edited January 24, 2020 by FifthPlayer
clarify A8

[jhd]

Atari, Inc. v. Williams
United States District Court; E.D. California 
December 28, 1981

 

6. ATARI INC. does not manufacture, distribute, produce or sell computer software for the audiovisual game entitled “Pac-Man.”
7. ATARI INC. at this time is trying to perfect a computer software program for the audiovisual game called “Pac-Man” and set a target date for reaching the marketplace with its “Pac-Man” game in about the second quarter of 1982.

 

This narrows down the date range somewhat. 

[+slx]

My best friend and myself got a 400 respectively 800 for Christmas '82. He got a Pac-Man cart to go with it although he didn't like Pac-Man and we had to wait until after Christmas to get to the computer store and buy Star Raiders (I think he was allowed to exchange his Pac-Man for Star Raiders).

[+DrVenkman]

6 hours ago, jhd said:

Atari, Inc. v. Williams
United States District Court; E.D. California 
December 28, 1981

 

 

 

 

This narrows down the date range somewhat. 

This comports with my own memories; I got 2600 PAC-MAN when it was release and while I played it (since I had no other home PAC options at the time) I was disappointed. I have  questionable memories of seeing 8-bit PAC-MAN on display at various department stores (Hill's, Bradlee's, maybe Sears ...). At that time, my step-brother and I were in the process of saving our allowance money, birthday money, etc. in hopes of buying our 400, which we did in October 1982. I actually have the receipt for that purchase, even though the computer is long gone. I know PAC-MAN was the first game we got after the computer arrived, but given the timing of the computer purchase, it is likely we received it as a Christmas gift that year.

[Gunstar]

8 hours ago, zzip said:

I know I saw the 400/800 version before I saw the 5200 version.   I saw the 5200 version at Christmas 82, so I saw the 8-bit version earler in the year.

 

Yes, I forgot that I did see Pac-man on 5200 commercials in '82, now that you mentioned it, I don't know why I forgot. I had wanted a Colecovision from when I first saw it's Zaxxon commercial; "Because your vision is our vision, Coleco vision." I forgot what the 2600 was for a full 5 minutes after seeing that commercial, then I saw the 5200 commercial with pac-man and showing the Colecovision with the 2600 module and show that a 5200 cartridge won't fit. That made me laugh, and after that I wanted a 5200 instead. But Atari computers were lost to memory until '85.

[oracle_jedi]

According to Wikipedia, the 2600 PacMan was released March 16 1982.

 

If we check this site with the PacMan source files for the 8bit - https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=PAC-MAN, the source code is dated 10/03/82, which would be 3 October 1982 assuming they followed the typical U.S. date formats.  From there the code would have had to be burned to ROMs and assembled into cartridges, packaged and shipped.   I would imaging that process would have meant 8bit PacMan was not available to buy in a store until at earliest mid November 1982.

 

Assuming both sites are correct, the 2600 version pre-dates the 8bit version by at least 6 months.

 

Is it possible your "pre-order" was perhaps a case of just ordering the 2600 cartridge, which may not have been in stock as it was a very popular title, despite its lousy quality?

 

 

[eegad]

I don't know about that October source code date,  but I can tell you this for a fact:

 

I got my first computer,  an Atari 400, for my birthday in early July 1982. The deal was my parents paid for the computer itself; I was with them when they bought it and I used my saved up allowance money to buy a 410 recorder and pacman cartridge at the same time.  So,  at least here in New Jersey,  I can tell you that 8bit pacman was available in July 1982.

[doctorclu]

First off, loved the Atari VCS Pac-Man.   My sister and I sold newspaper subscriptions in a local contest and with 17 subscriptions one summer got my own Atari VCS (we had one as a family, but I wanted more play time), and my sister jumped in and her cuteness factor brought us up to the 21 subscriptions for the Atari VCS *AND* Pac-Man.   She got the cart, she was happy.   I knew the game looked nothing like the arcade, but at that time Atari VCS graphics always required some imagination so I was used to it.

 

My family used to dig through the Atari Service Center (Arlington, TX) dumpster.   Found some good games in there, and some were for the Atari computer.  I remember thinking the brown Atari computer cartridge looked like an electric razor.     Two of the games found were Star Raiders and Pac-Man.

 

Eventually sold my Atari VCS, originally wanting to get a ColecoVision.  But my friend had an Atari 800 with a bunch of cool games on floppy.  Loved that.  So we bought at Best Buy the Atari 400 for $150 with $50 rebate.  My Dad loved that I got a computer instead of a game system and eventually boosted the memory from 16K to 48K by chip piggy backing.   Still got the 400.

 

First impression of Pac-Man... I was amazed.   While I liked the Atari VCS it really showed me that the arcade version could be played at home.   I had seen similar graphics with the ColecoVision (Donkey Kong, Venture, Zaxxon) but it was great to have a computer where I could have arcade graphics AND be able to play dozens of games for the cost of box of floppies all by downloading off local BBSs.

 

I mean...  be able to buy games on floppy for less than a rom cart in some cases.   Yeh, that's what I meant to say. 

[Geister]

I remember that I had already own my 400 for a couple years in 1982 and I had heard that Pac-Man was available on cartridge.  I don't remember the exact month it was but it was quite warm and sunny the day I picked it up at General Computer, so I'd guess July or August.  Man I wish I kept boxes and stuff back then.  I've recently re-acquired that 400 and the cartridges from my nephew.  They still work perfectly.

[Goochman]

There was no official home console release of Pac Man before the March 16th 2600 one.  It was a huge advertised event - I cant tell you when the 800 version was released, but the March date was the first date you could bring Pac Man home.

[+DrVenkman]

Here's another interesting tidbit - 

 

"PAC-MAN" was registered for use as a video game cartridge (which is distinct from separate registrations for use as coin-operated game, bedsheets, board game, drinking glasses, joke book ...) in 1981.  That must be when Atari and NAMCO signed the licensing deal.

 

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/jumpto?f=doc&state=4802:iw3ujj.4.51

[+DrVenkman]

Alright, bingo:

 

https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search_Arg=PAC-MAN ATARI&Search_Code=FT*&CNT=25&PID=xotPJUu_br6zcENd3QNT8dUoqdLn&SEQ=20200125210233&SID=6

 

 

So whenever the game was actually published, Atari had a copyright application on the box and instructions by January 1982. Still looking for the source code registration, though that might have been owned by Bally Midway and licensed back to Atari or something weird like that. 

[R.Cade]

The mind really plays tricks on you with dates and times on old memories. I have tried to go back and piece things back together by date and it's really easy to misremember or get things a whole year off.

 

[zzip]

On 1/24/2020 at 8:07 PM, Gunstar said:

 then I saw the 5200 commercial with pac-man and showing the Colecovision with the 2600 module and show that a 5200 cartridge won't fit. That made me laugh, and after that I wanted a 5200 instead. But Atari computers were lost to memory until '85.

This commercial was so ballsy.   They were essentially admitting 2600 Pacman sucked, but were somehow blaming it on Coleco! 

[Gunstar]

The irony of it all was that my parent's wouldn't get me a new 5200 due to the price, since it's just for games. I couldn't even get them to buy me a 2600 in '82 at it's price point then, but they were willing to buy me a computer if I could find one for about the $150 mark, since I was learning programming in school. If I had remembered about the Atari 400/800 line, I probably could have gotten them to buy me a used or discounted Atari 400, had I been aware to look at dealers or in the newspaper classifieds for one, and probably for about the same price as it cost them to buy me a T/S 1000+16K rampack, and software...I probably could have had a 400 in '82, with Pac-Man (purchased later with paper-route monies).

Edited January 27, 2020 by Gunstar

[Dutchman2000]

Roklan Corporation developed the game for Atari, and the source code has a date:

 

;************************************
;*                                  *
;*            PAC-MAN               *
;*                                  *
;*   Developed for Atari Inc. by    *
;*  Roklan Corp. This Information   *
;*  is confidential and is not for  *
;*  sale or distribution.           *
;*                                  *
;* Software written by Joe Hellesen *
;*                                  *
;*            10/08/82              *
;*                                  *
;*                                  *
;*          REVISION 3.0            *
;*                                  *
;************************************

 

[carlsson]

On 1/26/2020 at 2:55 AM, DrVenkman said:

"PAC-MAN" was registered for use as a video game cartridge (which is distinct from separate registrations for use as coin-operated game, bedsheets, board game, drinking glasses, joke book ...) in 1981.  That must be when Atari and NAMCO signed the licensing deal.

That is also interesting regarding unauthorized or partly licensed versions, at which point in time Atari had any interest in Pac-Man. Unfortunately the link you provided had timed out and I was not able to find the exact same entry on the site - the links seem highly dynamic so it might be better to quote which serial number the application has and let people look it up themselves.

 

In particular I used to think that Pac-Man for the VIC-1001 was available in Japan fairly early on, but from recent internal docs from Commodore it would seem that it wasn't released until 1981, perhaps in time for the VIC-20 version. Supposedly Namco had granted Commodore rights to publish it within Japan, but Atari had at that point obtained exclusive rights for home versions in rest of the world which is why Commodore first relabeled the game, then put aside profits to pay for the damage whenever Atari would knock on their door for infringement. Commodore also at that point had a partnership with Bally Midway. Somehow Commodore must've been aware that Atari would obtain the rights because in the internal docs they wrote "Pac-Man" in quotes already in early 1981.

[+Random Terrain]

17 hours ago, Dutchman2000 said:

Roklan Corporation developed the game for Atari, and the source code has a date:

 

;************************************
;*                                  *
;*            PAC-MAN               *
;*                                  *
;*   Developed for Atari Inc. by    *
;*  Roklan Corp. This Information   *
;*  is confidential and is not for  *
;*  sale or distribution.           *
;*                                  *
;* Software written by Joe Hellesen *
;*                                  *
;*            10/08/82              *
;*                                  *
;*                                  *
;*          REVISION 3.0            *
;*                                  *
;************************************

 

 

I wonder what months the previous revisions were done?