Atari announces mass layoffs, Time names the personal computer the man of the year & Nintendo launches the Game and Watch in North America

These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in February 1983.  As always,  we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost.  Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book

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Links: 7 Minutes in Heaven: Spider-Man     Video Version:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/79440858     https://www.mobygames.com/game/9960/spider-man/     https://www.mobygames.com/game/1870/spider-man/     https://www.spidermancrawlspace.com/2018/06/podcast-512-interview-with-atari-2600-spider-man-game-designer-laura-nikolich/     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Nikolich      Corrections:     January 1983 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-1983-78434711     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Supercade     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Lair_(TV_series)     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax#Launch_and_early_models     https://joeclark.org/beta/BetterBetaList.html     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm5VedvD2Q     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzdCyWY3GCI     http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/_Books/101_BASIC_Computer_Games_Mar75.pdf     https://www.mobygames.com/game/5050/jumping-flash/

1973.02     Pong gets more notices         https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94010891/pong-noted-in-orange-mall-in-los-angeles/

Odyssey gets write up in Popular Electronics     https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/70s/1973/Poptronics-1973-02.pdf  pg. 64     https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnavox-Odyssey-Video-Cable.jpg

1983.01     Al Lowe enters gaming biz     https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AjAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=7EFL48Dot0&dq=Bop-A-Bet%20computer%20game%20Al%20Lowe&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q=Bop-A-Bet%20computer%20game%20Al%20Lowe&f=false     https://www.mobygames.com/company/25974/sunnyside-soft/     Al Lowe - Sierra https://www.patreon.com/posts/29977733     

1983.02     Atari profits nosedive as Coleco ascends     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/17/business/warner-s-profit-falls-by-56.5.html?searchResultPosition=10     Kevin Hayes - Atari - Namco htttps://www.patreon.com/posts/50612798     The Video Game Crash 40th Anniversary - Part 2: Everyone Else https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-game-crash-76259421     The Video Game Crash 40th Anniversary - Part 1: Atari https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-game-crash-75643983

Atari lays off 1,700     https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62352386/atari-inc-mass-layoffs-begin/         https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/business/atari-moving-most-production.html?searchResultPosition=15

Editors plead not to give up on games     https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 1     Double Dragon C64 https://www.mobygames.com/game/1839/double-dragon/screenshots/c64/

Atari snags microchip Intel luminary     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/01/business/atari-hires-inventor-of-microprocessor-chip.html?searchResultPosition=1        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcian_Hoff     Leonard Tramiel - Part 2 - Atari  https://www.patreon.com/posts/71643153     Leonard Tramiel - Part 1 - Commodore  https://www.patreon.com/posts/leonard-tramiel-69195513     https://engineering.stanford.edu/news/ted-hoff-birth-microprocessor-and-beyond

Showbiz turns Apple iis into coinops     Play Meter Feb. 1, 1983, pg.  54         https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2015/09/peek_through_time_showbiz_pizz.html         https://www.facebook.com/showbizpizzacom/photos/a.307884760553/10156663089730554/?type=3

Kiddie rides meet video games     Play Meter Feb. 15, 1983 pg. 68     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n2/mode/1up     https://www.kiddieridesusa.com/

Atari announces "My First Computer"     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/10/business/atari-game-converter.html?searchResultPosition=2     https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue36/020_Ataris_New_Add-On_Computer_For_VCS_2600_Game_Machine.php

Mattel shows off Intellivision 3 behind closed doors     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14         https://history.blueskyrangers.com/hardware/intellivision3.html      Coleco announces Gemini     https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update       The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 11     The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 14     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Gemini

Add-ons are the new name of the game!     https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update      The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 6, 10, 11        https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n7/mode/1up     Toy & Hobby World Feb. 1983     http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-crash-that-almost-was/     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Adam

Amiga's Joyboard brings motion controls to the VCS     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/business/what-s-new-in-the-toy-industry-exercising-with-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=9        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyboard        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Meditation

Atari goes after pre-schoolers     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/business/what-s-new-in-the-toy-industry-exercising-with-video-games.html?searchResultPosition=9        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTp_wBnSW9k     The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 5     https://www.mobygames.com/game/22900/alpha-beam-with-ernie/cover/group-97061/cover-265056/

Sega enters cartridge market     Leisure Time Electronics Feb. 1983 pg. 22        https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/company:8665/platform:atari-2600/sort:moby_score/page:0/        Playthings Feb. 1983      Fox announces MASH game     https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update      The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 5     https://www.mobygames.com/game/19861/mash/     https://www.mobygames.com/game/22975/porkys/screenshots/

Video game rentals take off     https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_04_1983-02_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n89/mode/1up

Toy retailers plan shift from consoles to computers     Playthings Feb. 1983      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHujs7ka_K0      Time crowns the computer Man of the Year     https://archive.org/details/TeleMatch.N02.1983.02-KCz.pdf/page/n9/mode/1up     https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19830103,00.html

CES and Toy Fare see new computers galore     https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-video-game-update     Toys Hobbies and Crafts Feb. 1983     http://www.atarihq.com/museum/nonatari/ultravision.php     https://www.samdal.com/sv318.htm     https://www.samdal.com/svhistory.htm     http://www.atari-computermuseum.de/1200xl.htm     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattel_Aquarius     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99/4A#TI-99/4A_successors

Byte looks at the Lisa     https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n34/mode/1up         ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa     https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n87/mode/1up

PC upgraders pose a problem for IBM     https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n430/mode/1up

IBM goes abroad     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n3/mode/1up     https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-17/page/n9/mode/2up     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer

Intel begins work on 386     https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n433/mode/1up         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I386

Tandy cuts CoCo price     https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-02-rescan/page/n434/mode/1up     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer

ZX Spectrum hits retail     https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-011/page/n14/mode/1up     https://youtu.be/-BLM1naCfME     https://youtu.be/kUSHiHmOdvE     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

TI 99 could go B-O-O-M     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/business/texas-instruments.html?searchResultPosition=1

Michael Katz moves to Epyx     https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/28/business/business-people-a-new-chief-for-epyx-game-software-maker.html?searchResultPosition=2     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14/page/n7/mode/1up     Michael Katz Part 1 - Coleco - Epyx - Mattel  https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258     https://www.mobygames.com/game/10151/gi-joe-a-real-american-hero/

Cosmi announces Tri-compatible cassette     The Video Game Update Feb. 1983 pg. 16     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmi_Corporation

Broderbund goes multiplatform     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n14/page/n2/mode/1up     Gary Carlston- Broderbund  https://www.patreon.com/posts/50036733

TSR gets into video games     https://archive.org/details/BlipMagazineCollection/Blip%2001%20%28Feb%201983%29%20TV%20Star%20Matthew%20Laborteaux/page/n34/mode/1up       https://www.mobygames.com/game/53549/theseus-and-the-minotaur/screenshots/        https://www.mobygames.com/game/93453/dawn-patrol/screenshots/         https://www.mobygames.com/game/99272/dungeon-computer-adventure-game/

Virgin gets into games     https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-24/page/n4/mode/1up     https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1983-02-03/page/n4/mode/1up

Brian Fargo's first gets reviewed     https://archive.org/details/softalkv3n06feb1983/page/133/mode/1up     https://www.mobygames.com/game/1795/the-demons-forge/

Save money on "expensive adventure game dice"     https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n15/page/n4/mode/1up     https://archive.org/details/syncmagazine-v3_n1/page/n97/mode/1up

Nintendo launches Game and Watch in North America     Leisure Time electronics Feb. 1983 pg. 26     Replay Feb. 1983 pg.  75         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_%26_Watch     https://nintendo.fandom.com/de/wiki/Panorama  

Massachusettes judge calls game content "inconsequential"     Games People Feb. 19, 1983  pg. 1     https://casetext.com/case/caswell-v-licensing-commission-for-brockton

GCC seeks a piece of Pacman merch pie     https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_05_1983-02_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n97/mode/1up     https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/History_of_Ms._Pac-Man_legal_issues     https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Ms._Pac-Man#Pac-Mom

Ronnie Lamm on MacNeil/Lehrer     https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-507-6d5p844g0b

Xrated games to feature in movie     Games People Feb. 19, 1983  pg. 1     http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/03/rare-games-more-1975-atari-photos-and.html     https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085764/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt_i_2

First US cases of video game induced seizures reported     Games People Feb. 19, 1983  pg. 1      Sega gets into robots     Play Meter Feb. 15, 1983 pg. 69     https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_Chan     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.O.B.

Leisure Dynamics announces Crossbows and Catapults     Toy & Hobby World Feb. 1983 pg. 197     https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2129/crossbows-and-catapults     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wars

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/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play.

Copyright Karl Kuras

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