TCW Podcast Episode 213 - The Exidy of the 80's and 90's

In our second part, we look at Exidy as we wrap up the 70s and explore their products of the 80s and 90s. They continued developing microprocessor games with a variation on Pac-Man with Mouse Trap. The game was moderately successful during the downturn in the mid-80s. Exidy tried to leverage the power of an Atari 400 computer to create arcade machines with their Max-A-Flex system. Unfortunately, only four games were produced for the system. Their new light gun hardware enabled the creation of some very interesting shooting games, including Crossbow, Cheyenne, and Combat. When Exidy entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it was hoped that Chiller would make Exidy popular again in the same way Death Race did in the 70s. Exidy managed to exit bankruptcy and continued to refocus itself on redemption games. However, the company met its end in the early 90s when embezzlement by an employee forced the company to close. The rights to the properties were sold off, allowing Pete Kauffman to retire in comfort.

Starfire Case and Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZNj3JdtJ5c

Starfire Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5r_SM-ugOU

Rip Cord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5VNeAYIec

Crash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUAC_2sRx0g

Bandido: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_mMOSUvbLg

Fire One (Cabinet and Pictures): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/fire-one

Fire One (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOl0NR5in5o

Tail Gunner 2 (Cabinet Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdQhexOUzFQ

Tail Gunner 2 (Old Cabinet walk around): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtqlduONDx8

TARG (Cabinet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pZk2xQcSUs

TARG (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaz-xh8igtE

Venture (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CInXyYrp9zI

Venture (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/venture

Pepper II (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/pepper-ii

Pepper II (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOy4eeCrEXQ

Mousetrap (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ5y3JvOMDo

Mousetrap (Gameplay on Hardware): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKB09AiQC1w

Mousetrap (Cabinet and Repair): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8fIf_BhMw

Mousetrap (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/mouse-trap

Victory (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/victory--exidy

Victory (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_0LKMV2wT0

Hard Hat (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/hard-hat

Hard Hat (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yow567S3XRs

Whirly Bucket (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Arcade/whirly-bucket

Whirly Bucket (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur2FLE5jSIg

Fax (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/fax

Fax (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQo3YPxgqQ

Max-A-Flex System (Overview): https://www.classicarcademuseum.org/exidy-max-a-flex-system

Astro Chase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqEst239p_A

Flip & Flop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9qPSXWmVxs

Boulder Dash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHH0Oayw6CY

TCW 075 - Gunning for Light: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/gunning-for-light/

Crossbow (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/crossbow

Crossbow (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXEOyfPRA0A

Cheyenne (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/cheyenne

Cheyenne (Cabinet & Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcCgqe9BAOE

Combat (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/combat--exidy

Combat (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFsBE70Pdi4

Vertigo (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/vertigo

Top Gunner (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MXYF260JdE

Chiller (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFmN5QlfF5Q

Top Secret (Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/top-secret

Top Secret (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9lGVsVEwoA&t=16s

Hit N' Miss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx2MDXCC7Mg

Who Dunit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqvwe5aEGjQ

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/