Outlaw (1978 video game)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Outlaw (video game), Outlaws (1985 video game), or Outlaws (1997 video game).
Outlaw
Developer(s)Atari[1]
Publisher(s)Atari[1]
Designer(s)David Crane
Platform(s)Atari 2600
ReleaseOctober 1978
Genre(s)Shooter[1]
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Outlaw is a 1978 video game developed at Atari by David Crane. The game is a variation of the arcade game Gun Fight (1975). Upon release, it received positive reviews from Creative Computing, The Space Gamer and the Xenia Daily Gazette.

Development[edit]

Outlaw gameplay on the Atari 2600.

Outlaw was developed by David Crane for Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600.[1] Crane had previously worked at National Semiconductor.[2] While playing tennis with his friend Alan Miller, he was told by Miller that Atari was looking for game programmers. After proofreading a newspaper ad his friend had made for the work, he wrote a resume, was interviewed the next day at 10 am and had the job by 2 pm. Crane had officially started for Atari in the third quarter of 1977.[3]

Outlaw would be his first commercial game he made for the Atari 2600.[4] The game began as a home console conversion of Midway's arcade game Gun Fight (1975), which itself was an officially licensed variation on the game Western Gun (1975) by Taito.[4] Crane said the game was influenced by Gun Fight, and liked the idea of making a game with two opposing gunfighters.[5] Other companies had released similar games for their consoles during this period, such as Gunfighter for the RCA Studio II, and official adaptation of Gun Fight as a built-in game on the Bally Professional Arcade.[6] Crane's version reduces the controls to one control stick and button.[7]

Release[edit]

Outlaw was released for the Atari 2600 in October 1978.[4] It was later included as part of the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (2022) compilation for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Xbox One.[8] In 2023, Atari SA announced it would re-release Outlaw on a physical Atari 2600 cartridge.[9][10]

Reception[edit]

From contemporary reviews, David H. Ahl of Creative Computing appeared to have enjoyed the game, stating that "after a couple of glasses of wine, Chris Cef and I went into fits of convulsive laughter playing this game and lost or ability to fire straight. This could happen to you!"[11] Eric Thompson of The Space Gamer complimented the graphics and sound stating "you really hear the boots, gunfire and ricochets."[12] They continued that they had few complaints about the game, outside that the gun was hard to see on the character.[12] Dick Cowan of the Xenia Daily Gazette found it to be one of the better Atari games, noting that the different variations of the game will sustain interesting for extended periods.[13]

From retrospective reviews, Brett Alan Weiss, writing for Allgame said that Outlaw as a single-player game was overly simplistic and dull and was best played as a multiplayer game where competing against an opponent was much more fun but not as strong as the similar Combat (1977). He noted that the graphics were simplistic but typical for an Atari 2600 title then.[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Weiss 2007, p. 87.
  2. ^ Hunt 2010, p. 88.
  3. ^ Donovan 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Bunch 2022, p. 148.
  5. ^ Bunch 2022, p. 150.
  6. ^ Bunch 2022, p. 152-153.
  7. ^ Bunch 2022, p. 151.
  8. ^ Machkovech 2022.
  9. ^ Handley 2023.
  10. ^ Atari SA.
  11. ^ Ahl 1978, p. 39.
  12. ^ a b Thompson 1980, p. 35.
  13. ^ Bunch 2022, p. 152.
  14. ^ Weiss.

Sources[edit]

  • "Outlaw - Limited Edition". Atari SA. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  • Ahl, David H. (July–August 1978). "A Creative Computing Equipment Profile... Atari Video Computer System". Creative Computing. Vol. 4, no. 4.
  • Bunch, Kevin (2022). Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978. Press Run Books. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-955183-21-5.
  • Donovan, Tristan (January 3, 2011). "The Replay Interviews: David Crane". Game Developer. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  • Handley, Zoey (September 5, 2023). "The Next 2600 Game From Atari XP is David Crane's Outlaw". Destructoid. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  • Hunt, Stuart (2010). "In the Chair With... David Crane". Retro Gamer. No. 79. Imagine Publishing Ltd.
  • Machkovech, Sam (September 12, 2022). "The 103 Classic Games That Did, and Didn't, Make the Atari 50 Anniversary Cut — Retailer Leak Suggests Games from Arcade to Jaguar; Surprises Apparently Still Await". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  • Thompson, Eric (December 1980). "Computer Games". The Space Gamer. No. 34.
  • Weiss, Brett Alan. "Outlaw". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  • Weiss, Brett (2007). Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3226-4.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Outlaw_(1978_video_game)&oldid=1221225608"