TEMPEST ARCADE GAME RENTAL

Planning an event with arcade games?

Here’s your chance to rent a real Tempest arcade machine for your next party.

Whether it’s a birthday party, corporate event, or a tradeshow, you can rent your favorite retro arcade machine for your upcoming social function. Rent your favorite retro 1980’s (eighties) classic arcade game rental for your next event in Florida.

Tempest is an arcade game by Atari Inc., originally designed and programmed by David Theurer. Released in October, 1981, it was fairly popular and had several ports and sequels. The game is a tube shooter, a type of shoot ’em up where the environment is fixed and viewed from a three-dimensional perspective. The player controls a claw-shaped “blaster” that sits on the edge of the surface, snapping from segment to segment as a rotary knob is turned, and can fire blaster shots to destroy enemies and obstacles by pressing a button. Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari’s Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first to let players choose their starting level (a system Atari called “SkillStep”). This feature increases the preferred starting level, which could also be used to let the player continue the previous game if they wished. Tempest was one of the first video games that had a progressive level design where the levels themselves varied rather than giving the player the same layout with increasing difficulty.

GAME PLAY

The object of Tempest is to survive as long as possible and score as many points as possible by clearing the screen of enemies that have landed on the playing field. The game takes place in a closed tube or open field which is viewed from one end and is divided into a dozen or more segments. The player controls a claw-shaped spaceship that crawls along the near edge of the playfield, moving from segment to segment. This ship can rapid-fire shots down the tube, destroying any enemies within the same segment, and is also equipped with a Superzapper, which destroys all enemies currently on the playfield once per level. (A second use of the Superzapper in a level destroys one random enemy.)

Enemies swirl around at the far end of the playfield, then enter the playfield and move toward the player. When all enemies in a level are destroyed or reach the near end of the playfield, the player “warps” to the next level by traveling down the playfield. The player must avoid or shoot down any spikes left behind while warping. The player loses a ship when an enemy comes into contact with their ship, shoots it or otherwise destroys it, or if the ship hits a spike while warping. If an adequate point threshold is reached, the player can earn a new ship. The game is over when the enemies destroy all of the player’s ships.

The game consists of sixteen screens with unique geometric shapes, some of which are closed tubes that allow the player to loop around, while others are open fields that have distinct left and right endpoints. When all sixteen screens have been played, the sequence repeats with a different color scheme and a higher difficulty level, including the invisible (black) levels (65–80). Each sequence of levels adds additional enemies that are faster and more deadly to the player’s ship. The numbered levels stop incrementing after level 99 and a random one of the 16 variations will appear after successful completion of subsequent levels.

There are five enemies in Tempest:

Flippers

Flippers are bowtie-shaped enemies that flip from segment to segment. They move toward the near end of the playfield, then begin flipping directly toward the player. If a flipper lands on the player, it captures the ship and takes it to the far end of the playfield, costing the player a life.

Tankers

Tankers are diamond-shaped enemies that move in a straight line. When shot (or when close to the near end of the playfield), they split into two other enemies. Several different types of Tankers exist, with more difficult and dangerous Tankers appearing later in the game.

Spikers

Spikers are spirals that move toward the near end of the playfield and leave a spike behind them, then turn around and head back to the far end of the playfield. If allowed to reach the far end, they reappear as Tankers. The player must either avoid or shoot away any spikes left in the current tube when they warp to the next level.

Fuseballs

Fuseballs are multicolored sparks that move rapidly up and down the playfield along the edges of its segments, then move slowly across segments. When at the near end of the playfield, Fuseballs can only be destroyed by using the Superzapper. They are the only enemy that cannot fire at the player, although the player is destroyed instantly on touching a Fuseball. On the linear playfields, Fuseballs will try to corner the player at the left or right by reaching the near end.

Pulsars

Pulsars move similarly to Flippers and can also capture the player’s ship. However, a Pulsar is shaped like a zig-zag that expands and contracts, and it electrifies the playfield segment it’s occupying at regular intervals (all Pulsars do this in unison). If the player’s ship occupies or enters an electrified segment, it is blown apart.

PACMAN [Pac-Man] GAME PLAY

Pac-Man is an action maze chase arcade video game; the player controls pie shaped main character through an enclosed maze.

The objective of the game is to eat all of the dots in the maze while avoiding four colored ghosts—Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (cyan), and Clyde (orange)—who pursue Pac-Man.

When Pac-Man eats all of the dots, the player advances to the next level. Levels are indicated by fruit icons at the bottom of the screen.

In between levels are short cutscenes featuring Pac-Man and Blinky in humorous, comical skits.

If Pac-Man is caught by a ghost, he loses a life; the game ends when all lives are lost.

Each of the four ghosts has its own unique artificial intelligence (A.I.), or “personality”: Blinky gives direct chase to Pac-Man; Pinky and Inky try to position themselves in front of Pac-Man, usually by cornering him; and Clyde switches between chasing Pac-Man and fleeing from him.

Placed near the four corners of the maze are large flashing “energizers” or “power pellets”. When Pac-Man eats one, the ghosts turn blue with a dizzied expression and reverse direction. Pac-Man can eat blue ghosts for bonus points; when a ghost is eaten, its eyes make their way back to the center box in the maze, where the ghost “regenerates” and resumes its normal activity.

Eating multiple blue ghosts in succession increases their point value. After a certain amount of time, blue-colored ghosts flash white before turning back into their normal forms.

Eating a certain number of dots in a level causes a bonus item—usually a fruit—to appear underneath the center box; the item can be eaten for bonus points.

To the sides of the maze are two “warp tunnels”, which allow Pac-Man and the ghosts to travel to the opposite side of the screen. Ghosts become slower when entering and exiting these tunnels.

The game increases in difficulty as the player progresses: the ghosts become faster, and the energizers’ effect decreases in duration, eventually disappearing entirely.

An integer overflow causes the 256th level to load improperly, rendering it impossible to complete. This is known as a kill screen.

PACMAN [Pac-Man] Game Release

Location testing for Puck Man began on May 22, 1980, in Shibuya, Tokyo. Non-gamers responded well to it, finding it easy to learn, while arcade regulars were not impressed. A private showing for the game was done in June, followed by a nationwide release in July.

Eyeing the game’s success in Japan, Namco initialized plans to bring the game to the international market, particularly the United States. Before showing the game to distributors, Namco America made a number of changes, such as altering the names of the ghosts.

Another was the game’s title, as executives at Namco were worried that vandals would change the “P” in Puck Man to an “F”.

Masaya Nakamura chose to rename it to Pac-Man, as he felt it was closer to the game’s original Japanese title of Pakkuman. In Europe, the game was released under both titles. After Puck Man was ruled out but before Pac-Man was decided upon, early American promotional material used the name Snapper.

When Namco presented Pac-Man and Rally-X to potential distributors at the 1980 AMOA tradeshow in November, executives believed that Rally-X would be the best-selling game of that year.

According to Play Meter magazine, both Pac-Man and Rally-X received mild attention at the show. Namco had initially approached Atari to distribute Pac-Man, but Atari refused the offer.

Midway Manufacturing subsequently agreed to distribute both Pac-Man and Rally-X in North America, announcing their acquisition of the manufacturing rights on November 22 and releasing them in December.

Pacman [Pac-Man] Game Ports

Pac-Man was ported to several home video game systems and personal computers; the most infamous of these is the 1982 Atari 2600 conversion, designed by Tod Frye and published by Atari, Inc.This version of the game was widely criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of the arcade version and for its peculiar design choices, most notably the flickering effect of the ghosts. However, it was a commercial success, selling over seven million copies.

Atari released versions for the Intellivision, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PC compatibles, TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum, and the Atari 8-bit computers. A port for the Atari 5200 was released in 1983, a version that is considered as a significant improvement over the Atari 2600 version.

Namco released a version for the Nintendo Famicom in 1984 as one of the console’s first third-party titles,^[46] as well as a port for the MSX computer.

The Famicom version was later released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari Games.

Tengen produced an unlicensed version of the game in a black cartridge shell, released during a time when Tengen and Nintendo were in disagreements over the latter’s stance on quality control for its consoles; this version was re-released by Namco as an official title in 1993, featuring a new cartridge label and box.

The Famicom version was released for the Famicom Disk System in 1990 as a budget title for the Disk Writer kiosks in retail stores. The same year, Namco released a port of Pac-Man for the Game Boy, which allowed for two-player co-operative play via the Game Link Cable peripheral. A version for the Game Gear was released a year later, which likewise enabled support for multiplayer.

In celebration of the game’s 20th anniversary in 1999, Namco re-released the Game Boy version for the Game Boy Color, bundled with Pac-Attack and titled Pac-Man: Special Color Edition. The same year, Namco and SNK co-published a port for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which came with a circular “Cross Ring” that attached to the d-pad to restrict it to four-directional movement.

In 2001, Namco released a port of Pac-Man for various Japanese mobile phones, being one of the company’s first mobile game releases. The Famicom version of the game was re-released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 as part of the Famicom Mini series, released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Famicom; this version was released in North America and Europe under the Classic NES Series label. Namco Networks released Pac-Man for BREW mobile devices in 2005. The arcade original was released for the Xbox Live Arcade service in 2006, featuring achievements and online leaderboards.

In 2009 a version for iOS devices was published; this release was rebranded as Pac-Man + Tournaments in 2013, featuring new mazes and leaderboards. The NES version was released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. A Roku version was released in 2011, alongside a port of the Game Boy release for the 3DS Virtual Console.

Pac-Man was one of four titles released under the Arcade Game Series brand, which was published for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in 2016.

In 2021, according to Nintendo Direct, it was announced that Hamster Corporation would release Pac-Man, along with Xevious, for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as part of its Arcade Archives series, marking the first two Namco games to be included as part of the series.

Pac-Man is included in many Namco compilations, including Namco Museum Vol. 1 (1995), Namco Museum 64 (1999), Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005),^[57] Namco Museum DS (2007), Namco Museum Essentials (2009),^[58] and Namco Museum Megamix (2010).

In 1996, it was re-released for arcades as part of Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2, alongside Dig Dug, Rally-X and special “Arrangement” remakes of all three titles. Microsoft included Pac-Man in Microsoft Return of Arcade (1995) as a way to help attract video game companies to its Windows 95 operating system. Namco released the game in the third volume of Namco History in Japan in 1998.

The 2001 Game Boy Advance compilation Pac-Man Collection compiles Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, Pac-Attack and Pac-Man Arrangement onto one cartridge. Pac-Man is a hidden extra in the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga – Class of 1981 (2001).

A similar cabinet was released in 2005 that featured Pac-Man as the centerpiece. Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1993) and Pac-Man World 2 (2002) have Pac-Man as an unlockable extra. Alongside the Xbox 360 remake Pac-Man Championship Edition, it was ported to the Nintendo 3DS in 2012 as part of Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions. The 2010 Wii game Pac-Man Party and its 2011 3DS remake include Pac-Man as a bonus game, alongside the arcade versions of Dig Dug and Galaga.

In 2014, Pac-Man was included in the compilation title Pac-Man Museum for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, alongside several other Pac-Man games.^[71] The NES version is one of 30 games included in the NES Classic Edition.

*Some of the content information above was provided by Wikipedia and KLOV (Killer List of Video Games).

*Visit our main website https://cocktailhourentertainment.com

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