Remember the Star Wars arcade game from the early Eighties? Sure it looks primitive compared to your copy of X-Wing: Alliance, but compared to the color-crazed sprites of most arcade games of its time, the vector graphics and real voices of Star Wars were stunning! Hard to believe it's now almost 20 years since that game first appeard in the arcades :-)
So if you're an old foggy of a Gen-Xer like me (Chris) who pines for a simpler age, here's something for ya: the Atari Document Library at Safestuff.com has some of the memos that were exchanged between Lucasfilm and Atari during the creation of SW Arcade. While most of the memos are technical, some have appeal (and humor) for anyone interested in Star Wars.
It's noteworthy that even then, Lucasfilm was keen on maintaining continuity with the films, as shown in a 1982 report from its gaming division to Atari:
The shields in the Star Wars universe are made of energy, not metal. The Rebels would very quickly lose their fight for freedom if the view out the window was obstructed every time they were fired upon. Eliminate the metal shields and replace them with energy shields which are always activated.
And this lil' gem...
"Once the timer is depleted... the pilot shifts into warp speed toward the death star surface." Can "warp speed" be applied so close to an object? Isn't it reserved only for long interstellar jumps? Isn't "warp drive" a term from Star Trek?
The "parsec" controversy also didn't escape scrutiny...
Message 14 says "Death star is X parcels away." We assume they meant parsecs, but this too wouldn't be right. A parsec is 3.26 light years, a distance too great for the Death Star to be visible. Even "light-seconds" might be too great a distance since a light-second (the distance light travels in one second) is about 190,259 miles...
...Does anyone know of any units of measurement used in any of the Star Wars films? One suggestion is to use the unit of "light-tics" (or "light-ticks") which is about 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers.
In another memo from Atari, the idea of "linking" multiple Star Wars consoles together into a "squadron" is discussed. Total cost of a Star Wars arcade unit in Reagan-era currency: $1,249.
Rebelscum Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Patch Posted By Philip on November 25, 2014: Thanks to everybody that ordered patches. I sent a check for $1,600.00 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation on Monday. While it's not as much as I hoped for, it's still very much appreciated. They will remain for sale in the store for anybody that still wishes to purchase them. Details after the jump.