Tank [Upright model]

Arcade Video game published 50 years ago by Kee Games

Listed in MAME

Info

Tank © 1974 Kee Games.

This is a rather basic game. Each player uses a set of 2 levers to control a simple tank inside a maze. Blast mines and your opponent to win (This is a 2-Player only title, so you will need a friend to play).

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TECHNICAL/MACHINE PICT.

Upright cabinet with woodgrain sides, and no sideart at all. The main monitor bezel and marquee have all the art (they are done in orange with primitive pictures of tanks). The control panel has 4 joysticks mounted on it (2 for each player). These are of the lever type, and only move up and down.

Note: The first 50 produced or so cabinets had a protruding wooden coin box area, between the two speaker grills and above the footpad.

Tank had no CPU, as its computer was made up entirely of TTL logic. This is a rather historical title, as it was the first game ever to use solid, contiguous characters, and is the earliest known use of ROM chips for video game graphics.

TRIVIA

Tank was released on November 05, 1974 in North America, selling at an MSRP of $1195.

This title was so popular that it allowed Atari to drop the Kee name entirely, and put most future games under the Atari label alone (distributors used to require exclusivity, which was why Atari had about 8 names back in the early 70s).

Also released as "Tank [Cocktail Table model]".

SERIES

1. Tank [Upright model] (1974)
1. Tank [Cocktail Table model] (1974)
2. Tank II (1975)
3. Tank III (1975)
4. Tank 8 (1976)
5. Ultra Tank (1978)

STAFF

Started by: Steve Bristow
Finished by: Lyle Rains
Cabinet by: Pete Takaichi

PORTS

CONSOLES:
Atari 2600 "Combat"

SOURCES

Game's picture.
Game's ROM.