Game Story


I was fascinated by the concept of moving past the hardware limits of the day to produce this game. Really just Asteroids with a new enemy, it would be a forgotten flop if they went full vector. This is "out of the box" thinking, though. Take a half silvered mirror, bounce the vector screen off it and allow a beautiful space scape to fill the otherwise barren screen. Light the space scape with black lights to make it really pop. This is similar to Midway’s Boot Hill treatment of Gun Fight.

TypeUprightSerialunknownStatusSOLD
RestorationLogPhotosGalleryOther 

Technical Information


Title


Asteroids Deluxe was released in 1980 by Atari. It features a monochrome vector display with a horizontal orientation.

Architecture


Asteroids Deluxe is built on the Atari 6502 hardware platform. Common features are the 6502 CPU, vector graphics and Atari Audio/Regulator.

Video CPU6502MOS Technologies
Audio CPUCustomAtari
DisplayG05Electrohome
PowerAR-03Atari

Controls


ActionControlUprightCocktailNotes
RotateButton24Left, Right
White, Leaf Switch
FireButton12White, Leaf Switch
ThrustButton12White, Leaf Switch
ShieldButton12White, Leaf Switch
PlayerCone22Lighted Cone, Microswitch

Production Notes


The first run featured the glass tilted back like most uprights of the time. The angle of the glass, cabinet shape and other factors lead some operators to complain of glare. Atari issued a kit that changes the angle of the glass to avoid the glare problem. The glass is also on the other side of the top mounted speaker. Some players preferred the enhanced bass sound created by boxing in the speaker. As a taller player I find I hit my head on the forward glass.