website/content/software/gotcha.md

title, tags, years, params

title	tags	years	params
Gotcha	maze	1973	image specs screenshots machines company oc_id source /media/museum/software/arcade_gotcha_ss1.png label value year of release 1973 label value companies Atari label value type game label value media arcade cabinet label value systems Arcade label value number of players 2 players (versus) label value staff Alan Alcorn title subtitle text image /media/museum/software/arcade_gotcha_ss1.png title subtitle text image /media/museum/software/arcade_gotcha_ss2.png title subtitle text image Cash Box magazine article (nov.1973) /media/museum/software/gotcha_atari_article-nov-1973.jpg title subtitle text image Advert (nov.1973) /media/museum/software/gotcha_atari_pub-1973.jpg title subtitle text image arcade cabinet /media/museum/software/arcade_gotcha_cab.jpg /museum/misc-arcade-video-games /companies/misc 645 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230127053305/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=645 2023-01-27

"An amazing maze of fun. The walls of the maze displayed on the video screen constantly change position, while the pursuer (a square) controlled by one player chases the pursued (a plus sign) controlled by a second player. As the pursuer moves in closer and closer to pursued, an electronic beep sound increases in frequency to a fever pitch... until the pursued is finally caught and wiped off the screen. Each time there is a catch, a point is scored and the chase begins all over again."

Gotcha is the third arcade game released by Atari which wasn't a pong mod (after Pong and Space Race). But the game was not well received by the public.

It was the first ever maze game however, and featured a technical marvel for the time: an ever-changing maze. It served as a precursor to games like Amazing Maze or later, Pac Man.

A controversy stemmed from the perception that the game's controls, rather than joysticks, were pink rubber bulges meant to represent breasts. The bulges were squeezed in order to control the action. This was done because some members of Atari jokingly mentioned that joysticks curiously resembled a phallus. As a result, it was decided to create a "female game" and this game was henceforth referred to game as "the boob game" by company staff. Later versions of the cabinet replaced the controls with standard joysticks.