I, Robot is an arcade game that was programmed by Dave Theurer for production by Atari, released in 1983. It was the first commercial video game with filled 3-D polygonal graphics and featured flat shading. screenshot I,_Robot_(arcade_game) by Tyan23 This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Atari Games was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari Inc. ... Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ... Atari Games was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari Inc. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... David Theurer is a game designer. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a listing of computer and video games genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... This is a listing of computer and video games genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... This is a listing of computer and video games genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... Suppose the smiley face in the top left corner is an RGB bitmap image. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Polygon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other use please see Polygon (disambiguation) A polygon (literally many angle, see Wiktionary for the etymology) is a closed planar path composed of a finite number of sequential line segments. ... Graphics are visual presentations on some surface such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper or stone to inform, illustrate or entertain. ... Hall effect diagram, showing electron flow (rather than conventional current). ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... David Theurer is a game designer. ... Atari Games was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari Inc. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Polygon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other use please see Polygon (disambiguation) A polygon (literally many angle, see Wiktionary for the etymology) is a closed planar path composed of a finite number of sequential line segments. ... Graphics are visual presentations on some surface such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper or stone to inform, illustrate or entertain. ... Shade is the blocking of sunlight (in particular direct sunshine) by any object, and also the shadow created by that object. ...

Upon inserting a credit, the player is presented with a menu, which allows them to choose from two different modes of gameplay: the primary game, I, Robot, and Doodle City, a drawing tool.

The "Game" Mode: I, Robot

Though it shares a title with Isaac Asimov's popular book, the game has no other relation; rather, the premise bears resemblance to George Orwell's 1984: the player assumes the role of "Unhappy Interface Robot #1984," a servant robot that has become self-aware and questions its totalitarian society, ruled by the sadistic Big Brother. Isaac Asimov (courtesy of Jay Kay Klein) Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ... I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950. ... Eric Arthur Blair (June 25, 1903–January 21, 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was a British author and journalist. ... (Redirected from 1984 (book)) Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984) is a darkly satirical political novel by George Orwell. ... A humanoid robot playing a trumpet In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which can perform complex tasks either according to direct human control, partial control with human supervision, or autonomously (that is, fully under computer control). ... Self-awareness is the ability to perceive ones own existence, including ones own traits, feelings and behaviours. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... Big Brother may refer to: Big Brother (1984), a character from the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four Authoritarianism, referred to as Big Brother, any omnipresent, seemingly benevolent figure representing the oppressive control over individual lives exerted by an authoritarian government, a concept from the above novel. ...

The ultimate object of the game is to destroy the gigantic, blinking eye of Big Brother that watches over each level. To do so, the player must cross the red squares that cover the playing field, turning them blue and destroying the shield that protects the eye. However, one of Big Brother's arbitrary laws is "no jumping"; if the eye is open while the player is in the act of jumping, it will destroy the robot and the player will lose a life. Each level is on a strict time limit, and other hazards, such as birds, bombs, and flying sharks, serve to prevent the robot from completing its task. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In computer and video games, a level (sometimes called a stage, course, round, world, map or landscape) is a separate area in a games virtual world, in modern games typically representing a specific location such as a building or a city. ... A 1-up mushroom from Super Mario World. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Massive ordinance air-burst bomb. ... gay ...

Between levels, the robot flies through outer space, and must shoot through polygonal "tetras," meteors, and enemies to reach the next board. Layers of Atmosphere - not to scale (NOAA) Outer space, also called just space, refers to the relatively empty regions of the Universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. ... For academic journal, see Tetrahedron A tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra) is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. ... A burst of meteors A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that enters the Earths (or another bodys) atmosphere, commonly called a shooting star or falling star. ...

Innovations

Being the first video game to feature filled 3D polygonal graphics, I, Robot also became the first video games to feature camera control options. Pressing the "start" buttons will alternately zoom the camera in and out and offer new angles on the playing field. In later levels, enemies known as "viewer killers" directly "attack" the player, rather than the robot, forcing the player to switch camera angles before he loses a life.

Because the game features 99 levels, I, Robot also became one of the first games to feature a "continue" option of sorts. After a player's game ends, he must use another credit (insert more coins) to start back to the first level. However, transportation tubes are placed in many levels, including the first; if the robot enters one, the player can choose from any level that he has entered in previous games, or retreat into Doodle City. A continue screen for Marvel vs. ... word coinage Coín (a town in Malaga province in Spain) 25¢ Canadian coin A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is issued by a government to be used as a form of money. ...

The "Ungame" Mode: Doodle City

Billed as an "ungame" mode made to relax arcade players, Doodle City is a drawing tool which presents the player with a selection of polygons from the "game" mode. The shapes can be manipulated at the player's leisure, leaving trails as they are moved across the screen.

Doodle City lasts three minutes per credit, though the player can switch back to playing I, Robot at any time. The number of lives the player has depends on much time was spent on Doodle City; out of the maximum three, one life is taken away for every minute.

Popular response

Because of its incredibly different gameplay which broke tradition from the likes of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Donkey Kong, the game received a poor reception on release. Approximately 750 - 1500 units of the game were created, Atari's lowest production number out of all of its arcade games. Few have been confirmed to exist today (there is an I, Robot registry here: http://home.columbus.rr.com/irobot/iregistry.htm); a single unit can fetch thousands of dollars. Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution by Midway Games in 1979. ... Galaga is an arcade game created and released by Namco on July 20, 1981. ... Donkey Kong (Japanese: ドンキーコング), often shortened to DK, is a gorilla character from Nintendo that appeared in many video games since 1981. ...

Modern video game historians have brought greater attention to the game as a predecessor to modern 3-D games.

External link

• The KLOV entry on I, Robot, the arcade game
• A brief history and analysis of the game
• Short UK television VT (Quicktime, 4mins) on the game and the titles it later influenced
• this website has lots of good info on the game