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Pole Position
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Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. In this game, the player has to complete a lap in a certain amount of time in order to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player has to face other cars in a championship race.
For release in the United States, Namco approached Bally Midway with a choice of two games in 1982. Bally Midway chose Mappy while Atari was forced to go with Pole Position — which turned out to be the most popular game of 1983.
a class="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m752313",this)' onMouseout='hide("m752313")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pole_Position_II">Pole Position II was released in 1983, and adds to the original Fuji track three additional courses: Test (resembling Indianapolis), Seaside (resembling Long Beach), and Suzuka.
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Encyclopedia
Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. In this game, the player has to complete a lap in a certain amount of time in order to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player has to face other cars in a championship race.
For release in the United States, Namco approached Bally Midway with a choice of two games in 1982. Bally Midway chose Mappy while Atari was forced to go with Pole Position — which turned out to be the most popular game of 1983.
Sequels
Pole Position II was released in 1983, and adds to the original Fuji track three additional courses: Test (resembling Indianapolis), Seaside (resembling Long Beach), and Suzuka. It features slightly improved graphics, as well as a different starting tune.
While many considered the three-screened racer TX-1, released in 1984 by Atari and designed by Tatsumi to be a sequel to Pole Position II, the true sequel arrived in 1987 with the release of Final Lap, which may be considered an unofficial Pole Position III.
Ports
Pole Position was ported to a number of home computers and consoles by Atarisoft in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s Pole Position made a comeback on Windows PCs when it was included as part of Microsoft Return of Arcade alongside Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and Galaxian. It later appeared on the Sony PlayStation system, again alongside Pac-Man and other Namco games, in a game collection named Namco Museum. Since then, Pole Position has been included in most Namco Museum releases, such as on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox.
Presumably due to licensing issues, Fuji Speedway was renamed "Namco Circuit" in the Namco Museum versions, and Namco Speedway in Plug in and play TV versions. A Pole Position (Puffer Version) was created that used the Puffer exercise bike controller. It was never published.
A version of Pole Position was released for iPod on January 21, 2008.
On September 14, 2008, a version of Pole Position was released for the iPhone and iPod touch titled Pole Position: Remix. The game features upgraded graphics and several different control methods, but remains similar in content to the original.
Legacy
Pole Position was the leading game in arcades worldwide due to its relatively realistic graphics for the time. It wasn't the first game to use the "rear-view racer format" (examples include Night Driver by Atari and Turbo (released a year earlier) by Sega), but it did pioneer the format which is used in many games today, and many imitators of the format appeared after its release, most notably Sega's Out Run in 1986.
Advertising
The game has also become synonymous with the promoting the game.
This game was an early example of product placement within a video game, with billboards around the track advertising actual products. A complete list of billboard ads (including those specific to the U.S. release) can be found here.
External links
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- * Official Atari memos documenting the hardware issues with the original arcade game
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