Gauntlet
[Atari, 1985] [related: Death]
Pioneering hack-and-slash arcade video game released by Atari in 1985. Gauntlet was a fixture in 1980's Mall Culture and is widely recognized for revolutionizing the monetization of arcade platforms and shattering previous metrics for per-hour income. Gauntlet showcased the simultaneous gameplay of four characters - the warrior Thor, the wizard Merlin, the valkyrie Thyra, and the much maligned elf Questor - in a "bullet hell" atmosphere of cascading attacks and countless enemies. Notorious for being the first commercially released "quarter muncher," the game's mechanics incorporated a health meter that depleted over time, requiring a constant stream of coins to avoid quietus [1]. Gauntlet featured no final bosses or cut scenes of any kind - the game's most dangerous enemy was Death, an invulnerable red-eyed, black-cloaked figure with metallic hands that appeared intermittently to further drain the player's energy.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag. The voiceover recordings were created using the Texas Instruments [2] TMS5220C speech narrator, a new product at the time, and voiced by Ernie Fosselius, lead guitarist of the controversial Bay Area band Earth Mother and the Final Solution [3].
- ↑ Panic attacks and anxiety episodes were frequent amongst the game's young patrons, with reports of dizziness, chest pains, and stifled breathing common especially in the most bustling of arcades.
- ↑ A multinational digital technologies company known for its four primary product lines: overpriced high school graphics calculators, infrared weapons technologies, early childhood development Speak & Spell machines, and AI-based speech recognition and generation software.
- ↑ The band failed to find traction due to its offensive moniker and grim lyrics (composed by Fosselius), only releasing one commercial recording: a live EP performed at The Matrix in the year 1966.