The Arcade Machine

The Arcade Machine is a game creation system written by Chris Jochumson and Doug Carlston for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982.^[1] Louis Ewens ported it to Atari 8-bit computers.^[1] Broderbund ran a contest from January–June 1984 where the best user-created game was awarded a prize of $1,500 in hardware and software.^[2] Jochumson also wrote Track Attack for Broderbund.

The Arcade Machine
Publisher(s)	Broderbund
Designer(s)	Doug Carlston Chris Jochumson
Programmer(s)	Louis Ewens (Atari)
Platform(s)	Apple II, Atari 8-bit
Release	1982
Genre(s)	Game creation system, fixed shooter

Gameplay

The game allows players to create alien attacks like those seen in Galaxian. The inbuilt editor allows players to: design/animate enemies, players and explosions; give enemies instructions on moving/firing; drawing backgrounds/title screens, creating sound effects/music, and setting various gameplay rules. Finished games can be saved to a self-booting disk to allow them to run without this program.^[3]

Reception

John F. Besnard reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "The product itself provides a tremendous amount of power to the user. Try a few of the demo games supplied on the back of the disk to see the versatility potential of the product."^[4]

The New York Times described the game as a "hierophant" due to giving non-programmers the ability to create games; furthermore, the publication suggested that with a bit of aesthetic improvement, The Arcade Machine would "be a game one can play almost forever".^[5]

In 1984, InfoWorld deemed it a "fabulous program," and compared it favourably to Pinball Construction Set.^[2] InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers cited it "a real tour de force".^[6]

Steve Panak of ANALOG Computing wrote, "The Arcade Machine is not for the weak of stomach, nor for the weak of mind. Complexity is a key word here. However, despite its complexity, the program is surprisingly user-friendly, thanks to excellent documentation." In the conclusion he warned, "Many, many, many hours are needed to create and hone your game to perfection-and that's if you're not a perfectionist."^[7]

The game was "a best seller", according to the September 1984 issue of Creative Computing.^[8]