The Development of Robotron

[aeroflott]

Some great weekend reading for you on the blog this week.

I take a look at the development of Robotron, and try to explain some of the design choices made in the game. A few choice quotes from Eugene and Larry, and an awesome Robotron promotional video that you may not have seen before:

Click here to read!

Enjoy!

 

[CameronMcC]

Thanks. look forward to reading it.

 

[geech]

niiiiice. Always love a good Williams backstory, especially when it features Larry & Eugene. Danke!

 

[ArcadeTechGW]

Fascinating! Two Robotrons side by size, and then was that a ZAXXON?

 

[aeroflott]

Fascinating! Two Robotrons side by size, and then was that a ZAXXON?

Wondered who might spot that! Another tidbit I was reminded of when pulling this together is this early upright sideart on one of the promotional flyers:

 

[jlpmauldin]

... early upright sideart on one of the promotional flyers:

That side art is really cool.

 

[airlair]

Cool article. Thanks for posting. I'm pretty sure that Robotron is one of the only classics that I haven't played. It's also one of my biggest regrets that I didn't buy one when I had the chance.

 

[mecha]

the nubby early cabinet design was scrapped in favor of the flat front so as to keep the cabinet from wobbling from the force of the dual joysticks. words of Eugene, yeah.

check out the Robotron postmortem too if you haven't.

 

[Scott C]

the nubby early cabinet design was scrapped in favor of the flat front so as to keep the cabinet from wobbling from the force of the dual joysticks. words of Eugene, yeah.



check out the Robotron postmortem too if you haven't.

No kidding! I have to careful with my Robotron mini, otherwise I'll walk it around the arcade during a good game.

Scott C.

 

[jacklick]

great article. That promo video was awesome too.

 

[geech]

Wait wait wait...you've been on KLOV since 2006 and have NEVER played Robotron???


That's not even legal!

Cool article. Thanks for posting. I'm pretty sure that Robotron is one of the only classics that I haven't played. It's also one of my biggest regrets that I didn't buy one when I had the chance.

 

[dalaibl0445]

Wait wait wait...you've been on KLOV since 2006 and have NEVER played Robotron???


That's not even legal!

hahahaha.... i hadn't played it since the 80's... then about 2 years ago, played at Galloping Ghost in IL. i was on the hunt for one for a long time.
payed a LOT of $$$ for it, but no regrets.

thanks for sharing this article / video.

 

[vintagegamer]

Robotron has always been one of those arcade mysteries for me.

In my youth, I have no memory of seeing it in the local arcades, nor did I know anyone who played it.

In my 30's, I got into collecting arcade games, and knew a guy who practically worshipped the game. He was from NJ. I acquired one, and it never did anything but stress me out during gameplay! Maybe it would have been different had I bonded with it as a kid, but as an adult, yeah, no, not for me.

I sold it off to another KLOVer. A few years later, they wanted to trade it back to me, so I did, thinking maybe a second chance with it would be better. It wasn't. I traded it off to a different KLOVer, and now have no interest in having another one.

My daughter, on the other hand, loved it. Maybe it's the kid factor that I missed out on.

 

[VectorCollector]

Robotron was one of the first RASTERs I collected. (The start of my small WMS collection).
Still plays original boardsets too. LOL

For me, definitely a keeper worthy of livin' with all the VECTORs.

 

[TimothyC]

Robotron is the greatest game EVER created.

If you disagree, you are wrong

 

[TOK]

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to do this!