Tank (short story)

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"Tank" is a short story written by Francis E. Izzo. It is the tale of a pinball machine purist's encounter with a very unusual video game. The story was written at a time when video games were limited to bars and arcades, and typically featured primitive black and white graphics such as those found in the original Pong and Tank. The main character of this short story stumbles upon a futuristic video game which simulates the experience of commanding a World War II tank so realistically, the gamer fears for his life. First published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine in March of 1979. "Tank" was later published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Anthology, edited by George H. Scithers, Davis 1982, among other anthologies. In 1980 the author narrated the story on an edition of the Canadian TV series "Fast Forward" devoted to electronic games, on which noted science fiction author Isaac Asimov also appeared.