| Pole Position | |
|---|---|
Boxart of the Atari 2600 version |
|
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | 1982 |
| Genre(s) | Arcade-style racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Cabinet | Standard and Sit-down |
| Arcade system | Namco Pole Position |
| CPU | Z80 @3.072 MHz 2x Z8002 @3.072 MHz MB8844 @256 kHz |
| Sound | Namco @48 kHz Namco 52XX @1.536 MHz |
| Display | Raster, 256 x 224 pixels (Horizontal) |
Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. It was published by Namco in Japan and by Atari, Inc. in the United States. The game popularized the use of sprite-based, pseudo-3D graphics with its "rear-view racer format"—where the player’s view is behind and above the vehicle, looking forward along the road with the horizon in sight—which would remain in use even after true 3D computer graphics became standard for racing games.
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In this game, the player controls a Formula One race car. The player completes a time trial lap within a certain amount of time to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player races against other cars in a championship race.
Pole Position was the leading game in arcades worldwide due to its relatively realistic graphics for the time. While it wasn't the first game to use the "rear-view racer format" (the first was Turbo (1981) by Sega), it pioneered the format which is used in many games today. It also led to contemporary imitators of the format, most notably Sega's Out Run in 1986.
Pole Position set the template for future racing games, featuring a rear-view format, AI cars to race against, a time limit pushing the player to go faster, and a track based on a real racing circuit. It also featured crashes caused by collisions with other vehicles and roadside signs, and was the first game to feature a qualifying lap, where the player needs to complete a time trial before they can compete in Grand Prix races. The game's publisher Atari publicized the game for its "unbelievable driving realism" in providing a Formula 1 experience behind a racing wheel at the time,[1] for which it is considered the first attempt at a driving simulation.[2] The game's graphics featured full-colour landscapes with scaling sprites, including race cars and other signs, and a perspective view of the track, with its vanishing point swaying side to side as the player approaches corners, accurately simulating forward movement into the distance.[3]
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 left to publish Pole Position, which turned out to be the most popular game of 1983.
The game was an early example of product placement within a video game, with billboards around the track advertising actual companies.[4] However, some billboards were specific to the two versions such as Pepsi and Canon in the Japanese version, or 7-Eleven, Dentyne, or Centipede in the Atari version, which replaced such billboards as that of Marlboro and Martini & Rossi, who although were prominent motorsport sponsors at the time, would be found inappropriate in the American market for a game aimed towards children. Other billboards did appear in both versions.
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. It later appeared on the Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast systems 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. Fuji Speedway was renamed Namco Speedway in the Museum releases and a Plug and Play version except Namco Museum Virtual Arcade which renamed Blue Speedway.
A Pole Position (Puffer Version) was created—but not published— that used the Puffer exercise bike controller.
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 iOS devices called Pole Position: Remix. The game features upgraded graphics and several different control methods, but remains similar in content to the original. The version of Pole Position also has tracks from Pole Position II and new track called Misaki Point.
Pole Position II was released in 1983, and adding three additional courses along with the original Fuji track. 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.
There is also Pole Position Remix for iPod and iPhone which has updated graphics, music, and all of the courses for Pole Position II plus a new course.
The title spawned a cartoon of the same name despite there being very little in common between the two. Pole Position was referenced in the motion picture "The Goonies." In the attic when "Chunk" and Mikey discovered the antique map, Chunk exclaimed "1632...Is that a year or something?" to which "Mouth" sarcastically answered "No, it's your top score in Pole Position."
Pole Position is played by the characters Daryl and Turtle in the motion picture "D.A.R.Y.L. and is one of the first times in the film where Daryl—a seemingly normal boy who is actually an android—displays some of his super-human abilities by earning an amazingly high score in the game.
Pole Position was featured in the music video for Judas Priest's Freewheel Burning.
A poster of Pole Position is prominently visible on the bedroom wall of the main character in the film Cloak & Dagger, a movie with a plot that revolved around an Atari videogame.