Breakout (computer game)

Breakout is an arcade game created by Atari and was introduced on 13 May 1976. The computer game was later ported to other platforms such as Atari 2600 and MSX.

In the game there are several layers of stones at the top of the screen. A ball going back and forth across the screen. When the ball touches a stone, stone disappears and doesn't bounce the ball back. The player has a paddle that he can move. If the ball hits the paddle, he doesn't bounce back. If the ball is at the very bottom of the screen, beyond the paddle, the player loses a life. It is therefore intended that the player by moving the paddle to ensure that this does not happen. To be able to go to a next level it is always intended to get away all the stones through the ball bounce will have my way. This is sometimes supplemented by falling power-ups that appear if the ball hits the stones. These are activated by hitting them with the paddle before they give of the screen, disappear and then additional effects to the paddle, such as shooting or the fact that the ball remains "stick" to the paddle. Also can be earned extra lives or a warp to a next level.

The original Arcade version of Breakout was developed for a black-witscherm, but the upper part of the screen was covered with transparent colored strips, so that the stones there colored appearance. This is on modern color monitors can still be seen to the fact that stones often in rows of the same color will be displayed.

Based on this game there are innumerable other games made according to the same principle.

There are rumors that the original electrical circuit of Breakout made by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (the founders of Apple). According to this story was the original program with very little electrical circuits made. The design of Wozniak was so complicated that the engineers at Atari not understood how it worked and the original circuit so not with mass production could make. The circuit had to be redesigned before one could turn to mass production.