Arkanoid

Manufacturer: Taito
Year: 1986
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Ball and Paddle
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Color

Conversion Class: Taito Classic
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player Ambidextrous
Controls:

Rotary: Optical
Buttons: 1 [Fire/Release Ball]

Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)

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Arkanoid Description

This is a variation on an early ball and paddle video game where the paddle moves left and right at the bottom of the screen and a ball is deflected to hit bricks. Some bricks contain special powers to enhance play. The next level achieved by removing all the bricks.

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Cabinet Information

Most of these games were sold as conversion kits so the cabinets either have generic Romstar side graphics or no art at all.

Game Introduction

In this game, move a paddle (Vaus) to deflect a ball towards rows of various colored bricks. Some of the bricks have special powers to increase the speed of the ball. Extra points are earned from destroying all of the bricks. This is a color variation of Atari's Breakout.

Game Play

The object of this game is to keep the ball between the Vaus and the bricks.

Hacks

Akka Pong - Changes the paddle to the one from Pong.
Arka Boom - A gory hack of the original.
Arkanoid Plus - Improves the graphics.
Teknoid - A groovy hack.

Miscellaneous

Manufacturer: Taito. Licensed to Romstar for US distribution. A bootleg of this game is called Block.

CAPS/VAPS Arcade Census

There are 6,481 members of the Classic Arcade Preservation Society / Video Arcade Preservation Society, 3,726 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 61,112 machines (3,630 unique titles).

Very Common - There are 221 known instances of this machine owned by Arkanoid collectors. Of these, 28 of them are original dedicated machines, 83 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 110 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

This game ranks a 87 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

Wanted - Popular - There are 11 VAPS members currently looking for Arkanoid.

This game ranks a 29 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

For Sale - There are 11 VAPS members with Arkanoid machines for sale. There are 11 VAPS members with extra Arkanoid circuit boards for sale. VAPS members are totally independent of VAPS and the International Arcade Museum, and we are unable to recommend, endorce, or guarantee any person or company selling games or game parts.

Rarity is NOT necessarily an indication of value. Some common games show up as very rare here because collectors don't want them even though arcade operators might be sitting on tons of them in warehouses, while some fairly scarce games are grabbed by collectors every time they show up.
Additionally, some games made in the last 5 years are still making money for operators and are thus not yet affordable to the typical collector.
In particular, since VAPS started out focusing on videogames, statistics for other types of machines should not (yet) be an indication of scarcity.
For a clue to value, look at absolute numbers of owners and potential owners above, compare a ratio of how many people want this game vs. how many people have this game (5%) and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Technical

The original does not have a cocktail mode. Bootlegs use DIP switch 1 to enable cocktail mode (screen flips for player 2).

Trivia

Bootleg versions have on-screen copyrights of "Tayto" instead of "Taito". A game called Arkanoid: Doh It Again was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1997. This release contained the original, as well as some new backgrounds an a two-player mode.

Legacy

Manuals

Instruction Manual 8 Pages, 756 KB File.

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Arkanoid Videogame machines and related items.

Click to search eBay for machines and parts made by Taito.

Check out the IAM/KLOV report of the hottest coin-op machines on eBay, powered by Ace.com.

TODAY'S PICKS FOR:
Arkanoid

1. Arkanoid? video arcade game circuit boards set of 4
Auction ends in: 23 hours, 54 minutes
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2. Taito ARKANOID Arcade Video Game - Tournament edition!
Auction ends in: 4 days, 6 hours
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3. arkanoid arcade PCB
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4. WIRING HARNESS 4 ARKANOID video game pcb board 96
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6. Arkanoid Pcb with Marquee and Spinner
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7. Romstar's Arkanoid Coin Nostalgia Operated Arcade Game
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8. Arkanoid plus PCB working board taito romstar not jamma
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9. Romstar Taito ARKANOID Arcade Flyer KEY CHAIN
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10. Arkanoid Arcade PCB
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Arkanoid - Title screen image

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