Black Widow

Manufacturer: Atari
Year: 1982
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Shooter
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Vector
CRT: Color
19-inch Wells-Gardner 6100

Conversion Class: Atari Color Vector
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:

Joystick: 8-way [Move]
Joystick: 8-way [Fire]

Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)

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Black Widow Description

As a spider in the center of the web, you must defend it and yourself from invading bugs. These foes will try to run into you, blow you up if shoot them, or fire rockets at you if you do not kill the other enemies!

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Game Introduction

Has been accurately described as a cross between Robotron: 2084 (due to the left joystick being used for movement and the right joystick for firing) and any color vector game. Does not have as many objects on the screen but gets VERY INTENSE!

Game Play

The game involves a dual joystick control effort. The left joystick moves the black widow around its web while the right joystick is used for directional firing. The premise is that the player must move the spider around the web while shooting and/or avoiding various deadly bugs and collecting bonuses after they are shot.

The key to playing this game is based upon the various enemy bugs' powers and characteristics plus the value of the bonuses that are collected:

Mosquito - If shot, becomes '$'.
Beetle - Eats '$', but if shot, becomes '$'.
Hornet - Lays an egg on '$', but if shot, becomes '$'.
Egg - Grows to become hornet or spoiler. Must be pushed off the web to score 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, or even 2500 points.
'$' Grub Steak - Tag for 500, 250, 100, or 50 points -- the sooner the better.
Spoiler - Invulnerable. Can only be destroyed by a grenade, bug slayer or rocket bug.
Grenade - Explodes if shot. Bugs and eggs within the kill zone score 500 points each.
Rocket Bug - Invulnerable. Launches "rockettes" at black widow from the other bugs it tags. Shoot rockettes to score 100 points each.
Thunderbug - If shot, it breaks formation and attacks. Shoot again to explode all T-bugs for 5000 points. Keep away from all T-bugs to earn 10000 points

Bug Slayer-harmless to you, invulnerable, competes with you for food. Beat it to it's flashing prey for points

Miscellaneous

Play a JAVA emulated version of the game by visiting http://web.utanet.at/nkehrer/JBWidow.html

VAPS Arcade Census

GAMES OWNED, WANTED, or FOR SALE BY MEMBERS OF THE VIDEO ARCADE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Very Common - There are 84 known instances of Black Widow owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 55 of them are original dedicated machines, 16 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 13 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 56,611 video games (3,411 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 50 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - Very Popular - There are 14 VAPS members currently looking for Black Widow.

For Sale - There are 3 VAPS members with Black Widow machines 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 (they are common because 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. For a clue to value, compare how many people have this game vs. how many people want this game and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Trivia

The dedicated models were actually Gravitar cabs with a factory conversion kit installed.

eBay Listings

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for the Black Widow Videogame machine and items related to it.

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COMPARE PRICES ON:
Black Widow

1. Black Widow Coin-op Arcade Manual
Auction ends in: 2 days, 15 hours
eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
$6.99

2. SCHEMATIC PACKAGE SUPPLEMENT TO BLACK WIDOW ATARI
Auction ends in: 3 days, 1 hour
eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
$12.99

3. *Black Widow Arcade Game FULL Service & Repair Manual++
Auction ends in: 5 days, 19 hours
eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
$6.95

4. BLACK WIDOW ATARI game pcb board #125
Auction ends in: 1 week, 2 days
BuyItNow:
$89.00

5. Black Widow Wire Harness Atari Vector Complete
Auction ends in: 2 weeks, 4 days
BuyItNow:
$39.00

6. Atari Black Widow pcb board Working 100% Vector
Auction ends in: 2 weeks, 5 days
BuyItNow:
$195.00

7. 1998 ARACHNID BLACK WIDOW ARCADE DARTS FLYER BROCHURE
Auction ends in: 2 weeks, 5 days
eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
$13.75

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Manuals

Operator''s Manual with illustrated parts lists 74 Pages, 7500 KB File.

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