The Killer List of Videogames

Pole Position


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Pole Position - Japanese Title

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

Monitor:

  • Orientation: Horizontal
  • Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
  • CRT: Color
  • 19-inch Matsushita
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 1
Gameplay: Single
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:
  • Steering: Wheel
  • Shifter: 2-position (low, high)
  • Pedals: 2

Sound: Unamplified Mono (requires one-channel amp)

Pole Position - Cabinet Image


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Description

Race your Indy car around the Fuji course before the timer runs out. The first run is the qualifying lap and your starting position is determined by your completion time. Avoid road hazards and other cars as you drive, earning extra time for each completed lap.

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Cabinet Information

The sit-down version of the game uses separate accelerator and brake pedals while the upright only uses a single pedal.

Game Introduction

Prepare to qualify! A sophisticated game for its day, with scaleable foreground objects and speech. Keep an eye out for the billboards! Also famous for burning the power input edge connectors and finger contacts on the PCB. Several custom integrated circuits.

Miscellaneous

Pole Position was created by Namco Inc. who also manufactured the game for the entire world except for the United States. Aside from the words (which are in Japanese) found on and in the Namco version, the graphics on the side of the cabinet are basically the same as well as the billboards that are seen throughout the game. Compared to the Atari release, the only differences are the "Atari Racing" decal on the simulated dashboard and the little blimp that can be seen at the beginning of a race that is marked "Atari" with the message "Prepare To Qualify." In the Namco version, the blimp has no markings on it.

Scarcity in collections (VAPS.org)

Very Common - There are 125 known instances of this game owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 113 of them are original dedicated machines, 2 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards have been placed in another game cabinet, and 10 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 42,694 video games (3,154 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 63 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - There are 6 VAPS members currently looking for this game.

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 operatos 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.

Technical

The game uses two Z8002 microprocessors, one Z80 microprocessor and a Namco 6-channel stereo PSG for sounds.

Trivia

This game was one of the choices presented to Bally/Midway from Namco for sublicensing. Bally/Midway chose Mappy while Atari was left with Pole Position. Pole Position went on to become the biggest game of 1983 ( number four on http://www.atari-history.com/30secrets.html ).

eBay Listings

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

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for machines and parts made by Atari.

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COMPARE PRICES ON:

Pole Position

1. Arcade PCB-Atari Pole Position - 2 board set

Auction ends in: 2 days, 5 hours

 0 bids
 
$30.00
 
2. Arcade PCB-Atari Pole Position II 2 board set

Auction ends in: 2 days, 19 hours

 0 bids
 
$30.00
 
3. ATARI BATTLEZONE, POLE POSITION, RED BARON GAME SWITCH

Auction ends in: 1 day, 18 hours

 0 bids
 
$0.99
 
4. Arcade Pole Position II Driving Game

Auction ends in: 6 days, 16 hours

 0 bids
 
$500.00
 
5. Atari TRANSFORMER for Centipede, Dig Dug, Pole Position

Auction ends in: 2 hours, 15 minutes

 BuyItNow:
 
$29.99
 
6. Atari "Pole Position" Arcade Game (1982) NO RESERVE!

Auction ends in: 4 days, 17 hours

 2 bids
 
$50.00
 
7. POLE POSITION CLASSIC ORIGINAL ATARI ARCADE MACHINE

Auction ends in: 1 week, 1 day

 BuyItNow:
 
$700.00
 
8. POLE POSITION 1982 ATARI VIDEO ARCADE GAME PCB WORKS!!!

Auction ends in: 4 days, 23 hours

 1 bid
 
$9.99
 
9. 1983 ATARI POLE POSITION II ORIG VIDEO GAME FLYER MINT

Auction ends in: 16 hours, 25 minutes

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$19.75
 
10. Pole Position II Coin-op Arcade Manual

Auction ends in: 3 days, 3 hours

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$6.99
 
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Legacy

  1. Pole Position
  2. Pole Position II
  3. TX-1
  4. TX-1 V8

Manuals

  1. Operation, Maintenance, and Service Manual  131 Pages, 12285 KB File.
  2. Technical Update  2 Pages, 130 KB File.

Foto-Finder™

  1. Arcade Treasures, Kurtz (ISBN 0-88740-619-X): Page: 111; Color photo; Price guide: 1994
  2. The Encyclpedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 129; Color photo;
Pole Position - Cabinet Image


Pole Position - Title screen image


Pole Position - Title screen image

Pole Position - Title screen image

Pole Position - Title screen image


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