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Pole Position

Pole Position - Japanese Title

Pole Position - marquee

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

Monitor:

  • Orientation: Horizontal
  • Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
  • CRT: Color
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


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Pole Position 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 sitdown 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.

CAPS/VAPS Arcade Census

There are 6,451 members of the Classic Arcade Preservation Society / Video Arcade Preservation Society, 3,703 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 60,890 machines (3,615 unique titles).

Very Common - There are 186 known instances of this machine owned by Pole Position collectors. Of these, 168 of them are original dedicated machines, 2 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 16 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

This game ranks a 83 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

Wanted - There are 7 VAPS members currently looking for Pole Position. There is one VAPS member looking for a Pole Position circuit board set.

This game ranks a 21 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 15 VAPS members with Pole Position machines for sale. There are 15 VAPS members with extra Pole Position 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 (4%) 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 6channel stereo PSG for sounds.

Trivia

This game was one of the choices presented to BallyMidway from Namco for sublicensing. BallyMidway chose IMappyI while Atari was left with IPole PositionI. IPole PositionI went on to become the biggest game of 1983 number four on httpwww.atarihistory.com30secrets.html .

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;

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Pole Position Videogame machines and related items.

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

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

TODAY'S PICKS FOR:

Pole Position

1. ATARI POLE POSITION 2 ARCADE VIDEO GAME

Auction ends in: 16 hours, 20 minutes

 BuyItNow:
 
$400.00
 
2. Pole Position Atari Video Arcade Game PCB Metal Cage

Auction ends in: 2 days, 17 hours

 0 bids
 
$4.99
 
3. Atari Pole Position Plastic Steering Panel Bezel w/ Map

Auction ends in: 3 days, 22 hours

 0 bids
 
$4.99
 
4. POLE POSITION VIDEO GAME MANUAL~ATARI 1982~1st Printing

Auction ends in: 5 days, 2 hours

 BuyItNow:
 
$23.00
 
5. Atari Pole Position NOS Dash Decal

Auction ends in: 1 week, 3 days

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$20.00
 
6. Pole Position 2 PCB " WORLD WIDE SHIPPING"

Auction ends in: 1 week, 5 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$229.95
 
7. Pole Position PCB ** WORLDWIDE SHIPPING

Auction ends in: 1 week, 5 days

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$199.95
 
8. Atari Pole Position Service Manual

Auction ends in: 1 week, 6 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$18.00
 
9. Pole Position PCB " WORLD WIDE SHIPPING"

Auction ends in: 2 weeks, 6 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$249.95
 
10. POLE POSITION 2 ATARI SET video game manual

Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 4 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$17.00
 
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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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