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International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®


Roto Roto - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

Roto - Cabinet - Video Game Marquee

Description

Rescue hostages from a maze while avoiding trolls, spiders and a magic mouth. The maze is uncovered as you walk through it. Collect the key to exit and pick up treasures for bonus.

Roto was produced by Bally Midway in 1982.

Bally Midway released 96 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1980. Bally Midway was based in United States.

Other machines made by Bally Midway during the time period Roto was produced include: Lazarian, Solar Fox, Wizard Of Wor, Adventures of Robby Roto, The, Crossroads, Bump 'n Jump, Blue Print, Baby Pac-Man, BurgerTime, and Earth Friend

Specs

Name Roto
Developer Bally Midway (United States)
Year 1982
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 9368
Class Wide Release
Genre Labyrinth/Maze
Monitor
Conversion Class unique
# Simultaneous Players 1
# Maximum Players 2
Game Play Alternating
Control Panel Layout Single Player Ambidextrous
Controls
  • Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right)
  • Buttons: 1 - Magic
Sound Amplified Stereo (two channel)
Cabinet Styles
  • Upright/Standard

Roto KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 0.00 (0 votes)

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

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Trivia

This game is now public domain and can be legally used on emulators, such as MAME. The creator of this game, Jay Fenton, acquired the rights to this game due to a sales clause. On June 5th, 1999, he legalized the usage of ROMs for this game. Among the many games emulated by MAME, this is the first game that can be downloaded and played legally for free. While the game itself may not be memorable, the legalization of this game was a big step in emulation history. Most companies frown upon relinquishing the rights to their older games, but Bally/Midway's Jay Fenton has shown he's encouraging it by making this game public domain.

Miscellaneous

This game is also known as "Robby Roto" or "The Adventures Of Robby Roto!". According to the Library of Congress' records, the game was developed in 1981, released in late 1982 and copyrighted in 1983.

The programmers were trying to make an early version of Dig Dug. However, the hardware platform they were using limited the final version.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Roto Census

There are 14,755 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,475 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 164,460 machines (6,896 unique titles).

Rare - There are 2 known instances of this machine owned by Roto collectors who are active members. Of these, It is an original dedicated machine (not another machine converted with a kit).

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Roto machine for sale.

Wanted - No active members have added this machine to their wish list.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Technical

The game uses the Midway card cage system just like Gorf, Wizard Of Wor and Extra Bases. The RAM/ROM boards and interface boards are unique to each game. Detailed hardware information is available at http://www.erinet.com/jamesm/tech/tech.htm

Fixes

A common problem with the RAM/ROM board is the 82S153 FPLA used to decode and select the RAMs and ROMs. The original part is obsolete, but replacements have been created using modern FPLAs. See http://www.erinet.com/jamesm/tech/tech.htm for details on the replacement.

Manuals

eBay Listings

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

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TOP WATCHED LISTINGS FOR: Roto

Ebay Compatible Application

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