Warlords

Manufacturer: Atari
Year: 1980
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Shooter
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Either Black and White or Color
Upright: four color overlay, 22-inch Wells Gardner monitor, half-silvered mirror reflects a backdrop of castle walls and battlegrounds; Cocktail: 14-inch color Sanyo monitor, no overlay

Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 4
Maximum number of Players: 4
Gameplay: Either
Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player
Controls:

Buttons: 1 [Power Stone]
Rotary: Analog

Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)

Click here to contribute another image.

Warlords Description

The players use shields to defend their castle walls from the fireballs that ricochet around the playfield. Players can capture and catapult the fireballs at opposing castles. Fireballs destroy pieces of the castle walls they hit.

Know anything more about this game?
Click here to contribute a description or other text information.
Thanks!

Cabinet Information

The game was released in two versions: an upright with a black-and-white monitor for one- or two-player games and a cocktail with a color monitor for one- to four-player games.

Game Play

The objective of the game is to destroy the three other castles while protecting one's own castle with the moving shield. When the button is depressed, the shield can capture a fireball. Release the button and the fireball is catapulted at the opponents. The spinning fireballs released from a shield have more destructive force on a castle wall than a fireball simply deflected from another wall or the sides of the playfield. Fireballs cannot be held long since they slowly destroy the player's own castle walls adjacent to the fireball. Additional fireballs appear at predetermined intervals or when a castle is destroyed, whichever comes first. A maximum of four fireballs can simultaneously be in play.

The computer controls all the unpaid castles. In one- and two-player games, if a paid player has the surviving castle, the game continues with a new battle at a higher level. In the higher levels, computer opponents play more accurately and faster. Two-player games can be played jointly (to maximize score/level) or competitively.

VAPS Arcade Census

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

Common - There are 46 known instances of Warlords owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 44 of them are original dedicated machines, and 2 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 57,098 video games (3,420 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 16 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - Very Popular - There are 18 VAPS members currently looking for Warlords.

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.

Technical

The game uses a 6502 microprocessor and one Atari Pokey sound chip. The game board supports both B&W and color output by toggling the cocktail pin.

Trivia

The original prototype had the name Castles & Kings. There was only one prototype color upright ever produced by Atari.

eBay Listings

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for the Warlords 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.

Alternatively, check out the IAM/KLOV custom report of the hottest coin-op machines on eBay, powered by Ace.com (updated throughoutthe day).

TODAY'S PICKS FOR:
Warlords

1. Atari Warlords cocktail spinner knob War Lords CLEAN
Auction ends in: 6 days, 1 hour
BuyItNow:
$15.00

2. Mystic Warlords Wrath of the Ninjas Manual Original
Auction ends in: 1 week, 13 hours
eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
$7.99

3. Atari WARLORDS / WAR LORDS Full Size Arcade Game WORKS
Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 6 days
BuyItNow:
$600.00

Click Here To Browse This Category on eBay
(exits this site)
Powered by Ace.com

Manuals

Wiring Diagram 2 Pages, 162 KB File.
Operation, Maintenance and Service Manual 53 Pages, 4615 KB File.

Foto-Finder™

The Encyclpedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 108; Color photo;

Warlords - Title screen image

Click here to contribute another image.

Return to the index | Return to the Main Page

If you wish to use material from our web sites, please take a look at our Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Trademark Page. Except as described on that page, any use of the information found here may not be copied or reprinted on any medium, either physical or electronic, without the express written permission of The International Arcade Museum.