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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
  • 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


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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 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.

VAPS Arcade Census

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

Very Common - There are 169 known instances of Pole Position owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 150 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 17 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 57,113 video games (3,420 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 Pole Position. There is one VAPS member looking for a Pole Position circuit board set.

For Sale - There are 13 VAPS members with Pole Position machines for sale. There are 13 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 (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 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

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TODAY'S PICKS FOR:

Pole Position

1. ATARI POLE POSITION I PCB BOARD - COMPLETE BOARDSET

Auction ends in: 1 day, 16 hours

 1 bid
 
$7.77
 
2. INTERCONNECT PCB w/ ATARI POLE POSITION I / II BOARDS

Auction ends in: 1 day, 16 hours

 0 bids
 
$7.77
 
3. Pole Position Atari Video Arcade Game PCB Metal Cage

Auction ends in: 1 day, 20 hours

 0 bids
 
$20.00
 
4. Atari Pole Position Glass Bezel Nice!!

Auction ends in: 2 days, 1 hour

 0 bids
 
$5.99
 
5. Atari Pole Position II 2 Poster Poll

Auction ends in: 2 days, 3 hours

 1 bid
 
$9.99
 
6. Pole Position 2 PCB " WORLD WIDE SHIPPING"

Auction ends in: 2 days, 15 hours

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

Auction ends in: 2 days, 16 hours

 BuyItNow:
 
$199.95
 
8. POLE POSITION SWITCH ASSY #A044258-01~NOS~4 PIECE KIT

Auction ends in: 3 days, 22 hours

 BuyItNow:
 
$10.25
 
9. Atari Pole Position Service Manual

Auction ends in: 4 days, 13 minutes

 BuyItNow:
 
$18.00
 
10. Pole Position 2 PCB ** WORLDWIDE SHIPPING

Auction ends in: 1 week, 1 hour

 BuyItNow:
 
$229.00
 
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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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