Gran Trak 10

Gran Trak 10 (arcade)   1974

 

First car racing game, first arcade game to use ROM data (primitive diode-based ROM was used to store the sprites for the car, score and game timer and the race track), first steering wheel, four-position gear shifter, accelerator and brake foot pedals.

 

Monochrome game

Arcade system: unique

Gran Trak 10
ORIGINAL POSTER

Gameplay video

Review - All Game Guide (1998)
"The car is recognizable as such and the track, which is replete with 90- and 180-degree turns, is composed of dots. Sound effects are relatively realistic. The game is plenty challenging and it paved the way for Indy 800, Sprint 2 and numerous others, but poor steering physics and the lack of a two-player mode makes it a less-than-riveting game."

Trivia:

1) One player racing game.

2) First racing game is Space Race (1973).
3) Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM can only be modified slowly, with difficulty, or not at all, so it is mainly used to store firmware (software that is closely tied to specific hardware and unlikely to need frequent updates).

4) Gran Trak Racing Clubs: When retailing to vendors, Atari were suggesting  that  there would be Gran Trak racing clubs.  By  the  time  Indy  800  was  re-leased,  the  game  could  be  ordered  with  a  remote  controller which allowed a race marshal to start  the  race  instead  of  the usual countdown on screen.

6) By the end of 1973, Atari had become fed up of imitators producing clones of Pong. (Nolan Bushnell referred to them as jackals). It was time for something different; something the jackals would have more difficulty with.  Atari wanted a game with racing cars; a tall order for Electronics Engineers of the  time. To solve  his  problem  he  turned  to  two friends who also used to work for Am-pex  who  recently  started  a  consulting agency  called  Cyan.  Cyan  comprised of  Lawrence  D.  Emmons  and  Steve Mayer.  In fact they became prime architects  for  Atari  on  many  later pro-jects.  By 1976 they were so integrated into the Company that Atari purchased Cyan.  Gran  Trak  10  was  delivered  to  Atari in early 1974  but  it  didn’t  worked  so well and  Al  Alcorn,  one  of  Atari’s  leading Engineers had to make the game more playable before it was released on test locations during March 1974. In  1975,  Steve  Wozniak would visit Steve Jobs who worked for  Atari  and  whilst  visiting  he  would play Gran Trak.  Steve Jobs in fact referred  to  ’Woz’  as  an  addict  and  suggested he played all night long.

7) Game is not emulated.

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