In 1971, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck founded Computer Recreations, Inc. and created Galaxy Game, a coin-operated videogame based upon Spacewar and running on the PDP-11/20 minicomputer. This makes it the first CPU-driven coin-op videogame. Some sources I've read say it was released even before Computer Space, generally considered to be the first arcade videogame (it didn't use a CPU). Does anyone know for sure? In 1972, they released an updated version allowing the computer to drive multiple displays.
As obscure as this game is, it is an interesting part of arcade history, so I decided to try to track down more information on it. I struck gold when I discovered that Bill Pitts went on to found Incatech. I wrote him a letter addressed to his workplace expressing my interest in the game, including my hope that it could be emulated. It turns out he still had a printout of the source code to the 1972 version. "I still have a listing of Galaxy Game. I�m willing to give you a copy (PDF file) of it. You may do whatever you wish with it. If you actually begin the attempt to get it running, I�ll explain the display processor interface."
I got the code attached to the following e-mail. All files mentioned are linked for downloading:
"Sw97.pdf is the source code that executed in Galaxy Game in the Coffee House at Stanford from early 1972 until 1980, which is when I removed the system because it was no longer reliable. Ignore all the pencil marks. The code as printed is what executed for 8 years. It is also the code that runs today in Galaxy Game at the Computer History Museum.
This listing was produced by the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Project�s PDP-10 system. Les Earnst, AI Project Director, was kind enough to look the other way while I borrowed some cycles. This code drove the two console system pictured in Jan72_0008.jpg. There is an earlier version which was produced on the PDP-11 Paper Tape System. This version only ran for six months until it was replaced by the new two console system. Aug71_0005.jpg is a photo of the first system which was installed at Stanford in early September 1971. This system was the first coin operated video game."
He also sent me a picture of the game in action, Aug71_0011.jpg. The game looks much like Spacewar. I'd like to thank Bill Pitts for making all of this available.
If anyone is familiar with the PDP-11/20, I would be interested in their analysis of the source code. I�m not familiar with the language (I�m assuming it�s assembly), but there are some comments at least. Also, in a few places the printout seems a little difficult to read. Hopefully with everything in context it will be clear what each line is supposed to be.
If you want to know more, try these links:
A news article on Spacewar, Galaxy Game, and Computer Space
Galaxy Game display at the Computer History Museum
Questions? Comments? Contact me.
