Joust
Golden Age GAME
Class of 2021 Inductee
Joust is an action game developed by Williams Electronics and released in arcades in 1982. While not the first two-player cooperative video game, Joust’s success and polished implementation popularized the concept. Players assume the role of knights armed with lances and mounted on large birds (an ostrich for Player 1 and a stork for Player 2), who must defeat enemy knights riding buzzards. The characters fly around a single screen filled with floating platforms.
Reception:
Given the peculiar control scheme, Williams was concerned that the game would be unsuccessful, and arcades were hesitant to purchase the game. Williams eventually shipped 26,000 units, and Electronic Games in 1983 described it as “tremendously popular”. In the United States, it topped the Play Meter arcade charts in January 1983, and the RePlay upright arcade cabinet charts from January to February 1983. It was among the thirteen highest-grossing arcade games of 1983 in the United States.
Wikipedia Link:
Credits:
Publisher: Williams Electronics
Designer: John Newcomer
Programmer: Bill Pfutzenreuter
Artists: Jan Hendricks, Python Anghelo
Composer: Tim Murphy
Sounds: John Kotlarik
John Newcomer acceptance speech at IVGHOF 2021:
