I’ve already mentioned bartop breakout clones were a secondary baby sitter of mine during my youth, and I will probably keep mentioning it because I don't have a shrink, so its nice to see the console originator of the concept here and still holding up well.
Although I guess saying it holds up is overselling it since its such a basic concept that is executed well enough here in the port despite some limitations, but the core gameplay works so it doesn’t matter too much.
Any port limitations make sense when you realize that not only did the guy who programmed this, Brad Stewart, win the job after beating coworker Ian Shepard in a game of the original arcade Breakout, but that Stewart didn’t have access to any of the arcade games original designers because giving credit to the people who actually made the fucking game was not an accepted practice yet. I’m sure he wouldn’t have found much help from the arcade dev team though, full of a bunch of nobodies like Nolan Bushnell, Steve Bristow, and some guy named Wozniak or something.
Fun fact; did you know that Steve Jobs was involved in the early prototyping and development of the arcade version and apparently acted like a giant fucking dickhead who pocketed more money than anyone else even though he delegated the lion’s share of the work to Wozniak? Go figure!
Although I guess saying it holds up is overselling it since its such a basic concept that is executed well enough here in the port despite some limitations, but the core gameplay works so it doesn’t matter too much.
Any port limitations make sense when you realize that not only did the guy who programmed this, Brad Stewart, win the job after beating coworker Ian Shepard in a game of the original arcade Breakout, but that Stewart didn’t have access to any of the arcade games original designers because giving credit to the people who actually made the fucking game was not an accepted practice yet. I’m sure he wouldn’t have found much help from the arcade dev team though, full of a bunch of nobodies like Nolan Bushnell, Steve Bristow, and some guy named Wozniak or something.
Fun fact; did you know that Steve Jobs was involved in the early prototyping and development of the arcade version and apparently acted like a giant fucking dickhead who pocketed more money than anyone else even though he delegated the lion’s share of the work to Wozniak? Go figure!
Easily one of the most aesthetically pleasing games. Such a vibe.
the breakout fans are gonna be dead once fixin releases
A still-pretty-fun game about hitting a ball to make bricks disappear. One of the first great singleplayer action arcade games. The difficulty is really high for a game like this, primarily because the paddle is so tiny.
Rating: 3.5 - Good: Good enough to enjoy
Rating: 3.5 - Good: Good enough to enjoy
~ Juegos que Hay que Jugar Antes de Morir ~
Parte 1 — Los 70: Los Orígenes
Juego 3: Breakout (1976)
Como el Pong, uno de esos juegos eternos. Típico juego para matar las horas en clase de informática, aunque su hermano mayor Arkanoid le adelanta por la derecha.
Parte 1 — Los 70: Los Orígenes
Juego 3: Breakout (1976)
Como el Pong, uno de esos juegos eternos. Típico juego para matar las horas en clase de informática, aunque su hermano mayor Arkanoid le adelanta por la derecha.
Legendary
É impossível se dizer jogador e não ter experimentado alguma versão de Breakout.
Evoluindo do conceito multijogador de Pong para um desafio singleplayer, Breakout é um dos maiores ícones do universo dos jogos.
Evoluindo do conceito multijogador de Pong para um desafio singleplayer, Breakout é um dos maiores ícones do universo dos jogos.
Objectively flawless masterpiece. you hit the ball into the bricks until the bricks go away.
It really does feel quite dry compared to its descendants, but the charm of playing the first block breaking game is not lost on me. Greatly influential but otherwise just a good quarter muncher.
(played as part of ATARI 50)
A real stroke of genius from the Apple Steves - they figured out one-player PONG! That was the idea, and that's what it is. Conceptually, it's a simple, but pretty brilliant solution to that little conundrum, nonetheless.
As a game, it could be tuned better to be more fun. The paddle should probably be a little bit wider and the speed of the ball shouldn't get so severe so fast - the difficulty curve is too steep to really get into it. But this is said without much understanding of the limitations of designing these early games, and more importantly, not knowing whether being "more fun" was really the goal (as opposed to "eat quarters"). Also, as with PONG, I'm sure this is a much different experience on real hardware with the real dial controller. Incidentally, the PS5 touch pad controls for this are actually really good and easily the best way to play it.
Fun fact: all these years of knowing Breakout and I never made the connection that it was about breaking out of jail. Duh!
A real stroke of genius from the Apple Steves - they figured out one-player PONG! That was the idea, and that's what it is. Conceptually, it's a simple, but pretty brilliant solution to that little conundrum, nonetheless.
As a game, it could be tuned better to be more fun. The paddle should probably be a little bit wider and the speed of the ball shouldn't get so severe so fast - the difficulty curve is too steep to really get into it. But this is said without much understanding of the limitations of designing these early games, and more importantly, not knowing whether being "more fun" was really the goal (as opposed to "eat quarters"). Also, as with PONG, I'm sure this is a much different experience on real hardware with the real dial controller. Incidentally, the PS5 touch pad controls for this are actually really good and easily the best way to play it.
Fun fact: all these years of knowing Breakout and I never made the connection that it was about breaking out of jail. Duh!
Now this is a real classic. I always liked Breakout way more than Pong. More satisfying to destroy blocks I guess.
Fun game to waste your time with
Review is for the 2600 Version (Atari 50 Collection):
Prefer this one personally over the Arcade version because it feels more fair, and while it is easier which is kind of lame, it feels more fair to control. When the ball speeds up, you know you'll be able to catch it regardless of it's speed compared to the arcade version which did that just to purposefully kill you since it is an arcade machine.
Don't hate the original, I just prefer the 2600 Version.
Prefer this one personally over the Arcade version because it feels more fair, and while it is easier which is kind of lame, it feels more fair to control. When the ball speeds up, you know you'll be able to catch it regardless of it's speed compared to the arcade version which did that just to purposefully kill you since it is an arcade machine.
Don't hate the original, I just prefer the 2600 Version.
It game
Whew definitely a bit more interesting than pong but so damn janky! Cannot be dealing with that these days.
a good sandbox game
I used to play this on my mom's flip phone because I fucking hated talking to people when I was 7.
The creators of not having any friends and playing tennis against a brick wall bring you: nobody wants to play Pong with me, I'll code my own friends made of blocks!
(jk I like this game a lot tehehe)
(jk I like this game a lot tehehe)
I have nothing to say. This game is just a masterpiece. That’s it. It’s addictive. It’s simple. Anyone can play it. Anything can play it. You can even run it on fucking Google Images if you so please.
10/10 story, 2/10 gameplay :/
Breakout was essentially Pong 2.0, out there with some of the greatest video game ideas, along with Tetris and Pong, back when hardware limitations gave way to concepts still alien to everyone, for this reason, deserves a commend.
Is the game still enjoyable 45 years later? Absolutely, for a game without graphics, Breakout still stands strong, with conceptual clones still being made to this day, Breakout's success is its simplicity, a game that anyone could pick up and play, which in hindsight was crucial for the arrival of video games. Little known fact, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Pong, one of the first video game to break the mainstream.
Is the game still enjoyable 45 years later? Absolutely, for a game without graphics, Breakout still stands strong, with conceptual clones still being made to this day, Breakout's success is its simplicity, a game that anyone could pick up and play, which in hindsight was crucial for the arrival of video games. Little known fact, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Pong, one of the first video game to break the mainstream.
the OG breakout - not the best version (i'm fond of the game boy ones in particular) or even the best on the 2600 (see: super breakout), but an undeniable classic regardless. great game for killing some time, but don't look to this one as your go-to. note: if you're not playing this on a console (idk if i'm allowed to say the E word on this site), your input might be a little sensitive
Ugh, paddle controller.
I mean, my paddle controllers always seemed to be slightly broken and maybe not turn quite right or send the right info to the console? Or maybe I'm just bad at games. It's a simple little jam where you just keep the ball from hitting the ground and it bounces up and hits bricks, getting faster and breaking the bricks... you've seen this before. It's been cloned a million times and usually the clones are better. SORRY.
Fun fact: Wikipedia says some dudes named Wozniak and Jobs worked on this game and then went on to make, you know, Apple computer happen.
Beep boop.
Review from thedonproject.com
I mean, my paddle controllers always seemed to be slightly broken and maybe not turn quite right or send the right info to the console? Or maybe I'm just bad at games. It's a simple little jam where you just keep the ball from hitting the ground and it bounces up and hits bricks, getting faster and breaking the bricks... you've seen this before. It's been cloned a million times and usually the clones are better. SORRY.
Fun fact: Wikipedia says some dudes named Wozniak and Jobs worked on this game and then went on to make, you know, Apple computer happen.
Beep boop.
Review from thedonproject.com
Never played this version-- I can't seem to find the version I played in school. But, I suppose it is the same thing I used to play at school in my free time all the time.
A technical marvel of computer wizardry by Steve Wozniak. However, as I have seen it reiterated time and again, most recently in the (so far) excellent ATARI 50, I wish to stress that Steve Jobs had minimal (read: no) involvement with the development or design of Breakout.
I think it's an interesting enough tale that you should dive into it yourself, but here's the basic rundown:
Wozniak was working at Hewlett-Packard, and got a call from Jobs about the work he was doing at Atari. Jobs' job was to give Atari's games a final test for any tweaks necessary. Bushnell assigned Jobs the task of making a single-player Pong-like where the player would break bricks. Jobs was to receive a ~$750 bonus for every chip under fifty since Bushnell disliked how many chips Atari's games were using. Bushnell offered the job to Jobs because he had heard Jobs' friend Wozniak had made a Pong-clone using only 30 chips. Jobs only told Wozniak that there would be a $700 bonus for getting things under 50 chips, and $1,000 if they were under 40. Jobs told Wozniak they would split that $700/$1,000 fee. To meet the four day deadline, Wozniak worked four nights straight at Atari while performing his main job at Hewlett-Packard. Jobs would breadboard Wozniak's designs and wire the chips. Jobs and Wozniak ended up with mononucleosis. With a finalised design at fourty-four chips, Jobs paid Wozniak half the $700 he told Wozniak they would earn. The actual bonus earned was $5,000, and Wozniak wouldn't find out the truth until years later. In his own words:
"[...]we were kids, you know. He got paid one amount, and told me he got paid another. He wasn't honest with me, and I was hurt. But I didn't make a big deal about it or anything. Ethics always mattered to me, and I still don't really understand why he would've gotten paid one thing and told me he'd gotten paid another. [...] I never let stuff like what happened with Breakout bother me. Though you can disagree -- you can even split from a relationship -- you don't have to hold it against the other. You're just different. That's the best way to live life and be happy."
For further reading, I suggest Steve Wozniak's biography iWoz, this interview from the December 1984 edition of BYTE magazine, and this Q&A from Wozniak's website.
I think it's an interesting enough tale that you should dive into it yourself, but here's the basic rundown:
Wozniak was working at Hewlett-Packard, and got a call from Jobs about the work he was doing at Atari. Jobs' job was to give Atari's games a final test for any tweaks necessary. Bushnell assigned Jobs the task of making a single-player Pong-like where the player would break bricks. Jobs was to receive a ~$750 bonus for every chip under fifty since Bushnell disliked how many chips Atari's games were using. Bushnell offered the job to Jobs because he had heard Jobs' friend Wozniak had made a Pong-clone using only 30 chips. Jobs only told Wozniak that there would be a $700 bonus for getting things under 50 chips, and $1,000 if they were under 40. Jobs told Wozniak they would split that $700/$1,000 fee. To meet the four day deadline, Wozniak worked four nights straight at Atari while performing his main job at Hewlett-Packard. Jobs would breadboard Wozniak's designs and wire the chips. Jobs and Wozniak ended up with mononucleosis. With a finalised design at fourty-four chips, Jobs paid Wozniak half the $700 he told Wozniak they would earn. The actual bonus earned was $5,000, and Wozniak wouldn't find out the truth until years later. In his own words:
"[...]we were kids, you know. He got paid one amount, and told me he got paid another. He wasn't honest with me, and I was hurt. But I didn't make a big deal about it or anything. Ethics always mattered to me, and I still don't really understand why he would've gotten paid one thing and told me he'd gotten paid another. [...] I never let stuff like what happened with Breakout bother me. Though you can disagree -- you can even split from a relationship -- you don't have to hold it against the other. You're just different. That's the best way to live life and be happy."
For further reading, I suggest Steve Wozniak's biography iWoz, this interview from the December 1984 edition of BYTE magazine, and this Q&A from Wozniak's website.
I never figured out what kind of game this was as a kid. I remember playing some variant of Breakout that was mostly for mobile flip phones in the late 2000s and never realizing Breakout was the archetype behind the paddle on the lower side while breaking blocks. Even if it's natural and first form, it's still surprisingly fun without the original controls. No bells and whistles being the first variant of the game but the loop is still satisfying for single play.
Review is for the Arcade Version (Atari 50 Collection):
It's Breakout, the arcade version. It's fun, simple, and iconic. Though because it's the arcade version it is a bit cheap how it speeds up the ball and the paddle itself is small so it's harder to be able to make sure you keep the ball within the range of where the balls going as well as making sure that the speed of it doesn't confuse you.
It's Breakout. Played on Atari 50 Collection.
It's Breakout, the arcade version. It's fun, simple, and iconic. Though because it's the arcade version it is a bit cheap how it speeds up the ball and the paddle itself is small so it's harder to be able to make sure you keep the ball within the range of where the balls going as well as making sure that the speed of it doesn't confuse you.
It's Breakout. Played on Atari 50 Collection.
A title that builds upon the foundation of "Pong" by having an objective and an emphasis on aiming shots. Unfortunately, the extremely sensitive paddle controls make this fun, but frustrating in equal parts.
I've been trying to play more of the older videogames, not SNES old, but Atari 2600/colecovision old. In particular I've found what I've always suspected from what little experience I previously had : these games are so charming and timeless.
In particular Breakout is so simple but so good to play some 37 years later, stimulating that simple part of the brain that gets joy from bouncing a ball against the wall. In truth I have already played Breakout many times before actually playing the OG in the form of Arkanoid and other "Block Breakers".
The story of Breakout's development is as interesting as the game itself. I'll admit however that in researching this myself I have seen several inconsistencies in the stories being told, a common thing in these kinds of oral histories and especially ones which involve interpersonal conflict and deception. I could have gone and read the Steve Jobs biography and other stuff but look, I aint no Detchibe/Cadensia etc who actually put effort into their reviews, so take everything here with a pinch of salt.
The idea for breakout came from pong designers Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, who saw the potential to turn a 2 player game dependent on a skilled opponent to make the game interesting into a 1 player vertical pong where the at the time common high score mechanic would incentivize further play to max it out [1]. Bushnell was frustrated with newer Atari Games needing 150-170 chips, which were expensive and hired Steve Wozniak, mutual acquaintance of then Atari employee Steve Jobs; who had made a version of Pong requiring only 30 chips, promising a 700 dollar bonus if it was under 50 chips and 1000 if under 40 chips (according to usinflationcalculator.com this would be approx 3700 and 5300 dollars today respectively). [2]
Wozniak pulled a few all nighters to finish the game in between working his day job at Hewlett and Packard but was only able to get the number of chips down to 44 so "only" got his half of the 700 dollar bonus[2]. Unbeknownst to him, Jobs had actually been promised 5000 dollars and so pocketed quite the profit despite Wozniak having been the one to do most of the work[3]. Wozniak himself said he was hurt by the revelation years later of the deception even though [he] "don't hurt easily" but seemed to have gotten over it and let bygones be bygones by the time of the blogpost circa 2000. Whether or not this was genuine or a desire to not stir anything up knowing how the internet works is hard to tell, but personally Wozniak doesn't seem the type to hold a grudge.
I leave up to the reader to take what they will from the story, beyond the obvious that the practices of the game industry have seemingly been cutthroat from day one and that Steve Jobs was perhaps not the nicest person (well, that and a million other things he did but thats beyond the scope of this review).
Personally I would encourage everyone to try these Atari games out. There's a lot to learn from their simpler, more technologically constrained arcade designs. I have elsewhere been called insane for this but I genuinely believe these Atari Games have aged a lot better than a lot of early 3D games. Seriously if you don't believe me grab a random young person, get them to try asteroids and then the original tomb raider. Obviously this isnt bulletproof and a fully "fair" pair up of games from these two disparate consoles is impossible but I think my point still stands.
EDIT: I did not catch on to the fact that Detchibe actually already wrote a piece on this game, using pretty much exactly the same sources I did, which makes it look like I just ripped it off. I now want to jump off a steep cliff.
Citations
1. Lambie, R. (2011, May 12). The story of breakout. Den of Geek. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.denofgeek.com/games/the-story-of-breakout/
2. Williams, G., & Moore, R. (1984). The Apple Story Part 1: The Early History An Interview With Steve Wozniak. Byte - The Small Systems Journal, 9(13), 462–466. /https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-12/page/n461/mode/2up?view=theater
3. Wozniak, S. (2000, August 15). Letters-General Questions Answered. Woz.org. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20110612071502/http://www.woz.org/letters/general/91.html
In particular Breakout is so simple but so good to play some 37 years later, stimulating that simple part of the brain that gets joy from bouncing a ball against the wall. In truth I have already played Breakout many times before actually playing the OG in the form of Arkanoid and other "Block Breakers".
The story of Breakout's development is as interesting as the game itself. I'll admit however that in researching this myself I have seen several inconsistencies in the stories being told, a common thing in these kinds of oral histories and especially ones which involve interpersonal conflict and deception. I could have gone and read the Steve Jobs biography and other stuff but look, I aint no Detchibe/Cadensia etc who actually put effort into their reviews, so take everything here with a pinch of salt.
The idea for breakout came from pong designers Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, who saw the potential to turn a 2 player game dependent on a skilled opponent to make the game interesting into a 1 player vertical pong where the at the time common high score mechanic would incentivize further play to max it out [1]. Bushnell was frustrated with newer Atari Games needing 150-170 chips, which were expensive and hired Steve Wozniak, mutual acquaintance of then Atari employee Steve Jobs; who had made a version of Pong requiring only 30 chips, promising a 700 dollar bonus if it was under 50 chips and 1000 if under 40 chips (according to usinflationcalculator.com this would be approx 3700 and 5300 dollars today respectively). [2]
Wozniak pulled a few all nighters to finish the game in between working his day job at Hewlett and Packard but was only able to get the number of chips down to 44 so "only" got his half of the 700 dollar bonus[2]. Unbeknownst to him, Jobs had actually been promised 5000 dollars and so pocketed quite the profit despite Wozniak having been the one to do most of the work[3]. Wozniak himself said he was hurt by the revelation years later of the deception even though [he] "don't hurt easily" but seemed to have gotten over it and let bygones be bygones by the time of the blogpost circa 2000. Whether or not this was genuine or a desire to not stir anything up knowing how the internet works is hard to tell, but personally Wozniak doesn't seem the type to hold a grudge.
I leave up to the reader to take what they will from the story, beyond the obvious that the practices of the game industry have seemingly been cutthroat from day one and that Steve Jobs was perhaps not the nicest person (well, that and a million other things he did but thats beyond the scope of this review).
Personally I would encourage everyone to try these Atari games out. There's a lot to learn from their simpler, more technologically constrained arcade designs. I have elsewhere been called insane for this but I genuinely believe these Atari Games have aged a lot better than a lot of early 3D games. Seriously if you don't believe me grab a random young person, get them to try asteroids and then the original tomb raider. Obviously this isnt bulletproof and a fully "fair" pair up of games from these two disparate consoles is impossible but I think my point still stands.
EDIT: I did not catch on to the fact that Detchibe actually already wrote a piece on this game, using pretty much exactly the same sources I did, which makes it look like I just ripped it off. I now want to jump off a steep cliff.
Citations
1. Lambie, R. (2011, May 12). The story of breakout. Den of Geek. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.denofgeek.com/games/the-story-of-breakout/
2. Williams, G., & Moore, R. (1984). The Apple Story Part 1: The Early History An Interview With Steve Wozniak. Byte - The Small Systems Journal, 9(13), 462–466. /https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-12/page/n461/mode/2up?view=theater
3. Wozniak, S. (2000, August 15). Letters-General Questions Answered. Woz.org. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20110612071502/http://www.woz.org/letters/general/91.html
I mean, it's Breakout. You hit balls at bricks, they break, it makes good sounds, and it is a fun time waster. Pretty damn good for 1976. Bet most of you didn't even know this game actually had a plot. Fake Breakout fans.
Game #105
Game #105