Breakout (Atari 2600)

Breakout was one of the eleven Atari 2600 titles that were part of the second wave of games released in 1978. An arcade game of the same name (Breakout) was originally developed by Atari and released in 1976. It was conceived as a single player version of Pong and it was very successful. Atari had previously brought the game home on a first generation dedicated console known as "Video Pinball" before ultimately releasing it for the 2600 (which was known at the time as the Atari VCS, or Video Computer System).

The Atari 2600 port was programmed by Brad Stewart. Stewart had been working on a backup project for the Atari 2600, which was eventually canceled. Consequently, Brad and Ian Shepherd were both available to program Breakout for the Atari 2600. They decided to compete in the original version of Breakout for the programming rights. In the end, Brad won. In development, he didn't receive help of the original designers (and was unaware who they were), and felt that there were few obstacles to overcome. Difficulties arose with the Television Interface Adapter.

The game was published in 1978 and was conceptually the same, but with a few key differences. First, there were only six rows of bricks. Second, the player is given five turns to clear two walls instead of three. One notable addition was the Breakthru variant, where the ball does not bounce off of the bricks, but continues through them until it hits the wall. Atari had this term trademarked and used it as a sister term to Breakout in order to describe gameplay, especially in look-alike games and remakes. It was released as Breakaway IV under the Sears Telegames label.

Console

 * Color/BW: Switch between color display and black & white display. (This feature made the game look better on black & white TVs that were still prominent at the time of the game's release.)
 * Left/Right Difficulty Switch: This switch controls the length of a player's paddle. When switch to the "a" position, a player's paddle will only be 3/4 as long as when the switch is in the "b" position, making the "b" position more suitable for novices.  When setting the left or right difficulty switch, the difficulty is set for both players who use the paddles which are connected to either side of the machine.
 * Game Select: Select a game variation. Two numbers are shown at the top of the screen while selecting a game.  The left number is the game variation, and the right number is a number of players.  Pressing game select increases the number of players until four players are reached.  Pressing select again will increase the game variation by one and reset the number of players to one.  See the Game Variation section below.
 * Game Reset: Starts a new game in whatever game variation is currently selected. All players' scores are reset to 0, all bricks are restored, and the timer is reset to 0 if you are resetting a timed game.

Paddles
NOTE: One set of paddle controllers contains to paddles. The first two paddles connected to the left controller plug control players 1 and 2. The next two paddles connected to the right controller plug control players 3 and 4. Some testing is usually required to determine which on-screen paddle is controlled by which player.
 * Dial: Use the dial of the paddle controller to steer the horizontal position of the on-screen paddle. In one-man team games (one and two player games, and player two of a three player game), the dial can be used to direct the paddle across the entire width of the screen.  In two-man team games (players one and three of a three player game, and all players of a four player game), the dial can only be used to navigate each player's specific half of the screen.
 * The dial has one other function which is only in operation during the "Steerable" variety of games. It can be used to influence the rate at which the ball moves through the screen.  Steering left causes the ball to veer more to the left of its current trajectory and steering right causes the ball to veer to the right.  Note that veering does not mean moving, the ball will continue to move along it's original trajectory once the dial is left alone.
 * Button: Ordinarily, the button's only purpose is to initiate play by serving the ball when ready.
 * The only other use that the button has is during the "Catch" variety of games. When playing a "Catch" game, the ball can be touched and held for as long as the button is pressed in.  When the button is released, the ball will be let go and bounce back up to the top of the screen.

Players
The number of players determines how the paddles are utilized.
 * 1) A single player uses one of the paddles connected to the left control port and can maneuver the on-screen paddle across the entire width of the screen.
 * 2) Two players each use one of the paddles connected to the left control port.  Both players take turns and can maneuver the on-screen paddle across the entire width of the screen.
 * 3) The first two players make use of the paddles connected to the left control port, and the third player makes use of one of the paddles connected to the right control port.  Players one and three make up one team, and can only maneuver across their half of the screen.  They take turns with player two, who plays solo and can maneuver across the entire width of the screen.
 * 4) The first two players make use of the paddles connected to the left control port, and the second two players make use of the paddles connected to the right control port.  Players one and three make up one team, and players two and four make up the second team.  Both teams take turns, and all players can only maneuver across their half of the screen.

Scoring
The maximum possible score for completing one wall is 432 points, and the maximum possible score for completing both walls in the game is 864 points. No more bricks are provided beyond the second wall. Each brick is worth a varying number of points as dictated by the following table:

Basic gameplay

 * To begin, you must press the button to serve the ball. Then maneuver the on-screen paddle so that it remains beneath the ball as it approaches the bottom of the screen.  When the ball hits the paddle, it will bounce back up to the top of the screen.
 * When the ball hits a brick, the brick is removed from the wall, and the ball will bounce back down to the bottom. Points are awarded for each brick removed, as described in the scoring section above.
 * If you fail to catch the ball with the paddle, the ball will disappear along the bottom of the screen, and you must serve one of your remaining balls. If you run out of balls to serve, the game is over.
 * The speed of the ball, and the possible return trajectories of the ball change after the 4th, 8th, and 12th hits from the paddle. When the ball hits the fourth row of bricks or higher, it automatically enters the fastest state that the ball can be in.
 * If the ball breaks through the wall and touches the wall at the top of the screen, the size of your paddle will be reduced, making it harder to return the ball.
 * If you manage to completely remove one wall, it will be replaced by a second wall after the ball is hit by the paddle. After you completely destroy the second wall, your game is over, regardless of how many balls you have remaining.

Descriptions
There are six general aspects of each variation that dictate the rules of the game and the strategy that you will employ throughout each gun fight. These five aspects are described below.
 * Breakout: Game variations 1 through 4 are the standard game. All of the rules described in the basic gameplay above apply.
 * Timed Breakout: Game variations 5 through 8 are for players who wish to test their skill against the clock. In these version, you are timed rather than scored.  The objective is to remove one or both walls in as little time as possible.  The time is shown in the score section as the number of seconds which have passed since the game began.


 * Breakthru: In game variations 9 through 12, you are treated to a variant of Breakout known as Breakthru. In Breakthru, the ball will never stop and return to the paddle by hitting a brick.  Instead, it will smash through every brick in its path, hit the top wall to rebound, and hit every brick on the way back down to the paddle.  As a result, it's not uncommon for the ball to enter it's fastest state after the first bounce off the paddle at the very beginning of the game, and the paddle will always shrink as well, so be prepared.  The gameplay is generally faster in this mode.
 * Steerable: In game variations 2, 6, and 10, you have the ability to "steer" the ball by turning the dial on the paddle controller. It is more accurate to say that you can influence the direction that the ball is moving in, either more to the left or more to the right, while you are turning the dial.  The amount you turn the dial is added to or subtracted from the ball's current velocity, and the ball returns to that velocity when the dial is left alone.  By using the dial to influence the ball, you have the ability to hit particular bricks with greater ease.
 * Catch: In game variations 3, 7, and 11, you have the ability to "catch" the ball on your paddle by pressing and holding the controller button. In doing so, you can pick up the ball at a particular location, hold on to it while you move the paddle to another position, and release the button to let the ball go.  If you are good at predicting the angle at which the ball will leave the paddle, you can target specific bricks every time you let go of the ball.
 * Invisible: In game variations 4, 8, and 12, the wall of brick will remain invisible to the player throughout a majority of the game. The only time the bricks will be made visible is when the ball makes contact with one of the bricks and destroys it.  Beyond the limited visibility of the bricks, no other aspect of the game is different.