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Defender
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Name: Defender Manufacturer: Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985) Year: 1981 Type: Videogame Class: Wide Release
Game Specific: Defender Pinout Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)
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Defender DescriptionDefender was produced by Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985) in 1981. Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985) released 216 different machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1959. Other machines made by Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985) during the time period Defender was produced include Furie, Stargate, Black Knight Limited Edition, Solar Fire, Cyclone (1981), Alien Poker, Black Knight, Blackout, Firepower, and Scorpion. Defender - KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 4.01 (28 votes)
Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, "Like" carries a little more weight than the other factors. Log in to rate this game! Cabinet InformationThe machine shown at the bottom of the page with the silver coin door is the classic cabinet that the majority of US players have seen, although a later version had a black coin door. The machine at the top with the blue door, however, is believed to be a reproduction of an early production model that contains side art very much inspired by the film Star Wars. Perhaps Williams changed the production side art designs upon advice from legal counsel. This original prototype machine is pictured on early Williams Defender flyers. Oddly enough, a number of these machines have been seen in various countries throughout Europe.Cabinet Style Weights and Measures
Game IntroductionYour mission, as captain of the Defender, is to protect the humanoids stranded on the planet from their alien abductors. The scanner will help you determine a strategy to shoot down the alien ships before they reach the humanoids. If you destroy the aliens after they have captured their prey, you must return the humanoids to the safety of the planet or they will fall to their death. If an alien carries its victim out of your range, the humanoid will mutate, join the alien force, and take to assault with deadly vengeance!The challenge becomes ever more intense as the action progresses. Fighter ships Bombers and mines will test your skills. A direct hit will destroy the mother ship Pods but smash it into a swarming mass of mini-ships Swarmers which then must be wiped out! If you do not act quickly, the cosmic Baiter will attack! Use your two escape options only if all else fails! Your "Smart Bomb" power is limited and "Hyperspace" puts you into an unknown space warp. But beware! If all the humanoids are abducted, the entire planet will explode in a blinding flash! Game PlayTips:
MiscellaneousThis is one of many games that has been bootlegged or copied. Some of these versions have added improvements to the game but others are direct copies. Examples of these games are Mayday, Defence Command, Defense Command and Mirage.Defender was licensed to Taito for Japanese manufacture and distribution. VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Defender CensusThere are 10,714 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 8,600 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 142,788 machines (6,300 unique titles).Very Common - There are 747 known instances of this machine owned by Defender collectors who are active members. Of these, 683 of them are original dedicated machines, 11 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 53 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired. For Sale - There are 34 active VAPS members with Defender machines for sale. There are 3 active VAPS members with extra Defender circuit boards for sale. Wanted - Very Popular - There are 45 active VAPS members currently looking for Defender. This game ranks a 95 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records. This game ranks a 70 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often wanted, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.
TechnicalAll the game settings are configured in software on the screen. This is the Williams way of doing things. In Defender, they used the rudimentary system used on their pinball machines no notations except in the manual. After Defender made it, they started clearly labeling the onscreen adjustment menus. The boardsets use a 6809 processor for game play and a 6800 for sound on a separate board.TriviaThis game shared the title of Highest Grossing Video Game of All Time along with PacMan. To date it has earned more than one billion dollars.According to Midway, the geneology of the games is as follows: Defender, Stargate, Robotron: 2084, Blaster. This game was included in the Williams Arcades Greatest Hits game for PCs and the PlayStation game console. The release also included Stargate as Defender II, Bubbles, Joust, Sinistar and Robotron: 2084. Legacy
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eBay ListingsClick to search eBay for Defender Videogame machines and related items.Click to search eBay for machines and parts made by Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985). Check out the IAM/KLOV report of the hottest coin-op machine auctions, powered by Ace.com.
|  Prototype Proto Cabinet Art Photo contributed by: Lutorkhan  Prototype Proto Cabinet Art  Cocktail
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