Pole Position - Videogame by Atari

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Pole Position

Name: Pole Position
Developer: Atari

Year: 1982
Type: Videogame

Class: Wide Release
Genre: Racing
Monitor:

Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Color

Conversion Class: unique
Game Specific: Pole Position Pinout
Settings: Pole Position Dipswitch Settings

Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 1
Gameplay: Single
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:

Steering: Special
Shifter: 2-position (low, high)
Pedals: 2

Sound: Unamplified Mono (requires one-channel amp)

Cabinet Styles:

Upright/Standard
Environmental/Cockpit

Click here to contribute another image.

Pole Position Bezel ImagePole Position Control Panel ImagePole Position Side Art ImagePole Position PCB Image

Pole Position Description

Race your Indy car around the Fuji course before the timer runs out. The first run is the qualifying lap and your starting position is determined by your completion time. Avoid road hazards and other cars as you drive, earning extra time for each completed lap.

Pole Position was produced by Atari in 1982.

Atari released 136 different machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1972.

Other machines made by Atari during the time period Pole Position was produced include Akka Arrh, Atari Force Liberator, Fast Freddie, Black Widow, Gravitar, Neutron Star, Tempest Tubes, Tempest, Triangle, and Maze Invaders.

Pole Position - KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.70 (16 votes)

Personal Impressions Score: 3.96

     Overall 'Like': 4.33
     Fun (Social): 3.67
     Fun (Solo): 4.07
     Collector Desire: 3.27

Technical Impressions Score: 3.61

     Gameplay: 3.88
     Graphics: 3.73
     Originality: 3.67
     Sound/Music: 3.53

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.

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Cabinet Information

The sitdown version of the game uses separate accelerator and brake pedals while the upright only uses a single pedal.

Cabinet Style Weights and Measures

Type
Upright/Standard
Environmental/Cockpit

Game Introduction

Prepare to qualify! A sophisticated game for its day, with scaleable foreground objects and speech. Keep an eye out for the billboards! Also famous for burning the power input edge connectors and finger contacts on the PCB. Several custom integrated circuits.

Miscellaneous

Pole Position was created by Namco Inc. who also manufactured the game for the entire world except for the United States. Aside from the words which are in Japanese found on and in the Namco version, the graphics on the side of the cabinet are basically the same as well as the billboards that are seen throughout the game. Compared to the Atari release, the only differences are the Atari Racing decal on the simulated dashboard and the little blimp that can be seen at the beginning of a race that is marked Atari with the message Prepare To Qualify. In the Namco version, the blimp has no markings on it.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Pole Position Census

There are 12,127 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,620 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 163,035 machines (6,847 unique titles).

Very Common - There are approximately 652 known instances of this machine presumably owned by our current and past members. More are likely owned by non-members. 259 of these machines are owned by our active Pole Position collectors. And of these, 248 are original dedicated machines, and 11 are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 4 active VAPS members with Pole Position machines for sale. There are 2 active VAPS members with extra Pole Position circuit boards for sale.

Wanted - Popular - There are 19 active VAPS members currently looking for Pole Position.

At any given time, our active members are listing on VAPS on average of 4,400 games they are looking for, and 3,600 games for sale.

This game ranks a 83 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 50 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often wanted, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are NOT necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Technical

The game uses two Z8002 microprocessors, one Z80 microprocessor and a Namco 6channel stereo PSG for sounds.

Trivia

This game was one of the choices presented to BallyMidway from Namco for sublicensing. BallyMidway chose IMappyI while Atari was left with IPole PositionI. IPole PositionI went on to become the biggest game of 1983 number four on httpwww.atarihistory.com30secrets.html .

Legacy

Pole Position (1982)
Pole Position II (1983)
TX-1 (1984)
TX-1 V8 (1984)

Manuals

Pole_Position_SP-218_8th_Printing 32 Pages, 6.6 MB File.
Pole_Position_TM-218_7th_Printing 92 Pages, 3.9 MB File.
Pole_Position_TM-218_5th_Printing 92 Pages, 2.6 MB File.
Pole_Position_TM-218_3rd_Printing 88 Pages, 3.8 MB File.
Pole_Position_TM-218_2nd_Printing 88 Pages, 2.4 MB File.
Pole_Position_TM-218_1st_Printing 88 Pages, 3.8 MB File.
Pole_Position_Tech_Update_Jan-31-1983_Complete 4 Pages, 61 kB File.
Pole_Position_Tech_Update_Jan-06-1983 2 Pages, 84 kB File.
Pole_Position_ST-218-01_3rd_Printing_Backdoor_Sheet 1 Pages, 311 kB File.
Pole_Position_SP-218_5th_Printing 32 Pages, 4.9 MB File.
Pole_Position_SP-218_4th_Printing 32 Pages, 2.1 MB File.
Pole_Position_SP-218_3rd_Printing 32 Pages, 1.9 MB File.
Pole_Position_SP-218_2nd_Printing_Sheet_2ab 2 Pages, 183 kB File.
Pole_Position_SP-218_1st_Printing 32 Pages, 2 MB File.
Pole_Position_CO-218-09_1st_Printing 16 Pages, 651 kB File.
Pole_Position_CO-218-04_1st_Printing 2 Pages, 775 kB File.
Operation, Maintenance, and Service Manual 131 Pages, 12.3 MB File.
Technical Update 2 Pages, 129 kB File.

Foto-Finder® (books)

Arcade Treasures, Kurtz (ISBN 088740619X): Page: 111; Color photo; Price guide: 1994
The Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 129; Color photo;
Arcade Fever, Sellers (ISBN 0762409371): Page: 104; Color photo; Price guide:
Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 129; Color photo; Price guide:

Video Clips

Pole Position Arcade Game Review by NAMCO and Atari - John's Arcade

Pole Postion Arcade Gameplay - WORLD RECORD HIGH-SCORE ATTEMPT! - ATARI 1982

POLE POSITION (HQ) ARCADE ORIGINAL GAME BOARD ATARI 1982

See Recent Video Links Added to Other Records

Additional References
(logged in members often see more)

The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA): Pole Position Flyer #751
The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA): Pole Position Flyer #1456
The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA): Pole Position Flyer #3681
The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA): Pole Position Flyer #6228
The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA): Pole Position Flyer #4386

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Pole Position Videogame machines and related items.

Click to search eBay for Atari for machines and parts.

Check out the IAM/KLOV report of the hottest coin-op machine auctions, powered by Ace.com.

*TODAY'S PICKS FOR:
Pole Position

	1. 1982 Atari Pole Position 2 A039187 A039185 039432 CPU and Video PCBs. Untested. Auction ends in: 18 hours, 51 minutes
	Auction	$75.77
	2. ATARI Pole Position 🏎Upright Backdoor Sheet New Part # ST-218-01 3rd Printing Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 6 days
	FixedPrice	$22.00
	3. 1982 Atari Pole Position Arcade Full Harness - Untested Auction ends in: 1 day, 19 hours
	Auction	$82.00
	4. 1982 Atari Pole Position Pedals - Untested Auction ends in: 1 day, 19 hours
	Auction	$50.00
	5. 1982 Atari Arcade Pole Position audio regulator PCBs - Untested Auction ends in: 17 hours, 41 minutes
	Auction	$40.00
	6. Pole Position Arcade Marquee For Reproduction Backlit Sign Auction ends in: 4 weeks, 1 day
	FixedPrice	$15.75
	7. 1982 Atari Pole Position Power Supply PCB - Untested Auction ends in: 1 day, 19 hours
	Auction	$50.00
	8. atari pole position arcade control panel Auction ends in: 1 week, 1 day
	FixedPrice	$110.00
	9. 1982 Atari Pole Position Coin play/counter & coin box - Untested Auction ends in: 1 day, 19 hours
	Auction	$50.00
	10. POLE POSITION SIDE ART Screen Printed - THE BEST! Auction ends in: 13 hours, 28 minutes
	FixedPrice	$250.00
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