The Ghostbusters had their own home video game which was developed by Activision at the same time as the movie was filmed. The programmers had a short time to end the game, so they used parts of a game called “Car Wars” which was almost finished at that time.
A movie about a video game had, obviously, several video game adaptations. Two of them were the released by M Network for Atari 2600 in 1982: Tron Deadly Discs and Adventures of Tron. Both of them recreated scenes of the movie in which the main character (played by Jeff Bridges) was inside a video game and had to face challenges with his very life at risk.
These two games were advertised on TV together with the Intellivision versions:
Pac-Man was such a succesful game that the imitations appeared quickly. Lock ‘n’ Chase was the Data East version, released in Japan in 1981. This is the ad of the american home release, by Mattel Electronics, for Atari 2600 and Intellivision in 1982. The player is a thief that has to collect all the coins in each level. The levels are bank vaults, kept by policemen that try to catch the thief. The player can close doors to avoid getting trapped.
The TV spot was starred by Henry Thomas (the kid who played the role of Elliott in E.T.):
Before the Return of the Jedi premiere, Parker Brothers released Star Wars: Jedi Arena. In the game a blue Jedi fights against a red Jedi. The red one could be the computer or a second player. The Jedis have to defeat each other using laser blasts shot from a seeker ball. The players have to use the lightsaber to defend themselves.
This is the TV commercial of the video game:
M Network was a Mattel Electronics division which released games for the Atari 2600. Most of them were adaptations of Intellivision games. Sometimes even the games were sold in the Intellivision cartridge with an adapter to fit it to the Atari 2600.
Reactor is an arcade game released in 1982. The game is set inside a nuclear reactor that is overheating. The player has to avoid the meltdown of the reactor core.
This is the advertisement for the home version the game. The illustration was made by Jack Davis, an artist well know by comic fans. His works include E.C. Comics titles such as Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, Haunt of Fear, Crime SuspenStories, Shock SupenStories or Incredible Science Fiction. Later he was one of the founding members of the MAD Magazine. Davis also drew Little Annie Fanny for Playboy.
Jack Davis not only worked in comics. This ad is not an exception but an usual work. He drew lots of advertisements, movie posters and cards.
This is the advertisement of the Riddle of the Sphinx, a video game set in the ancient Egypt released in 1982 by Imagic for the Atari home computers.
After the success of the arcade version, Super Cobra was adapted for home platforms in 1983. This is the advertisement published shortly before its release.
During the eighties the use of 1-900 numbers became very common. The video game industry also took part of this new trend with hotlines such as the Parker Brothers one.
Montezuma’s revenge is the name given in the USA to a kind of diarrhea contracted by the Americans when visited Mexico. That name inspired this game set in the temple of the Aztec emperor Montezuma. The main character, Panama Joe, is there looking for a hidden treasure. The player has to guide him through the mazes inside the temple.
