AtariLeaf Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 I've read in several places that the fictional story was made due to the Cold War. The original plan was for a simulated missle attack on American ciites, with one base on the Atlantic and another on the Pacific with the third one in the center. There were concerns though that a game that struck that 'close to home' like that would hurt sales, cause a panic, and give a lot of bad negative media attention. This was in the early 80's, mind you, when the Cold War was heating up again and Regan was in office. Even the creator of the game said he woke up several times from nightmares of a nuclear attack when programing the game. So the back story was changed to a more generic fictional sci-fi one. It makes sense that Atari would change it for a family friendly home console. I was flipping through one of the old Atari catalogs, the one that divides games into categories. Missile Command is under "Space Station" instead of "Combat Zone". In reality, Missile Command IS a war game, not a space game. Now that I think about it, I do remember my friends mother not wanting him to get Missile Command because it was about "Nuclear War" and truth be told, she was right, no matter how Atari may have wanted to sugar coat it. I think he did eventually wear her down and he did get it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The idea that atari games were "about" anything kinda makes me chuckle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Missile Command being about nuclear war is precisely why it's shown in Terminator 2. xD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer4x4 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Atari renamed I cannot resist looking at those and I crack up each time. "OH! I SAY!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 It's all here!!! Never saw her reviews before. Excellent. Yeah, I like her too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diogoandrei Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Missile Command being about nuclear war is precisely why it's shown in Terminator 2. xD Nice remark! Makes total sense for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydric Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 It turns out that TWO of these have recently shown up at the Personal Computer Museum --- so we're keeping 1 and will sell the other. If anyone is interested, just PM me with an offer. No idea what it's worth but any reasonable offer considered. It's a very unique item! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer4x4 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I see that picture and think of the "Oops, wrong button!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) Imagine if William Shatner narrated the Missile Command story... Edited May 2, 2012 by Fygar13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Imagine if William Shatner narrated the Missile Command story... Who knows, we might just get to hear that! At a time when the board game Battleship is being made into a stupid movie, anything is possible. Reading this thread again, I can't help but chuckle at my little tangle with tz101 (thank goodness that turd was finally banned!), but I'm also reminded that I need to post my MP3 rips of the Kid Stuff albums again. A few people have asked me about them since this was bumped, so I'll let everyone know when they're available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 At a time when the board game Battleship is being made into a stupid movie, anything is possible... I don't know which is worse: that movie or the movie version of "21 Jumpstreet". Can't the movie studios come up with better ideas than turning board games and 80's TV shows into movies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Can't the movie studios come up with better ideas than turning board games and 80's TV shows into movies? Oh dear God! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) Oh dear God! It's official: the movie studios have scraped the bottom of the barrel. What's next? Is Jason Statham going to star in an action movie version of Connect Four? Christ almighty! Edited May 2, 2012 by Fygar13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyK Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 The 2600 version of Missile Command is more chilling than the arcade version despite the cooky backstory - the 2600 version has mushroom cloud explosions when the cities are hit - the arcade doesn't have that. The stylised look of the them makes it look even scarier for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydric Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Make sure you check out this new thread - I converted this old thing into an interactive application you download and try on your PC! http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/198654-story-of-missile-command-now-interactive/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 MC Rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Bumpin an old thread. Something weird about the "story" in that Atari seemed to waver on it. The Sci-fi story appears on the 2600 version and, I believe, the 5200 but seems to have reverted back to the old cold war original story in the Atari 400/800 manual. However ( and this is what's driving me nuts because I can't find it ) the XEGS had missile command built in and there was a manual which I'm sure I had but can't find. In it I believe the story again went back to the sci-fi krylon story. Anyone know where I can find a scan of the XEGS manual for MC, it's driving me nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mo Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Yeah, the 5200 manual has the Zydar/Krytolian one (link). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_L Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 The odd thing about Atari was that they had basically 3 divisions, first the arcade division, then the console division, and lastly the computer division. Oddly, there was no communication at all whatsoever between them. You'd think that if they were going to do an arcade port of one of their own arcade hits, they'd have access to the people who worked on the arcade version and that they would communicate with one another. Missile Command (arcade) was American cities, but I think that because the console version was being marketed to a wider range including younger people, the story line was changed so aliens were getting nuked, not "people". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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