Rare original Space Race arcade video game by Atari, Inc., which was originally released on July 16, 1973. Designed by Ted Dabney, Nolan Bushnell, and Allan Alcorn, Space Race allowed players to control spaceships and race against opposing ships while avoiding comets and meteors. The competitive two-player game featured black-and-white graphics and was controlled with an innovative two-way joystick—Space Race introduced the use of joysticks to the world of arcade gaming. The game is in non-working condition but is housed in its original cabinet, 25˝ x 58˝ x 29˝, with large silver control panel containing start button, dual joysticks, and gameplay instructions. The console features a replacement monitor but retains its original printed circuit board (PCB) and bread pan coin tray. Also included are four pairs of 17 x 11 diagram schematics for Space Race from Atari and Syzygy Engineering dated 1973 and 1974, four of which bear ink and felt tip notations. Nonfunctional and in very good to fine condition, with scattered wear and dings to the cabinet, and scuffs and marks to the console window. An elusive early arcade cabinet from the dawn of coin-operated video gaming—original Space Race cabinets are virtually unobtainable as Atari either recycled the units for other titles or scrapped the cabinets altogether.
Per Alcorn: 'After the successful introduction of PONG in 1972 numerous companies copied it and I estimate that copiers made and sold twice as many copies of PONGs as Atari did. These copies were made by small manufacturers that did not have the ability to design these new high-speed digital video games. We competed with these copiers by creating new games and selling as many as we could before they were able to copy it. Space Race was the first Atari video game to use joysticks.'
