Death Race was a controversial arcade game, released by Exidy in 1976. While not the first violent video game to appear, it was the first video game to inspire a great deal of protest and controversy in the United States.
In the game, designed by Howell Ivy and inspired by the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000 by Paul Bartel (starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, and produced by Roger Corman), one or two players control an on-screen car (...
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Death Race was a controversial arcade game, released by Exidy in 1976. While not the first violent video game to appear, it was the first video game to inspire a great deal of protest and controversy in the United States.
In the game, designed by Howell Ivy and inspired by the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000 by Paul Bartel (starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, and produced by Roger Corman), one or two players control an on-screen car (two cars if two players played) with a steering wheel and an acceleration pedal. The object was to run down "gremlins" who were fleeing the vehicle. As the player hit them, they would scream or squeal and be replaced on-screen by tombstones. This increased the challenge of the game as the screen cluttered up and the player had to avoid the tombstones.
The player was rated based on the number of points scored:
The object to the game was thus similar to the 1997 computer game Carmageddon.
The graphics were blocky, black and white, and primitive,...
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