Gotcha

Description

A two-player maze game where the object is to catch the other player.

Gotcha was produced by Atari in 1973.

Atari released 137 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1972. Atari was based in United States.

Other machines made by Atari during the time period Gotcha was produced include: Pong, Doctor Pong, Barrel Pong, Space Race, Pong Doubles, and Snoopy Pong

Specs

Name	Gotcha
Developer	Atari (United States)
Year	1973
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	7985
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Labyrinth/Maze
Monitor	Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Black and White
IC Count	82
Conversion Class	unique
# Simultaneous Players	2
# Maximum Players	2
Game Play	Competitive
Control Panel Layout	Multiple Player
Controls	Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right)
Sound	Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard
PCB	Gotcha PCB Image

Game Introduction

The maze is displayed on the screen. The first player controls the Pursuer which is represented by a square and the second player controls the Pursued which is represented by a plus sign.

Game Play

As the Pursuer moves closer and closer to the Pursued, an electronic beep sound increases in frequency to a feverish pitch until the Pursuer catches the Pursued.

Each time, the Pursuer catches the Pursued, a point is scored and the chase starts over again.

Gotcha KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 0.00 (0 votes)

Images

Trivia

This was the first maze arcade game, as well as the very first video game to cause a considerable amount of controversy, predating other early examples such as Death Race by several years. The controversy stemmed from the perception that the game's controls, rather than joysticks, were pink rubber bulges meant to represent breasts. The bulges were squeezed in order to control the action. This was done because some members of Atari jokingly mentioned that joysticks curiously resembled a phallus. As a result, it was decided to create a "female game" and this game was henceforth referred to as "the boob game" by company staff. Later versions of the cabinet replaced the controls with standard joysticks. The game was not well received by the public.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Gotcha Census

There are 15,247 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,663 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,913 machines (6,994 unique titles).

Uncommon - There are 14 known instances of this machine owned by Gotcha collectors who are active members. Of these, 13 of them are original dedicated machines. One is a set of circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Gotcha machine for sale.

Wanted - There are 2 active VAPS members currently looking for Gotcha.

This game ranks a 3 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 3 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

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

Flyers

Manuals

Gotcha Schematics - Gotcha Manual — **Gotcha Schematics**
(3 pages, 480 kB File)

Foto-Finder® (Books)

The Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 22; Color photo Price guide: No
Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 22; Color photo

eBay Listings

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