SubRoc-3D (サブ・口ック3D SabuRokku-3D) is a first-person arcade shooter game released in 1982 by Sega. It is the first commercial video game in stereoscopic 3-D, using a periscope-shaped display with a different image for each eye. It was jointly developed by Sega and Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic), who developed its active shutter 3D system.[4][5] The game has stereo sound, and also changes the backdrop to reflect day, night, dawn, and dusk.[3]
| SubRoc-3D | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Director(s) | Shikanosuke Ochi[4] |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, ColecoVision |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game was a commercial success for Sega in arcades. It was adapted for ColecoVision, as SubRoc, with simulated 3D effects, by Arnold Hendrick and Philip Taterczynski of the Coleco game design staff, with programming by David Wesely of 4D Interactive Systems.[citation needed]
Hardware
editThe stereoscopic 3D effect is achieved with an active shutter 3D system.[4] It uses a special eyepiece,[6] a viewer with spinning discs to alternate left and right images to the player's eyes from a single monitor.[7] The player's face is pressed against the eyepiece, which is shaped like a submarine periscope and attached to a controller below. The game's pseudo-3D visuals are created with scaled sprites using the VCO Object hardware, previously used in Sega's 1981 racing game Turbo.[8]
Development and release
editThe game's active-shutter 3-D technology was developed by Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic) for a 3D television they had developed in the late 1970s and unveiled in 1981. The game began development around 1980, when Sega and Matsushita began discussing a "Stereo Viewer System" to adapt Matsushita's 3D television for video game use. Sega's director of technology for the project was Shikanosuke Ochi, who previously led the development of 1966 arcade electro-mechanical game Periscope. At the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in 1981, 3D images from the game were demonstrated on video tape.[4]
Sega held a press conference on February 20, 1982 and demonstrated the first trial unit at the NOA Expo on March 1, 1982,[4][5] the date when the game was first published.[2] Several game changes were made before it entered mass-production in Japan on July 2, 1982,[5] in North America in August 1982,[1] and in Europe by January 1983.[3]
Reception
editThe game was a commercial arcade success for Sega in 1982.[9]
Computer and Video Games magazine gave the arcade version a generally favorable review, for providing a "3D feel" and further advancing the "3D look" of Zaxxon (1982).[3] Ray Dimetrosky of Computer Games magazine gave the ColecoVision port a B rating, stating that the graphics are "particularly impressive" but otherwise calling it "an above average shoot 'em up".[10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Manufacturers Equipment". Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co. 5 February 1983. p. 35.
- ^ a b "SubRoc-3D". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d "The Sea-Scape With a 3D Feel: Subroc-3D". Computer and Video Games. No. 16 (February 1983). United Kingdom: EMAP. January 16, 1983. pp. 30–1.
- ^ a b c d e f "Overseas Readers Column: World's First 3D Video Game Unveiled - Developed Jointly By Sega and World-famous Matsushita" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 185. Amusement Press, Inc. April 1, 1982. p. 30.
- ^ a b c "Overseas Readers Column: "Subroc-3D" Now Released - Sega/Esco Private Show Held" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 193. Amusement Press, Inc. August 1, 1982. p. 26.
- ^ SubRoc-3D at the Killer List of Videogames
- ^ Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), Video game theory reader two, p. 158, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-96282-X
- ^ "VCO Object". Sega Retro. 17 August 2019.
- ^ Compasio, Camille (November 20, 1982). "Around The Route" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 37.
- ^ Dimetrosky, Ray (April 1984). "Reviews: Video Game Buyer's Guide". Computer Games. Vol. 3, no. 1. pp. 60–2.
See also
edit- Periscope, Sega's electromechanical submarine periscope game of the 1960s