Gotcha, Atari, 1973

The only working version open to the public in the world

Gotcha is a 1973 arcade game manufactured by Atari Inc. It was Atari's fourth game after Pong, Space Race and Pong Doubles. 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. Mediamatic has got the only working version open to the public in the world!

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Gotcha, Atari, 1973 - 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. Picture found on n-1.nl .

With:
Simon Claessen

The object of the game is for two players to find their way through an on-screen maze, attempting to catch each other. 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 game 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.

We kindly thank Simon Claessen for lending us the Gotcha on display in the Arcade exhibition.

This must be the only working version of Atari Gotcha open to the public in the world.

All rights reserved

The object of the game is for two players to find their way through an on-screen maze, attempting to catch each other.

All rights reserved