Super Breakout

Name:	Super Breakout
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-2608
Programmer:	Nick Turner & Carol Shaw
Year:	1981
Released?	Yes
Notes:	The cartridge accidentally lists the copyright date as 1978

Super Breakout is basically the same game as Breakout, but the graphics and sounds have been spruced up a bit.  Originally Super Breakout was a Sears Tele-Games exclusive along with Submarine Commander, Steeplechase, and Stellar Track, but was later released by Atari as well.   It is unknown if this was due to a souring of the Sears/Atari relationship or if Atari simply felt that Super Breakout was too popular to let Sears have all to themselves.

Although Super Breakout was started by Carol Shaw, very little was actually completed before she left Atari for Activision.  Nick Turner took over the project after joining Atari in 1979.  According Nick , he couldn't decide which of the 16 different sounds to use for the brick scoring.  So he decided to include them all by randomizing the sound each time you start a new game.  This new element netted Nick over $250,000 in royalties by the end of 1982.  Not bad eh?

Super Breakout isn't anything that you haven't see before, but it is a nice improvement over the regular Breakout game.  The Cavity mode and updated sounds are a nice addition to the standard Breakout formula.  If you'd like to know about what programmer Nick Turner is doing these days, check out his website at: http://www.mindheart.org/

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