Munchkin is cartridge number 38 in the official Philips line of games for the Philips Videopac. In North America for the Magnavox Odyssey 2 it was called K.C. Munchkin!, an inside reference to then president of Philips Consumer Electronics Kenneth C. Menkin.
Designed and programmed by Ed Averett, Munchkin is very heavily based on Namco's 1980 arcade game Pac-Man, but not a direct clone. It was, however, similar enough for Atari to sue Philips and force them to cease production of Munchkin. Atari was exclusively licensed to produce the first play-at-home version of Pac-Man, but Munchkin hit store shelves in 1981, a year before Atari's game was ready. Atari initially failed to convince a U.S. district court to halt the sale of Munchkin, but ultimately won its case on appeal. In 1982, the appellate court found that Philips had copied Pac-Man and made alterations that "only tend to emphasize the extent to which it deliberately copied the Plaintiff's work." The ruling was one of the first to establish how copyright law would apply to the look and feel of computer software.[1]
There are only 12 pills (called munchies) in each maze, which begin in four groups of three but move through the maze independently and at speeds that increase as each one is eaten. The final munchie moves at the same speed as the Munchkin and must be intercepted rather than followed.
The super-pills are called blinking munchies because they flash and change colour.
Some of the mazes become invisible as soon as the player starts moving.
It has a programmable mode, where the player can create mazes.
It has a random mode, where a new map is generated each time the game is played.
The box where eaten ghosts regenerate rotates, so the ghosts may exit from any side. Also, the player character is free to enter the box and, if powered up, can consume new monsters at the moment they regenerate. Although the box is always at the center of any maze, the maze design allows walls to be placed against the box so it doubles as a revolving door and danger zone to pass through.
The ghosts are called munchers, and the player's character is called Munchkin.
There are three munchers rather than four ghosts.
Compared with the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, Munchkin has fewer objects on the game board but renders them with more color and animation.
When the Munchkin is killed by the munchers, the score resets itself back to zero.
After Munchkin was forced off the market, Philips released a sequel called K.C.'s Krazy Chase![4] (Crazy Chase outside the U.S.) which implicitly depicts the conflict between Phillips and Atari by pitting the Munchkin character against an insectoid, tree-eating opponent called the Dratapillar, which very strongly resembles the antagonist of Atari's Centipede. In Crazy Chase's maze, the Munchkin character powers up and advances not by eating pills, but by devouring the Dratapillar's segmented body. Redesigned to avoid another copyright dispute, the Munchkin character rolls through Crazy Chase's mazes without the continuous chomping motion characteristic of Pac-Man.
^Legal Battles that Shaped the Computer Industry, by Lawrence D. Graham; published 1999 by Quorum Books; via Google Books
^"Atari, Inc. v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp., 672 F.2d 607 (7th Cir. 1982)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
^Hemnes, Thomas M. S. (1982). "The Adaptation of Copyright Law to Video Games". University of Pennsylvania Law Review. 131:171 (1): 171–233. doi:10.2307/3311832. JSTOR 3311832.
^Goodman, Danny (Spring 1983). "Home Video Games: Video Games Update". Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. p. 32.
munchkin, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, december, 2009, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, munchk. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Munchkin is cartridge number 38 in the official Philips line of games for the Philips Videopac In North America for the Magnavox Odyssey 2 it was called K C Munchkin an inside reference to then president of Philips Consumer Electronics Kenneth C Menkin Munchkin Europe K C Munchkin US European coverPublisher s Philips MagnavoxDesigner s Ed AverettPlatform s Philips Videopac Europe Magnavox Odyssey 2 US Release1981Genre s MazeDesigned and programmed by Ed Averett Munchkin is very heavily based on Namco s 1980 arcade game Pac Man but not a direct clone It was however similar enough for Atari to sue Philips and force them to cease production of Munchkin Atari was exclusively licensed to produce the first play at home version of Pac Man but Munchkin hit store shelves in 1981 a year before Atari s game was ready Atari initially failed to convince a U S district court to halt the sale of Munchkin but ultimately won its case on appeal In 1982 the appellate court found that Philips had copied Pac Man and made alterations that only tend to emphasize the extent to which it deliberately copied the Plaintiff s work The ruling was one of the first to establish how copyright law would apply to the look and feel of computer software 1 Contents 1 Pac Man dispute 2 See also 3 References 4 Sources 5 External linksPac Man dispute EditAtari sued Philips for copyright infringement arguing that Munchkin copied Pac Man with its substantial similarities as evidence In Atari Inc v North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp the court noted twenty two similarities but also nine differences 2 3 There are only 12 pills called munchies in each maze which begin in four groups of three but move through the maze independently and at speeds that increase as each one is eaten The final munchie moves at the same speed as the Munchkin and must be intercepted rather than followed The super pills are called blinking munchies because they flash and change colour Some of the mazes become invisible as soon as the player starts moving It has a programmable mode where the player can create mazes It has a random mode where a new map is generated each time the game is played The box where eaten ghosts regenerate rotates so the ghosts may exit from any side Also the player character is free to enter the box and if powered up can consume new monsters at the moment they regenerate Although the box is always at the center of any maze the maze design allows walls to be placed against the box so it doubles as a revolving door and danger zone to pass through The ghosts are called munchers and the player s character is called Munchkin There are three munchers rather than four ghosts Compared with the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man Munchkin has fewer objects on the game board but renders them with more color and animation When the Munchkin is killed by the munchers the score resets itself back to zero After Munchkin was forced off the market Philips released a sequel called K C s Krazy Chase 4 Crazy Chase outside the U S which implicitly depicts the conflict between Phillips and Atari by pitting the Munchkin character against an insectoid tree eating opponent called the Dratapillar which very strongly resembles the antagonist of Atari s Centipede In Crazy Chase s maze the Munchkin character powers up and advances not by eating pills but by devouring the Dratapillar s segmented body Redesigned to avoid another copyright dispute the Munchkin character rolls through Crazy Chase s mazes without the continuous chomping motion characteristic of Pac Man See also EditList of Videopac games Stern Electronics Inc v Kaufman in which the 2nd Circuit reached the same decision List of Pac Man clonesReferences Edit Legal Battles that Shaped the Computer Industry by Lawrence D Graham published 1999 by Quorum Books via Google Books Atari Inc v North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp 672 F 2d 607 7th Cir 1982 Justia Law Retrieved 2021 05 30 Hemnes Thomas M S 1982 The Adaptation of Copyright Law to Video Games University of Pennsylvania Law Review 131 171 1 171 233 doi 10 2307 3311832 JSTOR 3311832 Goodman Danny Spring 1983 Home Video Games Video Games Update Creative Computing Video amp Arcade Games p 32 Sources EditSchwarz Haller 1982 Pac Mania Publications International Ltd ISBN 0 517 38915 0External links EditVideopac Database Entry at Videopac org GameSpy review of Munchkin Summary of Atari lawsuit Interview with programmer Ed Averett Review of K C Munchkin at Gamespy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title K C Munchkin amp oldid 1072894596, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
