Pepsi Invaders (erroneously identified as Coke Wins and Coke Invaders) is a non-commercially released 1983 fixed shooter video game developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It was commissioned by The Coca-Cola Company to be handed out to salespeople at their 1983 sales convention. A reskin of the system's version of Space Invaders, the player shoots down a flying formation of letters spelling "PEPSI", Coca-Cola's long-time rival. Only 125 copies were distributed.
The "PEPSI" formation is clearly legible when the game starts.
The game is a modification of Space Invaders, with nearly identical gameplay, but with a number of tweaks. Instead of having limited lives and no time limit as in the original, Pepsi Invaders has unlimited lives and a three-minute time limit to complete as many waves of enemies as possible. If any invaders successfully traverse the lowest row, instead of the formation dropping to the ground and ending the game, it merely moves left and right until all the lowest row invaders are destroyed. It is therefore impossible to lose the game.
Primary graphic changes affected the invaders, each row of which consists of the letters "PEPSI" followed by a single alien, instead of the original six aliens per row.[2] The letters move up and down as they march but do not otherwise animate. The UFO was changed to look like a flattened Pepsi logo in brand colors. A timer was added, displayed on the ground, which itself has been changed to a Coca-Cola-like brown color.[3] An additional band of the same color frames the score at the top, with the word "COKE" prominently displayed to the left of the score. The player cannon now features two bands of the same brown color.
During the last 10 seconds, the timer and cannon limit indicators blink. When the time runs out, all invaders and UFOs disappear, the score changes to the word "WINS" (thus making the row read "COKE WINS!"), and the player cannon and all texts flash rapidly. The player's final score can be seen in the attract mode after the game ends.
Developmentedit
Pepsi Invaders was commissioned by The Coca-Cola Company to be handed out to 125 executives at their 1983 sales convention along with an Atari 2600 console. It was developed by Atari, Inc. as a modification of the original Space Invaders cartridge.[1][3] Due to the original Space Invaders Atari 2600 developer Rick Maurer leaving Atari over payment issues, Atari tasked designer Christopher Omarzu with hacking the original.[4][1]
The game was delivered as a black cartridge with no label,[5] in a plain white box with an "Atari goes better with Coke" sticker on the cover.[6] The intent was to boost the morale of Coca-Cola's employees,[7] but most of the cartridges were discarded by their recipients.[8]Pepsi Invaders has been mistakenly labelled Coke Wins and Coke Invaders, to the confusion of Omarzu.[4][9][1]
Legacyedit
Writer Matthew S. Eastin notes it as an early example of an advergame–an advertisement game–and discussed how it was more an attack on a competitor than an advertisement by the company who had it made.[10]The Guardian included it in its list of the best product placement video games, similarly noting it as an early example of this and a "mischievous" marketing attempt.[11]PC Format felt the marketing was smart, comparing it to The Apprentice.[12]Retro Gamer was critical of Pepsi Invaders due to the letters not moving downward as the ships do in Space Invaders.[13]
Copies of the game have sold for up to US$1,825 on eBay.[8][14]
^ ab"Attack of the Space Mutants". Retro Gamer. No. 41. p. 26.
^. Kotaku. 2007-11-16. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
^Is This One of The Rarest Video Games?. CGC Video Games. October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023. The cartridge does not have a label like most Atari games, and the box is mostly blank, except for the Atari goes better with Coke sticker.
^Lindsay Grace (2019). Doing Things with Games: Social Impact Through Play. CRC Press. p. 127. ISBN978-0429771316. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^ abReiner, Andrew (September 27, 2009). . Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^Atwood, Brett (March 30, 1996). "PC Users Gobble Up Pac-Man, Classic Games". Billboard. p. 124.
^Eastin, Matthew S. (2010). Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption: User Generated Content Consumption. IGI Global. p. 438. ISBN978-1605667935. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^Freeman, Will (July 13, 2014). . The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^Gera, Emily (August 22, 2010). . TechRadar. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^Maris, Peter (January 20, 2011). . Retro Gamer. Archived from the original on August 3, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
^Quilty, Conrad (2005-10-18). . Joystiq. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
January 01, 1970
pepsi, invaders, erroneously, identified, coke, wins, coke, invaders, commercially, released, 1983, fixed, shooter, video, game, developed, atari, atari, 2600, commissioned, coca, cola, company, handed, salespeople, their, 1983, sales, convention, reskin, syst. Pepsi Invaders erroneously identified as Coke Wins and Coke Invaders is a non commercially released 1983 fixed shooter video game developed by Atari Inc for the Atari 2600 It was commissioned by The Coca Cola Company to be handed out to salespeople at their 1983 sales convention A reskin of the system s version of Space Invaders the player shoots down a flying formation of letters spelling PEPSI Coca Cola s long time rival Only 125 copies were distributed Pepsi InvadersDeveloper s Atari Inc Publisher s The Coca Cola CompanyProgrammer s Christopher Omarzu 1 Platform s Atari 2600Release1983Genre s Fixed shooterMode s Single player Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development 3 Legacy 4 See also 5 ReferencesGameplay editSee also Space Invaders Gameplay nbsp The PEPSI formation is clearly legible when the game starts The game is a modification of Space Invaders with nearly identical gameplay but with a number of tweaks Instead of having limited lives and no time limit as in the original Pepsi Invaders has unlimited lives and a three minute time limit to complete as many waves of enemies as possible If any invaders successfully traverse the lowest row instead of the formation dropping to the ground and ending the game it merely moves left and right until all the lowest row invaders are destroyed It is therefore impossible to lose the game Primary graphic changes affected the invaders each row of which consists of the letters P E P S I followed by a single alien instead of the original six aliens per row 2 The letters move up and down as they march but do not otherwise animate The UFO was changed to look like a flattened Pepsi logo in brand colors A timer was added displayed on the ground which itself has been changed to a Coca Cola like brown color 3 An additional band of the same color frames the score at the top with the word COKE prominently displayed to the left of the score The player cannon now features two bands of the same brown color During the last 10 seconds the timer and cannon limit indicators blink When the time runs out all invaders and UFOs disappear the score changes to the word WINS thus making the row read COKE WINS and the player cannon and all texts flash rapidly The player s final score can be seen in the attract mode after the game ends Development editPepsi Invaders was commissioned by The Coca Cola Company to be handed out to 125 executives at their 1983 sales convention along with an Atari 2600 console It was developed by Atari Inc as a modification of the original Space Invaders cartridge 1 3 Due to the original Space Invaders Atari 2600 developer Rick Maurer leaving Atari over payment issues Atari tasked designer Christopher Omarzu with hacking the original 4 1 The game was delivered as a black cartridge with no label 5 in a plain white box with an Atari goes better with Coke sticker on the cover 6 The intent was to boost the morale of Coca Cola s employees 7 but most of the cartridges were discarded by their recipients 8 Pepsi Invaders has been mistakenly labelled Coke Wins and Coke Invaders to the confusion of Omarzu 4 9 1 Legacy editWriter Matthew S Eastin notes it as an early example of an advergame an advertisement game and discussed how it was more an attack on a competitor than an advertisement by the company who had it made 10 The Guardian included it in its list of the best product placement video games similarly noting it as an early example of this and a mischievous marketing attempt 11 PC Format felt the marketing was smart comparing it to The Apprentice 12 Retro Gamer was critical of Pepsi Invaders due to the letters not moving downward as the ships do in Space Invaders 13 Copies of the game have sold for up to US 1 825 on eBay 8 14 See also editAdvertising in video gamesReferences edit a b c d Coke Wins The True Story Digital Press No 46 p 4 Carless Simon 2007 05 13 The Rarest Atari 2600 Games Evah GameSetWatch Archived from the original on January 13 2019 Retrieved 2010 06 23 a b Ian Bogost 2007 Persuasive Games The Expressive Power of Videogames MIT Press pp 276 277 391 ISBN 978 0 262 02614 7 a b Attack of the Space Mutants Retro Gamer No 41 p 26 Early Advergames part IV Kotaku 2007 11 16 Archived from the original on October 14 2012 Retrieved 2010 06 23 Is This One of The Rarest Video Games CGC Video Games October 4 2023 Retrieved October 14 2023 The cartridge does not have a label like most Atari games and the box is mostly blank except for the Atari goes better with Coke sticker Lindsay Grace 2019 Doing Things with Games Social Impact Through Play CRC Press p 127 ISBN 978 0429771316 Retrieved August 22 2019 a b Reiner Andrew September 27 2009 A Fortune In Pixels Game Informer Archived from the original on August 17 2019 Retrieved August 22 2019 Atwood Brett March 30 1996 PC Users Gobble Up Pac Man Classic Games Billboard p 124 Eastin Matthew S 2010 Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising User Generated Content Consumption User Generated Content Consumption IGI Global p 438 ISBN 978 1605667935 Retrieved August 22 2019 Freeman Will July 13 2014 Six of the best product placements in video games The Guardian Archived from the original on August 17 2019 Retrieved August 22 2019 Gera Emily August 22 2010 The many faces of in game advertising TechRadar Archived from the original on August 17 2019 Retrieved August 22 2019 Maris Peter January 20 2011 Pepsi Invaders Retro Gamer Archived from the original on August 3 2015 Retrieved August 22 2019 Quilty Conrad 2005 10 18 Atari game sells for 2 000 on eBay Joystiq Archived from the original on October 14 2012 Retrieved 2010 06 23 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pepsi Invaders amp oldid 1208916463, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
