Copyright: 1980
Release Date: July 1980
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Deisgner: David Crane (Programmer)
Code: AG-004
Description
When Fishing Derby hit the market the average gamer was used to Combat-style graphics, so no wonder why Activision game was praised for its advanced visuals back then. On the other hand Atari had no competitors until then, so graphics and playability could be easily sacrificed, while at Activision they were the new ones in the market so they had to be impressive as much as they could. The result was Fishing Derby, surely not something to die for, but for the times it was a good pastime for 15 minutes.
Quando Fishing Derby venne messo sul mercato, il giocatore medio era abituato ad una grafica in stile Combat, quindi non meravilgia il fatto che il gioco dell’Activision venne lodato per le sue grafiche ai tempi eccezionali. D’altronde Atari non aveva rivali fino a quel momento quindi grafica e giocabilità potevano tranquillamente essere sacrificati, mentre quelli dell’Activision erano quelli nuovi nel mercato e dovevano impressionare il più possibile. Il risultato fu Fishing Derby, di sicuro niente per cui valesse la pena strabuzzare gli occhi, ma per i tempi che erano un gioco che faceva passare un bel quarto d’ora.
Below you find other two images related to the game: the back of the box and the label of the cartridge itself.
We read from the back of the box:
The most beautiful picture you’ve ever seen in a video game! Two fishmen drop their lines into a bay full of golden sunfish. All you have to do is hook ’em and land ’em. Easy, huh? Not so fast! A big black shark is right there at the surface waiting to snarf up your catch. Go deep for the big fish or play it safe with the small fry near the surface. But keep pulling ’em in as fast as you can, because the first player to catch his limit is the winner in FISHING™ DERBY by ACTIVISION™.
Ports and legacy
Fishing Derby is one of the very first games made by Activision, the first third party company in the history of video games and, maybe even for this, it’s an IP that hasn’t been further developed. Activision will become way more important with other games (Pitfall! above all), but unofortunately for Fishing Derby it hasn’t even been converted for other platforms. Sad story,
Fishing Derby è uno dei primissimi giochi della Activision, la prima compagnia di terze parti nella storia dei videogiochi e, forse anche per questo, è una IP che non è stata ulteriormente sviluppata. Activision diverrà ben più famosa con altri giochi (primo su tutti Pitfall!), ma sfortunatamente per Fishing Derby non fu neppure convertito su altre piattaforme. Sad story.
Have you played Fishing Derby today?
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