Firefox (video game)

Firefox is a 1984 shoot 'em up arcade video game based on the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. It was produced in 1984 as Atari, Inc.'s only LaserDisc video game. Like Atari's first-person Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, Firefox came as both an upright and sit down cabinet with a yoke style controller.

Development


Firefox was primarily designed by Mike Hally and Dave Ralston, and programmed by Greg Rivera and Norm Avellar.

The cabinet featured stereo sound with an additional headphone port and volume control in the front. All Firefox cabinets shipped with a 19" Amplifone raster monitor, and utilized an Atari quad-POKEY. Firefox's power requirements necessitated the use of two Atari AR-II power supplies.

To collect the LaserDisc video, developers Mike Hally and Moe Shore sifted through 20 to 30 hours' worth of footage shot for the film. Most of the resulting footage was first-person shots filmed from helicopters flying over Greenland and Scandinavia.

Firefox shares a cabinet with I, Robot, although significantly fewer I, Robot machines were produced.

Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Firefox on their April 1, 1984 issue as being the third most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month. In the United States, it was the top-grossing laserdisc game on the Play Meter arcade charts in July 1984.