10.SEA WOLF

SEA WOLF

Sea Wolf is an arcade game by Midway, originally released in 1976. It was a video game update of an earlier coin-operated electro-mechanical (em) Midway game, Sea Devil, itself based on Sega's 1966 coin-op electro-mechanical arcade submarine simulator Periscope. Midway's video game version was designed by Dave Nutting and eventually sold 10,000 video game arcade cabinets.


INTERACTIVITY

The player looks through a large periscope to aim at ships moving across the virtual sea line at the top of the screen, using a thumb button on the right handle of the scope to fire torpedoes. The periscope swivels to the right and left, providing horizontal motion of a targeting cross-hair. The cabinet features a mixture of video game and older em technology for player feedback. Using back-lit transparencies reflected inside the scope, the number of torpedoes remaining are displayed, as well as a red "RELOAD" light which lights up momentarily when the player has launched five torpedoes. Additionally, when ships are hit on the screen, an explosion "light" is reflected inside the scope. A blue overlay is affixed to the screen to provide a "water color" to the sea. Sounds include a sonar ping and the sound of the PT Boat racing across the screen.

CONCEPT

Sea Wolf is time-limited, with the player having an opportunity to win bonus time by reaching an operator-set score. The player's score is shown on the bottom half of the screen as well as the high score, one of the first known instances of a high score in a video game. Targets include destroyers, a fast moving PT Boat, and mines floating across the screen can that serve as obstructions.

STORY LINE

There is no specific story line in this game and the game takes place in the deepest of the sea.

SETTINGS

There are no settings in this game as the game takes place in the deep sea.

CHALLENGES

The player has to kill all the ships that are continuously shooting and moving and the sea creatures provide a blockade which prevents our shots from hitting the ships.