{{short description|1975 video game}} {{for-multi|the act of winning or losing fights with a gun|Gunfight|the film|Gun Fight (film)|the 1969 Sega electro-mechanical game|Arcade game}} {{Infobox video game | title = Gun Fight | image = December 1975 advertisement for Gun Fight by Midway.jpg | caption = North American print ad | developer = Taito | publisher = {{vgrelease|JP/EU|Taito|NA|Midway Manufacturing}} | designer = Tomohiro Nishikado<br>Dave Nutting (US) | programmer = Tom McHugh (US) | platforms = Arcade, Astrocade, Atari 8-bit | released = '''Arcade''' {{vgrelease|JP|September 1975<ref name="Taito">{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=40–1 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n41/mode/2up}}</ref>|NA|November 1975<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1975-11-08 |title=New Midway's 'Gun Fight' – Old West Thrills |journal=Cash Box |pages=39}}</ref>|EU|1975}} '''Astrocade''' {{vgrelease|NA|1977}} '''Atari 8-bit''' {{vgrelease|NA|1984<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 1984 |title=Arcade Classics. A Blast-From-The-Past. |journal=Compute! |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=31}}</ref>}} | genre = Multidirectional shooter | modes = Multiplayer | arcade system = Taito Discrete Logic<br>Midway 8080 (US) }}
'''''Gun Fight''''' is a 1975 multidirectional shooter arcade video game released by Midway in North America.<ref name="Kotaku">{{cite web|author=Stephen Totilo|title=In Search Of The First Video Game Gun|publisher=Kotaku|date=August 31, 2010|url=https://kotaku.com/in-search-of-the-first-video-game-gun-5626466|access-date=2011-03-27}}</ref><ref name="kohler18">{{citation|author=Chris Kohler|year=2005|title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auMTAQAAIAAJ|page=18|chapter=Chapter 2: An Early History of Cinematic Elements in Video Games|publisher=BradyGames|isbn=0-7440-0424-1|access-date=2011-03-27}}</ref> It is based on {{nihongo foot|'''''Western Gun'''''|ウエスタンガン|Uesutan Gan|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}}, designed by Tomohiro Nishikado<ref name="kohler18"/> and released by Taito in Japan<ref name="Kotaku" /><ref name="Taito" /> and Europe.<ref name="eu_flyer">{{cite web|title=Western Gun|work=The Arcade Flyer Archive|publisher=Killer List of Video Games|url=http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1358|access-date=2011-04-02}}</ref> Based around two Old West cowboys armed with revolvers and squaring off in a duel, it was the first video game to depict human-to-human combat.<ref name = gamespy2/> The Midway version was also the first video game to use a microprocessor instead of TTL.<ref name = gamespy2/><ref name="Kent">Steve L. Kent (2001), ''The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world'', p. 64, Prima, {{ISBN|0-7615-3643-4}}</ref> The game's concept was adapted from Sega's 1969 arcade electro-mechanical game ''Gun Fight''.
The game was a global commercial success. In Japan, ''Western Gun'' was among the top ten highest-grossing arcade video games of 1976. In the United States, ''Gun Fight'' sold 8,600 arcade cabinets and was the third highest-grossing arcade game of 1975, second highest-grossing arcade game of 1976 and fifth highest arcade game of 1977.
It was ported to the Bally Astrocade video game console<ref name="Steinberg"/> as a built-in game<ref name="micro_1978">{{cite book|title=Mini-micro systems, Volume 11|year=1978|publisher=Cahners Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmNVAAAAMAAJ&q=gunfight|access-date=12 February 2012|page=46}}</ref> in 1977<ref>{{cite web|title=Gunfight (Astrocade)|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/astrocade/924829-gunfight|publisher=GameFAQs|access-date=12 February 2012}}</ref> and later the Atari 8-bit computers.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}
==Gameplay== ''Western Gun'' is a single-screen shooter<ref name="allgame"/> where two players compete in an Old West gun fight.<ref name = arcadeflyer1>{{cite web|title=The Arcade Flyer Archive: Western Gun|url=http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1358|access-date=2015-06-18}}</ref> It was the first video game to depict human-to-human combat.<ref name=gamespy2>{{cite web|last=Cassidy|first=William|title=Gun Fight|url=http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/491/491634p2.html|publisher=GameSpy|access-date=14 September 2012|date=May 6, 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124064335/http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/491/491634p2.html|archive-date=24 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="Steinberg">{{citation|title=Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia|volume=1|author=Shirley R. Steinberg|editor1=Shirley R. Steinberg |editor2=Michael Kehler |editor3=Lindsay Cornish |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2010|isbn=978-0-313-35080-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRGEIqzv5rsC|access-date=2011-04-02|page=451}}</ref> When shot, the characters fall to the ground and the words "GOT ME!" appear above the body.<ref name="gamespy1"/> The game has two joysticks per player: an eight-way joystick for moving the computerized cowboy and the other for changing the shooting direction.<ref name="Kotaku"/><ref>{{KLOV game|10420|Western Gun}}</ref> Unlike later dual stick games, ''Western Gun'' has the movement joystick on the right.
Obstacles between the characters block shots, such as a cactus,<ref name="Wilson">{{citation|title=High score! The illustrated history of electronic games|author1=Rusel DeMaria |author2=Johnny L. Wilson |name-list-style=amp |edition=2|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|year=2003|isbn=0-07-223172-6|pages=24–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC|access-date=2011-04-02}}</ref> and (in later levels) stagecoaches.<ref name = "gamespy1"/> The guns have limited ammunition, with each player given six bullets. A round ends if both players run out of ammo.<ref name="allgame"/> Gunshots can ricochet off the top and bottom edges of the playfield, allowing for indirect hits.<ref name="allgame"/><ref name="Wilson"/>
Taito's original ''Western Gun'' allows the two players to move around anywhere on the screen. Midway's version, ''Gun Fight'', restricts each player to their respective portions of the screen and also increased the size of the characters.<ref name="honestgamers">{{cite web |title=Gun Fight (Arcade) review |url=http://www.honestgamers.com/13874/arcade/gun-fight/review.html |website=Honest Gamers |date=June 15, 2018 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref>
==Development==
=== Western Gun === thumb|The electro-mechanical ''Gun Fight'' from Sega.|alt=A glass cabinet on a horizontal board. The enclosed environment has a cowboy figure with a revolver in his hand pointing across a rock barricade, some cacti, a low tree and a wooden shed. The opponent's figure is presumably out of the picture. The cabinet lower part is decorated with a cowboy seen from behind shooting to another cowboy in a western desert landscape. The brand "SEGA" is on the cabinet. A white balding man with glass manipulates the cowboy from outside the cabinet while holding a red plastic cup on his other hand. The room has a pinball machine and other arcade machines. A Corona Extra bottle and a cocktail glass are on the cabinet glass. ''Western Gun'' was developed by Tomohiro Nishikado for Taito Corporation. He based the gameplay off of the electro-mechanical game ''Gun Fight'' (1969) released by Sega.<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Alexander |title=They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982 |date=19 November 2019 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-429-75261-2 |pages=193–95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT193}}</ref> ''Gun Fight'' featured two cowboys on a movable track behind rock walls were separated by a field of objects like cacti, trees, and a saloon. If the players shot the cacti, the top would temporarily fall over, as would the cowboy if struck. Points were accumulated by shooting an opponent as many times as possible within the allotted timeframe. Nishikado adapted the mechanics of the original game and added rocks that bullets could ricochet off. Cacti in the environment would be partially destroyed when shot.
Having previously explored creating representational humanoids with the game ''TV Basketball'' (1974), Nishikado pushed the bar further by creating two articulated characters who could wander the screen as well as move their arms to aim the gun. The game was developed using transistor–transistor logic (TTL), as game development had not yet moved to microprocessors. The game was among the most complex TTL games developed in the 1970s.
The game features two sets of controls – one joystick to move the character and fire the weapon and another for aiming the arm. The secondary joystick only allows for vertical movement, with direction being dependent on the movement of the character. ''Western Gun'' could be considered the first twin-stick shooter.
=== Gun Fight === thumb|A game of ''Gun Fight'' Taito had previously made licensing deals with Midway Manufacturing to release their video games in the United States, including ''TV Basketball'' and ''Speed Race'' (1974) (renamed ''Wheels'' by Midway). Once ''Western Gun'' was in development, the game was shown to representatives of Midway. The executives were not impressed with the game's graphics, which they considered unappealing for North American audiences.
Dave Nutting Associates (DNA) was a coin-operated game development firm operated by Dave Nutting and Jeffery Fredriksen. Previously, DNA had tried to interest Midway's parent company Bally Manufacturing in a microprocessor-based pinball game. Though Bally did not accept this deal, DNA maintained a close relationship. Using the Intel 8080 microprocessor, Fredriksen developed hardware to power arcade video games. He pioneered the use of a cost-effective framebuffer, which enabled versatility to create any type of game they desired.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vasulka.org/archive/Writings/VideogameImpact.pdf#page=24 |page=116|title=The Mass Impact of Video Games|website=Vasulka.org|access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> The hardware included a special barrel shifter circuit built from discrete chips.<ref>The schematic for the "game logic" board of ''Gun Fight'' has a shifter circuit made from four AMD Am25S10 4-bit barrel-shifter chips wired together, along with several 74175 latches to hold the data to be shifted and the number of bit positions to shift by.</ref> The microprocessor used this to shift each pattern of picture bits to the proper horizontal bit offset, reading back each shifted byte and then writing it into the framebuffer. The 8080, like other microprocessors of its era, had shift instructions that could only shift by a single bit position. With the shifter circuit, the microprocessor could quickly shift a picture byte by several bit positions, giving it more time for other work.
Nutting and Fredriksen developed a basic demonstration of a baseball game and showcased it to Midway, who had created many pitch-and-bat electro-mechanical baseball games. Midway instead proposed that DNA should adapt ''Western Gun'' to their arcade hardware. To program this translation, Fredriksen recruited from his alma mater the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The head of the Robotic and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Richard Northouse, agreed to have two of his students sent to DNA as a work-study. Thomas A. McHugh (1946–2020) and another programmer (later replaced by Jamie Fenton) were propositioned to work on ''Gun Fight''. McHugh took the offer and served as the principle programmer under game designer David Nutting. The game was programmed in assembly language using an Intellec 8 microprocessor development system, with graphical elements translated from hexadecimal code.<ref>{{Cite web |last=historyofhowweplay |date=2018-04-03 |title=Interview: Tom McHugh |url=https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/interview-tom-mchugh/ |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=The History of How We Play |language=en}}</ref>
DNA's version increased the size of the player characters, while at the same time restricting each character's movement on their respective halves of the screen. It also added limited shots, indicated by a set of bullets drawn graphically at the bottom of the screen. The game's cabinet featured a bezel which provided indications of score, game time, and bullets. The screen also featured an overlay which rendered the white graphical elements of the screen yellow. Controls were altered slightly from ''Western Gun'', with a larger aiming stick featuring a wider range of movement rather than purely vertical.
Their version of the game eliminated the rock obstacles, added indestructible trees, and created a progression of stages after each round. More obstacles were added to the field as the scores got higher, introducing a moving stagecoach to serve as an additional impediment.
Midway's version was released as ''Gun Fight'' in November 1975.
==Reception== In Japan, ''Western Gun'' was among the top ten highest-rated arcade video games of 1976 by operators polled in the 1976 New Year's Holiday period.<ref name="GM65">{{cite magazine|title=本紙アンケー 〜 ト調査の結果|trans-title=Paper Questionnaire: Results of the Survey |magazine=Game Machine|issue=65|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 February 1977|page=2|lang=ja|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19770201p.pdf#page=2}}</ref>
''Gun Fight'' sold 8,600 units in the United States, making it among the best selling video games of the time period and the top selling game released in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jarrell |first=Timothy |date=November 1976 |title=Like Old Man River Midway Sales Go Rollin' Along |journal=Play Meter |volume=2 |issue=12 |pages=50–52}}</ref>
In March 1976, the first annual ''RePlay'' arcade chart listed ''Gun Fight'' as third best-charting video game among its polled operators.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=March 1976 |title=The Nation's Top Arcade Games |journal=RePlay |volume=1 |issue=22 |pages=26}}</ref> In October the same year, ''RePlay'' listed ''Gun Fight'' in second place, below Midway's ''Sea Wolf''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Profit Chart |journal=RePlay |date=October 1976}}</ref> In November 1977, the first annual ''Play Meter'' arcade chart listed ''Gun Fight'' as the fifth best-charting arcade video game of 1977.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Top Arcade Games |journal=Play Meter |date=November 1977}}</ref> ''Play Meter'' later listed it among the top 30 top arcade games of 1978 among operators polled.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 'Winners' of '78: Top Arcade Games |magazine=Play Meter |date=1978}}</ref>
Tomohiro Nishikado believed that his original version was more fun than Midway's version, but he was impressed with the Midway machine's improved graphics and smoother animation. He was inspired to explore microprocessor-based hardware, which eventually resulted in ''Space Invaders'' (1978).<ref>{{citation|author=Chris Kohler|year=2005|title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life|page=19|publisher=BradyGames|isbn=0-7440-0424-1|quote=As a game, I thought our version of ''Western Gun'' was more fun. But just from using a microprocessor, the walking animation became much smoother and prettier in Midway's version.}}</ref> The hardware of ''Space Invaders'' is incredibly similar to ''Gun Fight'', including the use of the barrel shifter circuit.<ref name="mw8080bw.cpp">{{cite web |url=https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/mame0219/src/mame/drivers/mw8080bw.cpp |title=mw8080bw.cpp |access-date=2020-03-09 |quote=Most of these games do not actually use the MB14241 shifter IC, but instead implement equivalent functionality using a bunch of standard 74XX IC's.|website=Github.com}}</ref><ref name="8080bw.cpp">{{cite web |url=https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/mame0219/src/mame/drivers/8080bw.cpp |title=mw8080bw.cpp |access-date=2020-03-09 |quote=... data shifter, using either ~11 74xx chips, AM25S10s, Fujitsu MB14221 or Fujitsu MB14241 chips, which all do the same thing.|website=Github.com}}</ref> The hardware was also reused in subsequent Dave Nutting Associates-developed Midway games including ''Sea Wolf'' (1976) and ''280 ZZZAP'' (1976). In Taito's ''Space Invaders Part II'' of 1979, this circuit was replaced by a Fujitsu MB14241, a single-chip implementation of the barrel shifter introduced in ''Gun Fight''.
In 2021, ''The Guardian'' listed it as the eleventh greatest video game of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |title=The 15 greatest video games of the 70s – ranked! |url=https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/may/13/15-greatest-video-games-of-the-70s-ranked |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
==Ports== When Dave Nutting Associates developed the Bally Professional Arcade console, they included a built-in version of Gun Fight in the system's ROM.<ref>{{citation|title=High score! The illustrated history of electronic games|author1=Rusel DeMaria |author2=Johnny L. Wilson |name-list-style=amp |edition=2|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|year=2003|isbn=0-07-223172-6|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC|access-date=2011-04-02}}</ref> This version was programmed by Alan McNeil, later of ''Berzerk'' fame.
In 1984, Epyx released ''Gun Fight'' bundled with another Midway game, ''Sea Wolf II'', for Atari 8-bit computers as part of their ''Arcade Classics'' compilation.
==Legacy== Gun Fight was popular enough to spawn a sequel released in 1977, ''Boot Hill''.
The game was included in GameSpy's "Hall of Fame" in 2002. They commented that "''Gun Fight'' was the first game to feature two humanized characters attempting to outfight each other, which would become one of the most common themes in games for the next 25-plus years"; that it was one of the first Japanese video games imported to North America; and that Midway's version "was the first microprocessor-based arcade game".<ref name="gamespy1">{{cite web|last=Cassidy|first=William|title=Gun Fight|url=http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/491/491634p1.html|publisher=GameSpy|access-date=3 December 2011|date=May 6, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051114/http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/491/491634p1.html|archive-date=25 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
David Crane developed the game ''Outlaw'' (1978), which was based on the Midway version of ''Gun Fight''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984|last=Weiss|first=Brett|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-3226-4|year=2007|p=87}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978|last=Bunch|first=Kevin|publisher=Press Run Books|isbn=978-1-955183-21-5|year=2023|p=148}}</ref> Crane said the game was influenced by ''Gun Fight'' and liked the idea of making a game with two opposing gunfighters.<ref>{{cite book|title=Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978|last=Bunch|first=Kevin|publisher=Press Run Books|isbn=978-1-955183-21-5|year=2023|p=150}}</ref> Other companies had released similar games for their consoles during this period, such as ''Gunfighter'' for the RCA Studio II, and an official adaptation of ''Gun Fight'' was a built-in game on the Bally Professional Arcade.<ref>{{cite book|title=Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978|last=Bunch|first=Kevin|publisher=Press Run Books|isbn=978-1-955183-21-5|year=2023|pp=152–153}}</ref>
In 1982, the clone ''Gunfight'' was released for the Atari 8-bit computers by Hofacker / Elcomp Publishing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atari 400 800 XL XE Gunfight |url=https://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-gunfight_14899.html |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=www.atarimania.com}}</ref> ''The Duel'' for the Commodore 64 is a clone released in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=3926|title=Lemon64 - Duel, The|website=Lemon64.com|access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
Taito used a control scheme similar to ''Western Gun'' for the run and gun video game ''Front Line'' (1982).<ref name="VideoGames">{{cite magazine | magazine = Video Games | volume = 1 | publisher = Pumpkin Press | issue = 7 | pages = 49, 66 | title = Front Line / Top Ten Hits | date=March 1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_06_1983-03_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n48}}</ref> In 1995, ''GamesMaster'' host Dominik Diamond called Sega's arcade game ''Virtual On: Cyber Troopers'' "a futuristic version" of ''Gun Fight''.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Episode #106 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVlLY2-2irc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/WVlLY2-2irc |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=24 April 2021 |series=GamesMaster |series-link=GamesMaster |first=Dominik |last=Diamond |author-link=Dominik Diamond |network=Channel 4 |date=7 December 1995 |series-no=5 |number=12 |minutes=3 |location=United Kingdom}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==See also== * ''Boot Hill'' (1977) * ''Sheriff'' (1979)
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== <references>
<ref name="allgame">{{cite web|title=Gun Fight|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10214|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114094553/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10214|archive-date=2014-11-14|url-status=dead}}</ref>
</references>
==External links== * {{KLOV game|id=8039}} * [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=1040 Arcade-History.com ''Gun Fight'' page]
Category:1975 video games Category:Arcade video games Category:Atari 8-bit computer games Category:Bally Astrocade games Category:Midway video games Category:Multidirectional shooters Category:Multiplayer video games Category:Pack-in video games Category:Taito arcade games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Video games set in the American frontier Category:Western (genre) video games