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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=3397","20160105140543","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1452002743"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"/><title>Breakout arcade video game by Atari, Inc. (1976)</title><meta name="description" content="Get information, images and history of the Atari, Inc. 1976 arcade video game: Breakout"/><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no"/><base href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160105140543/http://www.arcade-history.com/"/><link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160105140543/http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=breakout&page=detail&id=3397"/><script src="/web/20160105140543js_/http://www.arcade-history.com/style/history.js"></script><link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20160105140543cs_/http://www.arcade-history.com/style/arcade.css"/><link rel="shortcut icon" href="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/favicon.ico"/></head><body><div id="global"><div id="header"><div id="logo"><img width="561" height="100" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/logo2015.png" alt="Gaming History"></div><div id="membersBar"><div class="leftmembreinfo"><a rel="nofollow" href="index.php?page=membre&onglet=login">Login</a> | <a rel="nofollow" href="index.php?page=membre&onglet=inscription">Register</a></div></div><div id="idnavhaut"><a id="homeLink" rel="home" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160105140543/http://www.arcade-history.com/" title="go to the home page">Home</a> <a id="dbLink" href="index.php?page=database" title="browse the arcade-history database" class="courant">DATABASE</a> <a id="manufLink" href="index.php?page=manufacturers" title="browse the database by companies">Companies</a> <a id="timeLink" rel="nofollow" href="index.php?page=timeline" title="generate a timeline">Timeline</a> <a id="artLink" href="index.php?page=articles" title="get more information about arcade's history">Blog</a> <a id="downLink" href="index.php?page=download" title="download history.dat for mame">Download</a> <a id="statLink" rel="nofollow" href="index.php?page=status" title="check submissions' status">Submissions</a> <a id="contLink" rel="nofollow" href="index.php?page=contact" title="contact us">Contact</a> <a id="coinopboyLink" href="index.php?page=coinopboy" title="coin-op boy">Coin-Op Boy</a></div></div><div id="gametitle"><h1>Breakout</h1></div><div id="pub" style="width:auto;margin:0 auto 0 auto;"><div id="pub1" class="centrer" style="width:728px;margin:0 auto 0 auto;"><script async src="//web.archive.org/web/20160105140543js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1057412786836492" data-ad-slot="3418600114"></ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script></div></div><h2>The Arcade Video Game by <a rel="NoFollow" href="index.php?page=database&editeur=43">Atari, Inc. </a> <a rel="NoFollow" href="index.php?page=timeline&listtypes=&TIMEediteur=43"><img width="16px" height="16px" alt="See Timeline" title="See the Timeline of Atari, Inc. " src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/SeeTimeline.png"/></a></h2><form id="TV" action="#"><fieldset><input type="hidden" id="courant" name="courant" value="1"/><input type="hidden" id="total" name="total" value="1"/></fieldset></form><div class="Screen7"><img id="kukulcan" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/game/3397_1.png" alt="Breakout screenshot"/></div><script type="text/javascript">untexte = new Array(1);var img1a = new Image(); img1a.src='images/game/3397_1.png'; untexte[1]='images/game/3397_1.png';afficheimage();var a = setInterval("diaposuivante()",4000);</script><div class="cartouche"><div class="cartouche-milieu"><div id="onglet"><ul><li class="courant"><a href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletInfo.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Information</strong></a></li><li><a rel="NoFollow" href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397&o=7"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletManual.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Manuals</strong> (1)</a></li><li><a rel="NoFollow" href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397&o=6"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletGoodies.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Goodies</strong> (1)</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397&o=4"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletCom.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Comments</strong> (0)</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397&o=2"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletEdit.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Edit this page</strong></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" href="?n=&page=detail&id=3397&o=3"><img width="14" height="13" src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/design/ongletUpload.png" alt="Game"/> <strong>Upload image</strong></a></li><a rel="nofollow" style="float:right" href="index.php?page=membre&onglet=inscription">&hearts; Add to favorites</a></ul></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>KEYWORDS</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100"><a class="keyword" rel="tag" href="index.php?page=database&keyword1=Genres%2FBreakout" title="Keyword Genres/Breakout">Genres/Breakout</a> <a class="keyword" rel="tag" href="index.php?page=database&keyword1=First+of+Series" title="Keyword First of Series">First of Series</a> </div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>DESCRIPTION</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100"><em>[Coin-Op] Arcade Video Game</em><h4>Breakout © 1976 Atari, Incorporated. </h4> <br/> Breakout sets up with eight rows of bricks; each two rows are different colors. The color order from the bottom up is yellow, green, orange, and red. Players get three balls to try to knock down as many bricks as possible by ricocheting the ball against the wall off of a video sledge hammer. The higher the row, the more points the bricks are worth. To add to the challenge, the hammer decreases to half its size after the ball breaks through the red row and hits the upper wall. Ball speed increases after four hits, increased again after twelve, to highest speed in the orange and red rows.</div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>TECHNICAL INFORMATION</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">Have an information about this product ? Please <a rel="nofollow" href="?n=breakout&page=detail&id=3397&o=2">submit it</a></div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>TRIVIA</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">Breakout was released in April 1976.<br/> <br/> Nolan Bushnell put out the word at Atari that he would pay anyone who could design the game and reduce the number of ICs that it used, $100 per IC removed from the design. Steve Jobs, at the time a low-paid technician at Atari, accepted the challenge. He originally attempted to work on the design himself, but soon found himself in way over his head. He then brought in his friend Steve Wozniak, who liked to hang out at Atari and playtest the new games as they rolled off the assembly lines.<br/> <br/> Woz and Jobs stayed up for four days working on the design. Woz would work on the game at night, take a small catnap, go to work at his day job at Hewlett-Packard, and then return home at night to resume work on the design. In the end, Woz reduced the design down to 42 ICs, and both he and Jobs contracted mono from staying up for four days straight working on it. Jobs received a $5,000 bonus and told Woz it was only $700 and gave Steve Wozniak his '50%'... $350.<br/> <br/> Years later this truth would come out and it would add to the already increasing friction between the two which eventually lead to Steve Wozniak quitting Apple. Meanwhile at Atari, the Breakout design was ingenious, however no one could figure it out so production could not begin. Al Alcorn says about Woz's design, "It was remarkable... a tour de force. It was so minimized, though, that nobody else could build it. Nobody could understand what Woz did but Woz. It was this brilliant piece of engineering, but it was just unproduceable. So the game sat around and languished in the lab".<br/> <br/> In the end, Alcorn assigned another engineer to redesign the game so that it was more easily replicated. The final game had about 100 ICs.<br/> <br/> Approximately 11,000 units were produced. There was an upright dedicated cabinet with sideart of the word 'Breakout' in red letters, being smashed in by a ball. There was also a unique looking round cocktail version, the cocktail is easier to find today because people rarely did conversions on cocktail tables.<br/> <br/> Zachary Hample of New York holds the official record for this game with 896 points on June 25, 2002.</div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>SCORING</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">Red brick : 7 points.<br/> Orange brick : 5 points.<br/> Green brick : 3 points.<br/> Yellow brick : 1 point.</div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>SERIES</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">1. <a href="?n=breakout&page=detail&id=3397" title="go to breakout">Breakout</a> (1976)<br/> 2. Breakout Deluxe (1976)<br/> 3. <a href="?n=super-breakout&page=detail&id=2700" title="go to super breakout">Super Breakout</a> (1978)<br/> 4. <a href="?n=breakout-2000-model-j9093e&page=detail&id=76409" title="go to breakout 2000 [model j9093e]">Breakout 2000 [Model J9093E]</a> (1997, Atari Jaguar)<br/> 5. <a href="?n=breakout&page=detail&id=82971" title="go to breakout">Breakout</a> (2000, Sony PlayStation, PC CD-ROM; 2001, Macintosh)<br/> 6. Breakout Boost (2011, App Store) </div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>STAFF</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">Designed by : <a href="index.php?page=person&name=Nolan+Bushnell" title="List of game where this person appears">Nolan Bushnell<br/></a> Original hardware engineering by : <a href="index.php?page=person&name=Steve+Wozniak" title="List of game where this person appears">Steve Wozniak</a>, <a href="index.php?page=person&name=Steve+Jobs" title="List of game where this person appears">Steve Jobs<br/></a> Final engineering by : <a href="index.php?page=person&name=%3F%3F%3F" title="List of game where this person appears">???</a> </div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>PORTS</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100"><h4>Consoles:</h4><br/> Atari 2600 <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (1978) "<a href="?n=breakout-model-cx2622&page=detail&id=50288" title="go to breakout [model cx2622]">Breakout [Model CX2622]</a>"<br/> Atari 2600 <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/eu.png" alt="europe"/> (1978) "<a href="?n=breakout-model-cx2622p&page=detail&id=82973" title="go to breakout [model cx2622p]">Breakout [Model CX2622P]</a>"<br/> DynaVision <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/br.png" alt="brazil"/> (198?)<br/> Sega Master System <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/eu.png" alt="europe"/> (1992) "Arcade Smash Hits [Model MK-27032]" <br/> <br/> <h4>Handhelds:</h4> <br/> Nintendo Game Boy Advance <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (August 21, 2005) "<a href="?n=3-games-in-one-breakout-centipede-warlords-model-agb-b6ze-usa&page=detail&id=69508" title="go to 3 games in one! breakout - centipede - warlords [model agb-b6ze-usa]">3 Games in One! Breakout - Centipede - Warlords [Model AGB-B6ZE-USA]</a>"<br/> Nintendo Game Boy Advance <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/eu.png" alt="europe"/> (September 9, 2005) "<a href="?n=3-games-in-one-breakout-centipede-warlords-model-agb-b6zp&page=detail&id=69507" title="go to 3 games in one! breakout - centipede - warlords [model agb-b6zp]">3 Games in One! Breakout - Centipede - Warlords [Model AGB-B6ZP]</a>"<br/> Nintendo DS [UK] (March 11, 2005) "<a href="?n=retro-atari-classics-model-ntr-atae-ukv&page=detail&id=82964" title="go to retro atari classics [model ntr-atae-ukv]">Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-UKV]</a>" <br/> Nintendo DS <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/eu.png" alt="europe"/> (March 11, 2005) "<a href="?n=retro-atari-classics-model-ntr-atae-eur&page=detail&id=82963" title="go to retro atari classics [model ntr-atae-eur]">Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-EUR]</a>" <br/> Nintendo DS <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (March 16, 2005) "<a href="?n=retro-atari-classics-model-ntr-atae-usa&page=detail&id=82965" title="go to retro atari classics [model ntr-atae-usa]">Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-USA]</a>" <br/> Nintendo DS <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/jp.png" alt="japan"/> (June 30, 2005) "<a href="?n=atarimix-happy-10-games-model-ntr-ataj-jpn&page=detail&id=82961" title="go to atarimix happy 10 games [model ntr-ataj-jpn]">Atarimix Happy 10 Games [Model NTR-ATAJ-JPN]</a>" <br/> Nintendo DS [AU] (November 2007) "<a href="?n=retro-atari-classics-model-ntr-atae-aus&page=detail&id=82962" title="go to retro atari classics [model ntr-atae-aus]">Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-AUS]</a>" <br/> <br/> <h4>Computers:</h4><br/> Sinclair ZX Spectrum <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (1982) <br/> Mattel Aquarius <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (1983) <br/> PC [Booter] <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (1983) "Brick Breaker", a part of the "Friendlyware PC Arcade" suite<br/> <br/> <h4>Others:</h4><br/> BlackBerry <img src="/web/20160105140543im_/http://www.arcade-history.com/images/custom/ports/us.png" alt="usa"/> (June 16, 2009) [Model 2198]</div></div><div class="ContainerTableau100"><div class="CelluleTitre100"><div><h3>SOURCES</h3></div></div><div class="CelluleTexte100">The First Quarter- A 25 Year History of Video Games by Steven L. Kent<br/>The Doteaters Website, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160105140543/http://www.emuunlim.com/doteaters/play2sta1.htm" class="kukulcan">http://www.emuunlim.com/doteaters/play2sta1.htm</a><br/>Steve Wozniak's page, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160105140543/http://www.woz.org/" class="kukulcan">http://www.woz.org</a><br/></div></div><p style="text-align:center;"><em>Page last modified on October 17, 2014</em></p><div class="retour"> </div></div></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> window.cookieconsent_options = {"message":"<img height=\"25px\" width=\"25px\" src=\"../images/design/cookies.png\" /> Like 99% of the websites, we use cookies to collect anonymous statistics about your visit. 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