Starship 1

Starship 1 was released in July 1977, selling at a MSRP of $1445. Approximately 3500 units were produced.

It is another fantastic Atari first. This incredibly realistic video sensation (at its time) goes where no game has gone before. This is one of, if not the, first game to use sprite scaling to increase the size of the 2D objects in the game as they get closer to the player.

After a nearly 50-year run, the mid-1970s video games like Starship 1 spelled the end of the electro-mechanical arcade games (such as "Killer Shark" seen in the movie Jaws). Video games would spawn a nation-wide phenomenon which has gone on to this day.

Starship 1 was one of many mid-1970's Atari games such as "Night Driver", "Sprint 2" and "Drag Race" which were often found at carnivals and bowling alleys. Kids would flock to these establishments just to get an opportunity to play the games rather than the primary source of entertainment they offered. When the 80's arrived, video games could be found everywhere including grocery stores and kids didn't have to go very far to play their favorite game.

At the end of a game, two different sayings will be displayed. One simply saying to deposit a quarter to be the captain of Starship 1, the other saying that "Sensors detect another quarter in your pocket, deposit it to be the captain of Starship 1". Pretty funny the first time you see it!

A Starship 1 unit appears in the 1978 movie "Dawn of the Dead".

Heavily influenced by the original Star Trek TV series, the game debuted a style of spacecraft not seen in that show but would appear five years later in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as the Miranda-class vessel, the USS Reliant.