View source for Exidy

{{Short description|Developer and manufacturer of coin-operated amusements}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Exidy, Inc.
| logo = 
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| former_name = 
| founded = 1973
| defunct = 1999
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|
| H.R. Kauffman
| Samuel Hawes
}}
| hq_location_city = [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]], [[California]]
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| key_people = 
| products = [[Arcade game]]s
| owner = 
| parent = 
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = 
| website = 
}}

'''Exidy, Inc.''' was an American developer and manufacturer of coin-operated electro-mechanical and video games which operated from 1973 to 1999. They manufactured many notable titles including ''[[Death Race (1976 video game)|Death Race]]'' (1976), ''[[Circus (video game)|Circus]]'' (1978), ''[[Star Fire]]'' (1978), ''[[Venture (video game)|Venture]]'' (1981), ''[[Mouse Trap (1981 video game)|Mouse Trap]]'' (1981), ''[[Crossbow (video game)|Crossbow]]'' (1983), and ''[[Chiller (video game)|Chiller]]'' (1986). They were also the creators of the [[Exidy Sorcerer]] (1978) home computer platform.

==History==
Harold Ray “Pete” Kauffman had worked in the technological field at [[Data Disc|Data Disc Corporation]] with Charles McEwan and John Metzler.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Calfee |first1=Richard W. |last2=Hatley |first2=E. Troy |last3=Kauffman |first3=Pete |date=1970-11-09 |title=Need accurate recordings of fast transients? Try disks |journal=Electronics |volume=43 |issue=23 |pages=82–85}}</ref> When the two broke off to form the graphics terminal company [[Ramtek Corporation]] in [[Sunnyvale, California]], Kauffman joined them as a marketing executive. In late 1972, Kauffman was one of a handful of engineers sent to examine the prototype of [[Atari, Inc.|Atari Inc]]’s ''[[Pong]]'' (1972) in the Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale. Kauffman recalled of the experience:

"I was really excited when I first saw the ''Pong'' game on test at a local pub. It was assembled in an old oak barrel ‘table model’ without a coin door. The quarters just dropped into the barrel…After playing the game, I tried to move it slightly. It wouldn’t move. It must have been full of quarters. This could not have been a fad!"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ellis |first=David |date=August 2006 |title=The Wayback Machine: Of Mouse Traps and Crossbows: The Exidy Story |journal=GameRoom}}</ref>

Ramtek subsequently got into manufacturing coin-operated video games as a side business. Kauffman, however, believed that he could do more with a company dedicated to exploiting the new trend in electronic games. He and Ampex engineer Samuel Hawes formed a new company to enter the coin-op industry, Exidy, Inc on October 30, 1973.<ref>{{Citation |title=Articles of Incorporation |date=October 30, 1973 |publisher=Exidy, Inc.}}</ref> The name was a portmanteau of the phrase, “Excellence in Dynamics.”<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Meyers |first=Richard |date=December 1982 |title=The Exidy Experiment |journal=Videogaming Illustrated |pages=38–41}}</ref>

Exidy’s first products were in the ball-and-paddle genre, including a basic clone of Atari’s ''Pong'' and ''TV Pinball'' (1974), which may have been modeled on an unreleased Ramtek game called ''Knockout''. In 1975, Exidy began manufacturing [[Electro-mechanical game|electro-mechanical games]] with a game called ''Old Time Basketball'' (1975).

To help get their games a wider market, Exidy opened a licensing arrangement with the large amusement manufacturer [[Chicago Coin]] to license their video games. In 1975, John Metzler joined Exidy from Ramtek and produced a game called ''Destruction Derby'' (1975). Under the licensing arrangement, Chicago Coin produced a version called ''Demolition Derby'' (1975) which became a success, but they refused to pay their licensing fees to Exidy due to Chicago Coin’s failing financial state. Needing to make a distinct game to compete with ''Demolition Derby'', another engineer who had joined from Ramtek named Howell Ivy was assigned to create a quick turnaround. The resulting game, ''[[Death Race (1976 video game)|Death Race]]'' (1976), was a minor success before it attracted notice for its violent content. The resulting controversy gave Exidy a national profile with stories appearing on ''[[60 Minutes]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]'' as well as increased sales of the game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Chris |date=2018-06-01 |title=The Media vs. Death Race |url=https://gamehistory.org/media-vs-death-race/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Video Game History Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> Several follow-up games from the company used the Death Race hardware, including ''Super Death Chase'' (1977) and ''Score'' (1977).

The salesman and spokesman for the company during the ''Death Race'' controversy, Paul Jacobs, served as the company’s chief sales person from 1976-1978 and 1983-1984. Originally from Chicago Coin, Jacobs helped to build the company to become the third biggest manufacturer of arcade video games in 1977 and stabilized the company during a period of uncertainty after a downturn in video arcade games.

Howell Ivy began working with microprocessor technology after ''Death Race''. He created the early color graphics game ''Car Polo'' (1977) and a game with a similar conceit to ''[[Breakout (video game)|Breakout]]'' (1976) called ''[[Circus (video game)|Circus]]'' (1978). ''Circus'' inspired a number of clones in both Japan and North America, becoming Exidy’s best-selling game at the time with 7,000 units sold.

Their exploration into microprocessors also led to the development of the Sorcerer personal computer. Partnering with early commercial computer retailer [[Paul Terrell]], Exidy developed the hardware of a [[S-100 bus]] compatible system first sold in 1978. The hardware had no native graphics modes, though had a text mode with programmable characters. Exidy supported the system with documentation, tools, and a few in-house developed games, but the system did not have much of a following in North America. It later found support in Australia and Europe, particularly in the Netherlands where it was offered with a course on the educational channel TELEAC, in place of the Belgian DAI computer. They later sold their division to Biotech Capital Group in 1981. One independent Sorcerer game designer later brought in to create Exidy arcade games was Vic Tolomei.

Exidy released ''[[Star Fire]]'' (1978), the first arcade video game with a high score table, developed by independent company Techni-Cal. In November 1979, Exidy purchased the company Vectorbeam from [[Cinematronics]]. Renamed Exidy II (or Exidy 2), the company intended to continue running the Union City manufacturing plant to exploit the vector graphics technology under license from Cinematronics. The company released a version of ''Tailgunner'' (1979) under this arrangement called ''Tailgunner II'', but did not release any other games using vector graphics technology at the time. They later created the vector game ''Vertigo'' (1985).

Several of Exidy’s games found success putting twists on popular arcade concepts of the time. Their game ''Crash'' (1979) was similar to Sega’s ''[[Head On (video game)|Head On]]'' (1979), which Sega subsequently threatened legal action over. They expanded on the gameplay with ''[[Targ (video game)|Targ]]'' (1980), creating a unique blend of maze and shooting elements. Their game ''[[Mouse Trap (1981 video game)|Mouse Trap]]'' (1981) riffed on ''Pac-Man'' (1980) and was later ported to both the Atari VCS and Colecovision consoles by Coleco. ''[[Venture (video game)|Venture]]'' (1981) was an action-based take on ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' dungeon crawling similar to ''[[Berzerk (video game)|Berzerk]]'' (1980).

When the coin-operated video game market started to suffer in mid-1982, Exidy diversified into different experiences. They returned to electro-mechanical games with ''Whirly Bucket'' (1983) and ''Tidal Wave'' (1983), both takes on skee ball. They created ''Fax'' (1983), a video quiz game aimed at the bar and tavern market.

In 1983, Exidy began creating light gun games, which had not been popular in the arcades since the heyday of electro-mechanical games. ''Crossbow'' (1983) was a success, establishing the Exidy 440 hardware system and prompting the release of more light gun games in the same style. The ‘c’ series consisted of ''Cheyenne'', ''Combat'', ''Crackshot'', ''Clay Pigeon'', and ''Chiller'' (1986). ''Chiller'', like ''Death Race'' before it, attracted attention due to its violent and graphic content, including shooting body parts off of torture victims.

In 1984, Exidy invested in an interchangeable kit design called the Max-A-Flex based on the [[Atari 8-bit computers]], specifically the 600XL. The system featured four titles licensed from computer game company [[First Star Software]]: ''Boulder Bash'', ''Flip and Flop'', ''Bristles'', and ''Astro Chase''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 1984 |title=Exidy's Introduces Four "First Star" Games In Massive Display A.O.E. Show |journal=Canadian Coin Box |pages=18}}</ref> Max-A-Flex was subsequently abandoned after the release of these titles.

Through its entire operation, Exidy never went public nor sought venture capital investment. The company relied entirely on its products and the fundraising efforts of President Pete Kauffman to sustain the operation who liked to maintain control. This also led to a resistance to license product from other countries like Japan, relying mostly on in-house talent.<ref name=":0" />{{refn|Exidy did license some product early in its history, including <i>Bandido</i> from Nintendo.|group=Note}} In 1985, the company went into bankruptcy and former Atari coin-op head Gene Lipkin became president.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Compasio |first=Camille |date=1985-01-19 |title=Around the Route |journal=Cash Box |volume=47 |issue=30 |pages=29}}</ref> A plan was hatched for Exidy to be bought by Sega, but this never materialized and Lipkin left to establish Sega Enterprises USA.

Exidy had a bonus program for engineers who created hit games,<ref name=":0" /> but did not start crediting its developers until fairly late in its history. In the company’s later years, many of their game designers left to join other studios. Long term game designer Howell Ivy departed the company for Sega Enterprises USA to help start their product development apparatus. Ken Nicholson who worked on the light gun series as well as ''Top Secret'' (1986) left to join Epyx. Designer Vic Tolomei left in 1987.

The company’s last traditional video game was ''[[Who Dunit]]'' (1988). Afterwards, they moved into video poker machines and eventually into electro-mechanical redemption games. Kauffman eventually brought in his daughter Victoria and maintained control of the company until it was voluntarily dissolved in 1999.

In 2006, [[Mean Hamster Software]] acquired the license to develop new versions of Exidy’s arcade catalog.<ref>[http://www.meanhamstersoftware.com/press.php Mean Hamster Software]</ref> They eventually released ''Crossbow'' for [[IPhone]] in 2010. In 2015, Collectorvision Games registered the abandoned trademark for Exidy along with its logo.<ref>
[http://www.collectorvision.com CollectorVision Games]</ref>

In 2007, Pete Kauffman worked with the developers of the [[MAME]] arcade emulator to release a number of Exidy arcade properties for non-commercial use by community members. Over time, these games included ''Circus'', ''Robot Bowl'', ''Car Polo'', ''Side Trak'', ''Ripcord'', ''Fire One'', ''Crash'', ''Star Fire'', ''Star Fire II'', ''Targ'', ''Spectar'', ''Hard Hat'', ''Victory'', ''Teeter Torture'', ''Fax'', and ''Top Gunner''. The ROM images of these games are available to download from the MAME website after acknowledging their terms of use.

Pete Kauffman died on July 3, 2015.<ref>{{cite web |date=2015-07-06 |title=Obituary: Exidy founder Pete Kauffman |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/obituary-exidy-founder-pete-kauffman |access-date=2018-07-24 |publisher=Gamasutra}}</ref>

==Arcade titles==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:20%;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:4%;" | Release date
! scope="col" style="width:37%;" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|''TV Pinball''
|1975
|License of Ramtek's Knockout. The cocktail version is called ''Table Pinball''.
|-
|''Table Foosballer''
|1975
|Licensed from Ramtek.
|-
|''Alley Rally''
|1975
|
|-
|''[[Destruction Derby (1975 video game)|Destruction Derby]]''
|1975
|
|-
|''Old Time Basketball''
|1975
|Mechanical basketball game.
|-
|''[[Death Race (1976 video game)|Death Race]]''
|April 1, 1976
|During development, this game was known as ''Death Race 98''.
|-
|''Robot Bowl''
|1977
|
|-
|[[Death_Race_(1976_video_game)#Legacy|''Score'']]
|1977
|
|-
|''Super Death Chase''
|1977
|
|-
|''[[Circus (video game)|Circus]]''
|1977
|
|-
|''Car Polo''
|1977
|
|-
|''Attack''
|1977
|
|-
|''Football''
|1978
|
|-
|''Rip Cord''
|1979
|
|-
|''Side Trak''
|1979
|
|-
|''Crash''
|1979
|
|-
|''Fire One!''
|1979
|
|-
|''[[Star Fire]]''
|1979
|
|-
|''Bandido''
|January 1980
|Originally developed and released by [[Nintendo]] in 1979 as ''[[Sheriff (video game)|Sheriff]]''
|-
|''Tail Gunner 2''
|1980
|Purchased from Cinematronics
|-
|''[[Spectar]]''
|1980
|
|-
|''[[Targ (video game)|Targ]]''
|1980
|
|-
|''[[Mouse Trap (1981 video game)|Mouse Trap]]''
|1981
|
|-
|''[[Venture (video game)|Venture]]''
|1981
|
|-
|''[[Pepper II]]''
|1982
|
|-
|''[[Victory (video game)|Victory]]''
|1982
|Exidy also produced upgrade-kit of this game called Victor Banana.
|-
|''Hard Hat''
|1982
|Limited release
|-
|''Fax''
|1983
|
|-
|''Whirly Bucket''
|1983
|A twist on the Skee-Ball concept. Unlike that game, the balls curve around a loop, hopefully falling into a hole. Just under the holes, there is a moving puppet, which can be struck with the ball for double points.
|-
|''Tidal Wave''
|1983
|A twist on the Skee-Ball concept. Unlike that game, the balls curve around a loop, hopefully falling into a hole.
|-
|''[[Crossbow (video game)|Crossbow]]''
|1983
|
|-
|''[[Cheyenne (video game)|Cheyenne]]''
|1984
|
|-
|''Catch-22''
|1985
|
|-
|''Combat''
|1985
|
|-
|''Crackshot''
|1985
|
|-
|''Vertigo''
|1985
|Limited release
|-
|''Top Gunner''
|1986
|
|-
|''Top Secret''
|1986
|During development, this game was called 0077. The title was changed to Top Secret possibly due to copyright issues, since the title is similar to the movie series 007. When the game was changed to Top Secret, 50 levels were added and the controls were changed to a steering wheel.
|-
|''Clay Pigeon''
|1986
|
|-
|''[[Chiller (video game)|Chiller]]''
|1986
|
|-
|''Hit 'n Miss''
|1987
|
|-
|''[[Who Dunit]]''
|1988
|
|-
|''Showdown''
|1988
|Poker game
|-
|''Yukon''
|1989
|Poker game (gambling version)
|-
|''Twister''
|1989
|A take on the Skee-Ball concept.
|-
|''Turbo Ticket''
|1996
|A take on the ticket grabber concept.
|}

===First Star Software games===
These were licensed from [[First Star Software]] in 1984 for use with the Max-A-Flex arcade system.
*''[[Astro Chase]]''
*''[[Flip and Flop]]''
*''[[Bristles (video game)|Bristles]]''
*''[[Boulder Dash (video game)|Boulder Dash]]''

===Unreleased prototypes===
*''Kreepy Krawlers'' (1979)
*''UFO's'' (1980)
*''Teeter Torture'' (1982)
*''Snapper'' (1982)
*''Critter'' (1995, mechanical gun game)
*''Hot Shot'' (1995, mechanical gun game)
*''Troll'' (1995, mechanical gun game)

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.mamedev.org/roms/ Free Exidy arcade ROM downloads] at [[MAME]] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071231000817/http://www.thedoteaters.com/p2_stage1.php The Dot Eaters Article] featuring a history of Death Race and Exidy

[[Category:Exidy| ]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1973]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1973]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies based in California]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Sunnyvale, California]]
[[Category:Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:1973 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies based in California]]