<s>
Gotcha	B-Application
is	O
an	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Atari	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
October	O
1973	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
fourth	O
game	O
by	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
1972	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
which	O
marked	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
commercial	O
video	O
game	O
industry	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
1973	O
Space	B-Application
Race	I-Application
and	O
Pong	B-Application
Doubles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
two	O
players	O
move	O
through	O
a	O
maze	B-Application
,	O
which	O
continually	O
changes	O
over	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gotcha	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
by	O
Allan	O
Alcorn	O
,	O
the	O
designer	O
of	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
prototype	O
was	O
constructed	O
by	O
Cyan	O
Engineering	O
,	O
Atari	O
's	O
semi-independent	O
research	O
and	O
development	O
subsidiary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
began	O
in	O
July	O
1973	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Atari	O
's	O
strategy	O
to	O
develop	O
multiple	O
types	O
of	O
games	O
to	O
separate	O
themselves	O
from	O
their	O
competitors	O
,	O
who	O
they	O
saw	O
as	O
focused	O
primarily	O
on	O
creating	O
Pong	B-Application
clones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
main	O
black-and-white	O
game	O
,	O
limited	O
runs	O
were	O
produced	O
of	O
a	O
tinted	O
color	O
version	O
and	O
a	O
true	O
multi-color	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
;	O
the	O
latter	O
is	O
believed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
color	O
arcade	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gotcha	B-Application
is	O
a	O
two-player	O
maze	B-Application
game	I-Application
in	O
which	O
one	O
player	O
attempts	O
to	O
catch	O
the	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maze	B-Application
is	O
composed	O
of	O
a	O
repeating	O
pattern	O
of	O
elements	O
set	O
in	O
multiple	O
columns	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whenever	O
the	O
Pursued	O
is	O
caught	O
,	O
the	O
Pursuer	O
scores	O
a	O
point	O
,	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
disappears	O
for	O
a	O
brief	O
moment	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Pursuer	O
is	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
random	O
position	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maze	B-Application
itself	O
is	O
continually	O
changing	O
,	O
with	O
two	O
invisible	O
lines	O
half	O
a	O
screen	O
apart	O
scanning	O
down	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
and	O
overwriting	O
maze	B-Application
elements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Above	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
is	O
the	O
Pursuer	O
's	O
score	O
and	O
the	O
time	O
elapsed	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
time	O
runs	O
out	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
enters	O
attract	O
mode	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
score	O
resets	O
and	O
the	O
square	O
and	O
plus	O
sign	O
begin	O
bouncing	O
around	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
in	O
a	O
diagonal	O
pattern	O
as	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
continues	O
to	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
on	O
Gotcha	B-Application
began	O
in	O
July	O
1973	O
,	O
as	O
Atari	O
's	O
fourth	O
game	O
after	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
Space	B-Application
Race	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Pong	B-Application
Doubles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
interested	O
in	O
producing	O
a	O
very	O
different	O
game	O
from	O
their	O
previous	O
success	O
of	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
as	O
they	O
felt	O
that	O
innovative	O
design	O
was	O
what	O
would	O
separate	O
them	O
from	O
their	O
competitors	O
,	O
which	O
they	O
saw	O
as	O
flooding	O
the	O
market	O
with	O
Pong	B-Application
clones	O
rather	O
than	O
making	O
new	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Space	B-Application
Race	I-Application
,	O
development	O
immediately	O
moved	O
on	O
to	O
Gotcha	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
Allan	O
Alcorn	O
,	O
the	O
designer	O
of	O
Pong	B-Application
and	O
developer	O
for	O
Space	B-Application
Race	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alcorn	O
had	O
the	O
idea	O
for	O
the	O
game	O
from	O
a	O
defect	O
he	O
sometimes	O
saw	O
when	O
testing	O
Pong	B-Application
machines	O
:	O
if	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
circuit	O
that	O
converted	O
scores	O
to	O
images	O
on	O
the	O
screens	O
was	O
broken	O
,	O
then	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
numbers	O
would	O
be	O
scattered	O
across	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alcorn	O
thought	O
that	O
combining	O
that	O
defect	O
intentionally	O
with	O
a	O
motion	O
circuit	O
could	O
create	O
dynamically	O
changing	O
mazes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
Faraco	O
's	O
initial	O
design	O
for	O
Space	B-Application
Race	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
changed	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
expense	O
after	O
a	O
few	O
dozen	O
units	O
,	O
the	O
joysticks	O
for	O
Gotcha	B-Application
were	O
changed	O
to	O
standard	O
ones	O
shortly	O
into	O
the	O
production	O
run	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
October	O
11	O
,	O
1973	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
breast-like	O
controllers	O
reappeared	O
in	O
yellow	O
in	O
prototype	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
1974	O
Touch	B-Application
Me	I-Application
arcade	B-Application
game	O
,	O
but	O
were	O
not	O
used	O
in	O
production	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
August	O
3	O
,	O
1973	O
,	O
memo	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	O
engineering	O
department	O
,	O
co-founder	O
Nolan	O
Bushnell	O
laid	O
out	O
plans	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
prototype	O
20-player	O
version	O
of	O
Gotcha	B-Application
in	O
time	O
for	O
a	O
trade	O
show	O
later	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
though	O
no	O
such	O
game	O
was	O
ever	O
made	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
released	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
as	O
Gotcha	B-Application
and	O
showcased	O
at	O
the	O
early	O
November	O
1973	O
Music	O
Operators	O
of	O
America	O
(	O
MOA	O
)	O
Music	O
&	O
Amusement	O
Machines	O
Exposition	O
were	O
two	O
additional	O
versions	O
of	O
Gotcha	B-Application
:	O
one	O
with	O
a	O
tinted	O
color	O
overlay	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
true	O
multi-color	O
version	O
of	O
Gotcha	B-Application
with	O
red	O
,	O
blue	O
,	O
and	O
green	O
colors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
color	O
version	O
of	O
Gotcha	B-Application
was	O
not	O
widely	O
produced	O
,	O
with	O
between	O
20	O
and	O
100	O
machines	O
released	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
believed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
color	O
arcade	B-Application
game	O
ever	O
made	O
,	O
released	O
over	O
a	O
month	O
before	O
Wimbledon	O
,	O
a	O
color	O
Pong	B-Application
clone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gotcha	B-Application
was	O
not	O
commercially	O
successful	O
;	O
later	O
sources	O
have	O
described	O
it	O
as	O
receiving	O
a	O
"	O
lukewarm	O
reception	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
arousing	O
little	O
more	O
than	O
controversy	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ralph	O
Baer	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
claims	O
it	O
sold	O
3,000	O
units	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
make	O
it	O
the	O
seventh	O
best-selling	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
of	I-Application
1973	I-Application
according	O
to	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
despite	O
Gotchas	B-Application
prominence	O
as	O
Atari	O
's	O
fourth	O
game	O
and	O
their	O
second	O
game	O
not	O
related	O
to	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
the	O
1973	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
market	O
was	O
largely	O
dominated	O
by	O
Pong	B-Application
clones	O
;	O
while	O
Pong	B-Application
was	O
the	O
fourth	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
ever	O
produced	O
,	O
Gotcha	B-Application
was	O
approximately	O
the	O
twentieth	O
,	O
with	O
nearly	O
all	O
the	O
other	O
games	O
released	O
before	O
and	O
after	O
Gotcha	B-Application
through	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
year	O
Pong	B-Application
clones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gotcha	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
arcade	B-Application
maze	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
,	O
though	O
non-commercial	O
maze-based	O
video	O
games	O
had	O
been	O
developed	O
as	O
early	O
as	O
the	O
1959	O
Mouse	O
in	O
the	O
Maze	B-Application
computer	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
