<s>
In	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
two	O
players	O
drive	O
tanks	O
through	O
a	O
maze	B-Application
viewed	O
from	O
above	O
while	O
attempting	O
to	O
shoot	O
each	O
other	O
and	O
avoid	O
mines	O
,	O
represented	O
by	O
X	O
marks	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
central	O
minefield	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tank	O
was	O
designed	O
by	O
Steve	O
Bristow	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
previously	O
worked	O
with	O
the	O
founders	O
of	O
Atari	O
on	O
Computer	B-Application
Space	I-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
arcade	O
video	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Lyle	O
Rains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
cocktail	O
cabinet	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
and	O
to	O
four	O
sequels	O
:	O
Tank	O
II	O
(	O
1974	O
)	O
,	O
Tank	O
III	O
(	O
1975	O
)	O
,	O
Tank	B-Application
8	I-Application
(	O
1976	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Ultra	B-Application
Tank	I-Application
(	O
1978	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dedicated	B-Device
console	I-Device
version	O
of	O
Tank	O
II	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
1977	O
but	O
cancelled	O
later	O
that	O
year	O
;	O
the	O
joysticks	O
for	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
became	O
the	O
standard	O
joystick	O
controllers	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
(	O
1977	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Variations	O
on	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
game	O
Combat	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
Coleco	B-Application
Telstar	I-Application
game	O
Telstar	O
Combat	O
!,	O
both	O
in	O
1977	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tank	O
is	O
a	O
two-player	O
maze	B-Application
game	I-Application
in	O
which	O
the	O
players	O
,	O
each	O
controlling	O
a	O
tank	O
,	O
attempt	O
to	O
shoot	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maze	B-Application
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
blocks	O
set	O
at	O
right	O
angles	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
with	O
an	O
empty	O
square	O
central	O
area	O
all	O
viewed	O
from	O
above	O
;	O
the	O
shape	O
of	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
is	O
not	O
symmetric	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
between	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
,	O
in	O
1973	O
just	O
over	O
a	O
year	O
old	O
and	O
largely	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
hit	O
first	O
game	O
Pong	B-Application
,	O
felt	O
that	O
as	O
a	O
smaller	O
manufacturer	O
this	O
setup	O
severely	O
limited	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
sell	O
arcade	O
games	O
:	O
they	O
could	O
only	O
contract	O
with	O
a	O
limited	O
number	O
of	O
distributors	O
,	O
who	O
would	O
only	O
buy	O
a	O
limited	O
number	O
of	O
games	O
per	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bristow	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
previously	O
worked	O
with	O
the	O
Atari	O
founders	O
on	O
Computer	B-Application
Space	I-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
arcade	O
video	O
game	O
,	O
came	O
up	O
with	O
the	O
idea	O
while	O
thinking	O
of	O
how	O
he	O
could	O
improve	O
Computer	B-Application
Space	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rains	O
added	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
and	O
central	O
minefield	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
design	O
and	O
developed	O
the	O
final	O
hardware	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
simple	O
control	O
scheme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tank	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
games	O
to	O
use	O
integrated	O
circuit-based	O
memory	B-Device
—	O
specifically	O
,	O
mask	B-Device
ROM	I-Device
(	O
read-only	B-Device
memory	I-Device
)	O
—	O
to	O
store	O
graphical	O
data	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
diode	O
arrays	O
that	O
previous	O
arcade	O
games	O
used	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
sometimes	O
claimed	O
in	O
sources	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
very	O
first	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
preceded	O
at	O
minimum	O
by	O
Atari	O
's	O
Gran	B-Application
Trak	I-Application
10	I-Application
(	O
1974	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Integrated	O
circuit-based	O
memory	B-Device
thereafter	O
became	O
the	O
standard	O
for	O
arcade	O
and	O
console	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
make	O
Tank	O
the	O
best-selling	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
of	I-Application
1974	I-Application
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
second	O
best-selling	O
title	B-Application
of	I-Application
1975	I-Application
in	O
America	O
(	O
below	O
Wheels	B-Application
)	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
Baer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
sequel	O
,	O
Tank	O
II	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1974	O
to	O
sales	O
of	O
around	O
1,000	O
units	O
;	O
gameplay	O
was	O
identical	O
,	O
though	O
the	O
maze	B-Application
could	O
be	O
changed	O
to	O
a	O
new	O
format	O
by	O
modifying	O
the	O
circuitry	O
and	O
more	O
sound	O
effects	O
were	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tank	O
II	O
was	O
later	O
the	O
15th	O
highest-grossing	O
arcade	B-Application
game	I-Application
of	I-Application
1977	I-Application
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
according	O
to	O
Play	O
Meter	O
(	O
or	O
14th	O
highest	O
video	O
game	O
,	O
excluding	O
the	O
electro-mechanical	O
game	O
F-1	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
followed	O
by	O
three	O
further	O
sequels	O
:	O
Tank	O
III	O
in	O
1975	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
to	O
be	O
third	O
in	O
a	O
series	O
;	O
the	O
color	O
Tank	B-Application
8	I-Application
in	O
1976	O
,	O
which	O
featured	O
eight	O
tanks	O
and	O
players	O
simultaneously	O
;	O
and	O
Ultra	B-Application
Tank	I-Application
in	O
1978	O
,	O
which	O
reverted	O
to	O
a	O
two-player	O
black	O
and	O
white	O
game	O
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
select	O
multiple	O
different	O
maze	B-Application
types	O
and	O
have	O
invisible	O
tanks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dedicated	B-Device
console	I-Device
version	O
of	O
Tank	O
II	O
was	O
announced	O
by	O
Atari	O
at	O
the	O
Consumer	O
Electronics	O
Show	O
in	O
1977	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
cancelled	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
year	O
;	O
the	O
joysticks	O
for	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
designed	O
by	O
Kevin	O
McKinsey	O
,	O
became	O
the	O
standard	O
joystick	O
controllers	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
(	O
1977	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
game	O
Combat	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
1977	O
,	O
includes	O
several	O
variations	O
of	O
Tank	O
,	O
including	O
ones	O
with	O
bouncing	O
shots	O
or	O
invisible	O
tanks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combat	O
was	O
initially	O
developed	O
as	O
a	O
console	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
arcade	O
game	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
cancelled	O
dedicated	B-Device
console	I-Device
version	O
,	O
with	O
additional	O
plane-based	O
game	O
modes	O
added	O
during	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Atari	O
's	O
cancellation	O
of	O
the	O
dedicated	B-Device
console	I-Device
version	O
of	O
Tank	O
,	O
a	O
dedicated	B-Device
console	I-Device
game	O
inspired	O
by	O
Tank	O
was	O
still	O
released	O
in	O
1977	O
by	O
Coleco	O
:	O
the	O
Telstar	B-Application
game	O
Telstar	B-Application
Combat	I-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
plays	O
four	O
variations	O
of	O
Tank	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
released	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
and	O
Combat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
success	O
of	O
Tank	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
1975	O
title	O
Western	B-Application
Gun	I-Application
(	O
Gun	B-Application
Fight	I-Application
)	O
,	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
popularization	O
of	O
one-on-one	O
dueling	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
1980	O
arcade	O
first-person	O
shooter	O
game	O
Battlezone	B-Application
(	O
1980	O
)	O
was	O
primarily	O
inspired	O
by	O
Tank	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Battlezone	B-Application
designer	O
Ed	O
Rotberg	O
,	O
his	O
concept	O
was	O
to	O
update	O
Tank	O
with	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
vector	O
graphics	O
in	O
the	O
arcades	O
.	O
</s>
