| Atari Video Cube | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Atari, Inc.[1] |
| Publishers | Atari, Inc. |
| Programmer | Doug Macrae |
| Platform | Atari 2600 |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Puzzle[1] |
| Mode | Single-player |
Atari Video Cube is a 1983puzzle video game developed and published byAtari, Inc. for theAtari 2600. It was sold exclusively through the Atari Club, run by Atari itself. It was later re-released asRubik's Cube.
The game implements aPocket Cube,Rubik's Cube andRubik's Revenge.[citation needed] The player takes control of "Hubie the Cube Master" as he tries to solve a scrambled "Video Cube". Hubie's method for solving the cube is to pick up the colored segments one-by-one and place them in their correct spaces. Picking up a square, however, limits Hubie's movements; he cannot move onto a square that matches the color of the one he is carrying.
The game manual encourages players to try and solve the cube in as few moves as possible, with their total number of moves being counted at the bottom of the screen.[2]Atari Video Cube has several game modes that alter the difficulty of the game, such as square count and color range.
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Atari Video Cube was developed by Doug Macrae,[3] one of the founders ofGeneral Computer Corporation.[4] Following legal disputes withAtari, Inc., the company hired him to create games. He was told Atari would pay them $50,000 a month for two years to develop games, with no stipulation of how many games were to be developed.[5] This led to GCC making arcade gamesFood Fight (1982) andQuantum (1982) for Atari.[6]
Macrae said that as a lot of Atari programmers left to work atActivision andImagic, this led to Atari asking GCC to develop games for Atari's home consoles. Macrae reflected on this in an interview published in 2024 stating "being the young, arrogant engineers out ofMIT andHarvard that we were, we said, "Of course, absolutely.""[6]
Atari Video Cube was initially released in 1983 and was only available through mail to Atari Club members.[1][7] The game was later re-released asRubik's Cube, a licensed title based onRubik's Cube, a popular toy in the 1980s.[1][8] in a form Tim Lapetino inArt of Atari described as a "marginally different" form thanAtari Video Cube. Both releases features the same artwork on the packaging.[8]
Atari Video Cube has been re-released for consoles and home computers invideo game compilations, such as theAtari Anthology (2004) forPlayStation 2 andXbox, and asdownloadable content in 2024 forAtari 50 (2022) forNintendo Switch,PlayStation 4,Steam, andXbox One.[9][10][11] It was also available in compilations for handheld formats, such asAtari Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2010) for theNintendo DS andAtari's Greatest Hits for variousiOS-based devices.[12][13]
From retrospective reviews, Brett Weiss in his bookClassic Home Video Games, 1972-1984 (2011) found the game had crude sound that grew annoying, while complimenting the 3D-like effect of the cube turning as impressive.[1] On reviewing the first two volumes ofAtari Flashback Classics for thePlayStation 4 andXbox One, Channing King specifically highlightedAtari Video Cube as one of the many Atari 2600 games that have aged poorly.[14]