Exidy, Inc. was an American company that made and produced coin-operated games that used both electric and mechanical parts, as well as video games. The company operated from 1973 to 1999. It created several well-known games, including Death Race (1976), Circus (1978), Star Fire (1978), Venture (1981), Mouse Trap (1981), Crossbow (1983), and Chiller (1986). Exidy, Inc. also developed the Exidy Sorcerer (1978), a home computer system.

History

Harold Ray “Pete” Kauffman worked in the technology field at Data Disc Corporation with Charles McEwan and John Metzler. When McEwan and Metzler left to start Ramtek Corporation, a graphics terminal company in Sunnyvale, California, Kauffman joined them as a marketing executive. In late 1972, Kauffman was among a small group of engineers sent to examine the prototype of Atari Inc.’s Pong (1972) at Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale. Kauffman later said:

“I was very excited when I saw the Pong game being tested at a local bar. It was built on an old oak barrel table without a coin door. Coins dropped into the barrel. After playing, I tried to move the table, but it wouldn’t budge. It must have been full of coins. This was not a short-lived trend!”

Ramtek later made coin-operated video games as a side business. However, Kauffman believed he could better take advantage of the growing electronic games industry. He and Ampex engineer Samuel Hawes formed a new company, Exidy, Inc., on October 30, 1973. The name Exidy came from combining the words “Excellence in Dynamics.”

Exidy’s first products were ball-and-paddle games, including a simple copy of Atari’s Pong and TV Pinball (1974), which might have been inspired by an unreleased Ramtek game called Knockout. In 1975, Exidy began making electro-mechanical games, such as Old Time Basketball (1975).

To help sell their games, Exidy made an agreement with Chicago Coin, a large amusement company, to license their video games. In 1975, John Metzler joined Exidy from Ramtek and created a game called Destruction Derby (1975). Chicago Coin later made a version called Demolition Derby (1975), which became popular. However, Chicago Coin refused to pay Exidy for the license because the company was financially struggling. To compete with Demolition Derby, Exidy’s engineer Howell Ivy was asked to create a new game quickly. The result was Death Race (1976), which had some success before it caused controversy due to its violent content. The controversy made Exidy well-known, with stories appearing on 60 Minutes and The New York Times. Sales of Death Race increased, and later games used its hardware, including Super Death Chase (1977) and Score (1977).

Paul Jacobs, the company’s salesperson during the Death Race controversy, worked for Exidy from 1976–1978 and again in 1983–1984. Originally from Chicago Coin, Jacobs helped make Exidy the third-largest manufacturer of arcade video games in 1977 and kept the company stable during a difficult time for the industry.

Howell Ivy later worked with microprocessor technology, creating the early color game Car Polo (1977) and a game similar to Breakout (1976) called Circus (1978). Circus became Exidy’s best-selling game, with 7,000 units sold.

Exidy’s work with microprocessors also led to the Sorcerer personal computer. Partnering with Paul Terrell, an early computer retailer, Exidy created a system compatible with the S-100 bus, sold in 1978. The system had no native graphics modes but included a text mode with customizable characters. Exidy provided documentation, tools, and some games, but the system had little popularity in North America. It later gained support in Australia and Europe, especially in the Netherlands, where it was used in an educational program on the TELEAC channel. In 1981, Exidy sold its division to Biotech Capital Group. One game designer who later worked on Exidy arcade games was Vic Tolomei.

Exidy released Star Fire (1978), the first arcade game with a high score table, developed by independent company Techni-Cal. In November 1979, Exidy bought Vectorbeam from Cinematronics and renamed it Exidy II. The company planned to use vector graphics technology licensed from Cinematronics. They released a version of Tailgunner (1979) called Tailgunner II but did not make other vector games at the time. Later, they created Vertigo (1985).

Exidy’s games often added new ideas to popular arcade concepts. Their game Crash (1979) was similar to Sega’s Head On (1979), which led to legal threats. They expanded the gameplay with Targ (1980), combining maze and shooting elements. Their game Mouse Trap (1981) was inspired by Pac-Man (1980) and later appeared on the Atari VCS and Colecovision consoles. Venture (1981) was an action game based on Dungeons & Dragons, similar to Berzerk (1980).

When the coin-operated video game market declined in mid-1982, Exidy tried new ideas. They returned to electro-mechanical games with Whirly Bucket (1983) and Tidal Wave (1983), both based on skee ball. They also created Fax (1983), a video quiz game for bars and taverns.

In 1983, Exidy started making light gun games, which had not been popular since the rise of electro-mechanical games. Crossbow (1983) was a success, introducing the Exidy 440 hardware system. This led to more light gun games, including the ‘C’ series: Cheyenne, Combat, Crackshot, Clay Pigeon, and Chiller (1986). Like Death Race, Chiller caused controversy due to its violent and graphic content, including scenes of shooting body parts.

In 1984, Exidy invested in a system called Max-A-Flex, based on Atari 8-bit computers, specifically the 600XL. The system included four games licensed from First Star Software: Boulder Bash, Flip and Flop, Bristles, and Astro Chase. Max-A-Flex was later abandoned after these games were released.

Throughout its history, Exidy never went public or sought venture capital. It relied on its products and the fundraising efforts of President Pete Kauffman, who wanted to keep control. This led to a refusal to license products from other countries, such as

Arcade titles

These games were licensed from First Star Software in 1984 for use with the Max-A-Flex arcade system.

• Astro Chase
• Flip and Flop
• Bristles
• Boulder Dash

• 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)