1983

Journey

FROM: Bally/Midway

BEHIND THE MUSIC: Riding high on 1983's Number Two-charting Frontiers album, and with spirits undoubtedly buoyed by a recent Budweiser sponsorship (among the industry's first), the San Francisco balladeers were tapped by coin-operated amusement staple Bally Midway to computerize their brand of rock. The setup: Controlling band members with cartoon torsos and black-and-white photos for heads, avoid or blast glowing alien adversaries while collecting instruments to be rewarded with an animated concert complete with a cassette player-fueled rendition of "Separate Ways." Recently named one of Game Informer's Top 10 Worst Licensed Game Ideas Ever, we can only assume editors hadn't played Data Age's Journey Escape for Atari 2600. Released a scant year earlier, this home-console counterpart, also inexplicably set in space, had players fighting intergalactic groupies (hearts with legs) and promoters (floating heads) with the help of roadies in hopes of reaching your insect-like spaceship.

WHY IT ROCKS: Marks the first time a band got its own video game — before Journey, it was only pinball. The title also paved the way for every other band appearance in a game since, and shows that the relationship between rock and games — and their combined ability to draw a crowd — goes back to long before anyone ever thought to debut a single (hello Billy Corgan and Axl Rose) in interactive form.

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