One of the most interesting games ever made, IBM's archaic 1982 game Attack would go down in history as just another mundane, primitive Paratrooper clone, if not for the fact that it could very well be the first game about corporate warfare.
As the in-game instructions make clear: "your mission is to destroy the Apple Computer manufacturing plant. You are alloted 35 bombs and 60 lasers. There are Apple-owned fighters trying to stop you, you must destroy them with your lasers. If you get hit by them then you are destroyed. If you go out of the atmosphere (the blue line), then you loose [sic] all control except laser and bombs, and your ship will begin falling. Drop bombs on all structures and you will get points. The Apple Plant (shown below) is worth the most points. If your score is high enough after round one then you are ready to face round two."
There you have it: a proof of IBM's attitude towards Apple that could be admitted as courtroom evidence ;) Gameplay is very primitive-- the game was written in BASIC, and the only "graphics" in the game are moving ASCII characters that represent the Plant, planes, etc. Not much fun to play at all.
Attack deserves a place here more as an interesting display of well-publicized friction between Apple and IBM, but that reason should be enough for historical buffs to try it out :)
Review By HOTUD
English 
Comments and reviews
Can't get the controls to work... using the number keys you're supposed to be able to go up with the 8 key, down with the 2, drop bombs with the 4 key, and fire lasers with the 6 key. But nothing seems to do anything, even making sure the numlock is on.
This is actually the first "video game" I ever played. Never thought I'd see it again. This is way cool and yes I get the whole premise of corporate warfare but IBM were funny as hell about things back then. I have a lot of family members who worked for IBM and I respect both IBM and Apple immensely but indeed the competition and all was extreme back then.
The game is difficult and not so exciting, but the story... I'ts huge.
IBM...!!!
...the mission is "to destroy Apple computer manufacturing plant"
;) good old 1982 ;) too late to do this in 2011 ;)
PS
did not try to install it. I had enough of this sort of games as a kid.
has anyone had any luck playing this game?
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.