Breakout clones
In 1976 Atari presented well-known Breakout. The game board has no CPU and includes a few dozen non-original or unprotected chips. (One of the first engineering, then discarded, was completed by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, the founding partners of Apple). As a result, the game is easily accessible to hackers, and many illegal versions have been created. Here is a parade of copies made in Italy. To these list we should add Master's Game (Olympia), Off Limits (TBM/Zaccaria) and Mini Break-out (Midcoin). Important: it is practically impossible to determine if a copy of Breakout is certainly illegal or not, for the reasons described at the beginning.
| Nome | Tipo | Anno | Emul. | Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Man |
 |
1978 | Manifacturer: FAB | |
| Ten Out / Master Break |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: Goldmatic |
|
| Ten Break Out |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: Grey |
|
| Wall Space |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: Land-Matic | |
| Master Brick's |
|
1978 | Manifacturer: La Nuova El. | |
| 10 Videogiochi |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: La Nuova El. | |
| 12 Videogiochi |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: La Nuova El. | |
| (Break Out?) |
|
1978 |
Manifacturer: Seletron | |
| JoJo |
|
1978 |
Unknown Manifacturer |
Rocket Man (FAB)
FAB from Secondigliano (Naples) produced this game; according to the brochure, he was equipped with an external switch to select one of ten video games: breack out (sigh!), domino-like, wide tunnel barrier, narrow tunnel barrier, chessboard, barrier, intermittent breack out (again!), fast moving barrier, slow moving barrier, intermittent barrier. From what we understand, it was available as a modification for the original Atari Breakout.
Ten Out / Master Break (Goldmatic)
Goldmatic by Mario Cautulli (Rome), produced an additional board for Atari Breakout with ten games. It is not clear if a marquee kit was also provided, to change the name of original cabinet to "Master Break".
Ten Break Out (Grey Electronic)
The version made by Gray Electronic, in Como, was available as an add-on for the Atari Breakout and also as a stand-alone cabinet. It provided ten games too, but in this case the switch to change game was internal only.
Wall Space (Land-Matic)
This game produced in Naples, according to the brochure, was available as a complete game (not an upgrade kit) and was equipped with a timer. The number of games was always ten.
Master Brick's (La Nuova Elettronica)
La
Nuova Elettronica (The New Electronic) by Saele-Lo Re-Rosolia
was based in Catania. Their
video game looks a bit different from the Atari Breakout: the
brochure - which has no images - claims that it allows two
players to play, choosing from four different video games
before the game. In addition
there are two barriers, one to be built and one to be
demolished, and bonuses and even another racket appearing
randomly. The piece of furniture is
claimed to have a "new stylized form".
10 Videogiochi (La Nuova Elettronica)
The Catania-based company also sold the "usual" modification for the Atari Breakout to provide it with ten games.
12 Videogiochi (La Nuova Elettronica)
Another kit for Atari Breakout, but this adds twelve games.(Break Out?) (Seletron)
Italian Dumping Team has found a PCB of this game, apparently identical to the Atari Breakout. Seletron has created the Olympia's Master's Game board, but this seems like an earlier and less demanding job. The PCB contains a PROM memory, which has been dumped.JoJo (?)
The player could choose between easy play (three balls) or difficult game (5 balls but with fake rebounds).