Helicopter

n/a

Helicopter
System(s): Electro-mechanical arcade
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Distributor: Sonic (ES)
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1968 ¥150,000 ? US 1968-07 $? ? ES 19xx ? ?

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Helicopter (ヘリコプター) is an electro-mechanical helicopter arcade game developed and manufactured by Sega, and first released in 1968.

Specifications

Dimensions

876.3 mm (34.5")

1.778 m (70")

1.016 m (40")

Gameplay

For 10-cents, players fly a helicopter around the machine in a circular motion. The helicopter is attached to a rod that pivots on top of a center pylon and a counter weight helps lift the helicopter. Player controls the helicopter's pitch and speed. The object of the game is to fly the helicopter so it touch one of seven stationary pins (located around the edges of the helicopter's circle of rotation) with the helicopter's two pring "whiskers". The stationary pin to touch is identified by a light. After touching one stationary pin, another stationary pin is lit. When the correct pin is hit, points are scored. There is a set amount of time per game. The more targets hit, the higher the score.

Sega's Helicopter uses an 8-track tape for background sound for the helicopter engine and rotor sound effects. The speed of the tape player changes to roughly correspond to the throttle setting of the model helicopter, so the sound gets faster as the helicopter goes faster.

History

Two similar contemporary competitors were Midway's Whirly Bird (1969) and Amusement Engineering's Helicopter Trainer (1968), with Helicopter thought to predate them both.

Promotional material

US flyer

ES flyer

Print advert in Billboard (US) #1968-07-27: "July 27, 1968" (1968-07-27)

Photo gallery

• 

  Front

• 

  Playfield

Physical scans

ES
Manual

External links

• Footage of an exhibition of amusement equipment at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London in 1968 showing Helicopter running