The End (Stern Electronics)

Arcade Video game published 45 years ago:

The End (c) 1980 Stern Electronics, Incorporated.

North American release. Game developed in Japan. See the original for more information; Konami's "The End".

- TECHNICAL -

Stern's End was available in both upright and cocktail formats. The upright version came in the standard Stern cabinet, which was the same cabinet that most Stern games came in. The only real difference between different Stern cabinets was that Berzerk and Frenzy cabinets had an access door in front, and other Stern cabinets did not. The game was black with black t-molding. The sideart consisted of a really awesome looking painted rendition of some sort of blue blasting machine shooting at a pair of bugs. The marquee and monitor bezel are covered with a great scene showing evil looking bugs assaulting a wall, drawn in classic Marvel Comics style. Stern really had some great artists back then, the only manufacturer who was even close to them in this department was Atari. The control panel was aluminum, and had some game instructions and a basic design painted onto most of its surface area. The controls consisted entirely of buttons, with the same layout as the panel on "Space Invaders".

Internally the game used a standard 19inch arcade monitor for display purposes. The game's code ran on the "Scramble" platform. Several other games run on this exact same mainboard, and can be swapped in with an EPROM swap.

There were two different cocktail versions of The End, a small one with a 13inch monitor, and a larger 'Deluxe' one with a 19inch monitor. They were similar in design to the Midway Cocktail ("Pac-Man"/"Galaga"), but with control panels that sloped slightly upwards. You probably won't ever see one of these, they didn't even make a lot of them back then, and it is doubtful if more than a handful have survived to the present day intact.

- TRIVIA -

Released in October 1981 by Stern under license from Konami. It is the first game licensed to Stern by Konami for North American distribution.

In this Stern version, the bases are below you (instead of above you in the Konami version), which gives you a free path to shoot everything in sight, but also means that you have nowhere to hide.

- CONTRIBUTE -

Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=44526&o=2