The Video Game Project
A Closer Look At The Prototypes That Became Your Favourite Games!
Pickaxe Pete
Pickaxe Pete or Pick Axe Pete! as it was known in Northern America was released for the Magnavox Odyssey² console in 1982. It was designed by Ed Averett, who wrote the majority of the games for the Odyssey². A U.S. national competition, "The Pick Axe Pete Pick-Off," was held at the World's Fair in October 1982.
The player controls a miner named Pickaxe Pete, and starts off in the middle of the screen with a pick-axe. There are thee doors from which boulders are coming, bouncing down the mine-shafts; every time Pete destroys one of these he gains 3 points, although the axe wears out after a while and disappears. When two boulders collide, they explode, and out comes either a pick-axe which floats to the bottom of the screen, a key which floats to the top, or nothing. If Pete has no axe, the player can either jump over boulders (gaining him 1 point), or get to the bottom of the mine to retrieve a new axe (gaining a 5-point bonus). If Pete collects a key then he can enter the doors, which lead him to the next level.
