HEY JOE
THE STORY BEHIND THE SINGLE-PLAYER SEQUEL, SMOKEY JOE
» The single player Smokey Joe looked very similar to its technological predecessor, Super Bug.
■
Given Wendi had already spent considerable time creating a self-drive function in Fire Truck, meaning one player could steer either the front or the back of the vehicle with the computer taking on the role of co-driver, we wondered why Atari felt the need to release Smokey Joe, a dedicated single-player version of the game, later in the same year? “Ah, that was because operators complained that Fire Truck took up too much floor space for the amount of money that it was earning,” explains Wendi, noting both games are identical in terms of gameplay. “Creating a single-player game in a standardsize cabinet seemed like a sensible way to generate more sales and amortise the development costs.” The logic seems to have worked, as RePlay magazine listed Smokey Joe as the ninth highest-grossing game of 1978, with the original Fire Truck coming in at number 12 on the chart. And you can read all about the creation of the predecessor to both games, Super Bug, in RG138.