Freeway
| |
| Freeway | |
| Developer | Activision |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Activision |
| Platforms | Atari 2600, Atari Flashback 8 Gold Activision Edition, Atari Flashback 9 Gold, Game Boy Advance, iOS, macOS, PS2, PSP, Windows, Xbox 360 |
| Released | Atari 2600 North America: July 1981 PlayStation 2 (Activision Anthology) North America: November 25, 2002 Europe: March 6, 2003 Windows NA (Activision Anthology): October 6, 2003 North America (Game Room, Pack 008): August 18, 2010 macOS (Activision Anthology) North America: October 6, 2003 Game Boy Advance (Activision Anthology) North America: December 8, 2003 PSP (Activision Hits Remixed) North America: November 8, 2006 Europe: February 9, 2007 Oceania: February 14, 2007 Xbox 360 (Game Room, Game Pack 008) North America: August 18, 2010 Atari Flashback 8 Gold Activision Edition North America: September 22, 2017 Atari Flashback 9 Gold North America: November 15, 2018 |
| Added to Museum |
Flashback 8 Activision: May 30, 2022 Atari Flashback 9 Gold North America: November 15, 2018 |
Freeway is an Atari 2600 video game by Activision.
Plot
Chickens try to cross a busy freeway without getting hit by passing cars.
Development
There were several instances related to heavy traffic in Chicago, Illinois that inspired David Crane to create the original Bloody Human Freeway version of the game. The first inspiration involved Crane and his friends crossing the busiest road in the city from the wrong side of a building when one of his friends joked that it would make a great video game. The second involved the video game designer Larry Kaplan riding a bus when he witnessed a man crossing Lake Shore Drive. The third involved Crane himself witnessing a man trying to cross during rush-hour traffic while attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.
In 1981, Crane prototyped a game for the Atari 2600 about humans crossing a road full of traffic, however three days before the next CES show, the Activision CEO at the time, Jim Levy, suggested it should be a chicken to be a variation on the "Why did the chicken cross the road?" joke and so it can be promoted at the show by a person wearing a chicken suit.
