Atari Centipede’s Hidden Code Trap

Created by Sidam (a notorious bootlegger of Atari games based in Italy) and distributed by Video Amusements of Canada Ltd, the game was very clearly a copy of Atari’s Centipede. Atari, in an effort to protect its assets (and at the same time fire a warning shot across the bows of any other unscrupulous businesses thinking about distributing pirated versions of its games) took Video Amusements of Canada to court with the intention of shutting down the distribution of Magic Worm. It’s pretty obvious even to the casual observer, that Atari at least had a point:

But the real coup de grâce against Video Amusements of Canada was Logg’s assertion that the game hadn’t just been inspired by Centipede, its code had been literally copied.

Source: arcadeblogger.com