Bubble Bobble - Main Theme - Played on a real Atari Pokey Chip (C012294)

Published on Aug 18, 2019 MrCaliforniaD

"The slightly detuned sound is part of the experience."

From Wikipedia:
"The Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit (POKEY) is a digital I/O chip designed for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and found in Atari arcade games of the 1980s. POKEY combines functions for sampling (ADC) potentiometers (such as game paddles) and scan matrices of switches (such as a computer keyboard) as well as sound generation. It produces four voices of distinctive square wave sound, either as clear tones or modified with a number of distortion settings. POKEY chips are used for audio in many arcade games including Centipede, Missile Command, Asteroids Deluxe, and Gauntlet. Some of Atari's arcade systems use multi-core versions with 2 or 4 POKEY chips in a single package for more sound voices. The Atari 7800 console allows a game cartridge to contain a POKEY, providing better sound than the system's audio chip. Only two licensed games make use of this: the ports of Ballblazer and Commando."