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The Atari 2600 was first released in North America in September 1977 and featured 9 launch titles: Air-Sea BattleBasic MathBlackjackCombatIndy 500Star ShipStreet RacerSurround and Video Olympics. The final licensed Atari 2600 game released in North America was Secret Quest in 1989, and the final licensed game released in Europe was Klax and Acid Drop in 1990 and 1992. Even with their 1980s limited colors and block graphics these games are still entertaining to play today! We have over 500 Atari 2600 games for you to play online for free using our Atari 2600 Javascript Emulator.

This game is mobile device friendly and Iphone compatible. Enjoy!

Instructions and Keyboard Controls towards bottom of page.
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Start Game

Private Eye

INSTRUCTIONS:
If you grew up in the 80’s you shouldn’t need instructions!! You might find some help at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atari_2600_games and look up the game you need assistance playing.

CONTROLS:
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Begin/Restart Game
Arrow Keys – Move
Space bar to fire/action button


TRANSCRIBED ORIGINAL ATARI GAME MANUAL AND INSTRUCTIONS
"Sacre bleu! I am the great French private eye Pierre Touche and I need
your help. I've been summoned to capture the ringleader, Henri Le Fiend,
and turn him over to the police. But wait -- we first must find evidence
against him and the stolen property. There are five cases pending, each
with its own statute of limitation. A case is closed when Le Fiend is
apprehended and booked. So hurry! Study the files below, grab your
trenchcoat and meet me at Precinct 2600 -- I'll be waiting for you."


Sleuth wanted! Help Private Eye Touche navigate the city streets, parks,
secret passages, dead-ends and one-ways in search of Henri Le Fiend and
his gang. Evidence and stolen goods are scattered about -- you'll need
to find these, too. Let the map and your memory be your guide. And let
nothing go unnoticed.


ACTIVISION (R)


THE "LE FIEND" FILE.


CASE 1: "Safecracker Suite"

On Thursday, Sept. 7, at approximately 1:30 p.m., bankteller Betty Jeepers
activated the silent alarm near her foot. The man standing at her window
had just handed her a note demanding $10,000 in one bag. The note also
described the loaded gun in his pocket. Jeepers described him as diminutive
but suave and said he bowed slightly as he left, saying, "Merci beaucoup."
Quickly, Touche looked to the sky and said, "It's him."

PROSECUTION REQUIREMENTS:   Find the gun and verify it at the gunstore.
                            Find the money and return it too the bank.
                            Find Le Fiend and book him at Police Headquarters.
  STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS:   3 minutes
                  LOCALE:   Uptown, 32 blocks


CASE 2: "Closed on Mondays"

"I thought they were the electricians," answered Nimrod Nerdon. Touche had
asked the nervous security guard why he let two men enter the museum on an
off day and then allowed them to shut off the lights. When they came back
on, the men were gone. So was a priceless Ming vase. Nimrod could only
remember that the button was missing on one of the perpetrator's cuffs.
"Oh... and it was a French cuff," he added. Touche clenched his teeth.

PROSECUTION REQUIREMENTS:   Find the button and verify it at the tailor shop.
                            Find the vase and return it to the museum.
                            Find Le Fiend and book him at Police Headquarters.
  STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS:   2 minutes
                  LOCALE:   Upper midtown, 32 blocks


CASE 3: "Dealing in Diamonds"

Mrs. Lotta Moorcash was beside herself. "But he was such a gentleman!" A
man claiming to be her new hair stylist had given Mrs. Moorcash a new
hairdo. By the time he'd combed out the last curl, she was oblivious to
the four carat diamond necklace that was suddenly absent from her neck.
"You must find him!", she said. "It's the best style I've ever had -- a
French twist!" Touche's daiquiri glass shattered in his fist.

PROSECUTION REQUIREMENTS:   Find the comb and verify it at the barbershop.
                            Find the necklace and return it to the gemstore.
                            Find Le Fiend and book him at Police Headquarters.
  STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS:   4 minutes
                  LOCALE:   Midtown, 64 blocks


CASE 4: "Rare Stamp Roulette"

It was the first time Mr. Rich N. Boring had his name in the papers. It was
in recognition of his upcoming donation of a valuable rare stamp to the
Auxiliary Association of Associated Auxiliaries. Unfortunately, his name
was followed by his address. By morning the stamp was gone. From the looks
of the footprints on Boring's newly varnished floor, Touche deduced that
the thief's sole adhered and came loose. The stamp was described as an 1872
commemorative. "Commemorating what?" asked Touche. "The French Revolution."
Touche raised his collar and left immediately.

PROSECUTION REQUIREMENTS:   Find the shoe sole and verify it at the shoe store.
                            Find the stamp and return it to the stampstore.
                            Find Le Fiend and book him at Police Headquarters.
  STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS:   10 minutes
                  LOCALE:   Downtown, 120 blocks


CASE 5: "The Big Sweep"

Touche would take a new approach. Rather than gather the evidence case by
case and prosecute Le Fiend four times, he decided to take everything on
at once. The whole city, the entire gang, all the cases and, of course,
Le Fiend. He rose early that day and took a deep, invigorating breath.
"Room service," he said into the phone, "please send up breakfast. What
is today's special?" The voice on the other end replied, "French toast."

PROSECUTION REQUIREMENTS:   All of the stolen goods and evidence in cases
                            1-4 must be found and returned for verification
                            at their place of origin. Le Fiend may then be
                            rounded up and booked at Police Headquarters
                            once -- and for all.
  STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS:   20 minutes
                  LOCALE:   Entire city, 248 blocks


                         BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
                           923-97 OZONE AVENUE
                             NEW YORK, N. Y.
                          CABLE DS: 816.428.822


TO START
Press the game select switch to choose desired case. The case number appears
above the score and its corresponding stolen item appears in the upper right
corner. Then press the reset switch. The statute of limitations begins
counting down as soon as you move the Joystick.


TOUCHE'S AUTO
Upon Touche's arrival, a federal attache will present him with a specially
equipped 1935 Model A. Its unique feature is the ability to jump as high as
two stories. Additionally, it can make 90 degree turns and has a cruise
control.


USE OF THE CONTROLLER
Use the left Joystick. To accelerate left or right... move the Joystick
left or right. To drive into an alley or park lane... push Joystick up.


DIFFICULTY SWITCHES
The left Difficulty switch is your car's cruise control; A maintains a
fast speed, B maintains a slow speed. The right Difficulty switch controls
the car's jumps. By setting it to A, the height of the jump is controlled
by the length of time the red button is held down. Setting it to B causes
the car to jump to its maximum height with a single press of the button.


"Oh... My apologies for the sketchy map on the other side. In any case,
it's our single irreplaceable guide to the city. It came from the waning
memory of a late Le Fiend cohort. Before he passed on, he said something
about secret passages, dead-ends and one-ways, lots of them. Too many for
him to remember. He marked a few of them, but you'll have to map out the
rest.

{Map is a bit too complicated for ASCII}


                             POLICE PROCEDURE

Warrant Requirements -- Reasonable cause must be established before Le Fiend
can be booked with the police. "Reasonable cause" consists of finding the
evidence, verifying it at its place of origin, recovering the stolen property
and returning it to its owner. The evidence and stolen item may be found in
any order, but you may only carry and return one item at a time. Proceed with
caution: After the first item has been returned, thugs lurch out from behind
steps and bushes to throw daggers. Jump to avoid them. If you're hit, the
thugs will repossess anything you are carrying.

Questionable Characters -- Throughout the case, questionable characters will
peek out of windows. Any one of them may be harboring the item you are
looking for. Jump up and see! Even if their empty-handed, you'll still get
merit points each time you nab one of them. Finally, if you recover an item
while you are carrying another item, the questionable character will make a
switch and you will continue with the new item.

The City Beat -- Get to know the locations of detours and roadblocks. Detours
are striped; roadblocks are solid yellow. You will also encounter secret
passages, one-ways and dead-ends. Secret passages are short-cuts whereby you
enter an alley on one street, and may emerge on a different block, often in
a different part of the city! Get to know these short-cuts and map them out.
Many offer round-trip passage, but some are one-way only or dead-ends.


POLICE MERIT SYSTEM

Special agents will begin with 1000 merit points -- just for taking on the
case!

The following system of merits and demerits applies:

DEMERITS

   Minus 1   Whenever auto is on a pot hole.
 Minus 100   If Touche or his car is hit by a brick.
 Minus 200   If hit by a flowerpot.
 Minus 300   If hit by a rat.
 Minus 400   If hit by a bird.
Minus 1000   If hit by a dagger.

MERITS

   Plus 100  For each questionable character nabbed.
  Plus 5000  For each questionable character nabbed with evidence (gun,
             button, comb, shoe sole).
Plus 15,000  For each questionable character nabbed with stolen item (money,
             vase, necklace, stamp).
Plus 10,000  Whenever evidence is verified.
Plus 20,000  Whenever a stolen item is returned.
Plus 25,000  For nabbing Henri Le Fiend.
Plus 25,000  For booking Le Fiend at Police Headquarters and, thus, closing
             the case.


_Super Sleuth_ is our time-honored enclave of seasoned private eyes who, by
serving justice in Case 3, "Dealing in Diamonds" have amply demonstrated
their talents in detection. If you have met this criteria, send us (Exhibit A)
a photo of the TV screen showing the completion of Case 3, along with
(Exhibit B) your name and address and (Exhibit C) the words "Private Eye"
written on the envelope's front corner. Your name will be added to the
_Super Sleuth_ registry and you will receive its official emblem.


LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER

Tips from Bob Whitehead, designer of Private Eye (TM). Bob is not only an
award-winning, senior designer at Activision, he's also one of its founders!
He lives in California with his wife Karron and their four children, and is
an avid fan of sports, particularly baseball.

"Well sleuths... I hope you're not looking for any dead giveaways. You've
got to figure this one out for yourselves. But here are some clues:

"Try to figure out the best direction to head in when you begin each case.
Some cases are easier when you start out to the left, and some are easier
when you start out to the right. Also, certain cases "prefer" you to pick
up the evidence first, while others are more easily solved when the stolen
item is found first. So discover and jot down the "initial direction" and
"order of search" for each case.

"Touche! to those of you who will brave Case 5. I feel obligated to say
that, although it is the sum of Cases 1-4, some of the secret passages will
be changed. But don't let that discourage you. Just adjust your map a bit.

"When you get back to the precinct with Le Fiend, please send a report --
it'll be fun to compare notes. Good luck and God bless."

{signature, "Chief Inspector Whitehead"}


                              ACTIVISION (R)
                       COMPUTER SOFTWARE CARTRIDGE
                        LIMITED ONE-YEAR WARRANTY

Activision, Inc. warrants to the original consumer purchaser of this
Activision computer software cartridge that it will be free from defects
in the material and workmanship for one (1) year from the date of purchase.
Activision agrees to either repair or replace, at its option, free of charge,
any cartridge discovered to be defective within the warranty period upon
receipt of the cartridge, postage paid, with proof of date of purchase, at
the address below.

This warranty is limited to the electronic circuitry and mechanical parts
originally provided by Activision and is not applicable to normal wear and
tear. This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the defect
in the cartridge has arisen through abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment,
or neglect. This warranty is in lieu of all other express warranties and no
other representation or claims of any nature shall be binding on or obligate
Activision. Any implied warranties applicable to this cartridge are limited
to the one (1) year period described above. In no event will Activision be
liable for any special, incidental or consequential damage resulting from
possession, use, or malfunction of this cartridge.

Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts
and/or the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages
so the above limitations and/or exclusion or limitation of liability may
not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you
may also have other rights which vary from state to state.

                          Consumer Replacements
                             Activision, Inc.
                            Consumer Relations
                        2350 Bayshore Frontage Rd.
                         Mountain View, CA 94043


Get on our mailing list, ask questions or just say hello!
Call us at (415) 940-6044/5


                                                          ACTIVISION (R)

              Activision, Inc., Drawer No. 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039
                    (C) 1984 ACTIVISION, INC. Made in U. S. A. AG-034-03

-------------------Atari 2600 Instructions Archive-------------------

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SAMPLE IPHONE GAMEPLAY SCREENSHOT

Emulation on mobile devices will drain your battery quite fast. I recommend playing while device is plugged into charger.


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PrivateEye Arcade Game Emulated on the Atari 2600. Play PrivateEye in your web browser or mobile phone. This Atari 2600 console emulator provides very accurate PrivateEye gameplay. PrivateEye is a classic 1980s Atari 2600 video game.