I was searching through eBay listings recently and came across an odd description for a WILLIS MOON PATROL monitor bezel. Huh? I was pretty sure I had seen all of the replacement artwork Willis produced, and a Moon Patrol bezel was definately not on the list. After pulling up the auction and scoping out the bezel, I didn’t recognize it and I wasn’t sure why the seller had advertised it as a Willis piece. After a close inspection, or as close as the crappy eBay pic would allow, I spotted the faint text in the upper right of the bezel window. “WILLIS IND. SAN JOSE, CA”. So it is a Willis piece of artwork, and that was the location of the Willis production facility, the one they built after outgrowing the small rented space. The style of text indicated that this was an early 80’s piece for sure. In the lower left window corner you can see the initials “R. Nelson”, an accomplished artist who was employed at Willis in 1981, when this would have been produced. Check out my interview with David Willis for more on Mr. Nelson.
I reached out to my artwork guru friend, Mr Rothe of rotheblog, and he ID’d the game right away. Super Tank by Computran. After looking it up on KLOV, the killer list of video games, I had my answer confirmed. Super Tank by Computran 1981, and it appears to be the only game they produced. I had never heard of Computran before, but if they were a startup trying to cash in on the video game craze, it makes sense that they would outsource all the bits that go into making an arcade game cabinet. Without the internet you had to source things the old fashioned way, through the yellow pages or trade magazines. Willis advertised the work they did for the major companies, so they would be an attractive source for cabinet artwork needed by any fledgling game company. I went over to mamedev.org and they had this to say about Computran…
Super Tank is one of two original games manufactured by German company Video Games GmbH. Released in 1981, it was licensed to SNK for the Japanese market and Computran for the US Market.
In Super Tank, up to two players simultaneously control highly mobile armored tanks on a mission to destroy the SUPER TANK. An introductory collection round challenges the players to clear a field of mines and destroy as many red enemy tanks as possible. Special glowing diamonds are scattered throughout, providing temporary super armor protection and making the players’ task easier.
After clearing the field of mines, the players are ready for their confrontation with the SUPER TANK! The SUPER TANK is this game’s most dangerous adversary. It is a highly-maneuverable vehicle with a single weakness at the tip of its nozzle. A direct hit on the nozzle will destroy the SUPER TANK, bringing the players to another more intricate collection round where the challenges are greater and so are the rewards.
Oddly enough, the German and Japanese versions of the game’s flyer depict a flower-laden, tracked vehicle with the head and body of a Roman gentleman, much like a centaur. This vehicle is shown shooting water at other similar vehicles out of his elongated nose. It is thought that restrictions against war games and cultural standards were responsible for these gentle depictions of the military-themed action in the game.
So Computran got artwork from Willis, a game license and possibly hardware from GmbH, and likely had a local cabinet supplier. They just needed a space to assemble the cabinets for resale. If the address on the flyer is to be believed, this happened in New Jersey. Besides the flyer and the eBay advertisement, I’ve not seen this work before. If you happen to have this cabinet and feel like sharing some pictures, I would greatly appreciate it!
