Trigger Happy
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Fig. 9. Defender: swoop low over the mountains and defend the
human race. The radar (top) shows the whole level space in
miniature (© 1980 Williams)
focusing on a fixed area of the interior. Defender
marries the endless, wraparound vista of the Cyclorama
with the flickering animation of the Kinematoscope,
although the vista itself is different in purpose. It is not
the visual depiction of the cycloramic space that is
important in the videogame—Defender’s space is still
mostly unindividuated—but the strategic opportunities
it offers, the chance to come up behind the enemy.