Meltdown

This game was completed under the name Atom Smasher, but when it was first offered to 20th Century Fox, they renamed it Meltdown. Why 20th Century Fox decided to cancel Meltdown is unknown, but was most likely due to the collapsing video game market. The decision to cancel the game must have been made at the last moment, as advertisements proudly boasting 'Just Released' had already been printed. Although Meltdown was displayed at the Winter 1983 CES and listed for release in April 1983, it was never seen again after the show closed. Historian Leonard Herman notes Cumma Technology used Meltdown with their MetaWriter display at the 1984 Winter CES, under the original Atom Smasher name. Long thought lost, Meltdown surfaced in a resale shop in 2004 where by chance it was discovered by a passing collector.