In Atari’s 1976 arcade game Night Driver, what first-person feature made its driving view distinctive?

Atari’s 1976 arcade game Night Driver used a dashboard perspective for its distinctive first-person driving view.

Night Driver is widely regarded as one of the earliest arcade games to present a first-person perspective. The player sees a stylized dashboard at the bottom of the screen while steering along a nighttime road marked by roadside posts. The display creates the impression of driving forward, even though the hardware and graphics are extremely simple.

The game was designed by Dave Shepperd and released by Atari in 1976. Its black-and-white road scene is sometimes confused with later color racing games, but Night Driver’s importance comes from its viewpoint and sense of speed rather than detailed scenery. It helped establish visual ideas later used by driving and racing games.