Pole Position introduced the famous qualifying-lap format before the main race in the 1982 arcade game Pole Position.
Namco released Pole Position in 1982, and Atari distributed it in North America. The game places the player in a Formula One-style car and begins with a qualifying lap. Only players who complete the qualifying requirement proceed to the main race, where they compete against time and computer-controlled cars on the Fuji Speedway course.
Pole Position was designed by Namco’s Kazunori Sawano and Shinichiro Okamoto, with help from other members of the company’s development team. Its use of a rear-view perspective, roadside objects, advertising boards, and a recognizable real-world circuit helped establish conventions for later arcade racing games.
The game is sometimes confused with Pole Position II, released in 1983. Pole Position II expanded the formula with additional tracks and updated presentation, but the original game introduced the qualifying-lap structure associated with the series. Out Run and Hang-On are also influential racing games, but they use different formats and were released later.