In 1981, General Computer Corporation- producer of a Missile Command enhancement board- was becoming a nuisance for Atari. So Atari paid General Computer $50,000 a month for two years to stop making enhancement boards and develop games for Atari instead. Although Atari viewed this deal simply as a buy-out, General Computer took the business offer seriously and began developing games for Atari.
Food Fight was the first game General Computers presented to Atari. After reviewing the unexpected game, Atari decided to publish it. In Food Fight, players control Charley Chuck, a blond boy modeled off the game's lead programmer Jonathan Hurd. Charley Chuck must dodge four food-flinging chefs in order to reach a melting ice cream cone on the other side of the playfield.
Food Fight was not a particularly successful game, but it proved to Atari that General Computer was capable of making quality games. After Food Fight, Atari asked General Computer to produce VCS games for them. General Computer produced seventy-two VCS games from 1982 to 1984, including Ms. Pac-Man and Centipede.