| Karateka came out for the Apple II in the United States in December 1984. | p. 211, entry of 6 December 1984p. 211, entry of 13 December 1984 | Memoir |
| Mechner kept a journal while making Karateka as a Yale student, published in 2012. In August 1982 he worked out a timetable to start in a month and finish before Christmas; he finished the game and sent it off by FedEx on 1 October 1984. In July 1984 he wrote that Gene Portwood, a former Disney animator, had made excellent contributions to the villain and princess scenes. | p. iii, Introductionp. 232, About the Authorp. 35, entry of 2 August 1982p. 35, entry of 2 August 1982p. 208, entry of 1 October 1984p. 187, entry of 24 July 1984 (excerpts from a letter to his father and brother) | Memoir |
| Mechner filmed the movements he animated: in December 1983 he decided to film himself running, and the princess running, embracing and fainting and the villain falling, on a Super 8 camera, and in January 1984 he worked on the running shapes with the aid of a borrowed Moviola. The book's third part is titled Rotoscoping. | pp. 132-133, entry of 27 December 1983p. 133, entry of 27 December 1983p. 141, entry of 21 January 1984Part 3 title page | Memoir |
| Before release, in a July 1984 letter, Mechner wrote that "they especially love it in Japan", and that Gary Carlston of Broderbund said it had the key elements that appeal to the Japanese market, among them a blond hero and heroine. | p. 187, entry of 24 July 1984 (excerpts from a letter to his father and brother)p. 187, entry of 24 July 1984p. 10 | Memoir |
| Robert Cook's Commodore 64 version followed the Apple II by months: early in January 1985 Mechner heard it was almost ready, Cook sent a version without its music in February, and he delivered the final disk on 18 April 1985, eight days after Mechner was told it was set for release in two weeks. Computer Entertainer wrote that it took longer than expected because its copy protection had to be made to work with MSD disk drives. | p. 212, entry of 2 January 1985p. 215, entry of 5 February 1985p. 223, entry of 10 April 1985p. 227, entry of 18 April 1985 | Memoir |
| Mechner's journal records the early sales news he was given: a New York store sold out in December 1984 and called Karateka and Print Shop its two big sellers; sales were off to a slow start in January 1985, when Karateka was "number one on First's chart" but Softsel didn't carry it yet; in mid-April 1985 it was 14th on Billboard, and the Apple II version eighth on the Softsel chart; and at the end of April he was told, from Billboard copies that "they" got a couple of weeks in advance, that Karateka was eighth that week and would be sixth the next and number one the week after. | p. 211, entry of 13 December 1984p. 212, entry of 2 January 1985p. 212, entry of 6 January 1985p. 226, entry of 17 April 1985p. 227, entry of 18 April 1985p. 229, entry of 29 April 1985p. 229, entry of 29 April 1985p. 229, entry of 29 April 1985 | Memoir |
| In July 1984 Jordan Mechner, spending the summer at Broderbund while he worked on Karateka, wrote in his journal that royalties had been 30% in Doug Smith's and Danny Gorlin's day and were now 15%, and that Lode Runner may have been the last big hit; Gary Carlston credited Broderbund's health to Lode Runner and Choplifter. In January 1985 Mechner noted that Lode Runner, like Choplifter, had been a slow starter. | journal entry of 9 July 1984 (p. 173 of the scan's text layer)journal entry of 24 July 1984 (p. 183 of the scan's text layer)journal entry of 2 January 1985 (p. 206 of the scan's text layer)journal entry of 19 June 1984 (p. 163 of the scan's text layer) | Memoir |
| Jordan Mechner's journal records the coin-op version of Lode Runner arriving in Broderbund's lunchroom on 26 June 1984. | journal entry of 26 June 1984 (p. 167 of the scan's text layer)journal entry of 30 June 1984 (p. 170 of the scan's text layer) | Memoir |