{{Short description|Late 1970s until early 1980s arcade video games}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}} {{VG history|expandmenu=1}}
The '''golden age of arcade video games''' was the period of rapid growth, technological development, and cultural influence of arcade video games from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978 led to a wave of shoot-'em-up games such as ''Galaxian'' and the vector graphics-based ''Asteroids'' in 1979, made possible by new computing technology that had greater power and lower costs. Arcade video games switched from black-and-white to color, with titles such as ''Frogger'' and ''Centipede'' taking advantage of the visual opportunities of bright palettes.
Video game arcades became a part of popular culture and a primary channel for new games. Video game genres were still being established, but included space-themed shooter games such as ''Defender'' and ''Galaga'', maze chase games that followed the design established by ''Pac-Man'', driving and racing games which more frequently used 3D perspectives such as ''Turbo'' and ''Pole Position'', character action games such as ''Pac-Man'' and ''Frogger'', and the beginning of what would later be called platform games touched off by ''Donkey Kong''. Games began starring named player characters, such as Pac-Man, Mario, and Q*bert, and some of these characters crossed over into other media including songs, cartoons, and movies. The 1982 film ''Tron'' was closely tied to an arcade game of the same name.
The golden age of arcade games began to wane in 1983 due to a plethora of clones of popular titles that saturated arcades, and the rise of home video game consoles, both coupled with a moral panic on the influence of arcades and video games on children. This fall occurred during the same time as the video game crash of 1983 but for different reasons, though both marred revenues within the North American video game industry for several years. The arcade game sector revitalized later during the early 1990s particularly with the mainstream success of fighting games.
==Time period== Although the exact years differ, most sources agree the period lasted from about the late 1970s to early 1980s.
Technology journalist Jason Whittaker, in ''The Cyberspace Handbook'', places the beginning of the golden age in 1978, with the release of ''Space Invaders''.<ref name="Whittaker-122">{{citation|title=The cyberspace handbook|author=Jason Whittaker|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=0-415-16835-X|page=122}}</ref> Video game journalist Steven L. Kent argues in his book ''The Ultimate History of Video Games'' that it began the following year, when ''Space Invaders'' gained popularity in the United States<ref name="Kent-116">{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Steven L. |title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon |publisher=Three Rivers Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |page=116 |author-link=Steven L. Kent}}</ref> and when vector display technology, first seen in arcades in 1977's ''Space Wars'', rose to prominence via Atari's ''Asteroids''. Kent says the period ended in 1983, which saw "a fairly steady decline" in the coin-operated video game business and arcades.<ref name="UltimateHistory">{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Steven L. |title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon |publisher=Three Rivers Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |author-link=Steven L. Kent}}</ref><ref name="Kent-500">{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Steven L. |title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon |publisher=Three Rivers Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |page=500 |author-link=Steven L. Kent}}</ref>
''RePlay'' magazine in 1985 dated the arcade industry's "video boom" years from 1979 to 1982.<ref name="Replay">{{cite magazine |title=The Replay Years: Our First Dynamic Decade In Words & Pix |magazine=RePlay |date=November 1985 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=120–32 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-11-issue-no.-2-november-1985-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2011%2C%20Issue%20No.%202%20-%20November%201985/page/120/mode/2up}}</ref> The golden age of arcade games largely coincided with, and partly fueled, the second generation of game consoles and the microcomputer revolution.
==Business== The golden age was a time of great technical and design creativity in arcade games. The era saw the rapid spread of not only video arcades across North America, Europe, and Asia. The number of video game arcades in North America was doubled between 1980 and 1982;<ref name="Wolf-105">{{citation|title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-33868-7|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA105}}</ref> reaching a peak of 10,000 video game arcades across the region (compared to 4,000 as of 1998).<ref name="Mark Stephen Pierce Atari Games Corporation 1998 444">{{cite book |title=Digital illusion: entertaining the future with high technology |chapter=Coin-Op: The Life (Arcade Videogames) |author=Mark Stephen Pierce (Atari Games Corporation) |publisher=ACM Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-201-84780-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/digitalillusion00clar/page/444 |page=[https://archive.org/details/digitalillusion00clar/page/444 444]}}</ref> Beginning with ''Space Invaders'', video arcade games also started to appear in supermarkets, restaurants, liquor stores, gas stations, and many other retail establishments looking for extra income.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/30-defining-moments-gaming |title=The 30 Defining Moments in Gaming |publisher=Future plc |magazine=Edge |author=Edge Staff |date=August 13, 2007 |access-date=September 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029232528/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/30-defining-moments-gaming |archive-date=October 29, 2011}}</ref> Video game arcades at the time became as common as convenience stores, while arcade games like ''Pac-Man'' and ''Space Invaders'' appeared in most locations across the United States, including even funeral homes.<ref name="Wolf-44">{{citation|title=The medium of the video game|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2001|isbn=0-292-79150-X|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKZriBxbcwQC&pg=PA44 |quote=going into virtually every location in the country [..] even a few funeral homes had video games in the basements}}</ref> The sales of arcade video game machines increased during this period from $50 million in 1978 to $900 million in 1981,<ref name="Wolf-105"/> with 500,000 arcade machines sold in the United States at prices ranging as high as $3,000 in 1982 alone.<ref>{{citation|title=Sociology: principles and applications|author1=James A. Inciardi |author2=Robert A. Rothman |edition=2|publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich|year=1990|isbn=0-15-582290-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WtLZAAAAIAAJ|page=540|quote=To cash in on the Pac-Man video mania, game developers also introduced ''Asteroids'', ''Frogger'', ''Donkey Kong'', ''Tron'', and hundreds more. By 1982, arcade games had become a multi-billion dollar industry. In that year alone, almost 500,000 machines were sold at prices ranging as high as $3000 each.}}</ref> By 1982, there were 24,000 full arcades, 400,000 arcade street locations and 1.5 million arcade machines active in North America.<ref>{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC&q=400%2C000|access-date=March 15, 2012|page=152}}</ref> The market was very competitive; the average life span of an arcade game was four to six months. Some games like ''Robby Roto'' failed because they were too complex to learn quickly. ''Qix'' was briefly very popular but, Taito's Keith Egging later said, "too mystifying for gamers...impossible to master and when the novelty wore off, the game faded".<ref name="pearl198306">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-1983-06/Electronic_Games_Issue_16_Vol_02_04_1983_Jun#page/n79/mode/2up | title=Closet Classics | work=Electronic Games | date=June 1983 | access-date=6 January 2015 | author=Pearl, Rick | pages=82}}</ref> Around this time, the home video game industry (second-generation video game consoles and early home computer games) emerged as "an outgrowth of the widespread success of video arcades".<ref name="Enterprise-1982"/>
In 1980, the U.S. arcade video game industry's revenue generated from quarters tripled to $2.8 billion.<ref>{{citation|title=Electronic Education|volume=2|issue=5–8|publisher=Electronic Communications|year=1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFBRAAAAYAAJ|page=41|quote=In 1980 alone, according to Time, $2.8 billion in quarters, triple the amount of the previous years, were fed into video games. That represents 11.2 billion games, an average of almost 50 games for every person in the US.}}</ref> By 1981, the arcade video game industry in the United States was generating more than $5 billion a year<ref name="Whittaker-122"/><ref name="Mark J. P. Wolf 103">{{citation|title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-33868-7|page=103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA103}}</ref> with some estimates as high as $10.5 billion for all video games (arcade and home) in the U.S. that year, which was three times the amount spent on movie tickets in 1981.<ref>{{citation|title=Computer-mediated communication: human relationships in a computerized world|author1=James W. Chesebro |author2=Donald G. Bonsall |publisher=University of Alabama Press|year=1989|isbn=0-8173-0460-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Se3AAAAIAAJ|page=130|quote=In 1981, $10.5 billion was spent on all features of video games, 3 times the amount spent on movie tickets that year (Surrey, 1982, p. 74).}}</ref> The total revenue for the U.S. arcade video game industry in 1981 was estimated at more than $7 billion<ref name="roschild16">{{citation|title=Videodisks, microcomputers form integrated systems|author=Edward S. Roschild|work=InfoWorld|date=Jun 21, 1982|volume=4|issue=24|issn=0199-6649|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16|access-date=February 25, 2012|quote=The figure of more than $7 billion for last year's video arcade game revenues is a conservative one. Some industry analysts estimate that the real amount spent on video games was as much as five times higher.}}</ref> though some analysts estimated the real amount may have been much higher.<ref name="roschild16"/> By 1982, video games accounted for 87% of the $8.9 billion in commercial games sales in the United States.<ref name="citron82_13"/> In 1982, the arcade video game industry's revenue in quarters was estimated at $8 billion<ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263">{{citation|title=Silicon Valley fever: growth of high-technology culture|author1=Everett M. Rogers |author2=Judith K. Larsen |publisher=Basic Books|year=1984|isbn=0-465-07821-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frYrAAAAYAAJ|page=263|quote=Video game machines have an average weekly take of $109 per machine. The video arcade industry took in $8 billion in quarters in 1982, surpassing pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion). Those 32 billion arcade games played translate to 143 games for every man, woman, and child in America. A recent Atari survey showed that 86 percent of the US population from 13 to 20 has played some kind of video game and an estimated 8 million US homes have video games hooked up to the television set. Sales of home video games were $3.8 billion in 1982, approximately half that of video game arcades.}}</ref> surpassing the annual gross revenue of both pop music ($4 billion) and Hollywood films ($3 billion) combined that year.<ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263"/><ref name="CBC-1982">{{cite news|title=Making millions, 25 cents at a time|work=The Fifth Estate|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=November 23, 1982|url=http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/media/clips/15869/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030004849/http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/media/clips/15869/|archive-date=October 30, 2008|access-date=June 21, 2021}}</ref> It also exceeded the revenues of all major sports combined at the time,<ref name="CBC-1982"/> earning three times the combined ticket and television revenues of Major League Baseball, basketball, and American football, as well as earning twice as much as all the casinos in Nevada combined.<ref>{{cite news|title=Games That Play People |url=http://www.gamearchive.com/General/Articles/ClassicNews/1982/TimePg51.htm |access-date=March 7, 2012 |newspaper=Time |date=January 18, 1982 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004145256/http://www.gamearchive.com/General/Articles/ClassicNews/1982/TimePg51.htm |archive-date=October 4, 2008 |pages=50–53 [51] |url-status=unfit}}</ref> This was also more than twice as much revenue as the $3.8 billion generated by the home video game industry (during the second generation of consoles) that same year;<ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263"/> both the arcade and home markets combined added up to a total revenue between $11.8 billion and $12.8 billion for the U.S. video game industry in 1982. In comparison, the U.S. video game industry in 2011 generated total revenues between $16.3 billion and $16.6 billion.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gilbert|first=Ben|title=NPD 2011: Sales across industry between $16.3 and $16.6 billion, Ubi tops software sales list|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/npd-2011-sales-across-industry-between-16-3-and-16-6-billion/|work=Joystiq|publisher=Joystiq|access-date=March 17, 2012|date=January 12, 2012}}</ref>
Prior to the golden age, pinball machines were more popular than video games. The pinball industry reached a peak of 200,000 machine sales and $2.3 billion revenue in 1979, which had declined to 33,000 machines and $464 million in 1982.<ref name="citron82_13">{{cite news|last=Citron|first=Alan|title=The Rise And Fall Of Pinball |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0SArAAAAIBAJ&pg=6917,9675959|access-date=March 13, 2012|newspaper=Pittsburgh Press|date=December 14, 1982|page=13}}</ref> In comparison, the best-selling arcade games{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} of the golden age, ''Space Invaders'' and ''Pac-Man'', had each sold over 360,000<ref name="sha57">{{citation|title=Asia Pacific perspectives, Japan|volume=1|author=Jiji Gaho Sha, inc.|year=2003|publisher=University of Virginia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CTRWAAAAYAAJ|page=57|quote=At that time, a game for use in entertainment arcades was considered a hit if it sold 1000 units; sales of Space Invaders topped 300,000 units in Japan and 60,000 units overseas.}}</ref> and 400,000<ref name="Kao 1989 45">{{cite book|last=Kao|first=John J.|title=Entrepreneurship, creativity & organization: text, cases & readings|year=1989|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ|isbn=0-13-283011-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-MJAQAAMAAJ|author-link=John Kao|access-date=February 12, 2012|page=45|quote=Estimates counted 7 billion coins that by 1982 had been inserted into some 400,000 Pac Man machines worldwide, equal to one game of Pac Man for every person on earth. US domestic revenues from games and licensing of the Pac Man image for T-shirts, pop songs, to wastepaper baskets, etc. exceeded $1 billion.}}</ref> cabinets, respectively, with each machine costing between $2000 and $3000 (specifically $2400 in ''Pac-Man's'' case).<ref>{{citation|title=Video arcades rival Broadway theatre and girlie shows in NY|work=InfoWorld|date=April 12, 1982|volume=4|issue=14|issn=0199-6649|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15}}</ref> In addition, ''Space Invaders'' had grossed $2 billion in quarters by 1982,<ref name="CBC-1982"/> while ''Pac-Man'' had grossed over $1 billion by 1981<ref name="Barton-181">{{citation|title=Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time|author1=Bill Loguidice |author2=Matt Barton |publisher=Focal Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-240-81146-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC|page=181|quote=The machines were well worth the investment; in total they raked in over a billion dollars worth of quarters in the first year alone.}}</ref> and $2.5 billion by the late 1990s.<ref name="Wolf-73">{{cite book|title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2008|isbn=978-0-313-33868-7|chapter=Video Game Stars: Pac-Man|page=73|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA73|quote=It became arguably the most famous video game of all time, with the arcade game alone taking in more than a billion dollars, and one study estimated that it had been played more than 10 billion times during the twentieth century.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pac Man turns 25: A pizza dinner yields a cultural phenomenon – and millions of dollars in quarters|date=May 10, 2005|author=Chris Morris|publisher=CNN|url=https://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050512024727/http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 12, 2005|quote=In the late 1990s, Twin Galaxies, which tracks video game world record scores, visited used game auctions and counted how many times the average ''Pac Man'' machine had been played. Based on those findings and the total number of machines that were manufactured, the organization said it believed the game had been played more than 10 billion times in the 20th century.}}</ref> In 1982, ''Space Invaders'' was considered the highest-grossing entertainment product of its time, with comparisons made to the then highest-grossing film ''Star Wars'',<ref name="CBC-1982"/><ref name="Executive-SW"/> which had grossed $486 million,<ref name="Executive-SW">{{citation|title=Space Invaders vs. Star Wars|work=Executive|volume=24|publisher=Southam Business Publications|year=1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KwTAQAAMAAJ|page=9|quote=They compare this to the box office movie top blockbuster ''Star Wars'', which has taken in only $486 million, for a net of $175 million.}}</ref> while ''Pac-Man'' is today considered the highest-grossing arcade game of all time.<ref>{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC|page=143|quote=Rumors emerged that the unknown creator of ''Pac-Man'' had left the industry when he received only a $3500 bonus for creating the highest-grossing video game of all time.}}</ref> Many other arcade games during the golden age also had hardware unit sales at least in the tens of thousands, including ''Ms. Pac-Man'' with over 115,000 units, ''Asteroids'' with 70,000,<ref name="Wolf-44"/> ''Donkey Kong'' with over 60,000,<ref name="Kent-352">{{citation|author=Steven L. Kent|year=2001|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World|publisher=Prima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC|page=352|isbn=9780761536437|quote=With more than 60,000 units sold in the United States, ''Donkey Kong'' was Nintendo's biggest arcade hit. ... Nintendo released ''Donkey Kong Junior'' in 1982 and sold only 30,000 machines, 20,000 ''Popeye'' machines (also 1982), and a mere 5000 copies of ''Donkey J'' (1983).}}</ref> ''Defender'' with 55,000,<ref name="Steven L. Kent 2001 147">{{citation|author=Steven L. Kent|year=2001|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World|publisher=Prima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC|page=147|isbn=9780761536437|quote=Defender was Williams Electronics' biggest seller. More than 55,000 units were placed worldwide.}}</ref> ''Galaxian'' with 40,000,<ref name="Bureau of National Affairs 1983">{{citation|title=United States Patents Quarterly, Volume 216|work=United States Patents Quarterly|volume=216|author=Bureau of National Affairs|publisher=Associated Industry Publications|year=1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbVCAQAAIAAJ|quote=Since February 1980, Midway has sold in excess of 40,000 Galaxian games}}</ref> ''Donkey Kong Junior'' with 35,000,<ref name="Kent-352"/> ''Mr. Do!'' with 30,000,<ref name="Steve L. Kent 2001 352">{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=352|quote=In 1982, Universal Sales made arcade history with a game called Mr Do! Instead of selling dedicated Mr Do! machines, Universal sold the game as a kit. The kit came with a customized control panel, a computer board with Mr Do! read-only memory (ROM) chips, stickers that could be placed on the side of stand-up arcade machines for art, and a plastic marquee. It was the first game ever sold as a conversion only. According to former Universal Sales western regional sales manager Joe Morici, the company sold approximately 30,000 copies of the game in the United States alone.}}</ref> and ''Tempest'' with 29,000 units.<ref name="atari_memo2"/> A number of arcade games also generated revenues (from quarters) in the hundreds of millions, including ''Defender'' with more than $100 million<ref name="Mark J. P. Wolf 103"/> in addition to many more with revenues in the tens of millions, including ''Dragon's Lair'' with $48 million and ''Space Ace'' with $13 million.<ref name="Allgame-Dyer">{{cite web|title=Rick Dyer: Biography|publisher=Allgame|url=http://www.allgame.com/person.php?id=3332|access-date=April 19, 2011|archive-date=February 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210011051/http://www.allgame.com/person.php?id=3332|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The most successful arcade game companies of this era included Taito (who ushered in the golden age with the shooter game ''Space Invaders''<ref name="Kent-500"/> and produced other successful arcade action games such as ''Gun Fight'' and ''Jungle King''), Namco (the Japanese company that created ''Galaxian'', ''Pac-Man'', ''Pole Position'' and ''Dig Dug'') and Atari, Inc. (who introduced video games into arcades with ''Computer Space'' and ''Pong'', and later produced ''Asteroids''). Other companies such as Sega (who later entered the home console market against its former arch rival, Nintendo), Nintendo (whose mascot, Mario, was introduced in 1981's ''Donkey Kong'' as "Jumpman"), Bally Midway Manufacturing Company (which was later purchased by Williams), Cinematronics, Konami, Centuri, Williams and SNK also gained popularity around this era.
During this period, Japanese video game manufacturers became increasingly influential in North America. By 1980, they had become very influential through licensing their games to American manufacturers.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Adlum |first=Eddie |title=The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum |magazine=RePlay |date=November 1985 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=134-175 (160-3) |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-11-issue-no.-2-november-1985-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2011%2C%20Issue%20No.%202%20-%20November%201985/page/162/mode/2up}}</ref> Japanese companies eventually moved beyond licensing their games to American companies such as Midway, and by 1981 instead began directly importing machines to the North American market as well as building manufacturing facilities in the United States.<ref name="Greenberg">{{Cite magazine|last=Greenberg|first=Jonathan|date=April 13, 1981|title=Japanese invaders: Move over Asteroids and Defenders, the next adversary in the electronic video game wars may be even tougher to beat|url=https://jonathangreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Japanese-Invaders-April-13-1981.pdf|magazine=Forbes|volume=127|issue=8|pages=98, 102}}</ref> By 1982–1983, Japanese manufacturers had more directly captured a large share of the North American arcade market, which Gene Lipkin of Data East USA partly attributed to Japanese companies having more finances to invest in new ideas.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Special Report: Gene Lipkin (Data East USA) |magazine=RePlay |date=January 1991 |volume=16 |issue=4 |page=92 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-16-issue-no.-4-january-1991-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2016%2C%20Issue%20No.%204%20-%20January%201991/page/92}}</ref>
==Technology== Arcades catering to video games began to gain momentum in the late 1970s, with ''Space Invaders'' (1978) followed by games such as ''Asteroids'' (1979) and ''Galaxian'' (1979). Arcades became more widespread in 1980 with ''Pac-Man'', ''Missile Command'' and ''Berzerk'', and in 1981 with ''Defender'', ''Donkey Kong'', ''Frogger'' and others. The central processing unit (CPU) microprocessors in these games allowed for more complexity than earlier transistor-transistor logic (TTL) discrete circuitry games such as Atari's ''Pong'' (1972). The arcade boom that began in the late 1970s is credited with establishing the basic techniques of interactive entertainment and for driving down hardware prices to the extent of allowing the personal computer (PC) to become a technological and economic reality.<ref>{{cite book |title=Digital illusion: entertaining the future with high technology |chapter=Chapter 30: Coin-Op: The Life (Arcade Videogames) |author=Mark Stephen Pierce (Atari Games Corporation) |publisher=ACM Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-201-84780-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/digitalillusion00clar}}</ref>
While color monitors had been used by several racing video games before (such as ''Indy 800''<ref>{{KLOV game|8190|Indy 800}}</ref> and ''Speed Race Twin''<ref>{{KLOV game|9711|Speed Race Twin}}</ref>), it was during this period that RGB color graphics became widespread, following the release of ''Galaxian'' in 1979.<ref name="joystick1_10">{{cite journal|title=Arcade Games|journal=Joystick|date=September 1982|volume=1|issue=1|page=10}}</ref> ''Galaxian'' introduced a tile-based video game graphics system, which reduced processing and memory requirements by up to 64 times compared to the previous framebuffer system used by ''Space Invaders''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Before the Crash: Early Video Game History |author=Mark J. P. Wolf |publisher=Wayne State University Press |date=15 June 2012 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oK3D4i5ldKgC&pg=PA173 |isbn=978-0814337226}}</ref> This allowed ''Galaxian'' to render multi-color sprites,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Good |first1=Owen S. |title=Namco's founder and 'father of Pac-Man' dies at 91 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/1/30/14438064/father-of-pac-man-obituary-masaya-nakamura-namco |access-date=3 May 2021 |work=Polygon |date=30 January 2017}}</ref> which were animated atop a scrolling starfield backdrop, providing the basis for the hardware developed by Nintendo for arcade games such as ''Radar Scope'' (1980) and ''Donkey Kong'' followed by the Nintendo Entertainment System console.<ref name="Nikkei6">{{cite magazine |title=【任天堂「ファミコン」はこうして生まれた】 第6回：業務用ゲーム機の挫折をバネにファミコンの実現に挑む |trans-title=How the Famicom Was Born – Part 6: Making the Famicom a Reality |magazine=Nikkei Electronics |date=September 12, 1994 |publisher=Nikkei Business Publications |lang=ja |url=http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20081001/1019315/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006082447/http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20081001/1019315/ |archive-date=October 6, 2008 |access-date=13 April 2021}} * {{cite web |date=March 28, 2012 |title=Making the Famicom a Reality |website=GlitterBerri's Game Translations |url=https://www.glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/how-the-famicom-was-born/making-the-famicom-a-reality/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505103737/https://www.glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/how-the-famicom-was-born/making-the-famicom-a-reality/ |archive-date=2012-05-05}}</ref>
The golden age also saw developers experimenting with vector displays, which produce crisp lines that can't be duplicated by raster displays. A few of these vector games became great hits, such as 1979's ''Asteroids'', 1980's ''Battlezone'', 1981's ''Tempest'' and 1983's ''Star Wars'' from Atari. However, vector technology fell out of favor with arcade game companies due to the high cost of repairing vector displays.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
Several developers at the time were also experimenting with pseudo-3D and stereoscopic 3D using 2D sprites on raster displays. In 1979, Nintendo's ''Radar Scope'' introduced a three-dimensional third-person perspective to the shoot 'em up genre, later imitated by shooters such as Konami's ''Juno First'' and Activision's ''Beamrider'' in 1983.<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3181467 Where Were They Then: The First Games of Nintendo, Konami, and More (Nintendo)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017222352/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3181467 |date=October 17, 2012}}, 1UP</ref> In 1981, Sega's ''Turbo'' was the first racing game to feature a third-person rear view format,<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10216|name=Turbo}}</ref> and use sprite scaling with full-colour graphics.<ref name=IGN-Sega-p1>[http://uk.retro.ign.com/articles/974/974695p1.html IGN Presents the History of SEGA], IGN</ref> Namco's ''Pole Position'' featured an improved rear-view racer format in 1982 that remained the standard for the genre; the game provided a perspective view of the track, with its vanishing point swaying side to side as the player approaches corners, accurately simulating forward movement into the distance.<ref name="Bernard Perron 2008 p. 157">Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), ''Video game theory reader two'', p. 157, Taylor & Francis, {{ISBN|0-415-96282-X}}</ref> That same year, Sega released ''Zaxxon'', which introduced the use of isometric graphics and shadows;<ref name=Perron>Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), ''Video game theory reader two'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=oe0zNalKkTgC&pg=PA158 p. 158], Taylor & Francis, {{ISBN|0-415-96282-X}}</ref> and ''SubRoc-3D'', which introduced the use of stereoscopic 3D through a special eyepiece.<ref>{{KLOV game|9856|SubRoc-3D}}</ref>
This period also saw significant advances in digital audio technology. ''Space Invaders'' in 1978 was the first game to use a continuous background soundtrack, with four simple chromatic descending bass notes repeating in a loop, though it was dynamic and changed tempo during stages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=From Pac-Man to pop music: interactive audio in games and new media|author=Karen Collins|publisher=Ashgate|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7546-6200-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFEYAQAAIAAJ|page=2}}</ref> ''Rally-X'' in 1980 was the first game to feature continuous background music,<ref name="GamesRadar-2">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |title=Gaming's Most Important Evolutions |page=2 |publisher=GamesRadar |date=October 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615221800/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |archive-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref> which was generated using a dedicated sound chip, a Namco 3-channel PSG.<ref name="KLOV-Rally"/> That same year saw the introduction of speech synthesis, which was first used in ''Stratovox'', released by Sun Electronics in 1980,<ref name="GamesRadar-2"/> followed soon after by Namco's ''King & Balloon''.
Developers also experimented with laserdisc players for delivering full motion video based games with movie-quality animation. The first laserdisc video game to exploit this technology was 1983's ''Astron Belt'' from Sega,<ref name="AtariHQ">{{cite web|title=ASTRON BELT|publisher=Atari HQ|url=http://www.atarihq.com/coinops/laser/astbelt.html}}</ref><ref name="Astron-Belt">{{cite web|url=https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=9550|title=Astron Belt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101010101/https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=9550|archive-date=2014-01-01|url-status=dead|website=AllGame}}</ref> soon followed by ''Dragon's Lair'' from Cinematronics; the latter was a sensation when it was released (and, in fact, the laserdisc players in many machines broke due to overuse). While laserdisc games were usually either shooter games with full-motion video backdrops like ''Astron Belt'' or interactive movies like ''Dragon's Lair'', Data East's 1983 game ''Bega's Battle'' introduced a new form of video game storytelling: using brief full-motion video cutscenes to develop a story between the game's shooting stages, which years later became the standard approach to video game storytelling. By the mid-1980s, the genre dwindled in popularity, as laserdiscs were losing out to the VHS format and the laserdisc games themselves were losing their novelty.<ref name="Fahs">{{cite web|title=The Lives and Deaths of the Interactive Movie|author=Travis Fahs|publisher=IGN|date=March 3, 2008|url=http://uk.retro.ign.com/articles/856/856379p2.html}}</ref>
16-bit processors began appearing in several arcade games during this era. Universal's ''Get A Way'' (1978) was a sit-down racing game that used a 16-bit CPU,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=Winnie |title=Computer- und Video-Spielmacher |date=2008 |publisher=Gameplan |isbn=978-3-00-021584-1 |page=341 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHAnAQAAIAAJ |language=de |quote=Sit-Down-Rennspiel Get A Way (1978) mit 16-bit-CPU. |trans-quote=Sit-down racing game Get A Way (1978) with 16-bit-CPU.}}</ref> for which it was advertised as the first game to use a 16-bit microcomputer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Video Game Flyers: Get A Way, Universal (USA) |url=https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=2588 |website=The Arcade Flyer Archive |access-date=25 May 2021}}</ref> Another racing game, Namco's ''Pole Position'' (1982), used the 16-bit Zilog Z8000 processor.<ref name="Interview">{{cite web |title=バンダイナムコ知新「第2回 カーレースゲームの変遷 前編」大杉章氏、岡本進一郎氏、岡本達郎氏インタビュー |url=https://www.bandainamcoent.co.jp/asobimotto/page/carracinggames1.html |publisher=Bandai Namco Entertainment |access-date=13 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514132224/https://www.bandainamcoent.co.jp/asobimotto/page/carracinggames1.html |archive-date=14 May 2019 |date=25 April 2019}}</ref> Atari's ''Food Fight'' (1983) was one of the earliest games to use the Motorola 68000 processor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stulir |first1=Mike |title=Charley Chuck's Food Fight |url=https://www.classicarcademuseum.org/newpageb4e50452 |access-date=26 May 2021 |work=American Classic Arcade Museum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717083451/http://www.classicarcademuseum.org/newpageb4e50452 |archive-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>
3D computer graphics began appearing in several arcade games towards the end of the golden age. Funai's ''Interstellar'', a laserdisc game introduced at Tokyo's Amusement Machine Show (AM Show) in September 1983,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Overseas Readers Column: 21st AM Show Of Tokyo Held Heralding The Age Of The Video Disk|magazine=Game Machine|issue=223|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 November 1983|page=34|lang=ja|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19831101p.pdf#page=18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131232025/https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19831101p.pdf|archive-date=31 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="JAMMA">{{cite magazine |title="Somber" JAMMA Show Hosts Five Laser Disc Games |magazine=Cash Box |date=October 15, 1983 |pages=32, 34 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-10-15.PDF#page=45 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813200018/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-10-15.PDF |archive-date=August 13, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> demonstrated pre-rendered 3D computer graphics.<ref name="GM226">{{cite magazine|title=立体CGを駆使したVDゲーム 〜 未来の宇宙戦争 〜 フナイから 『インターステラー』|trans-title=VD Game That Makes Full Use of 3D CG – Future Space War: "Interstellar" from Funai|magazine=Game Machine|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|issue=226|date=15 December 1983|page=24|lang=ja|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19831215p.pdf#page=13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131232024/https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19831215p.pdf|archive-date=31 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Simutrek's ''Cube Quest'', another laserdisc game introduced at the same Tokyo AM Show in September 1983,<ref name="JAMMA"/> combined laserdisc animation with 3D real-time computer graphics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Video Game Flyers: Cube Quest, Simutrek |url=https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=260 |website=The Arcade Flyer Archive |access-date=22 May 2021}}</ref> ''Star Rider'', introduced by Williams Electronics at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) in October 1983,<ref name="CashMachine">{{cite magazine |title=Cash Machine |magazine=Cash Box |date=November 12, 1983 |pages=30–4 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-11-12.PDF#page=32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813200243/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-11-12.PDF |archive-date=August 13, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> also demonstrated pre-rendered 3D graphics.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Gorzelany|first1=Jim|title=Going Full Cycle|magazine=Video Games|date=April 1984|volume=2|issue=7|pages=24–29|url=https://archive.org/stream/Video_Games_Volume_2_Number_07_1984-04_Pumpkin_Press_US#page/n24/mode/2up}}</ref> Atari's ''I, Robot'', developed and released in 1984,<ref name="Copyright">{{cite web |title=I, Robot (Registration Number TX0001530213) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov |website=United States Copyright Office |access-date=12 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="atari_production99"/> was the first arcade game to be rendered entirely with real-time 3D computer graphics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herman |first1=Leonard |chapter=1984 |title=Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames |title-link=Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames |date=1997 |publisher=Rolenta Press |isbn=978-0-9643848-2-8 |page=111 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duITAQAAIAAJ |quote=''I, Robot'' was the first game that featured state-of-the-art 3D polygon graphics, a technique that was nearly ten years ahead of its time. This bizarre game which borrowed features from earlier arcade games like ''Galaga'' and ''Pac-Man'' even had an option where players could doodle their own abstract polygon generated ''art''.}}</ref>
==Gameplay== ''Space Invaders'' (1978) established the "multiple life, progressively difficult level paradigm" used by many classic arcade games.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hague |first=James |chapter=Eugene Jarvis |title=Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers |title-link=Halcyon Days (book) |date=March 1997 |publisher=Dadgum Games |chapter-url=https://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020622145031/http://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |archive-date=2002-06-22 |access-date=15 September 2025}}</ref> Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado at Taito, he drew inspiration from Atari's block-breaker game ''Breakout'' (1976) and several science fiction works. Nishikado added several interactive elements to ''Space Invaders'' that he found lacking in earlier video games, such as the ability for enemies to react to the player's movement and fire back, with a game over triggered by enemies killing the player (either by getting hit or enemies reaching the bottom of the screen) rather than a timer running out.<ref name="RG-3">{{cite magazine|title=Nishikado-San Speaks|url=https://archive.org/stream/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_003#page/34/mode/2up|magazine=Retro Gamer|publisher=Live Publishing|issue=3|date=15 April 2004|page=35}}</ref> In contrast to earlier arcade games which often had a timer, ''Space Invaders'' introduced the "concept of going round after round."<ref name="SDR">{{cite news|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1982/jul/15/cover-exactly-zaxxon/|title=San Diego's Gremlin: how video games work|work=San Diego Reader|date=1982-07-15|access-date=2020-10-25}}</ref> It also gave the player multiple lives before the game ends,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Records |first1=Guinness World |title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2015 Ebook |date=6 November 2014 |publisher=Guinness World Records |isbn=978-1-908843-71-5 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OUkBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA68}}</ref> and saved the high score.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Changing Face of Winning in Video Games|author=Shannon Symonds|date=2010-11-19|publisher=International Center for the History of Electronic Games|url=http://www.icheg.org/blog/chegheads/2010/11/the-changing-face-of-winning-in-video-games/|access-date=2011-03-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205033239/http://www.icheg.org/blog/chegheads/2010/11/the-changing-face-of-winning-in-video-games/|archive-date=2010-12-05}}</ref> It also had a basic story with animated characters along with a "crescendo of action and climax" which laid the groundwork for later video games, according to Eugene Jarvis.<ref name="wired1">{{cite magazine|author=Obsessions |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/12/eugene-jarvis-pioneer/ |title=This Game Industry Pioneer Never Gave Up on the Video Arcade |magazine=WIRED |date=2013-12-18 |access-date=2016-09-15}}</ref>
With the enormous success of ''Space Invaders'', dozens of developers jumped into the development and manufacturing of arcade video games. Some simply copied the "invading alien hordes" idea of ''Space Invaders'' and turned out successful imitators like Namco's ''Galaxian'' and ''Galaga'', which extended the fixed shooter genre with new gameplay mechanics, more complex enemy patterns, and richer graphics.<ref name="lecture">[https://web.archive.org/web/20231126130545/https://jeuxarcades.com/game-genres-shmups Game Genres: Shmups], Professor Jim Whitehead, January 29, 2007, Retrieved June 17, 2008</ref><ref>Buchanan, Levi, [http://uk.wireless.ign.com/articles/394/394165p1.html Galaxian Mini] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713005142/http://uk.wireless.ign.com/articles/394/394165p1.html |date=July 13, 2011}}, ''IGN'', April 21, 2003, Retrieved June 17, 2008</ref> ''Galaxian'' introduced a "risk-reward" concept,<ref name="klov_galaxian">{{KLOV game|7885|Galaxian}}</ref> while ''Galaga'' was one of the first games with a bonus stage.<ref name="KLOV-galaga">{{KLOV game|id=7881|name=Galaga}}</ref> Sega's 1980 release ''Space Tactics'' was an early first-person space combat game with multi-directional scrolling as the player moved the cross-hairs on the screen.<ref name="Space-Tactics">{{KLOV game|id=9683|name=Space Tactics}}</ref>
Others tried new concepts and defined new genres. Rapidly evolving hardware allowed new kinds of games which allowed for different styles of gameplay. The term "action games" began being used in the early 1980s, in reference to a new genre of character action games that emerged from Japanese arcade developers, drawing inspiration from manga and anime culture. According to Eugene Jarvis, these new character-driven Japanese action games emphasized "character development, hand-drawn animation and backgrounds, and a more deterministic, scripted, pattern-type" of play. Terms such as "action games" or "character games" began being used to distinguish these new character-driven action games from the space shooters that had previously dominated the video game industry.<ref name="RG80s"/><ref name="Williams">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Andrew |title=History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction |date=16 March 2017 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-317-50381-1 |pages=79–84, 143–6, 152–4}}</ref><ref name="EFCG">{{cite magazine |title=Video Game Explosion! We rate every game in the world |magazine=Electronic Fun with Computers & Games |date=December 1982 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=12–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_02_1982-12_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n11/mode/2up}}</ref> The emphasis on character-driven gameplay in turn enabled a wider variety of subgenres.<ref name="Williams"/> In 1980, Namco released ''Pac-Man'', which popularized the maze chase genre, and ''Rally-X'', which featured a radar tracking the player position on the map.<ref name="KLOV-Rally"/> Games such as the pioneering 1981 games ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Qix'' introduced new types of games where skill and timing are more important than shooting as fast as possible, with Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' in particular setting the template for the platform game genre.<ref name="GamesRadar-3"/>
The two most popular genres during the golden age were space shooters and character action games.<ref name="RG80s"/> While Japanese developers were creating a character-driven action game genre in the early 1980s, American developers largely adopted a different approach to game design at the time.<ref name="RG80s">{{cite magazine |last1=Thorpe |first1=Nick |title=The 80s: The Golden Age of the Arcade |magazine=Retro Gamer |date=March 2014 |issue=127 |pages=28–31 |url=https://archive.org/details/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_127/page/28/mode/2up}}</ref> According to Eugene Jarvis, American arcade developers focused mainly on space shooters during the late 1970s to early 1980s, greatly influenced by Japanese space shooters but taking the genre in a different direction from the "more deterministic, scripted, pattern-type" gameplay of Japanese games, towards a more "programmer-centric design culture, emphasizing algorithmic generation of backgrounds and enemy dispatch" and "an emphasis on random-event generation, particle-effect explosions and physics" as seen in arcade games such as his own ''Defender'' (1981)<ref name="RG80s"/> and ''Robotron: 2084'' (1982)<ref name="fundamentals">{{cite book|last=Rollings|first=Andrew|author2=Ernest Adams|title=Fundamentals of Game Design|publisher=Prentice Hall|year=2006|url=http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/3597646.cw/index.html|access-date=May 26, 2021|archive-date=December 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231072651/http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/3597646.cw/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as Atari's ''Asteroids'' (1979).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/838/838642p1.html | title = Asteroids Deluxe Review | author = Nate Ahearn | website = IGN | date = 29 November 2007 | access-date = 17 February 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120307143415/http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/838/838642p1.html | archive-date = 7 March 2012}}</ref>
Namco's ''Bosconian'' in 1981 introduced a free-roaming style of gameplay where the player's ship freely moves across open space, while also including a radar tracking player & enemy positions.<ref name="Bosconian">{{cite web|url=https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=398|title=Bosconian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101010101/https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=398|archive-date=2014-01-01|url-status=dead|website=AllGame}}</ref> ''Bega's Battle'' in 1983 introduced a new form of video game storytelling: using brief full-motion video cutscenes to develop a story between the game's shooting stages.<ref name="Fahs"/> Other examples of innovative games are Atari Games' ''Paperboy'' in 1984 where the goal is to successfully deliver newspapers to customers, and Namco's ''Phozon'' where the object is to duplicate a shape shown in the middle of the screen. The theme of Exidy's ''Venture'' is dungeon exploration and treasure-gathering. ''Q*bert'' plays upon the user's sense of depth perception to deliver a novel experience.
==Popular culture== [[File:Donkey Kong arcade.png|thumb|upright|''Donkey Kong'']] Some games of this era were so widely played that they entered popular culture. The first was ''Space Invaders,'' released in 1978. A widely believed, yet false, urban legend held that its popularity caused a national shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan.<ref name="GWR08-2">{{cite book| editor= Craig Glenday| title= Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series= Guinness World Records| date= March 11, 2008| publisher= Guinness| isbn= 978-1-904994-21-3| pages= [https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/106 106–107]| chapter= Record Breaking Games: Shooting Games Roundup| chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/106}}</ref><ref name="guardian">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2005/jul/24/games.shopping| title=A life through video games| publisher=Guardian Media Group|work=The Observer |author=Richards, Giles |date=July 24, 2005| access-date=May 22, 2008}}</ref><ref name="coinguide">{{cite web| url=http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/WorldCoinPrices.aspx?category=54449&worldcoinid=147774| title=JAPAN 100 Yen Y# 82 Yr.42(1967)-Yr.63(1988)| publisher=Numismatic Guaranty Corporation| work=World Coin price Guide| access-date=February 27, 2013}}</ref><ref name="WCN39-2">{{cite journal | last=Fox | first=Mark | year=2012 | title=Space Invaders targets coins | journal= World Coin News | volume=39 | issue=2 | pages=35–37 | publisher=Krause Publications | url=https://www.academia.edu/2568838 | access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> Its release in North America led to hundreds of favorable articles and stories about the emerging medium of video games printed in newspapers and magazines and aired on television. The Space Invaders Tournament held by Atari in 1980 was the first video game competition and attracted more than 10,000 participants, establishing video gaming as a mainstream hobby.<ref name="eg_2_36">{{cite journal|title=Players Guide To Electronic Science Fiction Games|journal=Electronic Games|date=March 1982|volume=1|issue=2|pages=35–45 [36]|url=https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-1982-03/Electronic_Games_Issue_02_Vol_01_02_1982_Mar#page/n35/mode/1up|access-date=February 1, 2012}}</ref> By 1980, 86% of the 13–20 year old population in the United States had played arcade video games,<ref>{{cite news|last=Trachtman |first=Paul |title=A generation meets computers on the playing fields of Atari |url=http://www.gamearchive.com/General/Articles/ClassicNews/1981/Smith-9-81-Pg52.htm |access-date=March 7, 2012 |newspaper=Smithsonian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060319114953/http://www.gamearchive.com/General/Articles/ClassicNews/1981/Smith-9-81-Pg52.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2006 |pages=50–53 [52] |date=September 1981 |url-status=unfit}}</ref> and by 1981, there were more than 35 million gamers visiting video game arcades in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wojahn|first=Ellen|title=The General Mills/Parker Brothers merger: playing by different rules|year=2003|publisher=Beard Books|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=1-58798-182-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aszv5J3wXcC&pg=PA120|access-date=February 25, 2012|page=120}}</ref>
The game that most affected popular culture in North America was ''Pac-Man''. Its release in 1980 caused such a sensation that it initiated what is now referred to as "Pac-Mania" (which later became the title of the last coin-operated game in the series, released in 1987). Released by Namco, the game featured a yellow, circle-shaped creature trying to eat dots through a maze while avoiding pursuing enemies. Though no one could agree what the "hero" or enemies represented (they were variously referred to as ghosts, goblins or monsters), the game was extremely popular. The game spawned an animated television series, numerous clones, ''Pac-Man''-branded foods, toys, and a hit pop song, "Pac-Man Fever". The game's popularity was such that President Ronald Reagan congratulated a player for setting a record score in ''Pac-Man''.<ref name="mitchell">Ramsey, David. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080229043301/http://www.oxfordamericanmag.com/content.cfm?ArticleID=58&Entry=Home The Perfect Man – How Billy Mitchell became a video-game superstar and achieved Pac-Man bliss]". ''Oxford American'', issue 53. Spring 2006.</ref> ''Pac-Man'' was also responsible for expanding the arcade game market to involve large numbers of female audiences across all age groups.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Worley|first=Joyce|title=Women Join the Arcade Revolution|journal=Electronic Games|date=May 1982|volume=1|issue=3|pages=30–33|url=https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-1982-05/Electronic_Games_Issue_03_Vol_01_03_1982_May#page/n31/mode/2up|access-date=February 3, 2012}}</ref> Though many popular games quickly entered the lexicon of popular culture, most have since left, and ''Pac-Man'' is unusual in remaining a recognized term in popular culture, along with ''Space Invaders'', ''Donkey Kong'', ''Mario'' and ''Q*bert''.
Seen as an additional source of revenue, arcade games began popping up outside of dedicated arcades, including bars, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys, convenience stores, laundromats, gas stations, supermarkets, airports, even dentist and doctor offices. Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese were founded specifically as restaurants focused on featuring the latest arcade titles.
In 1982, the game show ''Starcade'' premiered. The program focused on players competing to achieve high scores on the latest arcade titles, with the chance to win the grand prize of their own arcade machine if they could hit a target score within a specific time frame. The show ran until 1984 on TBS and syndication.
In 1983, an animated television series produced for Saturday mornings called ''Saturday Supercade'' featured video game characters from the era, such as Frogger, Donkey Kong, Q*bert, Donkey Kong Jr., Kangaroo, Space Ace, and Pitfall Harry.
Arcade games at the time affected the music industry, revenues for which had declined by $400 million between 1978 and 1981 (from $4.1 billion to $3.7 billion), a decrease that was directly credited to the rise of arcade games at the time.<ref name="Durant-1982">{{citation|title=Movie Studios Purchase Piece Of Video Game Action|work=The Durant Daily Democrat|date=July 14, 1982|page=22|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qwlbAAAAIBAJ&pg=1192,1139884}}</ref> Successful songs based on video games also began appearing. The pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) sampled ''Space Invaders'' sounds in their 1978 self-titled album and the hit single "Computer Game" from the same album,<ref name="wire_2002">{{cite book |title=The Wire, Volumes 221-226 |year=2002|issue=221–226|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyFMAAAAYAAJ |access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> the latter selling over 400,000 copies in the United States.<ref name="Sarasota">{{cite journal|title=Computer rock music gaining fans|journal=Sarasota Journal|date=August 18, 1980|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223|page=8}}</ref> In turn, YMO had a major influence on much of the video game music produced during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.<ref name="japantimes">{{cite web|date=February 29, 2008|title=YMCK takes 'chiptune' revolution major|author=Daniel Robson|work=The Japan Times|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20080229a1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822075506/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20080229a1.html|archive-date=August 22, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Other pop songs based on ''Space Invaders'' soon followed, including "Disco Space Invaders" (1979) by Funny Stuff,<ref name="wire_2002"/> "Space Invaders" (1980) by Player One (known as Playback in the US),<ref>{{Discogs release|807452|Playback – Space Invaders}}</ref> and the hit songs "Space Invader" (1980) by The Pretenders<ref name="wire_2002"/> and "Space Invaders" (1980) by Uncle Vic.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lovelace|first=Craven|title=Take a waka-waka-waka on the wild side|url=http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20100827/COMMUNITY_NEWS/100829973|work=Grand Junction Free Press|date=August 27, 2010}}</ref> The game was also the basis for Player One's "Space Invaders" (1979), which in turn provided the baseline for Jesse Saunders's "On and On" (1984),<ref>{{cite web|title=Jesse Saunders – On And On|date=January 20, 1984 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Jesse-Saunders-On-And-On/release/176575|publisher=Discogs|access-date=May 23, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Saunders2010>{{cite web|url=http://news.beatport.com/blog/2010/02/09/black-history-jesse-saunders-and-house-music/ |title=Black History Month: Jesse Saunders and house music |last=Church |first=Terry |publisher=BeatPortal |date=2010-02-09 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921065136/http://news.beatport.com/blog/2010/02/09/black-history-jesse-saunders-and-house-music/ |archive-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref> the first Chicago house music track.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bracelin|first=Jason|title=House music finds a home|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11950293F0B8B3B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=May 22, 2007|page=1E|quote=A native of Chicago, where house was first popularized, Saunders is credited for producing and releasing the first house single, "On and On", on his own Jes Say Records label.|access-date=September 12, 2013|archive-date=April 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429154231/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11950293F0B8B3B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=dead}}</ref> The song "Pac-Man Fever" reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and sold over a million singles in 1982,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Popular Computing|publisher=McGraw-Hill|date=1982|volume=2|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921174,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107105801/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921174,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2007|access-date=August 14, 2010|quote=Pac-Man Fever went gold almost instantly with 1 million records sold.}}</ref> while the album ''Pac-Man Fever'' sold over a million records, with both receiving Gold certifications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Pac-Man_Fever&artist=&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=10 |title=RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – Pac-Man Fever |publisher=RIAA.com |url-status=dead |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904081506/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Pac-Man_Fever&artist=&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=10 |archive-date=September 4, 2015}}</ref> That same year, R. Cade and the Video Victims also produced an arcade-inspired album, ''Get Victimized'', featuring songs such as "Donkey Kong".<ref>{{cite web|title=R. Cade And The Video Victims – Get Victimized|year=1982 |publisher=Discogs|url=http://www.discogs.com/R-Cade-And-The-Video-Victims-Get-Victimized/release/2717820}}</ref> In 1984, former YMO member Haruomi Hosono produced an album entirely from Namco arcade game samples entitled ''Video Game Music'', an early example of a chiptune record<ref>{{Discogs master|190001|Haruomi Hosono – Video Game Music|type=album}}</ref> and the first video game music album.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xevious|publisher=Hardcore Gaming 101|page=2|author=Carlo Savorelli|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/xevious/xevious2.htm|access-date=June 12, 2011|archive-date=July 31, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731061235/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/xevious/xevious2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Arcade game sounds also had a strong influence on the hip hop,<ref>{{cite book|title=Rap attack 3: African rap to global hip hop, Issue 3|author=David Toop|edition=3rd|publisher=Serpent's Tail|year=2000|isbn=1-85242-627-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop/page/129 129]|url=https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop|url-access=registration}}</ref> pop music (particularly synthpop)<ref name="sfweekly_interview">{{cite web|last=Stout|first=Andrew|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra on Kraftwerk and How to Write a Melody During a Cultural Revolution|url=http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2011/06/yellow_magic_orchestras_ryuich.php|work=SF Weekly|date=June 24, 2011|access-date=July 6, 2011|archive-date=September 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903004312/http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2011/06/yellow_magic_orchestras_ryuich.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> and electro music genres during the early 1980s.<ref name="allmusic_electro">{{cite web|title=Electro|publisher=Allmusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/electro-t689|access-date=May 25, 2011|archive-date=December 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208184845/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/electro-t689|url-status=dead}}</ref> The booming success of video games at the time led to music magazine ''Billboard'' listing the 15 top-selling video games alongside their record charts by 1982.<ref name="Enterprise-1982">{{citation|title=Cash In On the Video Game Craze|work=Black Enterprise|date=December 1982|volume=12|issue=5|issn=0006-4165|pages=41–2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6pacvfrf0wC&pg=PA41|last1=Earl g. Graves|first1=Ltd}}</ref> More than a decade later, the first electroclash record, I-F's "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1997), has been described as "burbling electro in a vocodered homage to Atari-era hi-jinks",<ref name=Lynskey2002>{{Citation | last = D. Lynskey | title = Out with the old, in with the older | journal = Guardian.co.uk | date = 22 March 2002 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/mar/22/shopping.artsfeatures2?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015225802/http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2002/mar/22/shopping.artsfeatures2 | url-status = live | archive-date = 15 October 2014}}</ref> particularly ''Space Invaders'' which it was named after.<ref>{{cite web|title=I-f – Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass|year=1998 |url=http://www.discogs.com/I-f-Space-Invaders-Are-Smoking-Grass/release/19460|publisher=Discogs|access-date=May 25, 2012}}</ref>
Arcade games also influenced the film industry; beginning with ''Space Invaders'', arcade games began appearing at many movie theaters.<ref name="Wolf-44"/> Early films based on video games were also produced, most notably ''Tron'', which grossed over $33 million in 1982<ref>{{Mojo title|id=tron.htm|title=Tron (1982)}}</ref> which began the ''Tron'' franchise which included a video game adaptation that grossed more than the film.<ref name="Gantz-164">{{citation|title=The naked computer: a layperson's almanac of computer lore, wizardry, personalities, memorabilia, world records, mind blowers, and tomfoolery|author1=Jack B. Rochester |author2=John Gantz |publisher=William Morrow and Company|year=1983|isbn=0-688-02450-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=walFAAAAYAAJ|page=164|quote=Although the Disney Studios expected to make over $400 million from this siliconic extravaganza, our source at Variety tells us that its North American rentals were $15 million and estimated total gross, $30 million. The arcade game ''Tron'', made by Bally, grossed more.}}</ref> Other films based on video games included the 1983 films ''WarGames'' (where Matthew Broderick plays ''Galaga'' at an arcade),<ref name="GSpy-Galaga">{{citation|title=Galaga: Game of The Week |work=GameSpy |author=Kevin Bowen |url=http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=272 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309151427/http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=272 |archive-date=March 9, 2012}}</ref> ''Nightmares'', and ''Joysticks'', the 1984 films ''The Last Starfighter'', as well as ''Cloak & Dagger'' (in which an Atari 5200 cartridge implausibly containing the eponymous arcade game becomes the film's MacGuffin). Arcades also appeared in many other films at the time, such as ''Dawn of the Dead'' (where they play ''Gun Fight'' and ''F-1'') in 1978,<ref>{{YouTube|3UVzepqkmts|Mall Arcade (Dawn Of The Dead)}}</ref> and ''Midnight Madness'' in 1980, ''Take This Job and Shove It'' and ''Puberty Blues'' in 1981, the 1982 releases ''Rocky III'', ''Fast Times At Ridgemont High'', ''Koyaanisqatsi'' and ''The Toy'', the 1983 releases ''Psycho II'', ''Spring Break'', ''Strange Brew'', ''Terms of Endearment'' and ''Never Say Never Again'', the 1984 releases ''Footloose'', ''The Karate Kid'' (where Elisabeth Shue plays ''Pac-Man''), ''The Terminator'', ''Night of the Comet'' and ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'', the 1985 releases ''The Goonies'', ''The Heavenly Kid'', ''Pee Wee's Big Adventure'', ''The Boys Next Door''<ref name="tepg">{{cite web|title=Browse|url=http://www.tepg.se/browse/|work=The Electronic Playground|access-date=July 15, 2011|archive-date=November 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101063359/http://www.tepg.se/browse/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''<ref name="GSpy-Galaga"/> as well as the 1986 films ''Something Wild'', ''The Color of Money'', ''River's Edge'' and ''Psycho III'' (where Norman Bates stands next to a ''Berzerk'' cabinet).<ref name="tepg"/> ''Over the Top'', ''Can't Buy Me Love'', ''Light of Day'' and ''Project X'' showcase arcade game cabinets as well. Coin-operated games (both video and mechanical) are central to the plots of the 1988 films ''Big'' and ''Kung-Fu Master'' and also appear in ''Miracle Mile''.
In more recent years, there have been critically acclaimed documentaries based on the golden age of arcade games, such as ''The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'' (2007) and ''Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade'' (2007). Since 2010, many arcade-related features or films incorporating 1980s nostalgia have been released including ''Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012), ''Ping Pong Summer'' (2014), ''Pixels'' (2015), ''Everybody Wants Some!!'' (2016), ''Summer of 84'' (2018) and ''Ready Player One'' (2018) which is based upon the novel by Ernest Cline and directed by Steven Spielberg. Television shows have exhibited arcade games including ''The Goldbergs'' and ''Stranger Things'' (both of which feature ''Dragon's Lair'' among other games).
==Strategy guides== The period saw the emergence of a gaming media, publications dedicated to video games, in the form of video game journalism and strategy guides.<ref name="CBC-1982"/> The enormous popularity of video arcade games led to the very first video game strategy guides;<ref name="Ludington-1982">{{cite web|title=Learn The Code Book And Beat Video Games|work=Ludington Daily News|date=March 1, 1982|page=25|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HZpaAAAAIBAJ&pg=4643,3691324}}</ref> these guides (rare to find today) discussed in detail the patterns and strategies of each game, including variations, to a degree that few guides seen since can match. "Turning the machine over" - making the score counter overflow and reset to zero - was often the final challenge of a game for those who mastered it, and the last obstacle to getting the highest score.
Some of these strategy guides sold hundreds of thousands of copies at prices ranging from $1.95 to $3.95 in 1982<ref name="Ludington-1982"/> (equivalent to between ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|1.95|1982|r=0}}}} and ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|3.95|1982|r=0}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="Inflation">{{cite web|title=CPI Inflation Calculator|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics|url=http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm|access-date=March 17, 2012}}</ref> That year, Ken Uston's ''Mastering Pac-Man'' sold 750,000 copies, reaching No. 5 on B. Dalton's mass-market bestseller list, while Bantam's ''How to Master the Video Games'' sold 600,000 copies, appearing on ''The New York Times'' mass-market paperback list.<ref name="Ludington-1982"/> By 1983, 1.7 million copies of ''Mastering Pac-Man'' had been printed.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Uston|first=Ken|title=Mastering Pac-Man Plus and Super Pac-Man|journal=Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games|date=Fall 1983|volume=1|issue=2|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n2/pacman.php|access-date=February 22, 2012|author-link=Ken Uston|page=32}}</ref>
==List of popular arcade games== {{see also|Timeline of arcade video game history|1970s in video games|1980s in video games}}
The games below are some of the most popular and/or influential games of the era.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top Coin-Operated Videogames of all Times|author1=Greg McLemore |author2=the KLOV team |publisher=Killer List of Videogames|url=http://www.arcade-museum.com/TOP100.php}}</ref> <!-- This is a current list. One can't make accurate inferences about past popularity based upon it. -->
{| class="wikitable" style="width:200px;" |+ '''Legend''' |- style="background:#c9daff; text-align:center;" | Vector display |- style="background:#ffe8a9; text-align:center;" | Raster display |}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! style="width:150px;"| Name ! Year ! Manufacturer ! class="unsortable" | Legacy Notes |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Space Invaders'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1978 | Taito (Japan) / Midway (U.S.) | Considered the game that revolutionized the video game industry.<ref name="Shigeru">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645158,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826025748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645158,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=August 26, 2007|magazine=Time| title=10 Questions for Shigeru Miyamoto| date=July 19, 2007| author=Sayre, Carolyn| access-date=September 4, 2007}}</ref> The first blockbuster video game,<ref>{{citation|author=Chris Kohler|year=2005|title=Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life|page=18|publisher=BradyGames|isbn=0-7440-0424-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auMTAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> it established the shoot 'em up genre,<ref name="1UP-50">{{cite web|title=Essential 50: Space Invaders|publisher=1UP.com|url=http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-space-invaders|access-date=April 1, 2011|archive-date=October 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018124241/http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-space-invaders|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has influenced most shooter games since.<ref name="1UP-10things">{{cite web| url = http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3168373| title = Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders| publisher = 1UP.com| author = Edwards, Benj| access-date = July 11, 2008| archive-date = February 26, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090226064943/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3168373| url-status = dead}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Galaxian'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1979 | Namco (Japan) / Midway (U.S.) | Created to compete with ''Space Invaders''. The first game to use multi-colored, animated sprites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-was-first-true-color-arcade-video.html|title=What Was The First 'True' Color Arcade Video Game?|author=Smith, Keith|date=September 11, 2012|publisher=The Golden Age Arcade Historian|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tasvideos.org/1414G|title=Galaxian - TAS Videos| author=TAS Videos|date=2022|publisher=TAS Videos|access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref> Aliens move in a swooping formation and attack by dive bombing the player's ship. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Lunar Lander'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1979 | Atari | Arcade version of an earlier minicomputer game concept. First Atari coin-op to use vector graphics. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Asteroids'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1979 | Atari | Atari's most successful coin-operated game. It is one of the first to allow players to enter their initials for a high score. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Battlezone'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Atari | Custom cabinet with novel 2-way dual-joystick controls incorporating top-fire button, and periscope-like viewer.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=7059|name=Battlezone}}</ref> Early use of first-person pseudo 3-D vector graphics. It is widely considered the first virtual reality arcade game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lB4PAwAAQBAJ&q=battlezone|title=Games vs. Hardware. The History of PC videogames|author=Purcaru, John B.|date=March 13, 2014|access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref> Also used as the basis for a military simulator.<ref>[http://www.safestuff.com/bradley.htm "Bradley Trainer"]</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Berzerk'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Stern Electronics | Early use of speech synthesis was also translated into other languages in Europe. Indestructible adversary appears in order to eliminate lingering players. This became an oft-employed device (e.g. Hallmonsters in ''Venture'') to increase challenge and limit play duration of arcade games. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Missile Command'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Atari | Theme of the game was influenced by the Cold War era. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Pac-Man'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Namco (Japan) / Midway (U.S.) | One of the most popular and influential games, it had the first gaming mascot, established maze chase genre, opened gaming to female audiences,<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3122102 The Essential 50 – Pac-Man] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106233123/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3122102%20 |date=January 6, 2019}}, 1UP</ref> and introduced power-ups<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3151392 Playing With Power: Great Ideas That Have Changed Gaming Forever] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112211813/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3151392 |date=November 12, 2016}}, 1UP</ref> and cutscenes.<ref>[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 Gaming's Most Important Evolutions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615221800/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |date=June 15, 2011}}, GamesRadar</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Phoenix'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Amstar Electronics / Centuri (U.S.) / Taito (Japan) | One of the first games with a boss battle. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Rally-X'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Namco | Driving game with overhead, scrolling maze. First game with a bonus round, background music,<ref>[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 Gaming's Most Important Evolutions (Page 2)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615221800/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |date=June 15, 2011}}, GamesRadar</ref> and a radar.<ref name="KLOV-Rally">{{KLOV game|9259|Rally-X}}</ref> When released, was predicted to outsell two other new releases: ''Pac-Man'' and ''Defender''. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Star Castle'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Cinematronics | The colors of the rings and screen are provided by a transparent plastic screen overlay. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Wizard of Wor'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1980 | Midway | Allowed two-player competitive or cooperative fighting of monsters in maze-like dungeons. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Centipede'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Atari | Co-created by programmer Dona Bailey. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Defender'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Williams Electronics | Horizontal scrolling space shooting game that was praised for its audio-visuals and gameplay. Was predicted to be outsold by ''Rally-X'', but ''Defender'' trounced it, going on to sell 60,000 units. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Tempest'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Atari | One of the first games to use a color vector display. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Donkey Kong'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Nintendo | Laid foundations for platform game genre as well as visual storytelling in video games,<ref name="GamesRadar-3">{{cite web|title=Gaming's most important evolutions |page=3 |publisher=GamesRadar |date=Oct 8, 2010 |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-3 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110615221817/http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref> and introduced a carpenter protagonist named Jumpman, a character who evolved into Nintendo's mascot, Mario, in subsequent games. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Frogger'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Konami (Japan) / Sega-Gremlin (North America) | Novel gameplay notable for being free of fighting and shooting. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Scramble'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Konami (Japan) / Stern (North America) | First scrolling shooter game, featuring forced horizontal scrolling motion. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Galaga'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Namco (Japan) / Midway (North America) | Space shooting game that leapfrogged its predecessor, ''Galaxian'', in popularity. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Gorf'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Midway | Multiple-mission fixed shooter game. Some of the levels were clones of other popular games. Notable for featuring robotic synthesized speech. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Qix'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | Taito | The objective is to fence off a supermajority of the play area. Unique gameplay that didn't have shooting, racing, or mazes. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Vanguard'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | SNK (Japan) / Centuri (US) | Early scrolling shooter that scrolls in multiple directions, and allows shooting in four directions,<ref>{{KLOV game|10293|Vanguard}}</ref><ref name=1UP-SNK>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121017222331/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3181467 Where Were They Then: The First Games of Nintendo, Konami, and More (SNK)], 1UP</ref> using four direction buttons, similar to dual-stick controls.<ref>Matt Barton & Bill Loguidice, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090810075454/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4099/the_history_of_robotron_2084__.php?page=2 The History of Robotron: 2084 – Running Away While Defending Humanoids], Gamasutra</ref> Along with ''Fantasy'', ''Super Cobra'' and ''Bosconian'', is significant as being among the first video games with a continue screen.<ref name="continue">{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/the-origins-of-the-video-game-continue-screen/ |title=The Origins of the Video Game Continue Screen |date=March 29, 2018 |publisher=denofgeek.com |access-date=July 7, 2018}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''BurgerTime'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Data East (Japan) / Bally Midway (US) | Platform game where the protagonist builds hamburgers while being pursued by food. Original title changed from ''Hamburger'' when brought to the U.S. from Japan. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Dig Dug'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Namco (Japan) / Atari (North America) | Novel gameplay where underground adversaries were defeated by inflating them or dropping rocks on them. Rated the sixth most popular coin-operated video game of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.klov.com/TOP100.php|title=The Top Coin-Operated Videogames of All Time|author=McLemore, Greg|publisher=Killer List of Videogames|access-date=July 17, 2007}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Nintendo | Jumpman was renamed Mario in this sequel. This was the only time Nintendo's mascot was featured as an antagonist in any of their games. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Front Line'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Taito | One of the first of many 1980s games with commando-style infantry ground combat (guns, grenades and tanks) as the theme. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Joust'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Williams Electronics | Allowed two-player cooperative or competitive play. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Jungle Hunt'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Taito | An early side-scrolling (and diagonal-scrolling) platformer with vine-swinging mechanics, run & jump sequences, climbing hills, and swimming. Almost immediately re-released as ''Jungle Hunt'' due to a lawsuit from the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate claiming character copyright infringement on the character of Tarzan. This version changed the Tarzan character to a pith helmet-wearing white explorer.<ref>{{KLOV game|8258|Jungle King}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Kangaroo'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Sunsoft (Japan) / Atari (US) | Unusual for a platform game, there is no jump button. Instead, the player pushes up—or up and diagonally—to jump. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Moon Patrol'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Irem (Japan) / Williams Electronics (U.S.) | Along with ''Jungle Hunt'', one of the first arcade games with parallax scrolling.<ref name="parallax">{{cite web |url=http://www.thocp.net/software/games/golden_age.htm |title=History of Computing: Video games – Golden Age |publisher=Thocp.net |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704174548/http://www.thocp.net/software/games/golden_age.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Ms. Pac-Man'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Midway (North America) / Namco | One of the most popular of all time, this game was created from a bootlegged hack of ''Pac-Man''. It has four different mazes and moving bonus fruit. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Pengo'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Sega | A maze game set in an environment full of ice blocks, which can be used by the player's penguin, who can slide them to attack enemies.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=8989|name=Pengo}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Pole Position'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Namco (Japan) / Atari (U.S.) | After Sega's ''Turbo'' revolutionized sprite scaling with their third-person cockpit racer, Namco brought 16-bit graphics to the arcade, dropped the player's perspective closer to being directly behind the car, and added dramatic curves to the track. The game also incorporated product placements for companies (including licensee Atari) on passing billboards. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Popeye'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Nintendo | Nintendo used higher resolution foreground sprites displayed over lower resolution backgrounds,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ribbonblack.com/2013/03/downgraded-popeye-nintendo-1982-1983.html|title=DOWNGRADED: Popeye (Nintendo, 1982-1983)|author=Ribbon Black|publisher=Ribbon Black|access-date=March 5, 2022}}</ref> achieving more impressive visuals. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Q*bert'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Gottlieb | Became one of the most merchandised arcade games behind ''Pac-Man'' and ''Donkey Kong''.<ref>{{cite book| title = Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games| first = John| last = Sellers| pages = 108–109| publisher = Running Press|date=August 2001| isbn = 0-7624-0937-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| journal = Retro Gamer| publisher = Imagine Publishing| issue = 54| pages = 70–73| title = The Making of Q*bert| first = Kim| last = Wild|date=September 2008}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Robotron 2084'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Williams Electronics | Popularized the dual joystick control scheme. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Gravitar'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Atari | Not popular in the arcades due to its difficulty, but the gameplay inspired many clones like ''Thrust'' and ''Oids''. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Time Pilot'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Konami (Japan) / Centuri (U.S.) | Time travel themed aerial combat game with free-roaming gameplay in open air space that scrolls indefinitely in all directions, with player's plane always remaining centered.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=447|title=Time Pilot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101010101/https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=447|archive-date=2014-01-01|url-status=dead|website=AllGame}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits – NDS – Review |publisher=GameZone |date=April 9, 2007 |url=http://nds.gamezone.com/reviews/item/konami_classics_series_arcade_hits_nds_review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809142455/http://nds.gamezone.com/reviews/item/konami_classics_series_arcade_hits_nds_review |archive-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Konami Arcade Classics: Well, at least it's classic|publisher=IGN|date=January 7, 2000|url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/161/161714p1.html}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Tron'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Bally Midway | Earned more than the film it was based on.<ref name="imdb trivia">{{cite web | title = Trivia for TRON | publisher = imdb.com | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/trivia |access-date=September 15, 2007}}</ref> Gameplay consists of four subgames. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Xevious'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Namco (Japan) / Atari (U.S.) | The first arcade video game to have a TV commercial.<ref>{{KLOV game|id=10505|name=Xevious}}</ref> It was also responsible for popularizing vertical scrolling shooters.<ref name="lecture"/> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Zaxxon'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1982 | Sega | First game to employ isometric axonometric projection, which the game was named after. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Crystal Castles'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Atari | Among the first arcade games which do not loop back to earlier stages as the player progresses, but instead offers a defined ending.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1morecastle.com/2015/07/end-history-video-game-endings/|title=The End: A Brief History of Video Game Endings|author=Sky, Aggro|date=July 15, 2015|publisher=1 More Castle|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Champion Baseball'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Sega | A sports video game that became a major arcade success in Japan, with Sega comparing its success there to that of ''Space Invaders''.<ref name="CB"/> It was a departure from the "space games" and "cartoon games" that had previously dominated the arcades,<ref name="CB"/> and went on to serve as the prototype for later baseball video games.<ref name="Famitsu">{{cite book |chapter=1983 |title=Sega Arcade History |date=2002 |series=Famitsu DC |publisher=Enterbrain |page=47 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/segaarcadehistoryfamitsudc/page/n48 |language=ja}}</ref><ref name="Champion">{{cite web |title=チャンピオンベースボール |trans-title=Champion Baseball |url=https://sega.jp/history/arcade/product/7497/ |website=Sega |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=ja}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Dragon's Lair'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Cinematronics (U.S.) / Atari (Europe) / Sidam (Italy) | An early laserdisc video game, which allowed film-quality animation. The first arcade video game in the United States to charge two quarters per play.<ref name="herald-journal">{{Cite news|title=Local Amusement Facilities Planning To Get Dragon's Lair |newspaper=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |date=August 18, 1983 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eGEsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5541,4215855&dq=dragon%27s+lair&hl=en}}</ref> It was also the first video game to employ what became known as the quick time event. This game is one of three arcade games that are part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection, along with ''Pac-Man'' and ''Pong''. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Elevator Action'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Taito | An action game that is a mix of platformer, puzzle and shooter genres. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Gyruss'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Konami (Japan) / Centuri (U.S.) | Often remembered for its musical score that plays throughout the game, Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor".<ref name="KLOV-Gyruss">{{KLOV game|id=8060|name=Gyruss}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Mappy'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Namco (Japan) / Bally Midway (U.S.) | Side-scrolling platform game |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Mario Bros.'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Nintendo | A game featuring simultaneous play with Mario and his brother Luigi as Italian-American plumbers in pest-inhabited sewers. Introduced Luigi for the first time, while also establishing him and Mario as plumbers. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Sinistar'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Williams Electronics | First game to use stereo sound. It was also the first to use the 49-way, custom-designed optical joystick that Williams had produced specifically for this game. Notable for appearance of menacing villain. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Spy Hunter'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Bally Midway | Overhead view, vehicular combat game that is memorable for its music, "The Peter Gunn Theme", that plays throughout the game. |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Sega | Space combat sim featuring five different controls, six different enemies, and 40 different simulation levels. Features voice of Spock and Scotty. One of the most elaborate vector games released.<ref>Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), ''The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA70 p. 70], ABC-CLIO, {{ISBN|0-313-33868-X}}</ref> |- style="background:#c9daff;" | ''Star Wars'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Atari | Uses several digitized samples of actors' voices from the film. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Tapper'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Bally Midway | Originally aligned with American beer Budweiser, was revamped as ''Root Beer Tapper'', so as not to be construed as attempting to peddle alcohol to minors. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Track & Field'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1983 | Konami (Japan) / Centuri (North America) | The first arcade Olympic sports video game. It helped popularize arcade sports games, which began being produced at levels not seen since the days of ''Pong'' and its clones a decade earlier.<ref name="Lendino">{{cite book |last1=Lendino |first1=Jamie |title=Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games |date=27 September 2020 |publisher=Steel Gear Press |pages=272, 334 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6wCEAAAQBAJ}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''1942'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1984 | Capcom | Capcom's first arcade hit. Features Pacific War air combat. Standardized the template for aerial shoot 'em ups featuring vertical scrolling. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Karate Champ'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1984 | Technōs Japan/ Data East (US) | The first popular player vs. player fighting game for arcades.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@Dart_Adams/press-start-a-cross-cultural-examination-via-influential-video-games-1984-1991-516516d72eb3/|title=Press Start: A Cross Cultural Examination Via Influential Video Games (1984–1992)|author=Dart Adams|access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref> Initially released as a dual joystick game with alternating play. The subsequent Player vs. Player version featured four 4-way joysticks. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Kung-Fu Master'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1984 | Irem (Japan) / Data East (US) | The first side-scrolling beat-em-up arcade game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-side-scrolling-beat-em-up/|title=First side-scrolling beat-em-up|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref> |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Punch-Out!!'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1984 | Nintendo | A boxing fighting game featuring digitized voices, dual monitors, and a third-person perspective. |- style="background:#ffe8a9;" | ''Paperboy'' | style="text-align:center;"| 1985 | Atari | Novel controls and high resolution display. |}
==List of best-selling arcade games== {{Further|List of highest-grossing arcade games}} For arcade games, success was usually judged by either the number of arcade hardware units sold to operators, or the amount of revenue generated, from the number of coins (such as quarters or 100 yen coins) inserted into machines,<ref>{{citation|title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2008|isbn=978-0-313-33868-7|page=275|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA275|quote=What are the best-selling video games? There are a number of factors to consider when attempting to answer this question. First, there are several different types of video games, which makes comparisons difficult, or perhaps unfair. Arcade games are played for a quarter a play (although some are 50 cents, or even more), while home games are bought outright, and their systems must be purchased as well.}}</ref> and/or the hardware sales (with arcade hardware prices often ranging from $1000 to $4000). This list only includes arcade games that have sold more than 10,000 hardware units.
* ''Space Invaders'' (750,000)<ref name="invaders_sales">{{cite magazine |title=After ''Pong'' |magazine=ACE |date=4 February 1988 |issue=6 (March 1988) |pages=29–32 (29) |url=https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_06_1988-03_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n28/mode/1up}}</ref> * ''Pac-Man'' (400,000)<ref name="Kao 1989 45"/> * ''Donkey Kong'' (132,000)<ref name="dk_sales">''Donkey Kong'' sales: * Japan: 65,000 of ''Donkey Kong'' ** {{cite book |author=Brian Ashcraft |author2=Jean Snow |title=Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers|year=2008|publisher=Kodansha International|location=Tokyo|isbn=978-4-7700-3078-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wX8kAQAAIAAJ&q="sixty-five+thousand" |access-date=February 12, 2012|quote=Jumpman hopped over barrels, climbed ladders, and jumped from suspended platform to suspended platform as he tried to rescue a damsel from his pissed-off pet gorilla. The game was a smash, and sixty-five thousand cabinets were sold in Japan, propping up the then-struggling Nintendo and laying the groundwork for Nintendo and ''Donkey Kong'' creator Shigeru Miyamoto to dominate gaming throughout the 1980s and beyond.}} * United States: 67,000 of ''Donkey Kong'' ** {{cite web|last=Bienaimé|first=Pierre|title=Square Roots: Donkey Kong (NES)|url=http://www.nintendojo.com/features/columns/square-roots/square-roots-donkey-kong-nes|publisher=Nintendojo|access-date=April 8, 2012|date=January 13, 2012|quote=''Donkey Kong'' sold some 67,000 arcade cabinets in two years, making two of its American distributors sudden millionaires thanks to paid commission. As a barometer of success, know that ''Pac-Man'' and ''Ms. Pac-Man'' are the only arcade games to have sold over 100,000 units in the United States.}} * United States: 30,000 of ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' ** {{citation|author=Steven L. Kent|year=2001|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World|publisher=Prima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC|page=352|isbn=9780761536437|quote=With more than 60,000 units sold in the United States, ''Donkey Kong'' was Nintendo's biggest arcade hit. The arcade industry began its long collapse the year after ''Donkey Kong'' was released, and Nintendo's arcade fortunes eroded quickly. Nintendo released ''Donkey Kong Junior'' in 1982 and sold only 30,000 machines, 20,000 ''Popeye'' machines (also 1982), and a mere 5000 copies of ''Donkey Kong 3'' (1983).}}</ref> * ''Ms. Pac-Man'' (125,000)<ref name="mspac_sales">{{cite news|title=Bally Will Quit Making Pinball, Video Machines|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4FtQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6893,2823984|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=11 July 1988|page=22}}</ref> * ''Asteroids'' (100,000)<ref name="kent_asteroids">{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=132|quote=Atari sold more than 70,000 ''Asteroids'' machines in the United States. The game did not do as well in Europe and Asia, however. Only about 30,000 units were sold overseas.}}</ref> * ''Defender'' (70,000)<ref name="defender_sales">{{cite book |last1=Horowitz |first1=Ken |title=Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games |date=6 August 2020 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-1-4766-8420-8 |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3D0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200}}</ref> * ''Centipede'' (55,988)<ref name="atari_production">{{cite web|title=Atari Production Numbers Memo |url=http://www.atarigames.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47:atari-production-numbers-memo&catid=5:atari-inter-office-memos&Itemid=5 |publisher=Atari Games |access-date=March 18, 2012 |date=January 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120084806/http://www.atarigames.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47%3Aatari-production-numbers-memo&catid=5%3Aatari-inter-office-memos&Itemid=5 |archive-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref> * ''Galaxian'' (50,000 in the US)<ref name="galaxian1">{{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Steve |title=Video Invaders |publisher=Arco Publishing |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-668-05520-8 |page=24 |url=https://archive.org/details/book_video_invaders/page/n44}}</ref> * ''Hyper Olympic'' (''Track & Field'') (38,000 in Japan)<ref>{{cite book |title=RePlay |date=January 1984}}</ref> * ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' (30,000 in the US)<ref name="dk_sales"/> * ''Karate Champ'' (30,000 in the US)<ref name="GM259">{{cite magazine|title=Overseas Readers Column|magazine=Game Machine|issue=259|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 May 1985|page=22|lang=ja|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19850501p.pdf#page=12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131231206/https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19850501p.pdf|archive-date=31 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> * ''Mr. Do!'' (30,000 in the US)<ref name="Steve L. Kent 2001 352"/> * ''Tempest'' (29,000)<ref name="atari_memo2"/> * ''Q*bert'' (25,000)<ref>{{cite book|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=224|quote=Gottlieb sold approximately 25,000 Q*Bert arcade machines.}}</ref> * ''Robotron: 2084'' (23,000)<ref name="atari_memo2"/> * ''Dig Dug'' (22,228 in the US)<ref name="atari_production"/> * ''Pole Position'' (21,000 in the US)<ref name="atari_memo2">{{cite web|last=Fujihara|first=Mary|title=Inter Office Memo|url=http://www.atarigames.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:atari-sales-estimates-for-other-manufactures-2&catid=5:atari-inter-office-memos&Itemid=5|publisher=Atari|access-date=March 18, 2012|date=November 2, 1983}}</ref> * ''Popeye'' (20,000 in the US)<ref name="Kent-352"/> * ''Missile Command'' (20,000)<ref>{{cite book |title=The essential guide to Flash games: building interactive entertainment with ActionScript 3.0|year=2010|publisher=Friends of ED|location=[Berkeley, Calif.]|isbn=978-1-4302-2614-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCR7XYUncEsC&pg=PA138|author=Jeff Fulton|edition=New|author2=Steve Fulton|access-date=February 7, 2012|page=138|chapter=A short history of Missile Command|quote=While certainly not the size of ''Asteroids'', the game was still a huge hit with almost 20,000 units sold.}}</ref> * ''Jungle Hunt'' (18,000 in the US)<ref name="atari_memo1">{{cite web|last=Fujihara|first=Mary|title=Inter Office Memo|url=http://www.atarigames.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:atari-sales-estimates-for-other-manufactures-games&catid=5:atari-inter-office-memos&Itemid=5|publisher=Atari|access-date=March 18, 2012|date=July 25, 1983}}</ref> * ''Dragon's Lair'' (16,000)<ref name="kent_lair">{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond: the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=Prima|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=225|quote=Cinematronics sold more than 16,000 ''Dragon's Lair'' machines in 1983, for an average price of $4300. Coleco purchased the home rights to the game, giving Cinematronics an additional $2 million.}}</ref> * ''Berzerk'' (15,780)<ref name="stern_production_numbers">{{cite web|title=Stern Production Numbers and More CCI Photos|url=http://www.tokensonly.com/2012/05/misc/stern-production-numbers-and-more-cci-photos/|access-date=21 July 2013|date=1 May 2012}}</ref> * ''Scramble'' (15,136 in the US)<ref name="stern_production_numbers"/> * ''Battlezone'' (15,122)<ref name="atari_production99">{{cite web |title=Production Numbers |url=http://www.atarigames.com/atarinumbers90s.pdf |publisher=Atari |year=1999 |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120084729/http://www.atarigames.com/atarinumbers90s.pdf |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> * ''Champion Baseball'' (15,000 in Japan)<ref name="CB">{{cite magazine |title=#1 Game In Japan: Sega Electronics To Bring 'Champion Baseball' Vid to U.S. |magazine=Cash Box |date=June 16, 1983 |pages=33–4 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-06-18.pdf#page=33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813195404/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-06-18.pdf |archive-date=August 13, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> * ''Stargate'' (15,000)<ref name="atari_memo2"/> * ''Star Wars'' (12,695)<ref name="atari_production"/> * ''Super Cobra'' (12,337 in the US)<ref name="stern_production_numbers"/> * ''Space Duel'' (12,038)<ref name="atari_production"/> * ''Atari Football'' (11,306)<ref name="atari_production99"/> * ''Gee Bee'' (10,000)<ref name="4Gamer">{{cite web |last1=Kurokawa |first1=Fumio |title=ビデオゲームの語り部たち 第4部：石村繁一氏が語るナムコの歴史と創業者・中村雅哉氏の魅力 |url=https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20180313040/ |language=ja |website=4Gamer |publisher=Aetas |access-date=2 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801205701/https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20180313040/ |archive-date=1 August 2019 |date=17 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Decline and aftermath== {{main|History of arcade video games}} {{see also|Video game crash of 1983}}
The golden age cooled around the mid-1980s as copies of popular games began to saturate the arcades. Arcade video game revenues in the United States had declined from $8 billion in 1981 to $5 billion in 1983,<ref name="Philadelphia">{{cite news|title=Can Lasers Save Video Arcades?|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB29715971BCAA2&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|access-date=March 13, 2012|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=February 3, 1984|quote=Last year, arcade game revenues were approximately $5 billion, compared to $8 billion in 1981 and $7 billion in 1982.|archive-date=May 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514005512/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB29715971BCAA2&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=dead}}</ref> reaching a low of $4 billion in 1984.<ref name="replaymag">{{cite web |title=Coin-Op history – 1975 to 1997 – from the pages of RePlay |url=http://replaymag.com/history.htm |website=RePlay |year=1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980428063132/http://replaymag.com/history.htm |archive-date=April 28, 1998 |access-date=April 21, 2021}}</ref><ref name="atlanta89">{{cite news|title=Video Games Are an Exercise In Annihilation|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB7C3DCADD9B6C0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|access-date=March 13, 2012|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=May 30, 1989|quote=In 1988, players dropped enough change at video arcades to generate revenues of $6.4 billion, up from $4 billion in 1986. Many of those quarters were powering machine guns and fists of fury. According to the April issue of RePlay magazine, 29 of the 45 most popular video games are action games. Three of the top five games listed by PlayMeter were ones with war or fighting themes.}}</ref> The arcade market had recovered by 1986, with the help of software conversion kits, the arrival of popular beat 'em up games (such as ''Kung-Fu Master'' and ''Renegade''), and advanced motion simulator games (such as Sega's "taikan" games including ''Hang-On'', ''Space Harrier'', ''Out Run'' and ''After Burner'').<ref name="replaymag"/>
Arcades remained commonplace through to the 1990s as there were still new genres being explored. In 1987, arcades experienced a short resurgence with ''Double Dragon'', which started the golden age of beat 'em up games, a genre that peaked in popularity with ''Final Fight'' two years later.<ref name="tao2">Spencer, Spanner, [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/a_taoofbeatemups_pt2_retro The Tao of Beat-'em-ups (part 2)], ''EuroGamer'', Feb 12, 2008, Retrieved Mar 18, 2009</ref> In 1988, arcade game revenues in the United States rose back to $6.4 billion, largely due to the rising popularity of violent action games in the beat 'em up and run and gun shooter genres.<ref name="atlanta89"/> However, the growth of home video game systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System led to another brief arcade decline toward the end of the 1980s.<ref name="replaymag"/><ref name="tao2"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Tracy|title=Are Arcades Archaic? Business down, owners add zip and zap to lure players|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/61734163.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+03%2C+1992&author=Tracy+Johnson%2C+Contributing+Reporter&pub=Boston+Globe+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Are+Arcades+Archaic%3F+Business+down%2C+owners+add+zip+and+zap+to+lure+players&pqatl=google|access-date=April 17, 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=Apr 3, 1992|page=89|archive-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512044435/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/61734163.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&type=current&date=Apr%2003%2C%201992&author=Tracy%20Johnson%2C%20Contributing%20Reporter&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&desc=Are%20Arcades%20Archaic%3F%20Business%20down%2C%20owners%20add%20zip%20and%20zap%20to%20lure%20players&pqatl=google|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the early 1990s, the Genesis (Mega Drive outside most of North America) and Super NES (Super Famicom in Japan) greatly improved home play and some of their technology was even integrated into a few video arcade machines.
In the early 1990s, the release of Capcom's ''Street Fighter II'' established the modern style of fighting games and led to a number of similar games, resulting in a renaissance for the arcades.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gamers: writers, artists & programmers on the pleasures of pixels| first=Shanna |last=Compton|publisher=Soft Skull Press|year=2004|isbn=1-932360-57-3|page=119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sCO-gODwy4C&pg=PA119}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Insert Coin Here: Getting a Fighting Chance|first=Jay |last=Carter|magazine=Electronic Games|date=July 1993|issue=10|url=https://archive.org/stream/Electronic-Games-1993-07/Electronic%20Games%201993-07#page/n15/mode/2up}}</ref> Another factor was realism,<ref name="GW">{{cite magazine |last1=Perry |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Perry |title=Arcades: Ready for a Renaissance? |magazine=Games World |date=November 1994 |issue=7 (January 1995) |publisher=Paragon Publishing |page=6 |url=https://archive.org/details/games-world-07/page/n5}}</ref> including the "3D Revolution" from 2D and pseudo-3D graphics to true real-time 3D polygon graphics.<ref name="Williams"/><ref name="tao2"/> This was largely driven by a technological arms race between Sega and Namco.<ref name="RG127">{{cite magazine |last1=Thorpe |first1=Nick |title=The 90s: The Decade of Rivalries |magazine=Retro Gamer |date=March 2014 |issue=127 |pages=32–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_127/page/34/mode/2up}}</ref>
By the early 2000s, the sales of arcade machines in North America had declined, with 4,000 unit sales being considered a hit by the time.<ref name="nytimes2002">{{cite news|last=Horwitz|first=Jeremy|title=Technology: Mortal Apathy?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/08/technology/08MIDW.html|access-date=March 4, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 8, 2002}}</ref> One of the causes of decline was new generations of video game consoles and personal computers that sapped interest from arcades.
Since the 2000s, arcade games have taken different routes globally. In the United States, arcades have become niche markets as they compete with the home console market, and they adapted other business models, such as providing other entertainment options or adding prize redemptions.<ref name="socialarcades">{{cite web |last=Fuller|first=Brad|title=Awakening the Arcade|url=http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2005/11/awakening-the-arcade.html |access-date=21 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003012240/http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2005/11/awakening-the-arcade.html|archive-date=3 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In Japan, some arcades continue to survive in the early 21st century, with games like ''Dance Dance Revolution'' and ''The House of the Dead'' tailored to experiences that players cannot easily have at home.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/why-arcades-havent-died-in-japan-1792338461|title=Why Arcades Haven't Died in Japan|last=Ashcraft|first=Brian|website=Kotaku|date=February 15, 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref>
==Legacy== The Golden Age of Video Arcade Games spawned numerous cultural icons and even gave some companies their identity. Elements from games such as ''Space Invaders'', ''Pac-Man'', ''Donkey Kong'', ''Frogger'', and ''Centipede'' are still recognized in today's popular culture, and new entries in the franchises for some golden age games continued to be released decades later.
''Pac-Man'' and ''Dragon's Lair'' joined ''Pong'' for permanent display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. for their cultural impact in the United States. No other video game has been inducted since.<ref>[http://www.thocp.net/software/games/golden_age.htm#PacMan History of Computing: Video games – Golden Age] from The History of Computing Project {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704174548/http://www.thocp.net/software/games/golden_age.htm#PacMan |date=July 4, 2013}}</ref>
Emulators such as the Internet Archive Virtual Arcade are able to run these classic games inside a web browser window on a modern computer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Virtual Arcade |url=https://archive.org/details/internetarcade |website=Internet Archive |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> The speed difference between current hardware and the original platforms is so great that JavaScript emulators can now run copies of the original arcade ROMs, making them available in their original form rather than as a port.
==See also== {{Portal|Video games|1970s|1980s}} * 1970s in video games * 1980s in video games * Arcade cabinet * List of arcade video games
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * ''The Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games'' by David Ellis (2004), {{ISBN|0-375-72038-3}} {{refend}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070804010546/http://www.klov.com/TOP100.html The KLOV Top Video Games Lists by Greg McLemore and friends] * [https://archive.today/20120908222330/http://www.s-t.com/daily/03-96/03-09-96/2arcade.htm Reference to the term 'Golden Age'] * [http://www.thedoteaters.com The Dot Eaters], Videogame History 101 * [https://archive.org/details/internetarcade Internet Archive], Virtual Arcade
{{Amusement arcade}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Age Of Video Arcade Games}} Arcade video games Category:History of video games Category:Arcade video games