1982 in video games

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1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug , Pole Position , Mr. Do! , Zaxxon , Q*bert , Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man , for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600 (Atari VCS). Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.

Contents

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

The highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 was Pac-Man , which had accumulated a total revenue of $6 billion worldwide ($18.9 billion adjusted for inflation) by 1982. [4] [5]

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1982, according to the annual Game Machine chart. [6]

RankTitleGenreManufacturer
1 Pole Position Racing Namco
2 Dig Dug Maze
3 Galaga Fixed shooter
4 Pengo Maze Sega
5 Time Pilot Shoot 'em up Konami
6 Donkey Kong Platform Nintendo
7 Front Line Shoot 'em up Taito
8 Donkey Kong Jr. Platform Nintendo
9 Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump) Vehicular combat Data East
10 Mr. Do! Maze Universal

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1982, according to RePlay and Cash Box magazines and the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).

RankRePlay Cash Box [7] AMOA [8] Play Meter [9]
1 Donkey Kong [10] Ms. Pac-Man
2Un­known Pac-Man Pac-Man ,
Centipede ,
Donkey Kong ,
Defender ,
Zaxxon
Un­known
3Un­known Donkey Kong ,
Centipede
4Un­known
5Un­known
6Un­known

The following table lists the top-grossing titles of each month in 1982, according to the RePlay and Play Meter charts.

MonthRePlay Play Meter Ref
Upright cabinet Cocktail cabinet
January Pac-Man Un­known [11]
February Pac-Man Un­known [12]
March Pac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man Un­known [13]
April Ms. Pac-Man Donkey Kong [14] [15] [16]
May Turbo [17] [14]
June Zaxxon Un­knownUn­known [18]
July Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man Un­known [19]
August Pac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man Un­known [20]
SeptemberUn­known [21]
October Jungle King Un­known [22]
November Ms. Pac-Man Un­known [23]
December Ms. Pac-Man [24] [25]
1982 Donkey Kong Ms. Pac-Man [10] [9]

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were 1982's best-selling home video games.

RankTitlePlatform(s)DeveloperPublisher(s)Release YearSalesRevenueInflationRef
1 Pac-Man VCS, Coleco, Nelsonic Namco Atari, Coleco, Nelsonic 1982 9,271,844$200,000,000+$630,000,000+ [lower-alpha 1]
2 Donkey Kong ColecoVision, VCS Nintendo Coleco 1982 4,550,000$100,000,000+$320,000,000+ [lower-alpha 2]
3 Frogger Atari VCS Konami Parker Brothers 1982 4,000,000$80,000,000$250,000,000 [33]
4 Defender Atari VCS Williams Atari, Inc. 1982 3,006,790Un­known [26]
5 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari VCS Universal Atari, Inc. 1982 2,637,985Un­known [26]
6 Berzerk Atari VCS Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. 1982 1,798,773Un­known [26]
7 Space Invaders Atari VCS Taito Atari, Inc. 1980 1,373,033Un­known [26]
8 Asteroids Atari VCSAtari, Inc.Atari, Inc. 1981 1,331,956Un­known [26]
9 Pitfall! Atari VCS Activision Activision 1982 1,000,000+Un­known [34] [35]
10 Night Driver Atari VCSAtari, Inc.Atari, Inc. 1980 457,058Un­known [26]

Best-selling home systems

RankSystem(s)ManufacturerTypeGenerationSalesRef
1 Atari 2600 (Atari VCS) Atari, Inc. Console Second 5,100,000 [36]
2 Game & Watch Nintendo Handheld 4,600,000+ [37]
3 Coleco Mini-Arcade Coleco Dedicated 3,000,000 [29]
4 Intellivision Mattel ConsoleSecond1,100,000 [38]
5 Timex Sinclair 1000 Timex Sinclair Computer 8-bit 750,000 [39]
6 Atari 400 / Atari 800 Atari, Inc.Computer8-bit600,000 [40]
Commodore 64 / VIC-20 Commodore International Computer8-bit600,000 [39]
TI-99/4 / TI-99/4A Texas Instruments Computer16-bit600,000 [39]
9 ColecoVision Coleco ConsoleSecond550,000 [31] [38]
10 Nelsonic Game Watch Nelsonic Industries Handheld 500,000+ [41]

Events

Major awards

Business

Notable releases

Games

Arcade

Console

Computer

Hardware

Arcade

Console

ColecoVision ColecoVision-wController-L.jpg
ColecoVision

Computer

See also

Notes

  1. Atari VCS version sold 7,271,844 cartridges [26] ($200 million). [27] Coleco's Mini-Arcade version sold 1.5 million units. [28] [29] Nelsonic Game Watch version sold more than 500,000 units. [30]
  2. ColecoVision version sold 550,000 cartridges. [31] Atari VCS version sold 4 million cartridges ($100 million). [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleco</span> American manufacturer of consumer electronics

Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar dedicated consoles and ColecoVision. While the company ceased operations in 1988 as a result of bankruptcy, the Coleco brand was revived in 2005, and remains active to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ColecoVision</span> Second-generation home video game console

ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision.

<i>Pac-Man</i> 1980 video game

Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.

<i>Zaxxon</i> 1982 video game

Zaxxon is a scrolling shooter developed and released by Sega as an arcade video game in 1982. The player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki was also involved in the game's development.

<i>Frogger</i> 1981 video game

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and published by Sega. In North America, it was distributed by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct five frogs to their homes by dodging traffic on a busy road, then crossing a river by jumping on floating logs and alligators.

<i>Ms. Pac-Man</i> 1982 video game

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade video game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is a spin-off sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, who turn blue and flee.

<i>Miner 2049er</i> 1982 video game

Miner 2049er is a platform game game developed by Big Five Software and published in December 1982. It is set in a mine, where the player controls the Mountie Bounty Bob. The player controls Bounty Bob through multiple levels of a mine, with the goal of traversing all of the platforms in each level all while avoiding enemies and within a set amount of time.

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<i>Galaxian</i> 1979 video game

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them.

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<i>Donkey Kong</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

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<i>Congo Bongo</i> 1983 video game

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Fueled by the previous year's release of the colorful and appealing Pac-Man, the audience for arcade video games in 1981 became much wider. Pac-Man influenced maze games began appearing in arcades and on home systems. Pac-Man was the highest grossing video game for the second year in a row. Nintendo's Donkey Kong defined the platform game genre, while Konami's Scramble established scrolling shooters. The lesser known Jump Bug combined the two concepts into both the first scrolling platform game and the first platform shooter. Other arcade hits released in 1981 include Defender, Frogger, and the Galaxian sequel Galaga.

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<i>Mr. Do!</i> 1982 video game

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of arcade video games</span>

An arcade video game is an arcade game where the player's inputs from the game's controllers are processed through electronic or computerized components and displayed to a video device, typically a monitor, all contained within an enclosed arcade cabinet. Arcade video games are often installed alongside other arcade games such as pinball and redemption games at amusement arcades. Up until the late 1990s, arcade video games were the largest and most technologically advanced sector of the video game industry.

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