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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 period began with the release of Space Invaders in 1978, which 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 transitioned from black-and-white to color, with titles such as Frogger and Centipede taking advantage of the visual opportunities of bright palettes.
Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari, Inc. released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look and a greater graphic capability, at the cost of being only black and white (initially). Cinematronics also published Dragon's Lair in 1983, the first major LaserDisc video game.
1979 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Space Invaders Part II and Super Speed Race, along with new titles such as Asteroids, Football, Galaxian, Head On, Heiankyo Alien, Monaco GP, Sheriff and Warrior. For the second year in a row, the highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders and the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System.
1977 had sequels such as Super Speed Race and Datsun 280 ZZZAP as well as several new titles such as Space Wars. The year's highest-grossing arcade games were F-1 and Speed Race DX in Japan, and Sea Wolf and Sprint 2 in the United States. The year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Color TV-Game, which was only sold in Japan.
Space Wars is a shooter video game released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1977. Like the PDP-1 program Spacewar! (1962) it is based on, it uses black and white vector graphics for the visuals. The hardware developed for Space Wars became the platform for most of the vector-based arcade games from Cinematronics. It was distributed in Japan by Taito in 1978, and a Vectrex port was published in 1982.
Tank is an arcade game developed by Kee Games, a subsidiary of Atari, and released in November 1974. It was the only original title not based on an existing Atari property developed by Kee Games, which was founded to sell clones of Atari games to distributors as a fake competitor prior to the merger of the two companies. In the game, two players drive tanks through a maze viewed from above while attempting to shoot each other and avoid mines, represented by X marks, in a central minefield. Each player controls their tank with a pair of joysticks, moving them forwards and back to drive, reverse, and steer, and firing shells with a button to attempt to destroy the other tank. The destruction of a tank from a mine or shell earns the opposing player a point, and tanks reappear after being destroyed. The winner is the player with more points when time runs out, with each game typically one or two minutes long.
In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex, all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fuelled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. Space Invaders, the first "killer app" arcade game to be ported, was released in 1980 for the Atari 2600, though earlier Atari-published arcade games were ported to the 2600 previously. Coleco packaged Nintendo's Donkey Kong with the ColecoVision when it was released in August 1982.
Reactor is an arcade game released in 1982 by Gottlieb. The object of the game is to cool down the core of a nuclear reactor without being pushed into its walls by swarms of subatomic particles. Reactor was developed by Tim Skelly, who previously designed and programmed a series of vector graphics arcade games for Cinematronics, including Rip Off. It was the first arcade game to credit the developer on the title screen. Reactor was ported to the Atari 2600 by Charlie Heath and published by Parker Brothers the same year as the original.
Centuri, formerly known as Allied Leisure, was an American arcade game manufacturer. They were based in Hialeah, Florida, and were one of the top six suppliers of coin-operated arcade video game machinery in the United States during the early 1980s. Centuri in its modern inception was formed when former Taito of America president Ed Miller and his partner Bill Olliges took over Allied Leisure, Inc. They renamed it "Centuri" in 1980.
Gremlin Industries was an American arcade game manufacturer active from 1971 to 1983, based in San Diego, California. Following its acquisition by Sega in 1978, the company was known as Sega/Gremlin or Gremlin/Sega. The company's name was subsequently changed to Sega Electronics in 1982, before it closed in 1983.
Tim Skelly was a video game designer and game programmer who developed arcade games for Cinematronics from 1978 until 1981. He designed a series of pure action games using black and white vector graphics. One of his early games, Rip Off, was the first arcade game with two-player cooperative play. Star Hawk, Rip Off, Armor Attack, and Star Castle were all later ported to the Vectrex home system.
Barrier is a maze arcade game using vector graphics released by Vectorbeam in 1979. The game was sold to Vectorbeam by Cinematronics.
Warrior is a 1979 arcade fighting game. It is considered one of the first fighting games, excepting several boxing games such as Heavyweight Champ, released in 1976, and Atari's unreleased Boxer.
Lunar Lander is a single-player arcade game in the Lunar Lander subgenre. It was developed by Atari, Inc. and released in August 1979. It was the most popular version to date of the "Lunar Lander" concept, surpassing the prior Moonlander and numerous text-based games, and most later versions of the concept are based on this Atari version.
Sundance is a puzzle arcade video game using vector graphics released by Cinematronics in 1979. The game consists of two grids floating in a pseudo-3D space with small suns bouncing between them.
Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry.
Tail Gunner is a monochrome vector arcade game created by Vectorbeam in 1979. The premise of the game is that the player is the tailgunner of a large space ship. Enemy spacecraft attack the vessel in groups of three, and the player must aim a set of crosshairs and shoot the enemies before they slip past the player's cannons. Because of the game's viewpoint, instead of appearing to fly into the starfield, the stars move toward the left and center of the screen.
Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name, and mid-20th century pinball & slot machine logo, are still used by several businesses with some trademark rights, most notably Bally Technologies and Bally's Corporation.
Zaccaria, was an Italian company of pinball and arcade machines that existed in Bologna from 1974 until 1990. The factory was sold to tecnoplay.
The 1970s was the first decade in the history of the video game industry. The 1970s saw the development of some of the earliest video games, chiefly in the arcade game industry, but also several for the earliest video game consoles and personal computers.
References
- ↑ Vectorbeam Initiates 'Space War' Production; Plans 2 New Games For Introduction At AMOA, Page 87, Vending Times, October 1978, ARCade ARChive.
- ↑ Subject: Vectorbeam history, Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 ...My name is Dan Sunday. I was a friend of Larry Rosenthal's, and when he broke from Cinematronics to start Vectorbeam I became his lead (and only) programmer. Vectorbeam lasted for one year, and was then bought by Cinematronics at which time I left. ....When Larry sold VB, for 2 million dollars....Vectorbeam only existed for 1 year: I recall Sept 1978 to Aug 1979, but may be off a month either way...For the record, the max company size was about 80 employees.... it was described in one of Larry's patents, namely: US Patent # 4,053,740 (Oct 11, 1977) for a "Video Game System"
- ↑ DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny L. (2003). High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. p. 28. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.
- ↑ Speaker Session - Larry Rosenthal on YouTube, Recorded at California Extreme 2014, July 12, 2014 during the noon speaker session. (http://www.caextreme.org)
- ↑ Tim Skelly's History of Cinematronics and Vectorbeam
- ↑ KLOV's Vectorbeam entry
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