GLORY

DAYS

g e o f the Arcades
Forg o t t e n A
The

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 still heavily played and
refrerenced today. One
such game would be Space
Invaders.
“Space Invaders”,
released in 1978, would
see the rise of the shooting
genre, and spawn several
other popular games in the
same vein such as “Aster-
oids” and “Galaga”. Player
took control of a lone laser
tank against an approach-
ing horde of alien invaders,
forcing players to bob and
weave out of cover to fight
the aliens. The game was

V
incredibly successful in
both Japan in the U.S., with
over 300,000 cabinets being
ideo games today make up the largest entertain- sold in Japan and 60,000 in into “Space Invader”
ment industry, bringing in over $16.8 billion last America. “Space Invaders” cabinets.
year. Video games have become a dominate force was so insanely popular Space Invaders was so The iconic hun-
in the entertainment industry today, but one part of in Japan that it actually popular in Japan that gry yellow circle, “Pac-
their history has become almost obsolete, the arcade. caused a shortage of 100 it actually caused a Man”, whose main
Many years ago, in the 1970’s, if you wanted yen coins, as players were shortage of 100 yen goal in life was to eat
to play the biggest, brightest, and hottest new video constantly dumping them little dots and flee from
game releases you didn’t rush to the nearest Wal-
coins
ghosts quickly became
Mart or Gamestop and purchase them. Rather you a runaway success in
went to your local arcade, a local hangout spot filled North America. Video
with beeps, flashing lights, coin machines, and pizza. game company Namco,
At one point in time video game arcade cabinets which is around to this
ruled the industry and were the leaders of innovative day, sold over 350,000
gameplay and new technology. of the original cabi-
The video game company Atari, founded in nets and generated an
1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, almost sin- estimated $1 billion in
gle handedly launched an entertainment revolution quarters in 15 months.
with their digital ping pong game, “Pong”. It was One reason “Pac-Man”
a smashing success, two years after its release Atari was wildly successful
had sold over 8,000 arcade cabinets at three times the was that it was incred-
price of production, making “Pong” one of the first ibly different from the
commercially successful arcade games. space themed shooters
Video Game arcades continued to be popular, such as “Asteroids”
but it wouldn’t be until the late 70’s and 80’s that the and “Space Invaders”
arcade industry would really shine, launching what that were so popular
would become the golden age of arcade games. at the time. “Pac-Man”
The golden age of arcade games saw the himself appealed to
release of numerous video game classics that are

2
 both genders, attracting more
female gamers to the hobby
than ever before.
Another incredibly
popular game that defined
this golden age was “Donkey
Kong”, developed by the now
famous Nintendo. Despite the
game being called “Donkey
Kong” players take control
of Mario, at the time known
only as Jumpman, and jump
over barrels and climb ladders
in order to reach the gorilla
Donkey Kong who has kid-
napped a lady in distress. The
game quickly became a smash
hit, going on sale in 1981 and
selling 60,000 cabinets by the
same time the following year,
cementing Nintendo’s place in
the video game industry.
Sadly with the introduction of
the Nintendo Entertainment
System and its success, home
video game consoles soon be-
came the next big things. Video
game consoles soon took the
lead in the technology depart-
ment, and arcade game simply
couldn’t keep up. Thought
arcades did see a resurgence of
popularity in the early 1990’s
thanks to competitive fighting
games such as Street Fighter 2
and Mortal Kombat, it would
only last so long.
While ultimately ar-
cades would fade in popular-
ity, many of their iconic games
and characters live on in the
hearts of gamers and have seen
remakes. These classic games,
despite their age, continue to
addict gamers today, even if
its in the comfort of their home
rather than the local arcade.