15 replies to this topic

[chrisbid]

I am trying to dig a little deeper into the idea of a "Killer App" in video games.  Space Invaders for the 2600 is widely regarded as the game that boosted the VCS over the competition in 1980.  Wikipedia has this quote about the game

Quote

The first generally agreed example of a "killer app" in gaming is Space Invaders, released for arcades in 1978 and ported to the Atari VCS (Atari 2600) console in 1980, quadrupling sales of the then three year old Atari 2600 platform.

That quadrupling stat is intriguing, but like anything on Wikipedia the documentation is lacking. Is there a year-by-year sales chart for the VCS?

[high voltage]

Yeah, I gave that quote to Retro Gamer way back, and passed it on to Wiki, got it from an old book called Pac Man & Co from 1984.

The rest after Star Raiders is a bit of a joke, as a killer app sells more hardware,Nintendo, Sony and Sega not necessarily sold more hardware because of the on Wiki mentioned game. Tetris actually was a pack-in so there was no 'extra' hardware sale.


Hardware sales are always a bit dodgy, as most companies overinflate their hardware sales (Nintendo, Sega, as mentioned in the book Game Over, obviously others too).
Also, many companies count 'shipped' as sales, no matter how long the console (or game) is sitting in the gaming shop and collects dust or doesn't sell at all. (This was a well known tactic used by the record industry to mislead over sales of their records).

Edited by high voltage, Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:30 AM.

[chrisbid]

I guess the base definition of a killer app is any software title that pushes hardware sales.  Of course, defining a particular killer app will always be subjective as there aren't any user surveys asking consumers which game titles were most influential in their console purchase.  One can only look at sales numbers of software and hardware to find a loose link.


But even with inflated/dodgy numbers, big leaps like the VCS in 1980 should be obvious.  In the case of the 16 bit era, I do not trust a Nintendo number vs a Sega number (which company sold more), but I would trust a Nintendo (1991) number vs Nintendo (1994) number (more machines were shipped in 1994 than in 1991).


But back to the 2600, it would be interesting to see the rise and fall of the industry, and see how the 2600 jr era fared compared to the 1982 peak.

Edited by chrisbid, Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:16 AM.

[Vaughan]

As anecdotal evidence, I certainly remember Space Invaders being a game changer.  I owned a 2600 at the time, and it certainly was a huge deal when it came out.  It was the software everyone wanted.  I also recall the Atari 400/800 - Star Raiders was the thing for that for sure.  I bought an Atari 400 because I wanted Star Raiders.

[jhd]

I have been reading through the (American) business press from the early 1980s for a project. It is not uncommon for companies to announce total sales (or volume of units shipped), though sometimes the figures are estimates rather than "hard" data. I have not seen a year-by-year breakdown, but it could probably be estimated/reconstructed from the available information.

I don't have the details before me, but I'll see what I can find.

[Zwackery]

Speaking of anecdotal evidence, I think that in addition to the fan base chatter you would also find corroborating evidence in game journalism (admittedly, it's not unbiased), such that people buying a Sega Genesis to play Mortal Kombat over the SNES version because of the uncensored content (the whole "Mortal Monday" launch is well worth reading about), or a Sega 32X to play Star Wars Arcade, or getting an Xbox to play Halo might be reinforced (if not also influenced) by what the reviews say.  Even something like the popularity of Star Wars: Rebel Assault prompting PC gamers to upgrade to the then new CD-ROM technology is useful to consider (and really, the entire PC gaming industry is rife with examples of tech-pushing games getting released that motivate gamers to upgrade their rigs).

[Schizophretard]

I wasn't born yet but from everything I have heard it was a game changer in the arcades and when it was ported to the VCS it was a game changer for home video games. Many people bought a VCS just to play Space Invaders. If Space Invaders never existed then I doubt this forum would exist.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Schizophretard, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:24 AM, said:

If Space Invaders never existed then I doubt this forum would exist.

Damn that is a terrifying thought!

[Vaughan]

Quote

I have heard it was a game changer in the arcades

Man, those were the days.  I recall there being lines in front of the machine, with people just waiting to play a game of Space Invaders.  Pubs with the game were preferred over those that didn't, etc.  It truly was phenominal.  We all knew Pong, of course - and had a Pong game for home TV.  But the idea you could buy a unit and play DIFFERENT games on it just by changing a cartridge was something else - it seemed unbelievable at the time.

[Schizophretard]

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:33 AM, said:

Schizophretard, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:24 AM, said:

If Space Invaders never existed then I doubt this forum would exist.

Damn that is a terrifying thought!

And If the bumper car game LEVICAR was never in the arcades we wouldn't have flying cars today.

Edit: Never mind. Wrong world line. My bad.

Edited by Schizophretard, Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:51 AM.

[akator]

It would definitely be nice to see some decent numbers...

Zwackery, on Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:23 PM, said:

Speaking of anecdotal evidence, I think that in addition to the fan base chatter you would also find corroborating evidence in game journalism (admittedly, it's not unbiased), such that people buying a Sega Genesis to play Mortal Kombat over the SNES version because of the uncensored content (the whole "Mortal Monday" launch is well worth reading about), or a Sega 32X to play Star Wars Arcade, or getting an Xbox to play Halo might be reinforced (if not also influenced) by what the reviews say.  Even something like the popularity of Star Wars: Rebel Assault prompting PC gamers to upgrade to the then new CD-ROM technology is useful to consider (and really, the entire PC gaming industry is rife with examples of tech-pushing games getting released that motivate gamers to upgrade their rigs).

I hadn't thought about MK for a while, and how people loved it on the Genesis that much more.  Awesome point!

I still run into many people who agree with my opinion that the majority of Xbox games were OK but not worth owning a console for... but they always mention Halo.  Halo was definitely a killer app that made the Xbox what it is.  Just last night I was playing several Dreamcast games with a 25yo friend, and he commented about how he never played a DC before and was shocked at how many awesome games there were.  He thought at least 50% of what we played was better than Xbox and PS2... but we still had to have a 30 minute discussion about Halo and the Xbox. Funny thing is, we were playing many of the DC 3rd rate titles that I had never played 2-player before (because they just aren't the best games), and other than Halo he decided he would take a DC any day over an Xbox...

[Chuck D. Head]

The upcoming release of Defender drove my decision to purchase an Atari (detailed here).I admired the game from afar in the arcade, but couldn't afford to play enough to learn how to play. I thought playing in privacy might help, but little did I know the VCS version would be a stripped down but still fun (IMO) game.

[toptenmaterial]

I would like to see some data about the Atari Corp era under Jack. My perception is that Atari moved a lot of Juniors and Prosystems alike during that period, enough to pay off the debt from WB and return the company to profitability. Though Nintendo was certainly kicking much ass, Atari had a wonderful, profitable period in the late 80s. Too bad they couldn't keep it up.

[chrisbid]

that period for Atari along with INTV corps run on the Intellivision post Mattell are interesting to me as well.  I like the inexpensive business approach, and despite the small scale budgets, both companies put out incredible games for their respective machines.

[bcombee]

@toptenmaterial, have you seen the sales data that Curt posted from the Tramiel years?  http://www.atariage....600-sales-86-90

[toptenmaterial]

bcombee, on Wed Jul 25, 2012 5:05 PM, said:

@toptenmaterial, have you seen the sales data that Curt posted from the Tramiel years?  http://www.atariage....600-sales-86-90

Thank you very much for the link! I will have to take a bit of time and analyze it. I'm guessing that the jist of it is, Atari didn't have to worry too much about competing against Nintendo since Atari's gear was not sold at a loss and enough folks continued to buy it.

Sorry if this is getting off-topic.