80s Arcade Games

[80s Arcade Games]

and QC?

[80s Arcade Games]

What does VCS stand for?

[80s Aracde Games]

I gotta do this research paper over aracde games in the 80s. I want to tell how the industry was doing great but then it fell because of consoles. Basically my paper consists of game summaries of the popular games like Computer Space, Space Invaders, Asteroids, etc.

So far I've summarized up to Pac-Man and how well arcades are doing. I need help on what game should I use to note a transition from Arcade popularity to console popularity.

 

The Rise and Fall of Aracde Games

There was a time when the arcade was the “in” place to be, the greatest hangout ever. This time was in the 1980s. Starting from humble roots, arcade games catapulted the video game industry into dynamic feats and accomplishments, only to be reduced down to dust in the end. Although arcade games are still surviving today, they have been run over by better technology. The history itself of arcade games reveals the steep climb it had made and its fall.

The video game industry owes its beginnings to a young engineer named Nolan Bushnell. He was the first to recognize that a primitive computer game such as Spacewar! could be introduced as a form of entertainment, later called Computer Space, at bars and arcades. After he sold this concept to a small California coin-op company called Nutting Associates, the game went on to ship fewer than 1,500 machines. Why the low distribution? The low distribution was because people were confused and frightened by Computer Space’s futuristic fiberglass cabinet and awkward controls. In the release of its two-player, head-to-head version, the game improved slightly because of its introduction of the joystick and with the idea that was more fun blasting your friend instead of a slow moving flying saucer. Yet still, Computer Space only appealed to the programmers. A year later in 1972, Bushnell founded Atari, and released Pong. For this, he became known as “The Father of the Video Game Industry.”

Every story has a beginning and it started with the incredibly addicting Pong, released in 1972 by Atari. Pong had simple instructions: “1) insert a quarter” and “2) avoid missing ball for high score.” The object of the game was to put the paddle in the path of a moving white dot more often then the other opponent did. By the end of 1972, Atari had successfully launched the game to rake in the money. In 1975, Atari invaded homes with their small-screen Pong system, making it possible to play virtual table tennis on the television.

In 1978, Midway released its masterpiece Space Invaders. The shot that exploded the video game industry started with this space shooter. Space Invaders was created by a Japanese company called Taito; it was a smash hit in Japan. Licensee Midway had similar success in the United States as well. The best achievement of Space Invaders was that it gave the player a nerve-wracking experience, armed with only a white laser cannon, the player scrolled across the bottom of the screen shooting at the space aliens that would slowly come down the screen. The closer the aliens got to the bottom they would move faster, and once they reached the ground it would be game over.

Another space shooter was released by Atari in 1979 called Asteroids. The game supported black and white vector graphics, and unlike Space Invaders, the player was not stuck on the ground. The ship, that the player controlled, was a simple triangle, which could move about anywhere on the screen. The objective of Asteroids was to pilot the triangular ship around an overcrowded asteroid field and shoot anything that moves. Atari manufactured over 70,000 Asteroids machines, earning a place as the company’s most successful game and the industry’s third best-selling title of all time.

In 1980, the star of Midway’s release Pac-Man became the video-game industry’s mascot. Using only a joystick with a red knob, the player controlled a fast-moving yellow creature to move through a maze eating dots while avoiding the ghosts. Compared with the space games that were so popular in the late 1970s, Pac-Man was the first game to appeal to everyone with its colorful characters and sounds. Pac-man was easily the most successful arcade game of all time, selling 99,000 units. Players were also hooked onto this game because it was challenging. The game was such a hit that at one point in 1981, four books about mastering Pac-Man was charted on the New York Times bestseller list.

[iNSERT GAMES THAT MARKED TRANSITION HERE]

Right around the year 1986, technology got more powerful and more affordable with the release of the Nintendo NES. Arcade titles could be closely replicated in the privacy of consumer homes, something that was not available in the Atari 2600 days. Basically people could comfortably sit on their couches and force game manufacturers to come to them. The last half of the 1980s went out with a bang at arcades, with only a handful of worthy titles. For the first time in history of man, kids actually wanted to stay at home, where they could flip goofy Tetris shapes and save the princess in the hundreds of games where you had to save the princess.

[80s Arcade Games]

I gotta do this research paper over aracde games in the 80s. I want to tell how the industry was doing great but then it fell because of consoles. Basically my paper consists of game summaries of the popular games like Computer Space, Space Invaders, Asteroids, etc.

So far I've summarized up to Pac-Man and how well arcades are doing. I need help on what game should I use to note a transition from Arcade popularity to console popularity.

 

The Rise and Fall of Aracde Games

There was a time when the arcade was the “in” place to be, the greatest hangout ever. This time was in the 1980s. Starting from humble roots, arcade games catapulted the video game industry into dynamic feats and accomplishments, only to be reduced down to dust in the end. Although arcade games are still surviving today, they have been run over by better technology. The history itself of arcade games reveals the steep climb it had made and its fall.

The video game industry owes its beginnings to a young engineer named Nolan Bushnell. He was the first to recognize that a primitive computer game such as Spacewar! could be introduced as a form of entertainment, later called Computer Space, at bars and arcades. After he sold this concept to a small California coin-op company called Nutting Associates, the game went on to ship fewer than 1,500 machines. Why the low distribution? The low distribution was because people were confused and frightened by Computer Space’s futuristic fiberglass cabinet and awkward controls. In the release of its two-player, head-to-head version, the game improved slightly because of its introduction of the joystick and with the idea that was more fun blasting your friend instead of a slow moving flying saucer. Yet still, Computer Space only appealed to the programmers. A year later in 1972, Bushnell founded Atari, and released Pong. For this, he became known as “The Father of the Video Game Industry.”

Every story has a beginning and it started with the incredibly addicting Pong, released in 1972 by Atari. Pong had simple instructions: “1) insert a quarter” and “2) avoid missing ball for high score.” The object of the game was to put the paddle in the path of a moving white dot more often then the other opponent did. By the end of 1972, Atari had successfully launched the game to rake in the money. In 1975, Atari invaded homes with their small-screen Pong system, making it possible to play virtual table tennis on the television.

In 1978, Midway released its masterpiece Space Invaders. The shot that exploded the video game industry started with this space shooter. Space Invaders was created by a Japanese company called Taito; it was a smash hit in Japan. Licensee Midway had similar success in the United States as well. The best achievement of Space Invaders was that it gave the player a nerve-wracking experience, armed with only a white laser cannon, the player scrolled across the bottom of the screen shooting at the space aliens that would slowly come down the screen. The closer the aliens got to the bottom they would move faster, and once they reached the ground it would be game over.

Another space shooter was released by Atari in 1979 called Asteroids. The game supported black and white vector graphics, and unlike Space Invaders, the player was not stuck on the ground. The ship, that the player controlled, was a simple triangle, which could move about anywhere on the screen. The objective of Asteroids was to pilot the triangular ship around an overcrowded asteroid field and shoot anything that moves. Atari manufactured over 70,000 Asteroids machines, earning a place as the company’s most successful game and the industry’s third best-selling title of all time.

In 1980, the star of Midway’s release Pac-Man became the video-game industry’s mascot. Using only a joystick with a red knob, the player controlled a fast-moving yellow creature to move through a maze eating dots while avoiding the ghosts. Compared with the space games that were so popular in the late 1970s, Pac-Man was the first game to appeal to everyone with its colorful characters and sounds. Pac-man was easily the most successful arcade game of all time, selling 99,000 units. Players were also hooked onto this game because it was challenging. The game was such a hit that at one point in 1981, four books about mastering Pac-Man was charted on the New York Times bestseller list.

Right around the year 1986, technology got more powerful and more affordable with the release of the Nintendo NES. Arcade titles could be closely replicated in the privacy of consumer homes, something that was not available in the Atari 2600 days. Basically people could comfortably sit on their couches and force game manufacturers to come to them. The last half of the 1980s went out with a bang at arcades, with only a handful of worthy titles. For the first time in history of man, kids actually wanted to stay at home, where they could flip goofy Tetris shapes and save the princess in the hundreds of games where you had to save the princess.