Golden age of arcade video games facts for kids

The golden age of arcade video games was a super exciting time when arcade games grew incredibly fast, got amazing new technology, and became a huge part of popular culture. This happened from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. It all really kicked off with the game Space Invaders in 1978. After that, lots of other cool shooting games like Galaxian and Asteroids came out. These games were possible because computers were getting more powerful and cheaper to make.

Arcade games also changed from black-and-white to full color! Games like Frogger and Centipede used bright colors to make their worlds look awesome. Arcades became popular hangouts, and new types of games were invented. There were space shooters like Defender and Galaga, maze games like Pac-Man, and racing games like Turbo and Pole Position. We also saw action games like Pac-Man and Frogger, and the very first platform games like Donkey Kong.

Games started having famous characters like Pac-Man, Mario, and Q*bert. Some of these characters even became stars in songs, cartoons, and movies! For example, the 1982 movie Tron was closely linked to an arcade game with the same name.

The golden age of arcade games started to slow down around 1983. This was partly because too many similar games (called "clones") flooded the arcades. Also, home video game consoles were becoming popular, and some people worried about how much time kids spent in arcades. This decline happened around the same time as the video game crash of 1983, which affected the whole video game industry. But don't worry, arcade games made a big comeback in the early 1990s, especially with the success of fighting games.

When Was the Golden Age?

Most people agree that the golden age of arcade games lasted from the late 1970s to the early 1980s.

A technology writer named Jason Whittaker says it began in 1978 with Space Invaders. Another video game expert, Steven L. Kent, thinks it started a year later. That's when Space Invaders became super popular in the United States. It was also when new vector display technology, first seen in 1977's Space Wars, became famous with Atari's Asteroids. Kent believes the golden age ended in 1983, as the arcade business started to decline.

Walter Day, who runs Twin Galaxies (a group that tracks video game high scores), says the period began in the late 1970s. This was when color arcade games became more common. Arcade games also started showing up in places other than just bowling alleys and bars. He thinks it ended in the mid-1980s. RePlay magazine, a gaming publication, said the "video boom" years for arcades were from 1979 to 1982. This golden age also helped kick off the second generation of home game consoles and the rise of personal computers.

One different idea comes from the History of Computing Project website. They say the era began in 1971. That's when the creator of Pong filed an important patent for video game tech. It was also when the first arcade video game, Computer Space, was released. They define the era as when video games became a mainstream consumer market.

Arcade Business Boom

The golden age was a time of amazing new ideas in arcade game design and technology. Arcades quickly spread across North America, Europe, and Asia. The number of video game arcades in North America doubled between 1980 and 1982. It reached a peak of 10,000 arcades!

Games like Space Invaders also started appearing in all sorts of places. You could find them in supermarkets, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations. Many businesses wanted the extra money these games brought in. Arcades became as common as convenience stores. Games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders were everywhere, even in funeral homes!

Sales of arcade machines skyrocketed. They went from $50 million in 1978 to $900 million in 1981. In 1982 alone, 500,000 arcade machines were sold in the United States. Each machine could cost up to $3,000. By 1982, there were 24,000 full arcades and 1.5 million arcade machines active in North America. The market was very competitive. An average arcade game only stayed popular for four to six months. Some games, like Robby Roto, failed because they were too hard to learn quickly. Qix was popular for a short time, but players found it "too mystifying" and it faded away.

In 1980, the U.S. arcade video game industry made $2.8 billion from quarters. By 1981, it was making over $5 billion a year. Some estimates said all video games (arcade and home) made $10.5 billion in the U.S. that year. This was three times more than what people spent on movie tickets! By 1982, video games made up 87% of the $8.9 billion in commercial game sales in the U.S. That year, arcade games alone made an estimated $8 billion. This was more than pop music ($4 billion) and Hollywood movies ($3 billion) combined! It also earned more than all major sports combined.

Before the golden age, pinball machines were more popular. The pinball industry made $2.3 billion in 1979. But by 1982, it had dropped to $464 million. In comparison, the best-selling arcade games of the golden age were huge hits. Space Invaders sold over 360,000 machines, and Pac-Man sold over 400,000. Each machine cost between $2,000 and $3,000. By 1982, Space Invaders had earned $2 billion from quarters. Pac-Man earned over $1 billion by 1981 and $2.5 billion by the late 1990s. Space Invaders was considered the highest-earning entertainment product of its time. It even earned more than the movie Star Wars, which made $486 million. Today, Pac-Man is known as the highest-grossing arcade game ever.

Many other arcade games also sold tens of thousands of units. These included Ms. Pac-Man (115,000 units), Asteroids (70,000), Donkey Kong (60,000), and Defender (55,000).

Some of the most successful arcade companies were Taito (who made Space Invaders), Namco (who made Galaxian and Pac-Man), and Atari (who made Computer Space, Pong, and Asteroids). Other popular companies included Sega, Nintendo (who introduced Mario in Donkey Kong), Bally Midway, and Konami.

During this time, Japanese video game makers became very important in North America. At first, they licensed their games to American companies. But by 1981, Japanese companies started bringing their machines directly to North America. They even built factories in the United States. By 1982–1983, Japanese companies had a large share of the North American arcade market.

Cool New Technology

Arcades really took off in the late 1970s with games like Space Invaders (1978), Asteroids (1979), and Galaxian (1979). They became even more popular in 1980 with Pac-Man, Missile Command, and Berzerk. In 1981, games like Defender, Donkey Kong, and Frogger joined the fun.

The central processing unit (CPU) microprocessors in these games allowed for much more complex gameplay. This was a big step up from older games like Atari's Pong (1972). This arcade boom helped create the basic ideas for interactive entertainment. It also made computer hardware cheaper, which helped lead to the rise of personal computers.

While some racing games had used color monitors before, RGB color graphics became widespread during this period. This happened after Galaxian was released in 1979. Galaxian used a new graphics system that made it easier to create multi-color sprites (small animated images). These sprites could move over a scrolling starfield background. This technology was later used by Nintendo for games like Radar Scope (1980) and Donkey Kong. It also influenced the design of the Nintendo Entertainment System console.

The golden age also saw experiments with vector displays. These screens create super crisp lines that regular screens can't match. Some vector games became huge hits, like 1979's Asteroids, 1980's Battlezone, and 1981's Tempest. However, vector technology eventually became less popular because it was expensive to fix these special displays.

Developers also tried out pseudo-3D and stereoscopic 3D effects. In 1979, Nintendo's Radar Scope used a three-dimensional third-person perspective for shooting games. In 1981, Sega's Turbo was the first racing game to show a rear view with sprite scaling and full-color graphics. Namco's Pole Position (1982) improved this, setting the standard for racing games. It made the track look like it was moving into the distance, just like real driving. That same year, Sega released Zaxxon, which used isometric graphics and shadows. They also released SubRoc-3D, which used stereoscopic 3D with a special eyepiece.

This time also brought big improvements in digital audio. Space Invaders (1978) was the first game to have continuous background music. It had four simple bass notes that repeated and changed tempo. Rally-X (1980) was the first game with continuous background music generated by a special sound chip. That same year, games started using speech synthesis, meaning the games could "talk"! This was first heard in Stratovox and then in Namco's King & Balloon.

Developers even experimented with laserdisc players to show movie-quality animation. The first game to use this was Sega's Astron Belt (1983), followed by Dragon's Lair from Cinematronics. Dragon's Lair was a sensation! The laserdisc players in many machines even broke because people played it so much. While many laserdisc games were shooters with video backgrounds or interactive movies, Data East's Bega's Battle (1983) used short video cutscenes to tell a story between game levels. This idea later became common in video games. However, laserdisc games became less popular in the mid-1980s as VHS tapes became more common and the novelty wore off.

16-bit processors also started appearing in arcade games. Universal's Get A Way (1978) was a racing game that used a 16-bit CPU. Namco's Pole Position (1982) used the 16-bit Zilog Z8000 processor. Atari's Food Fight (1983) was one of the first games to use the Motorola 68000 processor.

Towards the end of the golden age, 3D computer graphics began to appear. Funai's Interstellar (1983) showed pre-rendered 3D graphics. Simutrek's Cube Quest (1983) combined laserdisc animation with real-time 3D. Atari's I, Robot, released in 1984, was the first arcade game made entirely with real-time 3D computer graphics.

Evolving Gameplay

Space Invaders (1978) set up a new way to play games. It introduced the idea of having "multiple lives" and "progressively difficult levels". Many classic arcade games used this idea. The game's designer, Tomohiro Nishikado, was inspired by Atari's Breakout (1976) and science fiction. Nishikado added new interactive elements to Space Invaders. For example, enemies could react to the player's moves and shoot back. The game ended if enemies hit the player or reached the bottom of the screen, not just when a timer ran out. It also saved the high score.

After Space Invaders became a huge hit, many game developers started making arcade video games. Some just copied the "invading alien hordes" idea. They made successful games like Namco's Galaxian and Galaga. These games added new ways to play and more complex enemy patterns. Galaxian introduced a "risk-reward" idea, and Galaga was one of the first games with a bonus stage.

Other developers tried completely new ideas and created new types of games. Faster hardware allowed for different styles of gameplay. The term "action games" started being used in the early 1980s. This referred to new games from Japanese developers that were inspired by manga and anime. These new Japanese action games focused on "character development, hand-drawn animation, and backgrounds." They also had more "scripted, pattern-type" gameplay. This was different from the space shooters that were popular before.

In 1980, Namco released Pac-Man, which made the maze chase genre famous. They also released Rally-X, which had a radar to track the player's position. Games like Donkey Kong and Qix (both from 1981) introduced new types of games where skill and timing were more important than just shooting fast. Nintendo's Donkey Kong especially set the stage for the platform game genre.

The two most popular types of games during the golden age were space shooters and character action games. While Japanese developers were creating character-driven action games, American developers focused more on space shooters. American games often had "random-event generation, particle-effect explosions and physics." You can see this in games like Defender (1981) and Robotron: 2084 (1982), and Atari's Asteroids (1979).

Namco's Bosconian (1981) introduced a free-roaming style of gameplay. The player's ship could move freely across open space, and the game included a radar. Bega's Battle (1983) used short full-motion video cutscenes to tell a story between game levels. Other innovative games included Atari Games' Paperboy (1984), where you delivered newspapers. Q*bert (1982) used depth perception to create a unique experience.

Strategy Guides Emerge

During this time, a new type of media appeared: publications just for video games! These included video game journalism and strategy guides. Because arcade games were so incredibly popular, the very first video game strategy guides were created. These guides (which are rare to find today) explained in great detail the patterns and strategies for each game. They even covered variations in gameplay. "Turning the machine over" meant making the score counter go so high that it reset to zero. This was often the ultimate challenge for players who had mastered a game.

Some of these strategy guides sold hundreds of thousands of copies. They cost between $1.95 and $3.95 in 1982. For example, Ken Uston's Mastering Pac-Man sold 750,000 copies. It even reached No. 5 on B. Dalton's best-seller list. By 1983, 1.7 million copies of Mastering Pac-Man had been printed.

Popular Arcade Games

Here are some of the most popular and important games from the golden age.

Best-Selling Arcade Games

For arcade games, success was often measured by how many machines were sold or how much money they earned from coins. Here's a list of arcade games that sold more than 10,000 machines.

• Space Invaders (750,000)
• Pac-Man (400,000)
• Donkey Kong (132,000)
• Ms. Pac-Man (125,000)
• Asteroids (100,000)
• Defender (70,000)
• Centipede (55,988)
• Galaxian (50,000 in the US)
• Hyper Olympic (Track & Field) (38,000 in Japan)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (30,000 in the US)
• Karate Champ (30,000 in the US)
• Mr. Do! (30,000 in the US)
• Tempest (29,000)
• Q*bert (25,000)
• Robotron: 2084 (23,000)
• Dig Dug (22,228 in the US)
• Pole Position (21,000 in the US)
• Popeye (20,000 in the US)
• Missile Command (20,000)
• Jungle Hunt (18,000 in the US)
• Dragon's Lair (16,000)
• Berzerk (15,780)
• Scramble (15,136 in the US)
• Battlezone (15,122)
• Champion Baseball (15,000 in Japan)
• Stargate (15,000)
• Star Wars (12,695)
• Super Cobra (12,337 in the US)
• Space Duel (12,038)
• Atari Football (11,306)
• Gee Bee (10,000)

Decline and Comeback

The golden age started to cool down around the mid-1980s. This was because too many copies of popular games filled the arcades. Arcade game earnings in the United States dropped from $8 billion in 1981 to $5 billion in 1983. They hit a low of $4 billion in 1984.

However, the arcade market bounced back by 1986. This was thanks to new software kits and popular beat 'em up games like Kung-Fu Master. Also, advanced motion simulator games from Sega, like Hang-On and Space Harrier, helped a lot.

Arcades remained common into the 1990s as new game types were still being created. In 1987, arcades saw another short rise in popularity with Double Dragon. This game started the golden age of beat 'em up games, which became super popular with Final Fight two years later. By 1988, arcade game earnings in the United States were back up to $6.4 billion. This was largely due to the rising popularity of action games. However, the growth of home video game systems like the Nintendo Entertainment System led to another small arcade decline in the late 1980s.

In the early 1990s, Capcom's Street Fighter II came out. It set the new standard for fighting games and led to many similar games. This caused a new boom for arcades. Another big change was the "3D Revolution." Games moved from 2D graphics to true real-time 3D polygon graphics. This was driven by a technology race between Sega and Namco.

By the early 2000s, arcade machine sales in North America had dropped. A game selling 4,000 units was considered a hit. One reason for this decline was that new generations of video game consoles and personal computers became very powerful. They offered experiences that made people less interested in arcades.

Since the 2000s, arcade games have taken different paths around the world. In the United States, arcades have become more specialized. They often offer other entertainment or prize games. In Japan, some arcades are still very popular. Games like Dance Dance Revolution and The House of the Dead offer experiences that players can't easily get at home.

Lasting Impact

The Golden Age of Video Arcade Games created many famous cultural icons. Some companies even built their entire identity around these games. Characters and ideas from games like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Centipede are still recognized today. New games in these classic series continue to be released decades later.

Pac-Man and Dragon's Lair joined Pong in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C. They were chosen for their big cultural impact in the United States. No other video game has been added since.

Today, you can even play these classic games on modern computers using Emulators. Websites like the Internet Archive Virtual Arcade let you play these games right in your web browser. Computers have become so fast that they can run copies of the original game files without needing to rewrite the code for new systems.

See also

• 1970s in video games
• 1980s in video games
• Arcade cabinet
• List of arcade video games