Arcade game

This article describes paid video games. For the game mode, see Game mode (computer game)#Arcade mode.

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Arcade game is a term for video games that have been offered for a fee since the 1970s in public gaming houses in the USA, so-called penny arcades, or in Europe in amusement arcades. In the early 1980s, arcade machines were installed in Germany not only in arcades but also in many snack bars, kiosks and supermarket vestibules until this was prohibited by law. Arcade machines allow the user to play against money. The game price in Germany was usually one D-Mark, while abroad it was usually lower. Successful games were later often converted for the PC as well as for various video game consoles.

The first commercial arcade game was Computer Space (1971) by Nutting Associates. The inventor was Nolan Bushnell, who later also founded Atari. In the late 1970s as well as in the early 1980s, arcade classics such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and many more, which are still well-known and popular through re-releases, appeared during the heyday of arcade machines. At the end of the 1980s, the arcade boom slowly ebbed due to the ever more widespread home computers and video game consoles. Today, only a few arcade machines can still be found in Germany.

Arcade games were the basis for the success of the computer game industry in the early years. The first big success was the game Pong. Most of the older games can also be emulated today with M.A.M.E. As part of artistic projects (arcade art), such as Blinkenlights, Pong was displayed on a house wall.

The arcade game Donkey Kong

Typical features of arcade games

The point of arcade games is to bring in money. The average playing time is therefore often relatively short. The game principle is easy and quickly transparent, a possible tutorial is kept very short. The difficulty of the game is also adapted to the intention of the machine:

The first rounds or levels are often still relatively easy to complete successfully. This should give the player the impression that he has mastered the game.
In the following rounds, the difficulty level increases noticeably, beginners already have to accept setbacks and quickly receive a "Game over". However, in most arcade games you can buy another try by throwing money in again (Continue).
The renewed insertion of money is "rewarded" by some arcade games (invisible) with a short-term lowered difficulty level again. This is to give the player the impression that he has become better or simply had bad luck on the first try.

In addition, the machine manufacturer can usually adjust the difficulty level by means of one or more DIP switches, so that the games are not equally difficult everywhere.

Chronicle

Before arcade "video" games, mechanical and electro-mechanical arcade games, one-armed bandits and pinball machines were particularly common in amusement arcades, as were games of skill and sports games.

Early chronicle

(selection)

1971: First commercial arcade game Computer Space by Nolan Bushnell (Nutting Associates)
1972: Pong (Atari) first successful game
1974: Quadra Pong (for 4 players)
1974: Gran Trak 10 (Atari) first racing simulation, already with steering wheel, first with ROMs
1974: Tank (Kee Games/Atari) first game with ROM memory for graphics
1974: Touch-Me (Atari) predecessor of Senso
1975: Gun Fight (Bally Midway) first game with microprocessor
1976: Breakout
1976: Heavyweight Champ (Sega) Japan's first commercial video game
1976: Night Driver (Atari) first 3D racing simulation
1977: Circus
1977: Space Wars (Cinematronics) first vector arcade game

Starting around 1978, the golden era of arcade games begins.

Chronicle 1978-1984

1978: Space Invaders (ushered in the era)
1978: Football (Atari, first game with trackball)
1979: Asteroids
1979: Galaxian (first game with real color graphics)
1979: Lunar Lander
1979: Subs (Atari, first game with 2 monitors)
1980: Battlezone (3D tank simulation)
1980: Berzerk
1980: Centipede
1980: Defender (first with scrolling)
1980: Pac-Man (first game with commercial character)
1980: Phoenix
1980: King and Balloon (Namco, first with voice-over)
1980: Missile Command
1980: DECO Cassette System (Data East) first standard platform
1980: Space Panic (first platform game)
1980: Star Castle
1980: Tempest
1980: Warlords
1980: Wizard of Wor
1981: Donkey Kong (first Jump `n` Run)
1981: Frogger
1981: Lady Bug
1981: Galaga
1981: Peat
1981: Ms. Pac-Man
1981: Qix
1981: Scramble
1981: Vanguard
1982: Burger Time
1982: Dig Dug
1982: Donkey Kong Jr.
1982: Joust
1982: Jungle Hunt
1982: Kangaroo
1982: Moon Patrol
1982: Pengo
1982: Pole Position (one of the most popular racing games of all time)
1982: Popeye
1982: Q*Bert
1982: Robotron: 2084
1982: Time Pilot
1982: Tron
1982: Xevious
1982: Zaxxon (the first game with isometric display)
1983: Crystal Castles
1983: Dragon's Lair (first with laserdisc)
1983: Gyruss
1983: Mappy
1983: Mario Bros.
1983: Elevator Action
1983: Nibbler
1983: I, Robot (first commercial game with 3-D polygons)
1983: Spy Hunter
1983: Star Wars
1983: Tapper
1984: TX-1 (first game with 3 monitors for 1 person, see Buggy Boy)
1984: Bomb Jack
1984: Paperboy

Milestones after the 1984 crash

1985: Marble Madness
1985: Commando
1985: 1942
1985: Ghosts 'n Goblins
1985: Choplifter
1985: Gauntlet (Atari, 4-player adventure game)
1986: Arkanoid
1986: Bubble Bobble
1986: Rolling Thunder
1986: Out Run (Sega, first force feedback car race)
1987: Rainbow Islands
1987: Yōkai Dōchūki (Namco, first game with 16-bit graphics)
1988: Tetris
1989: Exterminator (first with fully digitized graphics)
1991: Street Fighter II
1991: Terminator II
1991: Time Traveler (Sega, first hologram game)
1992: Mortal Kombat (Part 1)
1992: Virtua Racing (Sega, multi-player racing with polygons)
1992: Virtua Fighter (Sega, first polygon beat-'em-up)
1993: Mortal Kombat II (best sound system, with MP3 compression)
1993: Daytona USA (Sega, first polygon based racing game with texture mapping and bilinear texture filtering/perspective correction)
1994: Virtua Fighter 2
1995: Sega Rally
1997: Super GT (Sega, 64-bit)
1998: Dance Dance Revolution (with dance mat)
1999: Crazy Taxi

Sega's Time Traveller

Galaxy Game, 1971, First ever arcade game in the world

First commercial arcade game: Computer Space, 1971