Games that came out in the late 70's through to the late 80s relied mostly on their game play and creativity as the technology for creating these games was very primitive with graphics and sounds being at a basic minimum. It was because of the high concentration on game play that these games are still played and enjoyed today. You can find a lot of the classic games from the late 70's and early 80s to play for free on our website. Free online games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Frogger can be found under our classic games section.
Two of the main markets that saw a huge growth throughout this time were Northern America and Japan. These two were the most popular and profitable geographic sectors. By the time arcade games reached their penultimate peak, the distribution of such machines saw their place in supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations who were all looking to cash in on their popularity, with the arcade machines providing a nice additional source of income.
The two biggest company earners of the time were Namco and Atari, with Namco showing the greatest success in Japan and Atari doing likewise in North America. There were at least another 10 gaming companies and distributors who also claimed great success including Nintendo, Capcom and Sega.
Atari's Pong was one of the first games to ever be produced on a mass scale. This game was very simplistic due to the lack of processing power available for video games at the time. Later games released in the late 70's and early 80s including Space Invaders and Pac-Man made use of technological developments and became rich with both game play and graphics.
Developments in different controls became apparent with Atari introducing the trackball with its football game in 1978, Night Driver using a steering wheel, Paperboy using a bicycle handle bar plus many further variations from other games. This brought players a step closer to playing a more realistic game.
Further innovative games included Donkey Kong which introduced us to the platform concept where button tapping made way for skill and timing. Paperboy also showed great signs of creativity taking game play in a different direction where the delivery of newspapers in a set time was the aim.
The very first video game strategy guides were also created during this era. Unlike today's strategy guides these guides held comprehensive details of the games entire in's and out's including how to master the perfect high score. For many fans the greatest achievement gained for the 80s video games would be to make the score counter overflow and reset to zero with strategy guides helping game fanatics achieve this feet.
Below are some of the most popular and significant games of the era.
- 1978 - Space Invaders
- 1979 - Asteroids, Galaxian, Lunar Lander
- 1980 - Battlezone, Berzerk, Centipede, Defender, Missile Command, Pac-Man, Phoenix, Star Castle Tempest, Warlords, Wizard of Wor
- 1981 - Donkey Kong, Frogger, Scramble, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Qix, Vanguard
- 1982 - Burgertime, Dig Dug, Joust, Moon Patrol, Pole Position, Q*bert, Robotron 2084, Time Pilot, Tron, Xevious, Zaxxon
- 1983 - Dragon's Lair, Elevator Action, Gyruss, Mario Bros., Spy Hunter, Star Wars, Tapper
Links to late 70's early 80s free online games
The introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 saw the home video games market come up to speed with the arcades, putting up some serious opposition for the first time. Before the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System there was no real home console that provided a reasonable quality home games entertainment console.
By the time the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega drive came to the market in the early 90's the pendulum had swung to home entertainment. At the time some of the technology from these home consoles was even integrated into arcade machines. The end of the arcade machine era was apparent when the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 came out in 1995/6. These consoles boasted true 3d graphics that easily matched arcade machines. The arcade machine market went into a serious decline in profit and interest.
The arcade scene still exists today but in a much smaller market. Arcade machine such as dancing themed games, shoot em ups using hand held pistols and football kicking games are very popular in bowling allies and cafes.