Chronology of
Arcade Video Games

This document is an attempt to bring various published sources together to present a timeline about Arcade Video Games.

References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2020 july 12.

1966

• Sega of Japan begins manufacturing its first arcade game, Periscope. Cost to play is 30 yen, double the price of existing games. The game is the largest ever built, measuring 6x6x10 feet. [1460.348]
• Sega of Japan ships the Periscope electromechanical arcade game to the US, the first amusement game export from Japan. Due to shipping cost, purchase cost per machine is US$1295. US arcade owners charge 25-cents per play, which becomes standard for arcade games. [1460.xii]

1970

• Nolan Bushnell and Ted Daubney complete the Computer Space video game machine. One player competes in a space ship against the machine controlling flying saucers. Despite the name, the machine does not incorporate a computer. Nutting Associates, a small arcade games manufacturer, agrees to build and market it. (Bushnell and Daubney make total $500 profit.) [89.6] [94.103] [1444.223]

1971

• Nutting Associates buys Computer Space from Nolan Bushnell. [1444.223] [1460.xii]
• At the Music Operators Association convention in Chicago, Illinois, Nolan Bushnell shows the Computer Space arcade game. [1460.33]

August

• Nutting Associates begins production of 1500 units of the Computer Space coin-operated arcade video game. (The game is not popular with players, due to complexity of controls. Nolan Bushnell and Ted Daubney make about US$500 total in royalties.) [89.7,80] [124.135] [371.67] [746.48] [1444.223] [1460.xii,33] [1505.20] (1970 [89.6]) (2000 machines [94.103]) (2300 machines [1298.96])

September

• At Stanford University in California, Computer Recreations installs the Galaxy Game machine, an updated version of Spacewar on a DEC minicomputer, in the Stanford Student Union building. Cost to play this arcade game is 10 cents. [1428.98] [1482.25] [1505.19,371]

November

• The first Computer Space arcade machine is installed at the Dutch Goose bar near Stanford University in California. [1505.20] (August [1482.25])

1972

January

• Magnavox signs preliminary deal with Sanders Associates for Ralph Baer's TV game. [1505.22]

September

• Atari ships the Pong stand-alone coin-operated video game. The Pong video game debuts in Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, California. (About 8,000-10,000 units are sold, for profit of $3.2 million, making this the first commercially-successful video game.) [1] [2] [32.178] [76.144] [89.8] [94.106] [124.135] [371.67] [1444.224] [1460.43] [1505.23] (August [1482.25])

1973

May 9

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer generally releases the film Soylent Green to theaters in the USA. The arcade video game Computer Space appears. [1378]

(month unknown)

• Chicago Coin releases the TV Pingame game in arcades in the USA. [1505.375]

1974

March

• Atari releases the Gran Trak 10 arcade video game, the first video car-racing game controlled by a steering wheel attached to the cabinet. The units cost $1095 to produce, and are unintentionally sold for $995. [124.138] [1460.67] [1505.30]

June 14

• Paramount Pictures releases the film The Parallax View in the USA. The arcade game Pong appears. [1290]

(month unknown)

• Nintendo releases the Wild Gunman video game to arcades. [1494.11]
• Atari releases the Touch-Me arcade game. [1505.69]
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• Atari releases the Quadrapong game to arcades in the USA. Four players can play at once. [1505.375]
• Atari releases the Rebound game in arcades in the USA. [1505.375]
• Konami releases the Maze arcade game in Japan. [1343.193]

September

• To date, there are about 100,000 coin-operated video game machines in the USA. [83.VI.94]

November

• The annual Amusement and Music Operators Association convention is held. Atari/Kee Games delivers the Tank arcade game. Tank is the first game to use ROM chips to store graphics data. 15,000 units are sold over its lifetime. [89.14] [124.139] [1460.67] [1505.34]

1975

April

• Atari/Kee Releases the Indy 800 video game in arcades. It is the first multi-player arcade game, supporting 8 players at once. [1482.25]

(month unknown)

• Midway Games of the US imports and releases the Gunfight arcade game from Taito of Japan, first game to use microprocessor. [1460.xii]
• Project Support Engineers releases the Maneater shark-hunting arcade game, in a cabinet shaped like a shark head. [1460.63]

November

• Midway releases the Gun Fight video game in arcades. It is the first microprocessor-driven arcade game (using Intel 8080 chip), licensed from Taito's Western Gun game. [1482.25] [1505.42]

1976

• Sega releases the Heavyweight Champ game in arcades in the USA and Japan. [1505.221,378]
• Atari introduces the Breakout coin-operated video game. (15,000 machines are sold over its lifetime.) [94.106] [1505.375]
• Atari distributes the Breakout game in Japan through Namco. [1460.75]
• Atari releases the Night Driver game in arcades in the USA. [1505.379]
• Exidy introduces the Death Race coin-operated video game. The object of the game is to run down "gremlins". The game is a reworking of their previous game Destruction Derby. (The National Safety Council calls it "sick, morbid, and insidious", and the CBS TV show 60 Minutes airs a segment showing the protests about the game. Total sales: 1000 units.) [87.12] [89.16] [1460.xii,90] [1505.42]

1977

• Behavioural scientist Gerald Driessen describes gaming consoles as "definitively negative... The person no longer is just a spectator, but now an actor in the process of creating violence." [1495.32]
• Exidy releases the Circus game in arcades in the USA. [1505.375]
• Exidy Games releases the Death Race II arcade game. [1460.92]

Year

• US sales of coin-operated games: US$551 million. [1505.77]

1978

February 5

• In Japan, Toshihiro Nishikado completes the Space Invaders arcade game. [1448.22]

March

• Nintendo releases its first arcade game: Computer Othello. [865.128] [1460.xiii]

June 5

• Taito releases the Space Invaders video game, in Japan. Original name was Space Monsters, created by Toshihiro Nishikado. (Over 350,000 machines are sold world-wide over its lifetime.) [4.46] [22.34] [89.xvi] [94.109] [297.36] [1343.193] [1460.116] (July [1505.76])

(month unknown)

• Nintendo releases the Computer Othello arcade game. [1391.37]

October

• Midway releases the Space Invaders arcade video game in the US. [389.94] [1447.90] [1460.117]
• Atari releases the trakball-controlled Football arcade game. [389.94] [1505.75]

(month unknown)

• The annual Amusement and Music Operators Association convention is held. Cinematronics unveils Space Wars, the first coin-operated video game with vector-generated graphics. The game, created by Larry Rosenthal, is a duplication of the original Spacewar video game of 1962. Rosenthal received several patents for the technology. [89.7,16]
• Cinematronics releases the Space Wars video game to arcades. The game is a vector graphics adaptation of Spacewars. (10,000 units are sold in its lifetime.) [16.68] [1460.xiii,129] (October 1977 [1505.83])

Year

• US sales of coin-operated games: US$472 million. [1505.77] ($50 million [281.39])
• Sales of Midway coin-operated video games in the USA: $21.5 million. [1447.90]
• Market share of coin-operated games: Atari 70 percent. [89.20]
• Cinematronics makes US$6 million for the year, from sales of 10,000 Space Wars machines. [89.18]

1979

• Cinematronics releases the Tailgunner game in arcades, using vector graphics. [1505.83]
• Cinematronics releases the Warrior game in arcades, using vector graphics. [1505.83]
• Atari releases the Lunar Lander game in arcades, using vector graphics. [1505.83]
• Atari develops the Asteroids computer game. [9.78]
• Cinematronics releases the Warrior arcade game, first two-player fighting game. [1460.368]
• Taito of Japan opens its own US operation, ceasing leasing games to Midway. [1460.64]
• Atari releases the Lunar Lander arcade video game, first vector-graphics game for Atari. [89.20]

October 15

• Namco releases the Galaxian arcade game in Japan. [1340.15]

November 14

• At Atari, Jed Margolin proposes Warp Speed, a 3D perspective graphics first-person space war game played against either a person at a linked machine, or a computer-controlled enemy player. The proposal is approved. (It is later released as the Star Wars arcade game.) [1343.69]

(month unknown)

• The annual Amusement and Music Operators Association convention is held. Atari shows the Asteroids video game. [89.23]

December

• Atari releases the Asteroids video game to arcades. (100,000 units are sold world-wide over its lifetime.) [9.78] [94.109] [274.58] [1460.132]

Year

• During the year, about US$930,000 is spent in coins on coin-operated video games. [94.S6.101]
• US sales of coin-operated games: US$1333 million. [1505.77]
• Sales of Midway coin-operated video games in the USA: $60.8 million. [1447.90]

1980

March 28

• Midway releases the Space Invaders II video game in arcades in the US, in table cabinet form. [1482.13]

May

• The Puck-Man game is first tested in public in Japan. [1460.141]

(month unknown)

• Nintendo of America releases the Radarscope arcade game. (1000 units are sold, leaving another 200 units unsold.) [1460.156]
• Nichibutsu releases the Crazy Climber game for arcades in Japan. [1505.377]
• In the case of Aladdin's Castle arcade versus the city of Mesquite, Texas, the US Federal Appeals Court for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans rules that playing arcade video games is an activity protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. City council of Mesquite had issued an ordinance barring players under age 17 without parents to play video games. [55.C8] [106.7] [111.A15]

July

• Namco releases Puck Man arcade game in Japan. [1444.28] [1460.141]
• Atari releases the Missile Command video game to arcades in the USA. [1341.97]

October

• The annual Amusement and Music Operators Association convention is held. Gremlin shows Nichibutsu's Moon Cresta video game. Taito of America introduces Stratovox, the first talking video game. Centuri releases Amstar's Phoenix and Eagle video games. Midway Manufacturing introduces Namco's Pac-Man and Rally-X video games. Williams Electronics introduces the Defender video game. [89.24] [113.D4] [1460.142,144,147] [1505.86]
• Midway Manufacturing introduces the Pac-Man video game. The game was created at Namco by Toru Iwatani. (Within a year, 100,000 machines are sold for US$200 million in revenue, with the machines taking in US$1 billion in quarters. Over seven years, 293,822 units are sold. In 2005, the game is added to the Guiness Book of World Records book as "most successful coin operated game" in history.) [89.43] [95.S3.21] [305.37] [456.S3.21] [597] [682.77] [1460.143]

November

• Irem Corporation releases the Space Beam video game in arcades. [1482.17]
• Irem Corporation releases the Panther video game in arcades. [1482.17]
• Nintendo releases the Radar Scope arcade video game in Japan. [1482.17] [1494.15] (1984 [396.16])
• Konami releases the The End video game in arcades. [1482.16]
• Atari sponsors the First National Space Invaders Competition, in New York. Bill Heineman of Whittier, California, scores 165,200 to win an Asteroids Table Top Video Game. [4.44]
• Universal introduces the Space Panic video game. [89.29] [1482.16]

November 26

• Atari releases the Battle Zone arcade game. [667.182] [1444] [1460.148] [1482.16]

November (month)

• Top video games in arcades for the month: Missile Command, Asteroids, Galaxian, Space Invaders Part II, Space Invaders. [1482.16]

December

• Nintendo of Japan begins exporting coin-operated video games to the United States. [273.102]

Year

• Unit sales of coin-operated video games in the United States during the year: US$500 million. [273.98]
• During the year in the US, US$3.8 billion in coins is spent on coin-operated video games. [89.xix] (US$2.8 billion [94.S6.101])

1981

May

• Atari completes work on the Centipede arcade video game. [89.65]

June

• General Consumer Corporation begins selling modification kits for Missile Command arcade units, offering new gameplay items and difficulty settings. [1395.48]

(month unknown)

• Sega/Gremlin introduces the Frogger video game. [89.29] [672.148]
• Stern releases the Berzerk arcade game. [1460.163]
• A man dies of a heart attack while playing Berzerk in a video arcade. This is the first video game-related death. [685.136]
• Namco releases the Galaga arcade video game in the US. [304.148] [672.148]
• Cinematronics releases the Tail Gunner video game to arcades, the first to feature 3D animated objects. [1460.130]
• Atari releases the Centipede arcade video game in the US. (50,000 units are sold during its lifetime, second best for Atari.) [672.148]
• Centuri releases the Vanguard arcade game in the US. [672.148]
• Nintendo of America first tests Donkey Kong in the Spot Tavern and Goldies bars in the Seattle area of Washington USA. The game is considered a success. [124.49] [1494.31]
• Konami releases the Scramble game to arcades in Japan. [1505.373]

July

• Nintendo releases the Donkey Kong video game in the USA. Originally designed to be Popeye trying to rescue Olive Oyl from Bluto, became Mario the carpenter, Pauline, and Donkey Kong. Created in Japan by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunopei Yokoi. The first 2000 units are conversions of failed game Radar Scope. The character Mario was originally called Jumpman. (In the first year, 60,000 units are sold for US$180 million.) [44.TD7] [89.29] [672.148] [1343.186] [1460.211,352] [1494.31]
• Atari files a lawsuit against General Consumer over their unauthorized Missile Command arcade unit modification kits. [1395.48]

(month unknown)

• (Summer) General Computer sells about 1000 Missile Command enhancement boards, calling them Super Missile Attack, for $295 each. [1460.168]

August

• Atari files a lawsuit and restraining order against General Consumer to prevent their shipping Missile Command arcade unit modification kits. [1395.48] [1460.169]

October 10

• At the Citicorp Center in Manhattan, New York, Atari sponsors an open tournament of arcade games. Frank Cretella scores 118,740 in Asteroids, setting a new national record. [93.45]

October

• Atari and General Computer settle out of court, with Atari agreeing to pay General Computer $50,000 per month for the next two years to develop games, not enhancement kits. [1460.170]
• General Computer Corporation completes the Crazy Otto arcade game. The game is based on Pac-Man, with a two-legged character, moving bonus point fruit, four mazes, and more intelligent ghosts. The company contacts Midway to obtain licensing permission, and they end up renaming it Ms. Pac-Man with a redesigned main character. [1341.98]

October 28

• At the Exposition Center in Chicago, the Atari Coin-Op $50,000 World Championship is held, over five days. Participation is only 250 players, on expectations of 10-15,000. Eric Ginner wins $12,000 in Open Singles tournament playing Centipede. The check bounces, but Atari pays it to avoid bad publicity. [94.102] [672.150] (held over three days [1460.162]) (150 people participate [1460.162])

November 10

• Twin Galaxies arcade opens in Ottumwa, Iowa, USA, run by Walter Day. [1482.40]

November 14

• In Washington, D.C., Atari sponsors a week-long international finals tournament in arcade video game playing, including contestants from ten European countries. [93.45]

November 19

• President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines bans video games in the country, because of parent and teacher complaints regarding youth morality. [96.23] [278.51] [1460.152] [1505.96]

(month unknown)

• The annual Amusement and Music Operators Association convention is held. Taito America introduces the Qix and Lock 'n' Chase video games. Atari introduces Tempest, Atari's first color vector graphics game, second in the industry to Sega Enterprises's Space Fury. Exidy shows the Mouse Trap video game. Williams Electronics shows the Make Trax video game. Stern shows the Turtles video game. Centuri shows the Round Up video game. Nichibutsu shows the Frisky Tom video game. Nintendo shows the Donkey Kong video game. Sega Enterprises shows the Frogger video game. [89.30,42] [672.148] [1460.163] [1505.372]
• Steve Juraszek plays arcade game Defender for 16 hours and 34 minutes on one quarter, scoring a world record 15,963,100 points. [278.49] [1460.152]
• Midway releases the Ms. Pac-Man video game. Original game title was Crazy Otto. (Over 119,000 units are sold in its lifetime, making it the most popular arcade game ever.) [304.142] [305] [672.148] [682.77] [1341.98] [1460.173]

December

• The city council of Oakland, California, votes to ban minors from arcades during school hours and after 10 PM weeknights, 12 PM weekends. [89.122]

Year

• During the year, Bally's Midway Manufacturing Division sells 96,000 machine sales of Pac-Man, for US$200 million profit on revenues of US$1.2 billion. [55.C8] [60.S2.13] [109.D1] [672.148]
• US arcade video game revenue for the year: US$5-5.7 billion. 75,000 man-hours of play on 20 billion quarters. [89.xix,138] [278.49] [672.148] [1405.32] [1460.xiii,152] (US$7 billion [281.39]) (US$8 billion [53.D1])
• Unit sales of video game machines for the year: 4.5 million. Revenue: US$1-1.2 billion. [58.D5] [63.21] [278.49] [287.110] [672.148]
• During the year, Atari ships 50,000 Centipede video game machines. [89.143] [161.S3.19]

1982

January

• At Atari, the Warp Speed video game project officially becomes the Star Wars project, with a license agreement with LucasGames. [1343.69]

February 1

• Coleco signs a contract with Nintendo for exclusive rights to home and table-top conversions of Donkey Kong. nintendo grants Coleco a six-month exclusive license for undisclosed cash plus royalty of $1 per tabletop machine and $1.40 per cartridge. [1343.187] [1460.209]

February 8

• Walter Day releases the first Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard to the public, recording video game high scores. [866.140] [1447.6]
• Council of Bradley, Illinois, bars children under 16 from playing video arcade games. [292.7]

February 9

• The Boston suburb of Marlborough, Massachusettes, passes an ordinance barring the use of video games by anyone under age 18 during school class hours or late at night, and bans placement of the games within 1500 feet of public schools. [108.14] (February 8 [292.7])

February 23

• The US Supreme Court announces it will not decide on the Mesquite versus Alladin's Castle case. The Federal Appeals Court must determine if the circumstances of the case are specific to the Texas constitution, in which case the US Supreme Court would have no jurisdiction. [89.128] [111.A15]

March

• Stern releases the Frenzy arcade video game. [89.188]

April 19

• Namco releases the Dig Dug video game in arcades. [1482.13]

May 3

• Walt Disney Productions files a suit against Williams Electronics for infringing Disney's Tron trademark, by the arcade video game Robotron. [118.D5]

June 15

• New York state Supreme Court justice Thomas Galligan rules that New York City could limit locations of video game arcades, saying that the games are not protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. [129.B3]

June 17

• Atari grants Centuri exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and distribute the Tunnel Hunt arcade game. [130.D4]

June (month)

• Number one arcade game at end of June: Zaxxon by Sega Enterprises. [59.D4]

(month unknown)

• Sega releases the Zaxxon game to arcades in Japan. [1505.373]
• Namco releases the Xevious game to arcades in Japan. [1505.373]
• Electro-Sport releases the Quarter-Horse video game to arcades, first laser-disc game in the US. [1505.107]
• The Pac-Man cartoon TV show debuts in the USA. (It runs for two seasons.) [1391.174]
• Nintendo releases the Donkey Kong Junior arcade game. (30,000 machines are sold.) [1460.352]
• Nintendo releases the Popeye arcade game. (20,000 machines are sold.) [1460.352]
• Universal Sales sells the Mr. Do! arcade game as a kit of control panel, computer board with game on ROM chips, art stickers, and plastic marquee. First game ever sold as a conversion only. (Total sales about 30,000 in the USA.) [1460.352]
• Atari releases the Gravitar game in arcades in the USA. [1505.372]

July 9

• Bally Manufacturing debuts the TRON arcade game. [59.D4]

July

• Paramount airs television commercials promoting Sega Enterprises's Zaxxon arcade game. This is the first television commercial for an arcade game. [59.D4]

November 1

• The Columbia Broadcasting System airs the Cagney and Lacey TV show in the USA. A short scene takes place in a video games arcade, showing Stern's Astro Invaders video game. [1326]

November 23

• Eric Olofson scores a world record 500,774 on the Alpine Ski arcade game. (The record continues to hold through at least February 2012.) [1447.7]

November 24

• Todd Rogers scores a world record 653,990 on the Gorf arcade game. (The record continues to hold through at least February 2012.) [1447.7]

December 6

• Mike Perez scores a world record 30,780 on the Moon Shuttle arcade game. (The record continues to hold through at least February 2012.) [1447.7]

December 23

• Victor Ali scores a world record 80,364,995 on the Missile Command arcade game. (The record continues to hold through at least February 2012.) [1447.7]

December 28

• Tom Bundy scores a world record 4,787,665 on the Kickman arcade game. (The record continues to hold through at least February 2012.) [1447.7]

Year

• Arcade video game shipments for the year: 480,000. [53.D9] [145.C11]
• Arcade video game revenue (from coins) for the year: US$7.3 billion. [53.D1] [145.C11]
• Sales of arcade video game machines during the year: US$4.5 billion. [305.37]
• Revenue from sales of Donkey Kong arcade video games in the US during the year: US$180 million. [1494.36]

Other web pages of interest: