Timeline of arcade video game history

Early history (1972 ~ 1977)

1972

• Atari Inc. launches Pong, the first commercially successful video game. It is also the first arcade sports video game.

1973

• Taito releases Astro Race, an early racing video game, controlled using a four-way joystick controller.

1974

• Taito releases Basketball, an early example of sprite graphics, used to represent player characters and baskets.

• Taito releases Speed Race, which introduces scrolling sprite graphics, and features a racing wheel controller. Midway releases it as Racer in the United States.

1975

• Midway MFG. releases Gun Fight, an adaptation of Taito's Western Gun and the first arcade video game to use a microprocessor, which the original incarnation did not use, allowing for improved graphics and smoother animation.

1976

• Sega releases Moto-Cross, an early motorbike racing game, which introduces a pseudo-3D forward-scrolling third-person perspective. It also introduces haptic feedback, causing the handlebars to vibrate during collisions. Sega-Gremlin re-brands it as Fonz.

• Sega releases Road Race, an early forward-scrolling first-person racing game.

• Atari Inc. releases Night Driver, another early example of a first-person perspective racing video game.

• Atari releases Breakout, which inspires a number of Breakout clones.

• Exidy releases Death Race.

1977

• Cinematronics releases Space Wars, the first vector graphics arcade game.

Golden age (1978-1986)

See also: Golden age of video arcade games and List of best-selling arcade games

1978

• Taito releases Space Invaders, the first blockbuster arcade video game, responsible for starting the golden age of video arcade games. It also sets the template for the shoot 'em up genre, and influences nearly every shooter game released since then.

• Sega releases Secret Base, which allows two-player cooperative gameplay.

1979

• Atari releases Lunar Lander and Asteroids, a major hit in the United States and Atari's best selling game of all time.

• Namco releases Galaxian, which helps popularize graphics in RGB colour.

• Nintendo releases Sheriff, a run & gun multi-directional shooter with dual-stick controls (one joystick for movement and other for aiming) and many enemies shooting many bullets, influencing dual-stick shooters like Robotron 2084, Ikari Warriors and Geometry Wars.

• Vectorbeam releases Barrier, Speed Freak, Warrior, and the first-person space shooter, Tail Gunner.

• Nintendo releases Radar Scope, which introduces a three-dimensional third-person perspective, imitated years later by shooters such as Konami's Juno First and Activision's Beamrider.

1980

• Namco releases Pac-Man, its biggest-selling game. One of the most influential games, it had the first gaming mascot character, established the maze chase genre, opened gaming to female audiences, and introduced power-ups and cutscenes.

• DECO releases DECO Cassette System, the first standardized arcade platform, for which many games were made.

• Williams Electronics release Defender, a more challenging shoot-em-up space game with control configuration of five buttons and a joystick.

1981

• Atari release Tempest, the first color vector arcade games.

• Nintendo releases Donkey Kong, which was one of the first platform games. It was also the game that introduced Mario (named simply "Jumpman" at the time) to the video game world, and one of the first video games to have a fleshed out storyline.

• Sega releases Eliminator, a space combat multi-directional shooter notable for being the only four-player vector game created. It featured a colour vector display as well as both cooperative and competitive multiplayer.

• Konami releases Scramble, the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels.

• Konami releases Frogger, a popular arcade action game.

• Namco releases Bosconian, introducing a free-roaming style of gameplay where the player's ship freely moves across open space that scrolls in all directions and a radar that tracks player & enemy positions on the map.

• Universal Games releases "Ladybug", top down maze game, with gates that the player can alter, with an insect theme.

1982

• Namco releases Pole Position, one of the most popular racing games of all time. This is also Namco's first game to feature a 16-bit CPU making it the first 16-bit video game.

• Sega releases Star Trek, a space combat sim featuring five different controls, six different enemies, and 40 different simulation levels. One of the most elaborate vector games ever released.

• Konami releases Time Pilot, which features a time travel theme and a free-roaming style of gameplay where the player's plane could freely move across open air space that scrolls indefinitely in all directions.

• Atari released Quantum, an early arcade game to use a 16-bit 68000 CPU, for more detailed and smoother graphics.

1983

• Bally Midway releases Journey, the first game with digitized sprites.

• Astron Belt, the first laserdisc video game, is released by Sega.

• Dragon's Lair, the first video game to use cel-animated video instead of computer generated graphics.

• Libble Rabble, is released by Namco. This is Namco's second game to have a 16-bit processor.

• Atari brings Star Wars to the arcades in the form of a 3D vector graphics simulation of the movie's attack on the Death Star sequence and featuring digitized samples of voices from the movie.

1984

• 16-bit processors are increasingly used in arcade machines, resulting in much more detailed and faster graphics.

• Marble Madness and Paperboy are released by Atari Games.

• Namco releases Pac-Land, an influential side-scrolling platform game.

• The Last Starfighter was planned to be released by Atari in 1984. Due to the high cost of the hardware, the game was cancelled. If released, it would have been Atari's second arcade game to use 3D polygonal graphics and started the 3D polygonal revolution in the arcades much faster.

1985

• Gauntlet is released by Atari Games

• Gradius (Nemesis in some countries) is released by Konami. Also released by Konami the same year is Yie Ar Kung-Fu, which was the basis for modern fighting games.

• Space Harrier is released by Sega

• Vs. Super Mario Bros., the arcade version of Super Mario Bros. originally on the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan), is released into arcades.

• Tehkan World Cup, the father of soccer games with an above view of the field, is released by Tehkan, who also release its stablemate, Gridiron Fight.

• Air Race was also planned to be released by Atari in 1985. Due to the high cost of the hardware, the game also was cancelled. If released, it would have been the first arcade racing game to use 3D polygon graphics.

• The Empire Strikes Back is released and became Atari's last major vector-based arcade game.

1986

• Taito releases Bubble Bobble.
• Sega releases Out Run.

• Chiller by Exidy is released and is an early example of blood and gore.
• Top Gunner by Exidy is released and is the last commercial arcade video game to use vector-based(wireframe) graphics.
• Turbo Kourier is released by the Vivid Group and is the first coin-operated Virtual Reality arcade video game to use 3D Polygon Graphics.

Post-golden age (1987-present)

1987

• Namco releases Yokai Dochuki.

• Technōs Japan releases Double Dragon. It became a huge hit, paving the way for beat 'em up games.

1988

• NARC, by Williams is released and is the first commercially released game to use a 32-bit processor.

• Reikai Doushi by Home Data is released. It is the first digitized fighting game and the first claymation fighting game.

• Namco releases Assault, which was the first game to make use of massive sprite rotation as well as sprite scaling. It also released Splatterhouse, which was the first game to get a parental advisory disclaimer.

• Namco introduces the Namco System 21 "Polygonizer", the first arcade system board designed for 3D polygonal graphics. The first game to use it is the early 3D racing video game Winning Run.

• Tetris makes the jump from home to arcade as an Atari coin-op.
• Top Landing by Taito is released and is the first coin-operated flight simulation game to use 3D polygon graphics and runs on a 3D hardware Taito Air System.

1989

• Hard Drivin', by Atari Games is released and is the second arcade driving game to have 3D polygon graphics.

• Exterminator, the first game with fully digitized graphics, is released. It will have the highest quality digitized graphics until the release of Mortal Kombat II.

• S.T.U.N. Runner is released by Atari Games and is known for early use of high-speed 3-D Polygonal Graphics.

1990

• Race Drivin' is released by Atari Games and is an arcade sequel to Hard Drivin'.
• Pit-Fighter is released by 'Atari Games and is the first ever fighting game to use fully digitized graphics. Released two years before Midway's Mortal Kombat.
• Air Inferno is released by Taito and is the last game running on the 3D hardware Taito Air System.
• Galaxian³ is released by Namco as a video game Theme Park Attraction and is the first to feature 8-players. This game is a sequel to the Galaxian series and is known for combining pre-laserdisc background images and 3D Polygonal graphics. It was later released as an arcade cabinet to the public in 1994.

• NAM-1975 is released by SNK and is the first game running on a Neo Geo hardware and became the standardized arcade platform throughout the 90s to the early 2000s. Many 2D fighting games like Fatal Fury, World Heroes, and Samurai Showdown ran on this hardware and was very popular in the arcades for its time.

1991

• Capcom releases Street Fighter II, revolutionizing competitive play in the arcade setting and setting the template for fighting games.

1992

• Midway Games releases Mortal Kombat, which features blood and fatalities.

• Sega releases Virtua Racing, Sega's first 3D racer as well as Sega's first polygonal 3D game.

1993

• Mortal Kombat II is released, featuring high quality digitized graphics, and the most advanced sound system in arcades at the time, the DCS sound system which allowed for MP3 style compression to all sounds.
• Sega releases Virtua Fighter, the first 3D fighting game.

1994

• Killer Instinct is released, the first arcade game with a hard disk, up to that point the game with the highest quality graphics pre-rendered by a rendering program, featuring to this day the highest quality use of the movie background technique.
• Namco releases Tekken, another fighting game.

1995

• Midway Games releases Mortal Kombat 3, which was part of the Mortal Kombat series.

1996

• SNK releases Metal Slug, a run and gun game widely known for its sense of humor, fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast paced two-player action.

1998

• Konami releases Dance Dance Revolution, an arcade game with four arrow pads that the players used to "dance." This game would create many sequels and spin-offs.
• Gauntlet Legends is released by Atari Games and it is the first game in the Gauntlet series to be produced in 3D and is the last Gauntlet game relassed by Atari Games.

1999

• Rush 2049 is released, the last arcade game to bear the Atari Games logo. Atari Games in Milpitas is renamed Midway Games West, and closes its coin-op product development division.
• Hydro Thunder is released by Midway Games a 3D speedboat racing game and was one of the first to one on a windows based PC hardware called Quicksilver II Hardware many arcade games in the later in the decade soon followed. The game was one of Midway Games most successful arcade games to date.
• Derby Owners Club which was the first large-scale satellite arcade machine with smartcards, which have become a stable in japanese game centers since.

2000

• Offroad Thunder is released by Midway Games and is the second game in the 3D offroad series after Off Road Challenge. Also runs on Quicksilver II Hardware.
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is released by Capcom and runs on Sega's NAOMI hardware. This game combines 2D character sprites, background arenas and special effects are 3D polygon based.

2001

• Namco releases Tekken 4, the first talking game to feature almost all characters talking to one another.
• Sega releases Virtua Fighter 4, the first arcade game with online features in Japan.

2002

• Arctic Thunder : Special Edition is released and is the last arcade game by Midway Games and runs on a PC based Hardware Midway Graphite. It's arcade division was later shut down.
• Sega launched World Club Champion Football, which introduced trading cards, which have become a staple in Japanese game centers.

See also

• Arcade game
• Golden age of arcade video games
• List of best-selling arcade video games
• Video arcade

External links

• Arcade Games history