Golden Age of Arcade Games
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The Golden Age of Arcade Games was a peak era of arcade game popularity and innovation. Some opinions place this period’s beginning in late 1979 or 1980 when the first color arcade games appeared and arcades began to become prevalent, and its ending in the mid-1980s. However, more generous definitions place its start at the 1978 release of Space Invaders and its end in the mid-1990s with the release of home gaming systems which were more powerful than typical arcade hardware, due to their ability to render 3-D.
During the early 1980s, arcade game technology had become sophisticated enough to offer good-quality graphics and sounds, but it was still fairly basic (realistic images and full motion video were not yet available, and only a few games used spoken voice) and so the success of a game had to rely on simple and fun gameplay. This emphasis on the gameplay is why many of these games continue to be enjoyed today despite having been vastly outdated by modern computing technology.
The Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) web site has compiled a (subjective) list of the “Top 100 (arcade) Video Games.” Fifty of them (including all the games on its Top 10 list) were introduced during the period from 1979 to 1984.
Business
The Golden Age was a time of great technical and design creativity in arcade games. Games were designed in a wide variety of genres while developers had to work within strict limits of available processor power and memory. The era also saw the rapid spread of video arcades across North America and Japan.
At this time, arcade games started to appear in supermarkets, liquor stores, gas stations and many other retail establishments looking for extra income. Popular games occasionally caused a crush of teenagers, eager to try the latest entertainment entry.
Probably the most successful arcade game companies of this era were Namco (especially in Japan) and Atari Games (especially in the United States). Other notables include Nintendo (whose mascot, Mario, was introduced in 1981′s Donkey Kong), Bally Midway Manufacturing Company (who later was purchased by Williams and Atari Games), Capcom, Cinematronics, Konami, Sega, Taito, Williams, and SNK.
Most popular games
The games below were some of the most popular and influential games of the era. All occupy a position in the KLOV’s “Top 100 Videogames” list.
| Space Invaders (1978) Asteroids (1979) Galaxian (1979) Lunar Lander (1979) Battlezone (1980) Berzerk (1980) Centipede (1980) Defender (1980) Missile Command (1980) Pac-Man (1980) Star Castle (1980) Tempest (1980) Warlords (1980) Wizard of Wor (1980) Donkey Kong (1981) Frogger (1981) Galaga (1981) Ms. Pac Man (1981) |
Qix (1981) Vanguard (1981) Burgertime (1982) Dig Dug (1982) Joust (1982) Moon Patrol (1982) Pole Position (1982) Q*Bert (1982) Robotron 2084 (1982) Time Pilot (1982) Tron (1982) Xevious (1982) Zaxxon (1982) Dragon’s Lair (1983) Elevator Action (1983) Spy Hunter (1983) Star Wars (1983) Tapper (1983) |
Legacy
The Golden Age of Arcade Games spawned numerous cultural icons and even gave some companies their identity. Elements from games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Centipede are still recognized in today’s popular culture.
The phenomenal success of these early video games has led many hobbyists who were teenagers during the Golden Age to collect some of these classic games. Since few have any commercial value any longer, they can be acquired for US$200 to US$500 (though fully restored games can cost much more). Some fans of these games have companies devoted to restoring the classic games, and others, such as Arcade Renovations, which produces reproduction art for classic arcade games, focus solely on one facet of the restoration activity. Many of these restorationers have set up websites on the Internet full of tips and advice on restoring games to mint condition. There are also several newsgroups devoted to discussion around these games.
Further reading
- The Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games by David Ellis (2004), ISBN 0375720383
- The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon–The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven L. Kent (2001), ISBN 0761536434
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