Galaxian was released in 1979 by Namco and built upon the success enjoyed by Space Invaders. The game represented a step forward in terms of color graphics and visual effects and it featured similar game-play to Space Invaders with a couple of simple additions.

 

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Back in 1981 Nintendo was still looking to break into the American and European arcade videogame market and the game which finally brought them success in the west was Donkey Kong. Designed by the now famous Shigeru Miyamoto this unique offering helped to popularise platform game-play and proved to be a big draw in videogame arcades across the globe.

 

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Shooter games were always popular in the arcades but one of the first I remember to feature an actual replica gun as the control method for the cabinet and a first-person perspective on the action was the classic Operation Wolf. Released by Taito in 1987 this was an immersive war experience as the player took on an enemy army single handed in true Rambo style and tried to save as many hostages as possible for bonus score.

 

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Arcades used to be everywhere. Starting with the success of titles like Pong and Space Invaders back in the late 1970’s through the 1980’s, until they hit a terminal decline in the 1990’s, arcades were hugely popular. There were specific standalone arcades packed with every game you could imagine, many restaurants, bowling alleys, cinemas and even bars had arcade rooms, you’d find game machines in malls, service stations and even cafes or clubs. Arcades used to be a popular hangout, a place where kids could gather and socialise, exchange tips, compete and brag and even after spending their money hang around to watch others rack up impressive high scores.

 

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Lunar Lander was released by Atari in 1979 and challenged the player to pilot a space module and successfully land on the moon. This was a tough game and hugely frustrating placing you in control of the module as it hurtled towards the jagged landscape of the moon. The idea was to find a safe, flat bit of terrain on which to land and to touch down before your fuel supply ran out.

 

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Asteroids was originally released into arcades in 1979 by Atari. Playing as a spaceship lost in an asteroid field the player could rotate the ship and had to fire to destroy asteroids and the occasional enemy flying saucer. It was a simple black and white game with wire frame graphics and basic sound effects. Asteroids was one of the most popular arcade games ever released and it spawned a number of versions and was updated and ported to various home consoles. The simple game-play was tough but deeply addictive and the world record for highest score was set back in 1982 and still stands at over 40 million points.

 

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Space Harrier was a classic shooter released in arcades back in 1985. Developed by Yu Suzuki for Sega it proved to be a smash hit. The player was cast as a flying man with a huge cannon tucked under his arm which doubled up as a rocket engine. With a view from behind the challenge was to blast your way through a series of bizarre dreamscapes fighting off all manner of crazy looking creatures from prehistoric dinosaurs to huge flying dragons, robots and aliens.

 

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Pac-Man was an absolute phenomenon across the world. It was first released in 1980 by Namco in Japan and Midway licensed it for distribution in the US. Pac-Man was universally popular and transcended traditional gender barriers attracting an audience of female and male gamers of all ages. The game is quite possibly the most famous arcade release of all time and it has firmly established itself as an icon of popular culture.

 

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The arcade game machine I remember most fondly from my youth has to be the 1983 Atari release Star Wars which challenged you to take on Luke’s final challenge in the cockpit of Red Five and destroy the Deathstar.

There was a stand up version of this machine but the one I played on was a mock cockpit which you sat in complete with X-Wing controls and a large picture of Darth Vader on the outside.

 

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Have you seen the newest release from the juggernaut software company, Bethesda? The company has recently been garnering much praise from the video gaming community as a whole for their fantastically successful debut of ‘Elder Scrolls: Oblivion’ which was one of the best selling video games of all time, and has been lauded by many as one of the best role playing or RPG games of all time. And now, Bethesda Software is hard at work again, this time bringing to the eager video gaming world their next latest and greatest RPG innovation: Fallout 3.

Why Change the Old – Just Make it Better!
With Fallout 3 does come some new innovations in the RPG subset that can be classically attributed to Elder Scrolls; the interface, interactions, maps, item menus and many other features are very similar to those found in the hit game Elder Scrolls, but have been revamped and greatly improved upon to make the game easier to use.

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