Description
Space Invaders was a very popular arcade video game
designed by Toshihiro Nishikado. It was originally
manufactured by Taito and licensed for production in
the U.S. by the Midway Games division of Bally.
Released in 1978, it ranks as one of the most
influential video games ever created. Though
simplistic by today's standards, it (along with
other contemporary games such as Pac-Man) was one of
the forerunners of modern video gaming.
The game itself was an adaptation of the popular
shooting gallery games that were a mainstay of
carnivals. In this electronic version of the game,
the player controlled the motions of the "Lazer
Base", a movable laser cannon that moved back and
forth across the bottom of the video screen. Rows
and rows of video aliens marched back and forth
across the screen, slowly advancing down from the
top to the bottom of the screen. If any of the
aliens successfully landed on the bottom of the
screen, the game would end. The player's laser
cannon had an unlimited supply of ammunition to
shoot at the aliens and destroy them before they hit
the bottom of the screen.
Meanwhile, the aliens would shoot back at the
player, raining a hail of deadly rays and bombs that
the player would have to dodge lest his cannon be
destroyed. The player's cannon could be destroyed
three times (the player had six lives), and the game
would end after the player's last life was lost.
Occasionally a bonus spaceship would fly across the
top of the screen which the player could shoot for
extra points.
As the player destroyed an increasing number of
aliens, the aliens began marching faster and faster,
with the lone remaining alien zooming very rapidly
across the screen. Shooting the last alien in the
formation rewarded the player with a new screen of
aliens, which began their march one row lower than
the previous round.
Video games had existed prior to Space Invaders, and
the game Pong by Atari was already a few years old
when this game was released. But Space Invaders
captured the attention and imagination of the public
in a manner paralleled by few games before or since.
Its science fiction based action and futuristic
setting appealed to a public in the midst of Star
Wars mania. The game's design included a touch of
horror, as it gave players the illusion that they
were in a desperate battle to save the world from
alien invaders... a battle that they would
eventually lose, as endless waves of electronic
aliens would sweep down until they were overwhelmed.
The simple background soundtrack to the game, which
gave the impression of a beating heart, increased
the tension and kept players coming back for more.
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