Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Pop Culture»Toys & Games
    Toys & Games 2 Mins Read

    Space Invaders

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Backed by a thudding bass beat, dozens of invaders from another world descended on our planet in 1978. Within months, Space Invaders was one of the hottest fads on the globe, helping propel the video arcade into a multi-billion dollar industry.

    The invasion began in Japan when programmer Toshihiro Nishikado took the classic sci-fi riff of alien invasion and transported it to the video screen.

    The game was straightforward enough – rows of green aliens would wobble slowly back and forth across the screen, dropping down one row every time they reached the edge of the screen. The player had to shoot them.

    You controlled a lone laser base, defending the planet by firing back at the invading aliens. You could move left and right and use four convenient shields to play a dangerous game of fire and retreat as the aliens unleashed their own laser assault.

    When the game first started, the computer’s weedy CPU struggled to move all of the aliens at once and they crawled across the screen while you moved across the bottom of the screen at a reasonable pace – certainly fast enough to avoid the sluggish alien bullets.

    It was only as you started to eliminate aliens (thereby giving the CPU less work to do) that the invaders began moving at a challenging pace.

    When the giant Taito Corporation first released Space Invaders in Japan, the game caused a national furore. Hundreds of thousands of Space Invaders machines were produced, and the game’s popularity caused a shortage of 100-Yen coins. When restaurants complained that customers were playing instead of eating, Taito simply supplied them with sit-down cocktail cabinets, further fueling the Space Invaders hysteria.

    Space Invaders also helped popularise home gaming, turning the Atari 2600 from a little-known novelty into the must-have toy of the late ’70s. Atari won an exclusive license to market a home version of the Taito game, and 2600 sales skyrocketed.

    Eventually, Space Invaders was replaced by a whole new generation of “first-person shooter” games, such as Galaxian which took the same concept but added multi-directional movement, speed, colour and entertainment to the mix.

    Contestants at the 1980 Space Invaders Championship, sponsored by SEGA.

    Related Posts

    • Video Games
      Video Games
      Encouraged by the success of Atari, other companies tried dipping their…
    • Popeye
      Popeye
      By the early 1980s, thanks to hits like Pac-Man and…
    • Avalanche
      Avalanche
      This early Atari title wasn’t exactly the black-and-white equivalent of…
    • Zaxxon
      Zaxxon
      1982 gamers had never seen anything like Sega/Gremlin’s Zaxxon. Players…
    • Asteroids
      Asteroids
      In the years after Star Wars (1977), anything involving outer space,…
    • Xenon
      Xenon
      It wasn’t like pinball machines hadn’t been sexy before - many a…
    • G.I. Joe
      G.I. Joe
      The G.I. Joe story began in 1963 when a marketing…
    • Q*bert
      Q*bert
      One of the most famous faces of the golden age…

    Arcade games
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleSpace Hopper
    Next Article Six Million Dollar Man Action Figure

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Codename
      1 9 7 0 (UK) 13 x 50 minute episodes This BBC2 series presented […]
    • Girl Happy (1965)
      Rusty Wells (Elvis Presley) and his combo – Wilbur (Joby […]
    • Hotel
      1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 8 (USA) A popular ABC night-time soap/ […]
    • How To Steal A Million (1966)
      Audrey Hepburn plays the daughter of an art forger who hires […]
    • The Other Side Of The Tracks
      1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 4 (UK) 60 minute episodes Radio 1 DJ Paul […]
    • Bells Are Ringing (1960)
      Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday recreating her Broadway role in her […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.