1980 in video gaming
Encyclopedia
Notable releases
- May 22, NamcoNamcois a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
releases Pac-ManPac-Manis an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
, which is their biggest selling game of all time - December, NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
releases the Radar ScopeRadar Scopeis an early cabinet arcade game developed and published by Nintendo in November 1980. Some sources claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did design work on Radar Scope. It is a shooter that can be viewed as a cross between Taito's Space Invaders and Namco's Galaxian...
arcade game - NamcoNamcois a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
releases NavaloneNavaloneNavarone is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980.-Gameplay:The player controls a boat that moves around the side of the screen trying to shoot everything except the gun turrets that are invincible and fire back at it....
, Kaitei Takara SagashiKaitei Takara SagashiKaitei Takara Sagashi is a 1980 arcade game that was developed by K'K Tokki as a prototype and later sold to Namco, where it was completely rewritten.-Gameplay:...
, SOSSOS (arcade game)SOS is a vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980.-Gameplay:The player controls a fighter plane called a "Shinryaku" which is situated at the bottom of the screen, while enemy planes fly down from above. The player may destroy them for 10 points each...
, King and Balloon, which is the first game to feature synthesized voices, Tank BattalionTank BattalionTank Battalion is a multi-directional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. It was later ported to the Japanese Famicom and Game Boy, but for unknown reasons was retitled Battle City...
and Rally-XRally-XRally-X is a maze driving arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. It runs on Namco Pac-Man hardware, and was the first Namco game to feature "Special Flags", which would become a recurring object in later games .It was the first game to ever feature a "bonus round." The object is to...
, which is the first game to feature a bonus round. - RogueRogue (computer game)Rogue is a dungeon crawling video game first developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman around 1980. It was a favorite on college Unix systems in the early to mid-1980s, in part due to the procedural generation of game content. Rogue popularized dungeon crawling as a video game trope, leading...
is written by Michael ToyMichael ToyMichael Toy is an American computer programmer. He was one of the developers of the 1980s dungeon-crawling computer game Rogue. He later became an employee of SGI and followed its founder Jim Clark when he left to form Netscape...
, Glenn WichmanGlenn WichmanGlenn R. Wichman is a software developer who is best known as one of the original authors of the computer game Rogue, along with Michael Toy, Ken Arnold and Jon Lane. Wichman has also contributed to many other commercial software programs, including Microsoft Bookshelf, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing...
, and Ken ArnoldKen ArnoldKenneth Cutts Richard Cabot Arnold is an American computer programmer well known as one of the developers of the 1980s dungeon-crawling computer game Rogue, for his contributions to the original Berkeley distribution of Unix, for his books and articles about C and C++ Kenneth Cutts Richard Cabot ...
, spawning the category of roguelike gamesRoguelikeThe roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
. - NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
releases the Game & WatchGame & Watchis a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from to . Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each Game & Watch features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock and an alarm ....
handheld LCDLiquid crystal displayA liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
game by Gunpei Yokoi. - Stern Electronics releases the BerzerkBerzerkBerzerk is a multi-directional shooter video arcade game, released in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago.-Gameplay:The player controls a green stick-figure, representing a "humanoid." Using a joystick , the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the...
arcade game. - Warner Communications' AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
releases the Missile CommandMissile CommandMissile Command is a 1980 arcade game by Atari, Inc. that was also licensed to Sega for European release. It is considered one of the most notable games from the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games...
arcade game, and the Battlezone arcade game (it was later enhanced for the US ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
for military training) – albeit relying on specialized vector graphicsVector graphicsVector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
hardware. - Williams ElectronicsWilliams (gaming company)WMS Industries, Inc. is an American electronic gaming and amusement company based in Waukegan, Illinois. The company's main operating subsidiaries are WMS Gaming and Orion Gaming. WMS traces its roots as far back as 1943, the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded by Harry E. Williams...
releases the Defender arcade game. - Warner Communications' AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
releases the CentipedeCentipede (video game)Centipede is a vertically-oriented shoot 'em up arcade game produced by Atari, Inc. in 1980. The game was designed by Ed Logg along with Dona Bailey, one of the few female game programmers in the industry at this time. It was also the first arcade coin-operated game to have a significant female...
(by Ed LoggEd LoggGeorge Edward Logg born in Seattle in 1948 is a retired arcade video game designer, employed first at Atari and after at Atari Games. He co-developed the video game Asteroids with Lyle Rains...
& Dona Bailey) and WarlordsWarlordsWarlords may refer to:* The plural of warlord, a name for a figure who has military authority but not legal authority over a subnational region.* "WARLORDS", the call sign of a United States Navy Helicopter squadron based in Ayase city, Japan....
arcade games and also the Tempest color vector arcade game. - Universal release the arcade game Space PanicSpace PanicSpace Panic is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal, which Chris Crawford calls the first ever platform game, as it pre-dates Nintendo's Donkey Kong which is often cited as the original platform game. Space Panic lacks Donkey Kongs jump mechanic, disqualifying it as a platformer for some...
, often cited as the first platform gamePlatform gameA platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. - Edu-WareEdu-WareEdu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 by Sherwin Steffin and Steven Pederson It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II family of computers.-History:Edu-Ware founders Sherwin...
releases The PrisonerThe Prisoner (computer game)The Prisoner is a 1980 Apple II computer game produced by Edu-Ware. The game was loosely based upon the 1960s television series The Prisoner and incorporates the show's themes about the loss of individuality in a technological and controlling society...
, loosely based upon the 1960s TV series of the same nameThe PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
. Programmed by David MullichDavid MullichDavid Mullich is an American game producer and designer best known for creating the cult classic 1980 adventure game The Prisoner, producing the 1995 adaptation I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, and developing many games in the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise...
, it became a classic of the Apple IIApple IIThe Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
platform. - InfocomInfocomInfocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
releases Zork IZork IZork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I, later known as Zork I, is an interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1980. It was the first game in the popular Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of...
, the first ZorkZorkZork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, and implemented in the MDL programming language...
game and the first Infocom game.
Hardware
- MattelMattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
releases the IntellivisionIntellivisionThe Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
video game consoleVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. - Sinclair Research releases the ZX80Sinclair ZX80The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer brought to market in 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. . It is notable for being the first computer available in the United Kingdom for less than a hundred pounds...
home computer and Acorn ComputersAcorn ComputersAcorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, and the Acorn Archimedes...
release the AtomAcorn AtomThe Acorn Atom was a home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd from 1980 to 1982 when it was replaced by the BBC Micro and later the Acorn Electron....
, the first 'domestic' computers to play games in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Business
- New companies: MindscapeMindscape GroupMindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...
, Inc., Sierra On-Line. - MattelMattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
creates the original five-programmer IntellivisionIntellivisionThe Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
game design team, nicknamed the Blue Sky RangersBlue Sky RangersThe Blue Sky Rangers are the group of Intellivision game programmers who once worked for Mattel back in the early 1980s.When the Intellivision first came out in 1978, its games were all developed by an outside firm, APh Technological Consulting. Realizing that potential profits are much greater...
by a magazine writer when the company keeps their names secret in a TV GuideTV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
interview.