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Space Invaders
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is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. It was originally manufactured by Taito and licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders was one of the earliest shooting games and featured two-dimensional graphics. The aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon. In designing the game, Nishikado drew inspiration from popular media: Breakout, The War of the Worlds, and Star Wars. To complete it, he had to design custom hardware and development tools.
Though simplistic by today's standards, it was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helped expand the video game industry from a novelty to a global industry. Space Invaders has earned Taito US$ 500 million in revenue and caused a temporary shortage of yen in Japan. The game has inspired several games, been re-released on numerous platforms, and led to several sequels. The 1980 Atari VCS version quadrupled the system's sales and became the first "killer app". Space Invaders has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows, and been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions.
GameplaySpace Invaders is a two-dimensional shooter game in which the player controls a laser cannon by moving it horizontally across the bottom of the screen and firing at aliens. The aim is to defeat five rows of eleven aliens—some versions featured different amounts—that move horizontally back and forth across the screen as they descend towards the bottom of the screen. The player defeats an alien by shooting it with the laser cannon—also earning points. As more aliens are defeated, the aliens' movement and the game's music speed up. Defeating all the aliens brings another wave that is more difficult. The aliens attempt to destroy the cannon by firing at it while approaching the bottom of the screen. If they reach the bottom, the alien invasion is successful and the game ends. A special "mystery ship" will sometimes move across the top of the screen and will award bonus points if destroyed. The laser cannon is partially protected by several stationary defense bunkers—the number varies by version—that are gradually destroyed by alien fire.
DevelopmentSpace Invaders was created by Tomohiro Nishikado; he handled planning, graphic design, and programming. The game was in development for a year which was divided between designing the game and developing the necessary hardware. Nishikado was first inspired by Atari's arcade game Breakout, and aimed to create a game that featured the same sense of achievement from completing stages, but with more complex graphics. Early enemy designs included tanks, combat planes, and battleships. However, Nishikado was not satisfied with the enemy movements; technical limitations made it difficult to simulate flying. Human beings would have been easier to simulate, but Nishikado felt shooting humans was immoral. After seeing a magazine feature about , he thought of using a space theme. Nishikado drew inspiration for the aliens from H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and created initial bitmap images after the octopus-like aliens. Other alien designs were modeled after squids and crabs. The game was originally titled Space Monsters, which was inspired by a popular song in Japan at the time ("Monster"), but was changed to Space Invaders by Nishikado's boss.
HardwareDuring the 1970s, microcomputers in Japan were not powerful enough to create Space Invaders, and Nishikado had to create hardware and development tools for the game. The game featured raster graphics on a CRT monitor, monaural sound, and used an Intel 8080 central processing unit. Despite the specially developed hardware, Nishikado was unable to program the game as he wanted—the Control Program board was not powerful enough to display the graphics in color or move the enemies faster—and considered the development of the hardware the most difficult part of the whole process. Space Invaders was first released in a cocktail-table format with black and white graphics. The Western release by Midway was in an upright cabinet format, but used strips of orange and green cellophane over the screen to simulate color graphics. The graphics were reflected onto a painted backdrop of a moon against a space background. Later Japanese releases also used colored cellophane. The cabinet artwork featured large, humanoid monsters not present in the game. Nishikado attributes this to the artist not looking at the in-game graphics, and basing designs on the original title, Space Monsters.
Impact and legacySpace Invaders was a very popular video game that influenced the video game industry. In Japan, specialty arcades opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets. The game is considered one of the most successful arcade shooting games. By 2007, it had generated almost US$ 500 million in revenue. The game is also attributed to a shortage of yen in Japan, which led to an increase in production of 100-yen coins. Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto considers Space Invaders a game that revolutionized the industry, and was never interested in video games before seeing it. As one of the earliest shooting games, it set many precedents and helped pave the way for future titles and the shooting genre. Space Invaders was the first video game to include some kind of intermission between gameplay, and popularized the concept of achieving a high score. The 1980 Atari VCS version was the first official licensing of an arcade game and became the first "killer app" by quadrupling the system's sales.
Retro Gamer and The Observer attribute the expansion of the video game industry from a novelty into a global industry to the success of the game. Retro Gamer stated popular series like Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, and Tomb Raider would not have been possible without Space Invaders. The Observer commented that the popularity of the home console versions led to a large number of home programmers that later became industry leaders. Game Informer considers it, along with Pac-Man, one of the most popular arcade games that tapped into popular culture and generated excitement during the golden age of arcades. In 2007, Guinness World Records ranked it the top rated arcade game, and IGN listed it as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Games". Space Invaders has inspired the development of several games. Arcade games, like Namco's Galaxian and Galaga, were modeled after Space Invaderss gameplay and design. In 2003, Taito released Space Raiders, a third-person shooter reminiscent of Space Invaders.
Re-releases and sequelsSpace Invaders has been re-released on numerous platforms, and spawned multiple sequels. In 1980, it was ported to the Atari 2600. This version featured simplified graphics, but numerous gameplay options; for example, moving defense bunkers, zigzag shots, invisible aliens, and two-player cooperative gameplay. It was followed by ports to subsequent Atari systems; two on the in 1980, and another on the Atari 5200 in 1982. Each port featured different sets of gameplay variants. Taito released an arcade sequel titled Space Invaders Part II in 1980 with color graphics and new gameplay elements. This version was released in the United States as Deluxe Space Invaders (also known as Space Invaders Deluxe), but featured a different graphical color scheme and a lunar-city background. Another arcade sequel, titled Space Invaders II, was released exclusively in the United States. It was in a cocktail-table format and featured a competitive two-player mode. In 1983, Atari created a special edition version titled Pepsi Invaders (also known as Coke Wins) for Coca-Cola Company employees. The game featured individual letters spelling out "PEPSI" in place of the aliens. This version is one of the rarest video games produced as only 125 copies were made.
1985 saw the release of two versions; a Nintendo Entertainment System port that was poorly received, and Return of the Invaders, an arcade game released during the summer. Return of the Invaders featured updated color graphics and more complex movements and attack patterns for the aliens. In 1990, several versions of Space Invaders were released: Space Invaders Day of Resurrection for the PC Engine; Space Invaders 90 for the Sega Mega Drive—released a year later in the West as Space Invaders 91; Prize Space Invaders, a "Skill for Prizes" version of Space Invaders Part II with increased difficulty that rewarded players with money; a Japan only Game Boy version of Space Invaders Part II that used the Game Link Cable for the multiplayer mode; and Minivader, a Japan only arcade version of without audio and scoring. Space Invaders has also been released on several models of mobile phones. Remakes were developed for seventh generation handhelds. Space Invaders Extreme was released on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, and featured similar gameplay as the original integrated with musical elements. An upcoming spin-off for the Wii, Space Invaders Get Even, will put a twist on the formula by letting the player control the space invaders themselves.
The game and its related games have been included in various video game compilation titles. Space Invaders Anniversary was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and included nine Space Invader variants. A similar title for the PlayStation Portable, Space Invaders Pocket, was released in 2005. Space Invaders, Space Invaders Part II and Return of the Invaders are included in Taito Legends, a compilation of Taito's classic arcade games released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. Space Invaders 95 and Space Invaders DX were included in Taito Legends 2, a sequel compilation released in 2007.
In popular cultureThe game has appeared in numerous facets of popular culture. Multiple television series have aired episodes that either reference or parody the game and its elements; for example, DangerMouse, That '70s Show, Scrubs, and Robot Chicken. Elements are prominently featured in the "Raiders of the Lost Arcade" segment of "Anthology of Interest II", an episode of Futurama. Several media entities use the pixelated alien from the game as an icon for video games: video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, technology website Ars Technica, and concert event Video Games Live. A French street artist known as Invader has made a name for himself by creating mosaic artwork of Space Invader aliens around the world. In 2006, the game was one of several video game related media selected to represent Japan as part of a project done by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. In the same year, Space Invaders was included in the London Science Museum's Game On exhibition meant to showcase the various aspects of video game history, development, and culture. At the Belluard Bollwerk International 2006 festival in Fribourg, Switzerland, Guillaume Reymond created a 3 minute video recreation of a game of Space Invaders as part of the "Gameover" project using humans as pixels.
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