Arcade games are often some of the most overlooked in the genre of video gaming. People don’t equate them with video gaming technology, but that evolution has put them firmly on the map, and they are some of the most popular games today. From classic arcade games to more modern incarnations, these games are highly demanded across online casinos worldwide, but just where did they come from, and how did they start?
1900-1947
Playing games as a form of entertainment dates back to around the 1900s. In 1909 a man from Philadelphia, J D Estes, invented Skee Ball, recorded as the original arcade game. In 1914 popularity grew, and the outdoor amusement industry began purchasing Skee Ball Alleys. However, the first use of basic technology came in 1931 when a coin-operated game machine was created in Chicago called Baffle Ball. However, this was not a hit with authorities, as gambling was heavily regulated and even banned in some states.
In 1933 the first pinball machine came into circulation, but they were also labelled gambling as a game of chance. This meant that they were met with resistance once more, and NYC banned them as they encouraged organized crime and gambling. The machines received something of an upgrade in 1947 when the familiar flipper design came into play to make them family friendly. Now it was argued as a game of skill, not chance. However, it had little effect on opinion, and most were hidden in bars or adult entertainment shops.
1971-1980
The first video game was released in 1971. It was coin-operated and installed in the September of the year at Stanford University. Galaxy Game would cost a player a dime for one game or a quarter for three. In November, we saw the introduction of mass production video arcade games when Computer Space was released just two months later. One of the most iconic games, Pong, went commercial as a coin-operated video game in 1972. Overall, it sold 35,000 machines for the developer’s Atari. Pong was more popular than pinball machines and actually started replacing them. As technology advanced, 1975 saw the introduction of microprocessor use in the first-ever release of Gun Fight. At this point, game development was a tiny industry, and there were just 15 companies in the arena right up until 1984.
Another massive icon of the computer video game was Space Invaders. It is so popular that it is emulated even by today’s players and was released by Taito Corp after a whole year in development by Tomohiro Nishikado. Things moved quite well after that, with Atari releasing the game asteroids in 1979, which many people will remember again. It became the highest-selling game for the company, with over 70,000 units installed in entertainment venues worldwide. 1980 was also a good year for video game development with the release of perhaps the most iconic game ever, Pacman. Over 350,000 arcade cabinets were sold, generating over 3.5 billion dollars. Everyone seemed to fall in love with the moving mouth in the form of a coloured yellow dot that ate everything in its path. Around this time, Atari also released Tempest, which was not as successful as their asteroids game, but what set it apart from all other developments so far was the use of high-resolution colour vector graphics.
1981-1990
From here, things developed at a lightning pace, so stop Donkey Kong joined the line-up and was one of the first platform games ever played and only the second in the world to have more than one level. It was also the first story-based game that created a damsel in distress and a mission to rescue her. Alongside Donkey Kong, we were introduced to Tron, Frogger, Galaxian, Centipede and Dig-Dug. By the end of the 80s, companies like Sega and Nintendo had started the development of consoles for home use, and the arcade industry stalled a little bit as the focus became bringing fun into every home. However, arcade game development did continue as we moved into the 90s.
1990-2000
A new genre of game that saw opponents fighting for their success was released. We had Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, and more, which breathed life back into the arcade game industry. It was a reasonably quiet decade until 1999 when Dance Dance Revolution became a massive hit for the company Konami and gave them a 260% increase in their net income.
2000 to Date
There is still a demand for arcade games in a few bricks and water locations across the world. But, of course, most gaming has been replaced by console and online gaming. In order to not lose track of these completely for their industry, casinos have adapted most of them to be playable across the Internet as well using PC’s, mobiles and tablets.
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