Space Invaders
Enjoy Playing Space Invaders
In 1978, Tomohiro Nishikado released Space Invaders through Taito. A laser cannon moves across the bottom of the screen. Alien ships march down in rows. The player fires shots to destroy each invader. Every missed blast lets aliens close in.
Nishikado built the arcade cabinet from custom parts. He programmed a microprocessor to control sprites and sounds. Memory limits forced a smaller alien army on screen. Invader count fell and pacing rose. Movement sped up and that fast shift created tense action.
Porting to home systems helped companies boost sales. Pixelated alien icons jumped onto shirts and stickers. Game designers borrowed wave patterns and shooting mechanics for new titles. An entire generation of arcade fans sprang to life. This spark lit a golden era for arcade machines.