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Pac-Man (1980). The 1980s was the second decade in the industry's history.It was a decade of highs and lows for video games.The decade began amidst a boom in the arcade video game business with the golden age of arcade video games, the Atari 2600's dominance of the home console market during the second generation of video game consoles, and the rising influence of home computers.
The first generation of video game consoles lasted from 1972 to 1983. The first console of this generation was the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey. [1] The last new console release of the generation was most likely the Compu-Vision 440 by radio manufacturer Bentley in 1983, [2] though other systems were also released in that year.
The Atari 2600 version of Space Invaders, released in 1980, was considered the killer app for home video game consoles, helping to quadruple the console's sales that year. [57] Similarly, Coleco had beaten Atari to a key licensing deal with Nintendo to bring Donkey Kong as a pack-in game for the Colecovision, helping to drive its sales.
In the early 1980s, many large corporations, spurred by the success of the home video game industry and especially the VCS, launched or bought subsidiaries to produce video game console software. By 1982, the shelf capacity of toy stores was overflowing with an overabundance of consoles, over-hyped game releases, and low-quality games from new ...
At that time, Atari had exclusive rights to distribute Nintendo games on home computers, and Coleco had exclusive rights to distribute the game on consoles. [12] However, since Atari understood that Adam was a home computer, they postponed signing the agreement with Nintendo and asked the company to resolve the issue with rights. [13]
The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, while the best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch. The Atari VCS (later called the Atari 2600) also grew in popularity with a port of Space Invaders and support from new third-party developer Activision.
1977 – The Atari Video Computer System (later the Atari 2600) is released as the first widely popular home video game console. [5] 1978 – Space Invaders is released, popularizing the medium and beginning the golden age of arcade video games. [6] 1979 – The first handheld console, the Microvision is released.
1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac ...