Arcade machines: a bit of development history

It is now gamers, without leaving home or even looking up from their mobile device, can start computer battles in multiplayer shooters or immerse themselves in an entertaining strategy. But it all began with arcade machines in America forty years ago.

And then, probably, the young gamer's ultimate dream was to rush to the shopping center instead of lessons to arcade shooter shooters, to gorgeous bright console machines, predetermined the development of computer games for the years ahead. On the most iconic of them, we today and remember.
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According to legend, the first slot machine with the most primitive stuffing was designed and installed within the walls of Stanford University back in 1971. It was based on the prototype of modern computers - a 16-bit PDP-11 mini-computer from Massachusetts' company Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). This machine gun came out with the Spacewar preinstalled! and cost the creators a pretty penny. But, as they say, he did his job, giving impetus to the beginnings of many programmers and software companies.

Such as the legendary Atari, which entered the market a year later, in 1972, with the Pong table tennis emulator. For those who have forgotten what they are talking about, or were not even born in those days, we will simply show a picture - and you will understand everything:



And although the real arcade console in the open spaces of eBay was never found, the original versions of the set-top boxes, released in 1975 (!!!), are still on sale. And in working condition and original packaging! By the way, to pay for immersion in the distant past with a game that is amazing in its fascination and primitiveness, you only need $ 100 or even less.



And if Pong largely determined the direction in the arcade video game industry, the next development, the cult game Space Invaders, was like an explosion that changed the cultural landscape for many years, without exaggeration, all over the world.



Created in 1978 by one of the main characters in the video game industry of the time - Japanese Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders became so popular at home that in Japan there was an acute shortage of 100 yen coins - they all came out of circulation, accumulating in the receivers of arcade consoles. Which, by the way, can still be purchased. Still operating devices, microcircuits, parts and even elements of the original seventies cases can be viewed and purchased here .

Paku Pakuberu is the Japanese descriptive phrase for biting and eating in Russian. Do not guess what we are? Yes, that's right, about the nightmare of all the young gamers of the eighties - eating the well-known yellow pizza and the eponymous arcade game Pac-Man.



Bound by its appearance in 1980 in its original form to another Japanese programmer, Toru Iwatani, the game gained crazy popularity in the United States. Especially after Midway, which introduced a new design of consoles, took up its promotion. You can also buy the original model on eBay, where the average price is about $ 3000 .

Shigeru Moyamoto was never interested in computer games. Exactly until the moment he saw and spent a couple of days at the Space Invaders console. And after that he was ill with arcade games, as they say. The result is the appearance of the propeller of his own composition, the legendary platformer Donkey Kong.



It was thanks to this game that the mustached plumber Mario saw the light of the day, originally called in the first versions of Donkey Kong simply “Jumper - Jumper”. He, in turn, has become a symbol of Nintendo.

Then, in 1982, the company Vidz Kidz presented its revolutionary model of an arcade console with a pre-installed game Robotron. There was nothing innovative in the game itself - a shooter, usual for those times. But her management was truly revolutionary. Instead of the standard set - a joystick for moving and a button for shooting, the engineers suggested using two eight-way joysticks:



This technology gave impetus to the development of many new devices - for example, the Xbox joystick works on exactly the same principle. Well, if you have a desire to put the Robotron 204 device at home next to a modern device, then this can be arranged - the prices for the original models fluctuate around $ 1500-2000 .

And finally, the prototype of the modern multiplayer shooters and quests is the video console Gauntlet from the Atari 1985 release. One of the first arcade games with up to four players.



Due to the phenomenal success, Gauntlet was subsequently ported to most of the eighties home gaming systems - from Apple II to eight-bit Atari, DOS, and so on. Want to remember youth? No problem - for $ 1000-1500 , depending on the state, sellers on eBay will help bring your dream to life.