1978 in video games

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1978 saw the release of new video games such as Space Invaders. The year is considered the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. The year's highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders, while the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS).

Financial performance[edit]

Highest-grossing arcade games[edit]

Space Invaders was the top-grossing video game worldwide in 1978.[1] The following table lists the top-grossing arcade games of 1978 in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide.

Market Title Gross revenue Inflation Cabinet sales Developer Distributor Genre Ref
Japan Space Invaders $670,000,000[2] $3,100,000,000 100,000 Taito Taito Shoot 'em up [3][4][5]
United Kingdom Space Invaders Un­known Un­known Un­known[a] Taito Midway Manufacturing Shoot 'em up [1]
United States Space Wars Un­known Un­known 10,000 Cinematronics Cinematronics Shooter [6][7][8]
Worldwide Space Invaders Taito Shoot 'em up [1]

Japan[edit]

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1978, according to the third annual Game Machine chart, which lists both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same arcade game chart. Taito's Space Invaders was the first video game to become highest-grossing overall arcade game on the annual Game Machine charts, after the two previous charts were topped by an EM game, F-1 by Namco.[3][4]

Arcade video games Arcade electro-mechanical games (EM games)
Rank Title #1 #2 #3 Points Rank Title #1 #2 #3 Points
1 Space Invaders 48 7 4 162 1 F-1 2 4 0 14
2 Super Speed Race V 1 18 8 47 2 Shoot Away 0 2 7 11
3 Block Kakuhi[b] 4 9 8 38 3 Flipper (Pinball)[c] 1 3 1 10
4 Scratch 3 4 5 22 4 Mogura Taiji (Whac-A-Mole) 1 2 2 9
5 Speed Race DX 3 4 3 20 5 Submarine 0 3 2 8
6 Cosmic Monsters 2 3 0 14 6 Magnetic Crane[d] 1 1 1 6
7 Acrobat 1 2 2 9 7 Pai Pai 45[e] 0 1 1 3
8 Gee Bee 1 1 3 8 8 Bank Robbers[f] (Kasco)[g] 1 0 0 3
9 Super Breakout 0 2 2 6 9 Clay Champ 0 0 2 2
10 Castle Take[h] (Sankyo) 0 1 2 4 Oni Nakase[i] 0 1 0 2

The following titles were the highest-grossing games on each Game Machine arcade chart. Nintendo's EVR Race was the highest-grossing medal game for the third year in a row.[3][4]

Chart Top title Gross revenue Inflation Cabinet sales Manufacturer Genre Ref
Arcade game Space Invaders $670,000,000[2] $3,100,000,000 100,000 Taito Shoot 'em up [3][4][5]
Medal game EVR Race Un­known Un­known Un­known Nintendo Racing [4]

United States[edit]

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade video games of 1978, in terms of coin drop earnings according to the annual Play Meter and RePlay charts.

Rank Play Meter[9] RePlay[7] Cabinet sales
1 Space Wars 10,000[8]
2 Sprint 2 Un­known
3 Sea Wolf Sprint 1
4 Sea Wolf II Sea Wolf
5 Super Bug Breakout
6 Starship 1 Super Bug
7 Circus Starship 1
8 Breakout Sea Wolf II
9 Night Driver Smokey Joe
10 Sprint 1 LeMans

Best-selling home systems[edit]

Rank System(s) Manufacturer(s) Type Generation Sales Ref
1 Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) Atari, Inc. Console Second 300,000 [10]
Bandai Baseball Bandai Handheld — 300,000 [11]
3 TRS-80 Tandy Corporation Computer 8-bit 150,000 [12]
4 Commodore PET Commodore International Computer 8-bit 30,000 [12]
5 Apple II Apple Inc. Computer 8-bit 20,000 [13]
6 IMSAI 8080 IMS Associates, Inc. Computer 8-bit 5,000 [13]
IBM 5110 IBM Computer — 5,000
8 Altair 8800 MITS Computer 8-bit 4,000 [12]
HP 9800 series Hewlett-Packard Computer — 4,000 [13]
10 Pertec/MITS 300 Pertec Computer Computer 8-bit 3,000 [13]

Events[edit]

Business[edit]

Notable releases[edit]

Games[edit]

Arcade
Computer

Hardware[edit]

Computer
Console

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Space Invaders sold 85,000 cabinets in the United Kingdom between 1978 and 1979.[1]
  2. ^ ブロック 各被, Burokku Kakuhi
  3. ^ フリッパー, Furippā
  4. ^ 各磁 クレーン
  5. ^ パイパイ 45, Paipai 45
  6. ^ バンクロバーズ, Banku Robāzu
  7. ^ 湘阿織機, Kansai Seiki
  8. ^ キャッスルテイク, Kyassuru Teiku
  9. ^ 鬼泣かせ

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "After Pong". ACE. No. 6 (March 1988). February 4, 1988. pp. 29–32 (29).
  2. ^ a b Cohen, Daniel (1982). Video Games. New York: Pocket Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-671-45872-8.
  3. ^ a b c d "人気マシン・ベスト3" [Popular Machines: Best 3] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 113. Amusement Press, Inc. February 1979. pp. 2–3.
  4. ^ a b c d e "調査対象5年間のベスト1" [Best 1 of the 5 Years Surveyed] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 159. Amusement Press, Inc. February 15, 1981. p. 1.
  5. ^ a b "Can Asteroids Conquer Space Invaders?" (PDF). Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 1. Winter 1981. pp. 30–33 (31). Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Kubey, Craig (1982). The Winners' Book of Video Games. New York: Warner Books. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-446-37115-5.
  7. ^ a b "Video Games". RePlay. November 1978.
  8. ^ a b Bloom, Steve (1982). Video Invaders. Arco Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-668-05520-8.
  9. ^ "The 'Winners' of '78: Top Arcade Games". Play Meter. 1978.
  10. ^ Rubin, Michael (2006). "Eighteen: A Hole in the Desert [1982–1983]" (PDF). Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution. Triad Publishing Company. pp. 291-314 (292-3). ISBN 978-0-937404-67-6.
  11. ^ "昔(1970年代）のテレビゲームは何台売れた？" [How many old (1970s) video games sold?]. Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c Reimer, Jeremy (December 15, 2005). "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d "BYTE News... Radio Shack Has Over 50 Percent of Personal Computer Business". BYTE. Vol. 4, no. 5. May 1979. p. 117.
  14. ^ "Players Guide To Electronic Science Fiction Games". Electronic Games. 1 (2): 35–45 [36]. March 1982. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  15. ^ Kohler, Chris (September 6, 2011). "Bill Kunkel, Original Gaming Journalist, Dies at 61". Wired. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  16. ^ "Coin-Op history – 1975 to 1997 – from the pages of RePlay". RePlay. 1998. Archived from the original on April 28, 1998. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  17. ^ Yuko Aoyama & Hiro Izushi (2003), Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry Archived March 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Research Policy 32: 423-44
  18. ^ "Essential 50: Space Invaders". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  19. ^ Edwards, Benj. "Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
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