1980 saw the release of a number of games with influential concepts, including '' Pac-Man'', '' Battlezone'', ''

Crazy Climber is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerso ...

'', ''

Mystery House ''Mystery House'' is an adventure game released by On-Line Systems in 1980. It was designed, written and illustrated by Roberta Williams, and programmed by Ken Williams for the Apple II. ''Mystery House'' is the first graphical adventure ga ...

'', ''

Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game '' Temp ...

'', ''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'', ''

Rally-X is a maze chase arcade video game developed Namco and released in 1980. Players drive a blue Formula One race car through a multidirectional scrolling maze to collect yellow flags. Boulders block some paths and must be avoided. Red enemy cars ...

'', ''

Space Panic is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal. Predating Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', and lacking a jump mechanic, ''Space Panic'' was the first game involving climbing ladders between walkable platforms. The genre was initially labeled as "climbi ...

'', '' Stratovox'', ''

Zork ''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded a ...

'', ''Adventure'', and '' Olympic Decathlon''. The year's highest-grossing video game was

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

''Pac-Man'', while the best-selling home system was

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

Game & Watch The Game & Watch brand ( ''Gēmu & Uotchi''; called ''Tricotronic'' in West Germany and Austria, abbreviated as ''G&W'') is a series of handheld electronic games developed, manufactured, released, and marketed by Nintendo from 1980 in video gam ...

. The

Atari VCS The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

(later called the Atari 2600) also grew in popularity with a port of ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter an ...

'' and support from new

third-party developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

Financial performance

* The

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

market in the US generates $2.81 billion in revenue ($ adjusted for inflation). * Home video games sell ( adjusted for inflation) in the United States, with the

leading the market with a 44% share.

Highest-grossing arcade games

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games worldwide in 1980.

Japan and United States

In Japan and the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing

s of 1980.

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were the best-selling home video games in 1980.

Best-selling home systems

Events

Awards

*''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' hosts the first Arcade Awards, the first

video game awards Within the video game industry there are several awards that are given to individual video games, development studios, and other individuals to recognize their merit. Most video game awards are given out on an annual basis, celebrating the best gam ...

ceremony. It awards games released during 1978–1979, with ''

'' winning the overall Game of the Year award.

Business

* New companies:

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...

Bug-Byte Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of 8-bit computer games during the early 1980s, for Sinclair, Commodore and ...

HAL Laboratory formerly shortened as HALKEN (derived from its native name), is a Japanese video game developer founded on 21 February 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history, and is often referred to as a secon ...

Human Engineered Software Human Engineered Software (HES, also known as HesWare) was an American software developer and publisher from 1980 until 1984. The company sold video games and educational and productivity software, in addition to several hardware products. It fo ...

, Mindscape, On-Line Systems,

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

Sir-Tech Sir-Tech Software, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher based in the United States and Canada. History In fall 1979, Sirotech Software was founded by Norman Sirotek, Robert Sirotek and Robert Woodhead. Sirotech Software published ''Info ...

. *

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

creates the original five-programmer Intellivision game design team, later nicknamed the

Blue Sky Rangers The Blue Sky Rangers is a group of Intellivision game programmers who previously worked for Mattel in the early 1980s. When the Intellivision first came out in 1978, its games were all developed by an outside firm, APh Technological Consulting. R ...

in 1982 in a

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

interview.

Notable releases

Games

;Arcade * May 22 –

releases '' Pac-Man'' (originally ''Puckman'' in Japan). It becomes the highest-grossing game of all time. It has the first gaming

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

, established the maze chase genre, opened gaming to female audiences, introduced power-ups, and told a story through

cutscene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward th ...

s. * May – '' Stratovox'' from Sun Electronics is the first game with voice synthesis. * July –

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

releases the cold-war-inspired ''

''. * October –

Nichibutsu was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Kita, Osaka. In the past they had also manufactured and sold yachts. The main video game brand of the company was Nichibutsu (日物、ニチブツ), with adult video games (ma ...

releases the vertically scrolling ''

'', the first video game with a climbing mechanic and an objective of climbing to the top of the level. * November 12 – Stern Electronics releases '' Berzerk'', with designer Alan McNeil's signature on the monitor glass of each cabinet. * November –

releases ''

'', the first game with a

bonus round A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

. It also features multi-directional

scrolling In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

. * November –

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

releases ''

'', the first game with platforms and ladders. The term ''

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

'' was still several years in the future. * November –

releases first-person 3D tank shooter '' Battlezone''. * Cinematronics releases '' Star Castle''. In 1982 the Atari 2600 port ends up as ''

Yars' Revenge ''Yars' Revenge'' is a video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw and is Atari's best-selling original game for the 2600. Gameplay The player controls an insect-like creature called a Yar who must n ...

''. * Midway's ''

Wizard of Wor ''Wizard of Wor'' is an arcade game released in 1980 by Midway. Up to two players fight together in a series of monster-infested mazes, clearing each maze by shooting the creatures. The game was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, At ...

'' is released, allowing two players to fight simultaneously in monster-filled mazes. * The multi-stage ''

'' sports one of the first video-game bosses: a purple alien in a mothership. ;Console *

's port of ''

'' becomes the

killer app In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video game ...

for the VCS and the first console title to sell a million copies. * The first batch of games from

, all for the Atari VCS, hits stores: '' Dragster'', ''

Fishing Derby ''Fishing Derby'' is a fishing video game written by David Crane for the Atari Video Computer System (renamed to the Atari 2600 in 1982) and published by Activision in 1980. It's one of the first video games developed by Activision. Gameplay ...

'', ''

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

'', ''Bridge'', and ''Checkers''. ;Computer * December –

Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...

releases its first game, ''

'' (later called ''Zork I''), which begins the ''

'' series. * The mainframe game '' Rogue'' is written by Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, and

Ken Arnold Kenneth Cutts Richard Cabot Arnold (born 1958) is an American computer programmer well known as one of the developers of the 1980s dungeon-crawling video game ''Rogue'', for his contributions to the original Berkeley ( BSD) distribution of Uni ...

, eventually spawning a crowded genre of

Roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charac ...

games. *

Edu-Ware Edu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 bSherwin Steffinand Steven Pederson. It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II famil ...

releases ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...

'' for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

, loosely based upon the 1960s TV series of the same name. *

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994. The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official compu ...

releases its first game: ''

Computer Bismarck ''Computer Bismarck'' is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) in 1980. The game is based on the last battle of the battleship Bismarck, in which British Armed Forces pursue the German ''Bismarck'' in ...

'' for the TRS-80. * Microsoft publishes '' Olympic Decathlon'' for the TRS-80, a track and field video game which precedes Konami's ''

Track & Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

'' and ''

The Activision Decathlon ''The Activision Decathlon'' is a sports game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, and MSX. Up to four players compet ...

'' by three years. * On-Line Systems publishes its first title, the graphic adventure ''

'' for the Apple II. ;Handheld *

releases the

series of LCD

handheld electronic game Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose ...

s by

Gunpei Yokoi , sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the ...

Hardware

;Arcade * December –

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The A ...

releases the

DECO Cassette System 240px, DECO Cassette System loading screen The DECO Cassette System was introduced by Data East in October 1980. It was the first standardised arcade system that allowed arcade owners to change games. Developed in 1979, it was released in Japan in ...

, the first standardized arcade platform, for which many games are developed. ;Console *

releases the Intellivision home video game console. * PPZ Ameprod releases the Ameprod TVG-10 dedicated home video game console in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. * The BSS 01 dedicated home video game console is released only in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ;Computer * The

Sinclair ZX80 The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a h ...

and

Acorn Atom The Acorn Atom is a home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd from 1980 to 1982, when it was replaced by the BBC Micro. The Micro began life as an upgrade to the Atom, originally known as the Proton. The Atom was a progression of the MOS Techn ...

are the first home computers to play games in the UK. * Tandy releases the first version of the

Tandy Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Co ...

References

{{History of video games

Video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

Video games by year

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

Japan and United States

Best-selling home video games

Best-selling home systems

Events

Awards

Business

Notable releases

Games

Hardware

See also

References