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50 Years

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Hi,

Arcade was born 50 years ago...

*Before Pong, There Was Computer Space*
At mit.edu by Noah Wardrip-Fruin 2021/10/15

Fifty years ago, Computer Space launched the video game industry.
Here's why it never took off.

Before Pong there was Computer Space, the first commercial video game.
The progenitor of today’s US$175 billion industry debuted on Oct. 15,
1971, at the Music Operators of America trade show in Chicago. Housed
in a futuristic-looking cabinet, Computer Space took its place alongside
the latest jukeboxes, pinball machines and other coin-operated games
manufacturers were pitching to arcade and bar owners.

Computer Space, made by the small company Nutting Associates, seemed
to have everything going for it. Its scenario – flying a rocket ship
through space locked in a dogfight with two flying saucers – seemed
perfect for the times. The Apollo Moon missions were in full swing. The
game was a good match for people who enjoyed science-fiction movies like
“2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Planet of the Apes” and television shows
like “Star Trek” and “Lost in Space,” or those who had thrilled to the
aerial combat of the movies “The Battle of Britain” and “Tora! Tora!
Tora!” There was even prominent placement of a Computer Space cabinet
in Charlton Heston’s film “Soylent Green.”

But when Computer Space was unveiled, it didn’t generate a flood of
orders, and no flood ever arrived. It wasn’t until Computer Space’s
makers left the company, founded Atari and released Pong the next year
that the commercial potential of video games became apparent. The
company sold 8,000 Pong units by 1974.

Nolan Bushnell, who led the development of both Computer Space and Pong,
has recounted Computer Space’s inauspicious start many times. He claimed
that Computer Space failed to take off because it overestimated the
public. Bushnell is widely quoted as saying the game was too complicated
for typical bar-goers, and that no one would want to read instructions
to play a video game.

In single-player mode, the arcade video game Computer Space pitted the
player controlling a rocket ship against two flying saucers controlled
by the game.

As a researcher who studies video game design and history, I’ve found
that isn’t the case...

<https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/before-pong-there-was-computer-space/>

Original Computer Space <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io>

Regards,

-- 
François LE COAT
Author of Eureka 2.12 (2D Graph Describer, 3D Modeller)
http://eureka.atari.org/

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50 Years Francois LE COAT <lecoat@atari.org> - 2021-10-19 17:00 +0200
  Re: 50 Years Francois LE COAT <lecoat@atari.org> - 2021-10-20 18:30 +0200
    Re: 50 Years Francois LE COAT <lecoat@atari.org> - 2021-11-10 17:00 +0100

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