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The following article is a broad timeline ofarcade video games.

1971

AtStanford University, two students release thePDP-11-based machineGalaxy Game. It is a clone ofSpacewar!, one of the earliest video games, developed in 1962.

Syzygy Engineering, a precursor toAtari, Inc. launchesComputer Space, the first commercial video arcade game, also being aSpacewar! derivative.

1972

Atari, Inc. launchesPong, the first commercially successful video game. It is also the first arcadesports video game.

1974

Taito releasesSpeed Race, which introducesscrolling sprite graphics,^[1] and features aracing wheel controller.^[2] Midway releases it asRacer in the United States.^[1]

1975

Midway MFG. releasesGun Fight, an adaptation of Taito'sWestern Gun and the first arcade video game to use amicroprocessor, which the original incarnation did not use, allowing for improved graphics and smoother animation.^[3]

Exidy releasesDestruction Derby.

Atari, Inc. releasesHi-way, which was Atari's first game to use a cockpit cabinet.^[4]

Atari, Inc. releasesCrash 'N Score, Gameplay is an early example of a simulation of ademolition derby.

Atari, Inc. releasesIndy 800, Gameplay is a simulation of anIndianapolis 500 style race, the cabinet also features overhead mirrors to allow spectators to watch the game while it's being played.

Atari, Inc. releasesSteeplechase.

1976

Sega releasesMoto-Cross, which featureshaptic feedback, causing thehandlebars to vibrate during collisions.^[5]Sega-Gremlin re-brands it asFonz.^[6]

Dr. Reiner Foerst releasesNürburgring 1 in Germany. It is recognized as the world's firstfirst-personracing video game or the firstthree-dimensional racing video game.^[7]

Sega releasesHeavyweight Champ, which is the first video game to featurehand-to-hand fighting.^[8]

Atari Inc. releasesNight Driver, an early example of a first-person perspective racing video game.

Atari releasesBreakout, which inspires a number ofBreakout clones.

Exidy releasesDeath Race. It was the first video game to inspire protest and cause panic.^[9]

Gremlin releasesBlockade, the first of what become known assnake games.

Taito releasesSpeed Race Twin, a sequel toSpeed Race that allows simultaneoustwo-player competitive gameplay.^[10]

1977

Cinematronics releasesSpace Wars, the first vector graphics arcade game.

Kee Games releasesDrag Race, which was later adapted in 1980 into anAtari 2600 video game byActivision calledDragster.

Atari, Inc. releasesCanyon Bomber.

Atari, Inc releasesSuper Bug, which was designed by Wendi Allen^{[Note 1]} who also designedCanyon Bomber.

Midway releasesBoot Hill, which is a sequel to the 1975 video gameGun Fight.

1978

Taito releasesSpace Invaders, the firstblockbuster arcade video game,^[11] responsible for starting thegolden age of video arcade games. It also sets the template for theshoot 'em up genre,^[12] and influences nearly everyshooter game released since then.^[13]

1979

Atari releasesLunar Lander andAsteroids, a major hit in theUnited States and Atari's best selling game of all time.^[14]

Namco releasesGalaxian, which is inRGB colour.^[15]

1980

Sun Electronics releasesSpeak & Rescue (スピーク&レスキュー) in May 1980, released in North America asStratovox and released in North America byTaito. It is the first video game withvoice synthesis.^[16]

Atari releasesBattlezone, afirst-person shooter tank combat game.

Namco releasesPac-Man, its biggest-selling game. One of the most influential games, it had the first gamingmascotcharacter, established themaze chase genre, opened gaming to female audiences,^[17] and introducedpower-ups^[18] andcutscenes.^[19]

Data East releasesDECO Cassette System, the first standardizedarcade platform, for which many games were made.

1981

Sega/Gremlin releasesSpace Fury, the first color vector arcade game.^[20]

Nintendo releasesDonkey Kong, which was one of the firstplatform games. It was also the game that introducedMario (named simply "Jumpman" at the time) to the video game world.

Namco releasesGalaga, sequel to Galaxian.

Konami releasesScramble, the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels.^[21]

Konami releasesFrogger, a popular arcadeaction game.

Williams Electronics releaseDefender, a more challenging shoot-em-up space game with control configuration of five buttons and a joystick.

1982

Williams Electronics releasesJoust.

Namco releasesPole Position, one of the most popular racing games of all time.^[22] This is also Namco's first game to feature a 16-bit CPU making it the first 16-bit video game.^{[citation needed]}

Nintendo releasesDonkey Kong Jr. and features Mario as the villain.

1983

Bally Midway releasesJourney, the first game with digitized sprites.

Astron Belt, the firstlaserdisc video game, is released by Sega.

Dragon's Lair, the first video game to use cel-animated video instead of computer-generated graphics was advertised as the first truly 3D video game and as the meeting point of video games and animated films.

Atari bringsStar Wars to the arcades in the form of a 3D vector graphics simulation ofthe movie's attack on theDeath Star sequence and featuring digitized samples of voices from the movie.

Nintendo releases “Mario Bros.” andDonkey Kong 3.

Star Rider is released as an arcade laserdisc game byWilliams Electronics and is the first commercially released video game to use pre-rendered 3D graphics.^[23]

Cube Quest is released as an arcade laserdisc game by Simutrek and is the first commercially released video game with real-time 3D computer graphics^[24]

1984

Marble Madness is released byAtari Games.^[25]

I, Robot is released byAtari, inc. and is the first commercially released arcade video game to be fully rendered in solid-filled, flat-shaded 3D Polygon Graphics in every element of the game and the first with a camera angle.^[26][27][28]

Return of the Jedi is released byAtari, inc.^[29][27]

Karate Champ is released by Data East and is the first one-on-one arcade martial arts fighting game that helped defined the genre paving the way for games likeStreet Fighter andMortal Kombat.^[30]

Kung-Fu Master is released byIrem and is the first beat' em up arcade game and was a success that defined the genre a few years beforeDouble Dragon.^[31]

Pac-Land is released byNamco and is an early side-scrolling platform game.^[32]

Flicky is released bySega and is one of the very popular side-scrolling platform games for its time.^[33]

Ninja Hayate is released by Taito and is a very popular arcade laser-disc game similar toDragon's Lair.^[34]

Punch-Out!! is released and is one of Nintendo's very successful arcade games.^[35]

Super Punch-Out!! is released by Nintendo later that same year and is another popular arcade boxing game.^[36]

Bally Midway released Zwackery and is their first game using M68000 16-bit CPU making it their first 16-bit game.^[37]

Turkey Shoot is released byWilliams Electronics.^[38]

The Last Starfighter arcade game based on the 1984 movie of the same name was planned to be released byAtari Games. It was canceled due to the high cost of the hardware and Atari's President did not think the game was going to be a success and was too expensive to sell at that time. If released, it would have been the first arcade game with a 1st-person perspective to use 3D polygonal graphics.^[39][40]

1985

Gauntlet is released byAtari Games

Gradius (Nemesis in some countries) is released byKonami.

Space Harrier is released bySega

Tehkan World Cup, the father of soccer games with an above view of the field, is released byTehkan,^[41] who also release its stablemate,Gridiron Fight.

Air Race was also planned to be released by Atari in 1985. Due to the high cost of the hardware, the game also was canceled. If released, it would have been the first arcade racing game to use 3D polygon graphics.^[42][43]

The Empire Strikes Back is released and became Atari's last major vector-based arcade game.^[44]

Paperboy was also released byAtari Games.

1986

Vs. Super Mario Bros., the arcade version ofSuper Mario Bros. originally on theNintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan), is released into arcades.

Taito releasesBubble Bobble.

Sega releasesOut Run.

Chiller by Exidy is released and is an early example of blood and gore.^[45]

Top Gunner by Exidy is released and is the last commercial arcade video game to use vector-based(wireframe) graphics.

Turbo Kourier is released by the Vivid Group and is the first coin-operated Virtual Reality arcade video game to use 3D Polygon Graphics.^[46][47]

This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2011)

1987

Technōs Japan releasesDouble Dragon. It became a huge hit, paving the way forbeat 'em up games.

1988

NARC, byWilliams is released and is the first commercially released game to use a 32-bit processor.

Namco releasesAssault, which was the first game to make use of massive sprite rotation as well as sprite scaling. It also releasedSplatterhouse, which was the first game to get a parental advisory disclaimer.

Namco introduces theNamco System 21 "Polygonizer", the firstarcade system board designed for3D polygonal graphics. The first game to use it is theracing video gameWinning Run.

Top Landing byTaito is released and is the first coin-operated flight simulation to use 3D polygon graphics and runs onTaito's Air System board.

Tetris makes the jump from home to arcade as an Atari coin-op.

1989

Exterminator byGottlieb is released and is the first video game to use fully digitized graphics in every element of the game. This wasGottlieb's last video game.

Hard Drivin', by Atari Games is released and is the second arcade driving game to have 3D polygonal graphics.

S.T.U.N. Runner is released byAtari Games and is known for early use of high-speed 3-D Polygonal Graphics.

1990

Pit-Fighter is released byAtari Games and is the first-ever fighting game to use fully digitized graphics. Released two years before Midway's Mortal Kombat.

Galaxian³ is released byNamco as a video game Theme Park Attraction and is the first to feature 8-players. This game is a sequel to the Galaxian series and is known for combining pre-laserdisc background images and 3D Polygonal graphics. It was later released as an arcade cabinet to the public in 1994.

NAM-1975 is released bySNK and is the first game running on a Neo Geo hardware and became the standardized arcade platform throughout the 90s to the early 2000s. Many 2D fighting games like Fatal Fury, World Heroes, and Samurai Showdown ran on this hardware and was very popular in the arcades for its time.

1991

Capcom releasesStreet Fighter II, revolutionizing competitive play in the arcade setting and setting the template forfighting games.

1992

Midway Games releasesMortal Kombat, which features blood andfatalities.

Sega releasesVirtua Racing, Sega's first 3D racer as well as Sega's first polygonal 3D game.

1993

Mortal Kombat II is released, featuring high quality digitized graphics, and the most advanced sound system in arcades at the time, theDCS sound system which allowed forMP3 style compression to all sounds.

Sega releasesVirtua Fighter, the first 3D fighting game.

1994

Killer Instinct is released, the first arcade game with ahard disk, up to that point the game with the highest quality graphics pre-rendered by a rendering program, featuring to this day the highest quality use of the movie background technique.

Namco releasesTekken, another fighting game.

1995

Midway Games releasesMortal Kombat 3, which was part of the Mortal Kombat series.

1996

SNK releasesMetal Slug, a run and gun game widely known for its sense of humor, fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast-paced two-player action.

1998

Konami releasesDance Dance Revolution, an arcade game with four arrow pads that the players used to "dance." This game would create many sequels and spin-offs.

Gauntlet Legends is released byAtari Games and it is the first game in the Gauntlet series to be produced in 3D and is the last Gauntlet game released byAtari Games.

Sega releasesHouse of the Dead 2 and is the first game running on Sega's NAOMI hardware. Like the Neo Geo arcade hardware, it became a standard for many 3D arcade games during that time.^[48]

1999

Rush 2049 is released, the last arcade game to bear the Atari Games logo. Atari Games in Milpitas is renamed Midway Games West, and closes its coin-op product development division.

Hydro Thunder is released byMidway Games. It is a 3D speedboat racing game and was one of the first to run on QuickSilver II hardware, a windows-based hardware setup that was less expensive to use. The game was one ofMidway Games most successful arcade games to date.

Derby Owners Club which was the first large-scale satellite arcade machine withsmartcards, which have become a staple inJapanese game centers since.

2000

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is released byCapcom and runs on Sega's NAOMI hardware. This game combines 2D character sprites, background arenas and special effects are 3D polygon based.

2001

Namco releasesTekken 4, the first talking game to feature almost all characters talking to one another.

Sega releasesVirtua Fighter 4, the first arcade game withonline features in Japan.

2002

Arctic Thunder Special Edition is released and is the last arcade game byMidway Games and runs on a PC based Hardware Midway Graphite. Its arcade division was later shut down.

Sega launchedWorld Club Champion Football, which introducedtrading cards, which have become a staple inJapanese game centers.

2020

The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 caused many Japanese arcades to close down^[49]

• Arcade game
• Golden age of arcade video games
• List of highest-grossing arcade video games
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