Gaming : Golden Age of Arcade Video Games

Golden Age of Arcade Video Games

The Golden Age of Arcade Video Games is the definition of the peak era in arcade video game popularity and technological innovation. The exact time period is debated but most sources place it around the late 1970's and early 1980's which lasted til the mid 1980's

Overview

During that period in time the arcade technology was quite sophisticated, enough to provide good quality of graphics and sounds but it was still basic. For the arcade game to be successful it had to rely on game play. The emphasis on the game play is one of the reasons why someone today can still enjoy playing them.

Business

During this time arcades started to appear all over North America and Japan. They where found in all sorts of places, supermarkets, liquor stores, gas stations and other retail establishments who where looking for some extra income. The most Popular games caused a teenagers to flock to these locations depending whether their favorite game is there or not.

Technology

When arcade games started to get momentum in in the late 1970's with games such as Gee Bee and Galaxian. The CPU in these machines where able to allow more complexity to be developed into them. This age saw developers experementing with new hardware and started to use vector displays over the conventional raster display  but vector technology saw a decline due to the  high cost of repairs.

Most popular games during this period

1978

Space Invaders

1979

Asteroids
Galaxian
Lunar Lander

1980

Battlezone
Berzerk
Centipede
Defender
Missile Command
Pac-Man
Star Castle
Tempest
Warlords
Wizard of Wor

1981

Donkey Kong
Frogger
Galaga
Ms. Pac-Man
Qix
Vanguard

1982

Burgertime
Dig Dug
Joust
Moon Patrol
Pole Position
Q*bert
Robotron: 2084
Time Pilot
Tron
Xevious
Zaxxon

1983

Dragon's Lair
Elevator Action
Mario Bros.
Spy Hunter
Star Wars
Tapper

1989

Final Fight

1991

Stree

The end of the era 

New generations of home computers and game consoles struck a blow to the arcade gaming scene Which saw a steady decilne in its comunity.  The arcade scene still exists today but at a fraction of what it once was, there are arcade games best of modern day consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 2, NintendoGameCube (Triforce), and Microsoft Xbox