1979 in video games
1979 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Galaxian, Warrior and Asteroids.
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Business
- New companies: Activision, Capcom, Edu-Ware, Infocom, Quicksilva, Strategic Simulations
- The US market for arcade games earns a revenue of $1.5 billion[1] (equivalent to $5.28 billion in 2021).
Notable releases
Games
- Arcade
- April – Sega's dot-eating driving game, Head On, is released. It becomes a popular concept to clone, especially for home systems.
- August – Atari releases Lunar Lander, the first arcade version of a game concept created on minicomputers ten years earlier.
- November – Atari releases the vector graphics-based Asteroids, which becomes Atari's second best selling game of all time and displaces Space Invaders as the most popular game in the US.
- November – Namco releases fixed shooter Galaxian in full color.
- November – Vectorbeam releases Tail Gunner, a space shooter with a first-person perspective.
- December – Nintendo releases Radar Scope, featuring a pseudo-3D, third-person perspective. Later, 2000 out of 3000 manufactured machines are converted to Donkey Kong.
- Cinematronics releases Warrior, one of the first fighting games without a boxing theme.
- Sega releases the vertically scrolling Monaco GP, featuring full color and day/night driving. It is one of Sega's last discrete logic (no CPU) hardware designs.
- Computer
- August – Automated Simulations releases Temple of Apshai, one of the first graphical role-playing games for home computers.[2] It remains the best-selling computer RPG through to 1982.[3]
- October – subLOGIC releases Flight Simulator for the Apple II.
- Richard Garriott creates Akalabeth, a computer role-playing game for the Apple II. It launches Garriott's career and is a precursor to his highly successful Ultima series.
- Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw create what is commonly recognized as the first playable MUD.[4]
- Atari, Inc.'s 8K Star Raiders cartridge is released and becomes a system seller for the new Atari 400/800 computer line.
Hardware
- Computer
- June – Texas Instruments releases the TI-99/4. It is the first home computer with a 16-bit processor and, with TI's TMS9918 video chip, one of the first with hardware sprites.
- September – NEC releases the PC-8001, the first in the PC-8000 series of home computers.
- November – Atari, Inc. releases the first two models in the Atari 8-bit family: the Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers. They feature custom graphics and sound coprocessors which support sprites, four-channel audio, and programmable display modes.
- Console
- Mattel test markets the Intellivision console in Fresno, California. It is released throughout the United States in 1980.
- Handheld
- November – Milton Bradley Company releases the Microvision, the first handheld game console that uses interchangeable cartridges.
References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20071222225649/http://www.replaymag.com/history.htm
- Scorpia (October 1991). "C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey". Computer Gaming World. p. 109. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
- "List of Top Sellers". Computer Gaming World. 2 (5): 2. September–October 1982.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2005.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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