The History of Arcades - Foreword

Pinball Machine

Arcades began in the US in 1933 with pinball machines. They were completely mechanical devices. In 1940, electromechanical games appeared, which, as the name suggests, combined electrical and mechanical concepts. Vehicle, shooting and sports simulators were the most common.

Sega Periscope and Pong

In 1966, Sega created the Sega Periscope arcade game, known as an innovator in the field, as it was the first EM arcade game (short for electromechanical) to feature the audiovisual concept. It was a submarine shooting simulator. The first completely electronic arcade game, known at the time as the first arcade video game, the famous integrated circuits, was created in 1971 by Noel Bushnell and Ted Dabney, the creator of Atari. It was Computer Space, inspired by the 1962 game Spacewar!, which in turn was released as the first game for mainframe computers, which emerged in the 1960s. These were very powerful computers that were smaller than conventional ones. The second game in what we now simply call an arcade was Galaxy Game, created by the duo Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, also in 1971 and also inspired by Spacewar! Both Spacewar, Computer and Galaxy, involved space combat between spaceships or the destruction of invading enemies. Now we understand why the first arcade hits were space games. The 1960s and 1970s were very popular for space-themed games, due to the space travel that was taking place. Noal created a second game, this time in 1972, known as Pong, inspired by the game Ping Pong for the first home game console, the Odyssey. Pong was the first game to become popular, giving its name to the style of games of the first generation of games. Basically, it involved two dots that could be controlled by players and another stationary dot that served as a ball.

Gun Fight

In the era of electronic arcades or arcade video games, the first major change was in 1975, with the Taito game Gun Fight, released in Japan, a pistol shooting game. It was the first arcade game to work with a microprocessor, the Intel 8080, created a year earlier. The game was released in North America by Midway. The difference between arcades and home consoles is mainly in the hardware. While home consoles focused on a single piece of hardware, with simpler and more economical components, with games tied to that same hardware for a long time, arcades sometimes had a hardware for each game, composed of the best processors and chips of the time. This can be explained by the price. Very powerful consoles would have trouble being sold, as was the case with the home version of NeoGeo. Arcades, on the other hand, were consumed through tokens and by several people, and thus were produced in smaller quantities, making it profitable for producers to develop powerful hardware. Soon, these same items were paid for by the large popular consumption that occurred in gaming houses, known as arcades. Despite this, home consoles became very popular, causing arcades to have periods of decline and revival, as in the early 1980s and 1990s.

Tempest, Sega Naomi e Marvel Vs. Capcom

Companies such as Atari, Taito, Namco, Data East, Sega, Konami and Irem became very well-known in the 1980s with their titles, mainly in shoot and run, shmups (the famous spaceship game), beat 'em ups (street fighting) and racing. The 90s were mainly for Capcom, Sega and SNK, most of them with 2D fighting games, as well as beat 'em ups, the latter developed mainly by Capcom, Konami and Data East. The 2000s were mainly for Sega, with several of its arcades. SNK and Cave also had some prominence. Capcom, on the other hand, lost its momentum early in the decade. The home consoles of lower value and powerful hardware, coupled with games with good graphics, made arcades unpopular all over the world. Mainly from the 2010s onwards, countries where arcades were still popular (Japan mainly, alongside South Korea and China), began to use computers running versions of console games created for them, replacing the classic arcades.

Asteroids e Space Invaders

As for the great arcade games, we will start by listing them in order of their creator companies. We will start with the companies that entered this market in the 1970s, such as Atari, which, in addition to Pong, became famous with games such as Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command and Major Havoc. Next comes Williams, with Defender, Joust, Sinistar, Robotron: 2084 and Crush Roller. Taito, with Twin Cobra, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Mr. Do! Double Dragon, Spacer Invaders, Chase HQ, Jungle Hunt and Elevator Action. Namco with Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Poli Position and Xevious. Konami with Frogger, Super Cobra, Tutankham, Gyruss, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Teenage Mutants Ninja Turtles and Sunset Riders. From Sega, with Out Run, Wonder Boy, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, After Burner, Monaco GP, Puyo Puyo, Flicky and Columns. Nintendo, with Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Popeye, Ice Climber, Duck Hunt and Wrecking Crew. Go, with R-Type, Kung-Fu Master, Dragon Breed and Moon Patrol. SNK, with Super Sidekicks, World Heroes, Fatal Fury, KOF, NAM-1975, Ikari Warriors, Gang Wars, Vanguard and Art of Fighting. And finally Midway, also known as Bally Midway, with Terminator 2, Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Spy Hunter, Xenophobe and Demolition Derby.

Pac-Man e King Kong

In the 1980s, Capcom emerged with Pang, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, The Punisher, Captain Commando, Cadillac And Dinosaurs, Final Fight, Carrier Air Wing, Dynasty Wars and Dungeons & Dragons. Jaleco, with Makai Densetsu, Dingo, City Connection and Wild Pilot. Tecmo, with Rygar and Solomon's Key. Kaneko, which initially distributed Taito titles, began to release them in earnest in the 1990s, with Blood Warrior, Gals Panic, Heavy Unit, Super Qix and Air Buster. And Toaplan, with Truxton, Snow Bros and Flying Shark.

Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombar

And finally, in the 1990s, Cave, with DoDonPachi, DonPachi, Dangun Feveron, Mushihime-Sama, ESP Ra.De. and Guwange. Banpresto, with Sailor Moon, Macross, Ultraman and Dragon Ball Z. And Psikyo, with Sengoku Blade, Strikers 1945 and Gunbird. These companies mentioned also released famous games in times after their first great classics, such as Atari with California Speed, Primal Rage and San Francisco Rush. Namco, with Time Crisis, Tekken, SoulCalibur and Ridge Racer. Konami with Pop'n Music, Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution and GuitarFreaks. Sega, with Virtual Fighter, Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Rail Chase, Nascar Racing, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, Initial D and Guilty Gear. SNK, with Garou, The Last Blade, Puzzle de Pon!, Metal Slug and Kizuna. Midway, with Cruis'n USA, NBA Jam, Off Road Challenge, NFL Blitz and WWF WrestleMania. Capcom, with SF Alpha, III and EX Plus, Vampire Hunter, Rival Schools, Darkstalkers, Battle Arena Toshiden, Marvel Super Heroes and the versus between Capcom, SNK, SF, X-Men and Marvel. Tecmo, such as World Cup '90, '94 and '98, Dead or Alive, Super Baseball and NBA Basketball. Dig with Deathsmiles. And Banpresto with Yu Yu Hakusho, Gundam Seed and Kinnikuman.

CAVE CV1000D

The last conventional arcade to release games was the CAVE CV1000D in 2012, with Shmup games. Before it we had Sega with the Sammy Atomiswave until 2009 and PGM 2, from the Taiwanese PolyGame Master until 2011.

The order below refers to each brand's entry into the arcade market, not their games.

1970

Atari: Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede, Breakout, Battle Zone, Gauntlet, Star Wars, Tempest, Paper Boy, Race Drivin', California Speed, Pit-Fighter, Hard Drivin', San Francisco Rush, Primal Rage, Xevious, Dragon Spirit, RoadBlasters, Millipede, Marble Madness, Major Havoc, Destroyer and Area 51.

Williams: Defender, Joust, Sinistar, Robotron: 2084, Crush Roller and Smash TV, and Doom and Killer Instinct which were only published by the company.

Taito: Twin Cobra, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Hellfire, Mr. Do!, Rastan Saga, Double Dragon, Space Invaders, Chase HQ, Elevator Action, Operation Wolf, Galaxy Wars, Space Dungeon, Jungle Hunt, Darius, Rainbow Islands, Cadash, Night Striker, Puzzle Bobble, Sonic Blast Man and many other classics.

Namco: Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Poli Position, Rally-X, Mappy, Xevious, Rave Racer, Time Crisis, Ridge Racer, Tekken and SoulCalibur.

Data East: Robocop, Karate Champ, BurgerTime, Bump 'n Jump, The Real Ghostbusters, Captain America And The Avangers, Magical Drop, Side Pocket, Night Slashers, Cobra Command and Heavy Barrel.

Konami: Frogger, Super Cobra, Tutankham, Time Pilot, Gyruss, Q-Bert, Juno First, Rush'n Attack, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gradius, X-Men, Violent Storm, Vendetta, Sunset Riders, Taisen Puzzle-Dama, Pop'n Music, Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution and GuitarFreaks.

Sega: Out Run, Wonder Boy, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Space Harrier, Alien 3, Altered Beast, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Flicky, After Burner, Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, Alex Kidd, Shadow Dancer, Rail Chase, Zaxxon, Monaco GP, Tetris, Puyo Puyo, Sonic The Hedgehog, Hang On, Nascar Racing, Pengo, Choplifter, Enduro Racer, Columns, Jurassic Park, Virtua Racing, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, Initial D and Guilty Gear.

Nintendo: Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Popeye, Punch-Out!!, HeliFire, Ice Climber, Mario Kart, Metroid, Duck Hunt and Wrecking Crew.

Irem: R-Type, Kung-Fu Master, Bomber Man (arcade version, not the original), Ninja Spirit, Dragon Breed, Undercover Cops, Lode Runner, Image Fight, Air Duel and Moon Patrol.

SNK: KOF, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Ikari Warriors, Street Smart, Samurai Spirts, Garou, The Last Blade, Art of Fighting, NAM-1975, Magician Lord, Chopper I, Psycho Soldier, Vanguard, Gang Wars, Athena, Super Sidekicks, World Heroes and Burning Fight.

Midway (Bally Midway): Terminator 2 and the Mortal Kombat franchise with Williams, Rampage, Spy Hunter, Cruis'n USA, Mortal Kombat 4, Xenophobe, NBA Jam, Demolition Derby, NFL Football, NFL Blitz, Galaxy Ranger, WWF WrestleMania and Off Road Challenge.

1980:

Capcom: Pang, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, The Punisher, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Legendary Wings, Super Gem Figther, Marvel Vs. Capcom, SF II, Alpha, III and EX Plus, Final Fight, Captain Commando, X-Men: Children of The Atom, Vampire Hunter, Dungeons & Dragons, Cadillac And Dinosaurs, Rival Schools, Darkstalkers, Vampire Savior, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Alien vs Predator, Strider, Capcom vs. SNK, Avengers, Son Son, Battle Arena Toshiden 2, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Puzz Loop, Marvel Super Heroes, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Megaman, Carrier Air Wing, Dynasty Wars and Commando.

Jacket: Exerizer, Kick Off, Makai Densetsu, Naughty Boy, Dingo, Wild Pilot, Tetris Plus, City Connection, Exerion, Formation Z and Big Run.

Tecmo: Rygar, Tecmo World Soccer '96, Tecmo World Cup '90, '94 and '98, Tecmo Cup '94, Tecmo Bowl, Ninja Gaiden Episode III, Solomon's Key, Dead Or Alive, Tecmo Super Baseball and Tecmo Super NBA Basketball.

Gaelco: Alligator Hunt, Surf Planet, Smashing Drive, Radikal Bikers, Tokyo Cop, World Rally and Speed ​​Up.

Kaneko: Blood Warrior, Shogun Warriors, Gals Panic, Heavy Unit, Super Qix, Air Buster, Bonk's Adventure, Panic Street and Sengeki Striker.

Toaplan: Flying Shark, Truxton, Snow Bros, Rally Bike, Batsugun and Knuckle Bash.

1990:

Cave: DoDonPachi, DonPachi, Dangun Feveron, Mushihime-sama, Deathsmiles, ESP Ra.De., Guwange, Puzzle Uo Poko and Puzzle Mushihime-Tama.

Banpresto: Sailor Moon, Mazinger Z, Macross, Ultraman, Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Kidou Senshi Gundam, Masked Rider Club, Gundam Seed, Kinnikuman and Godzilla.

Psikyo: Sengoku Blade, Strikers 1945, Samurai Aces, Gunbird, Battle K-Road and Zero Gunner.