Arcade Game



Arcade games go back a long way. By the end of the 19th Century, you could go to an amusement park and insert a coin to shoot targets, toss balls, or get your fortune told. Pinball machines also go back to the 19th Century, and in the first half of the 20th Century they appeared in bars, restaurants, and shops, creating the market that arcade video games would step into.

The first coin-operated video game was Galaxy Game, a version of Space War. One machine was produced and installed at Stanford University in September 1971. Two months later, Computer Space, a one-player multi-directional Shoot'Em Up based loosely on Space War, became the first commercially-available coin-operated arcade game. It was created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who would found Atari the following year. Computer Space wasn't a success, as gameplay was too complicated. So Bushnell created the much simpler Pong, the first successful coin-op arcade game.

More games followed, but for most of the 1970s arcade games didn't have dedicated venues; they stood in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, supermarkets, and gas stations. That changed with the release of Space Invaders and Asteroids. By the end of 1979, video arcades were starting to appear in North America, Europe, and Japan. The Golden Age of Video Games had begun.

1980 saw a wave of classic games including Pac-Man, Centipede, Defender, and Missile Command. Arcades sprang up all over the place, and crowds of kids flocked in. More great games came in 1981-83, like Donkey Kong, Frogger, Dig Dug, Joust, Q Bert, and Dragons Lair. But a bad case of Follow the Leader meant that the arcade market was also saturated with imitations, so The Great Video Game Crash of 1983 happened gradually from 1983-85.

After 1985 in North America, things were never the same. Arcades had a resurgence in the early to mid '90s, due to the popularity of Fighting Games, but declined again with the rise of arcade-quality consoles. Arcade games returned to where they were from 1972-78 — an extra source of revenue for restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping centers, or part of a larger gaming venue like Chuck E. Cheese.

In the UK, arcades were popular at seaside resorts until the mid-1990s, when the leap to 3D graphics meant higher prices than kids could pay.

In Japan, arcades (known as game centers) remained popular, and as with consoles, development moved over there. The Japanese created or codified new genres, such as the Fighting Game, Cute'Em Up, and Bullet Hell. They also standardized arcade hardware: Data East released the first general-purpose arcade board in 1980, and the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA) introduced the eventual world standard for arcade cabinet wiring in 1985. To this day, the biggest franchises in the aforementioned genres usually get an arcade version of each new installment- if it doesn't debut in arcades first.

The term "arcade game" was also used more generically, especially in the 1980s, for games created for consoles and/or computers that imitated the fast-paced action of real arcade games. This usage of "arcade" has largely faded away, though sometimes its use on old game boxes and such still causes confusion.

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See Also:
 * The Kiddie Ride
 * Neo Geo
 * Pinball

Arcade Games of the 1970s

 * Anti-Aircraft
 * Asteroids
 * Basketball
 * Blockade
 * Breakout
 * Computer Space
 * Atari Cops N Robbers
 * Crash N Score
 * Galaxian
 * Gotcha
 * Galaxy Game
 * Gran Trak 10
 * Hi-Way
 * Jet Fighter
 * Lunar Lander
 * Night Driver
 * Pong
 * Pursuit
 * Quadrapong
 * Atari Qwak 1974
 * Rebound
 * Shark Jaws
 * Space Invaders
 * Space Race
 * Sprint 2
 * Starship 1
 * Steeplechase
 * Tank
 * Touch Me
 * Video Pinball

Arcade Games of the 1980s

 * After Burner
 * Amidar
 * Altered Beast
 * Alien Syndrome
 * Arkanoid
 * Asteroids Deluxe
 * Athena
 * Astyanax
 * Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja
 * Battlezone 1980
 * Berzerk
 * Bionic Commando
 * Bosconian
 * Bubble Bobble
 * Rainbow Islands
 * Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom
 * Burger Time
 * Cabal
 * Cadash
 * Centipede
 * Millipede
 * Contra
 * Crime Fighters
 * Crystal Castles
 * Dangar UFO Robo
 * Darius
 * Defender
 * Dig Dug
 * Donkey Kong
 * Double Dragon
 * Dragons Lair
 * Fantastic Night Dreams Cotton
 * Fantasy Zone
 * Final Fight
 * Flicky
 * Forgotten Worlds
 * Frogger
 * Galaga
 * Gauntlet
 * Ghosts N Goblins
 * Golden Axe
 * Gorf
 * Gradius
 * Guerrilla War
 * Gyruss
 * Haunted Castle
 * Heavy Barrel
 * Ikari Warriors
 * Joust
 * Klax
 * Kung Fu Master
 * Lady Bug
 * Legendary Wings
 * The Legend of Kage
 * Lode Runner (series by Irem based on the computer game)
 * Mappy
 * Mario Bros
 * Missile Command
 * Mr. Do
 * Mr. Goemon
 * N.A.R.C.
 * The New Zealand Story
 * Night Striker
 * 1942
 * Ninja Gaiden
 * The Ninja Warriors
 * Out Run
 * Pac-Man
 * Paperboy
 * Pole Position
 * Polybius (alleged)
 * Popeye
 * Psycho Soldier
 * Punch Out
 * Q Bert
 * Qix
 * Rally X
 * Rampage
 * Robotron 2084
 * Rolling Thunder
 * R-Type
 * Rygar
 * Scramble
 * Shinobi
 * The Simpsons
 * Sinistar
 * Space Ace
 * Space Duel
 * Space Harrier
 * Space Panic
 * Splatterhouse
 * Spy Hunter
 * Street Fighter
 * Strider
 * Super Dodge Ball
 * Tapper
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game
 * Tempest
 * Terra Cresta
 * Tetris (one by Atari, several by Sega and Jaleco)
 * Time Pilot
 * Toki
 * The Tower of Druaga
 * Thunder Cross
 * Track and Field
 * Tutankham
 * Twinbee
 * Twin Cobra
 * Vanguard
 * Vigilante
 * Warlords
 * Wonder Boy
 * Wonder Boy: Monster Land
 * Wonder Boy III Monster Lair
 * Xevious
 * Zaxxon
 * Zero Wing
 * Zookeeper

Arcade Games of the 1990s

 * Alien Storm
 * Area 51
 * Armed Police Batrider
 * Armored Warriors
 * Asura Series
 * Battle Circuit
 * Battle Garegga
 * Battletoads
 * Beatmania
 * Bioship Paladin
 * Blazing Tornado
 * Blood Bros
 * Bloody Roar
 * Cannon Dancer
 * Captain America and The Avengers
 * Captain Commando
 * Carn Evil
 * Charlie Ninja
 * Chimera Beast (unreleased)
 * Crazy Taxi
 * Crude Buster
 * Crypt Killer
 * Cyberbots
 * Dance Dance Revolution
 * Dangun Feveron
 * Darkstalkers
 * Daytona USA
 * Dead or Alive
 * Detana!! Twinbee
 * DoDonPachi series
 * Dungeons and Dragons Shadow Over Mystara
 * Ehrgeiz
 * Esp Ra De
 * Fighter's History
 * Fighter's History Dynamite (aka Karnov's Revenge)
 * Fighting Layer
 * Fighting Vipers
 * Fire Shark
 * Fixeight
 * G.I.Joe
 * Ghoul Panic
 * Giga Wing
 * Growl
 * Guilty Gear
 * Guwange
 * Hammerin Harry
 * House of the Dead
 * Hydro Thunder
 * In the Hunt
 * Joe and Mac Caveman Ninja
 * Killer Instinct
 * The King of Dragons
 * Knights of the Round
 * Laser Ghost
 * Magical Drop
 * Magic Sword Heroic Fantasy
 * Mahou Daisakusen (aka Sorcer Striker)
 * Shippu Mahou Daisakusen (aka Kingdom Grandprix)
 * Marvel vs. Capcom
 * X Men Children of the Atom
 * Marvel Super Heroes
 * X-Men vs. Street Fighter
 * Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
 * Marvel vs. Capcom Clash of the Superheroes
 * Metal Black
 * Miss World 96 Nude
 * Mortal Kombat
 * Mortal Kombat
 * Mortal Kombat 2
 * Mortal Kombat 3
 * Mortal Kombat 4
 * Mr. Driller
 * Mystic Warriors
 * NBA Jam
 * The Ocean Hunter
 * Out Zone
 * Parodius Da!
 * Pit-Fighter
 * Point Blank
 * Pop N Music
 * Power Stone
 * Primal Rage
 * Psychic Force
 * Pu Li Ru La
 * Pump It Up
 * Puyo Puyo
 * Puyo Puyo Tsuu
 * Puyo Puyo Sun
 * Radiant Silvergun
 * Raiden
 * Raiden Fighters
 * Ray Series
 * Red Earth
 * Revolution X
 * Ridge Racer
 * Rival Schools
 * Rod Land
 * Saturday Night Slam Masters
 * Sega Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Silent Scope
 * Smash TV
 * Snow Bros
 * Sonic Blast Man
 * Sonic the Fighters
 * Soul Series
 * Soul Edge
 * Soul Calibur
 * Soukyugurentai
 * Street Fighter II
 * Street Fighter the Movie
 * Street Fighter Alpha
 * Street Fighter EX
 * Street Fighter III
 * Strikers 1945
 * Sunset Riders
 * Tattoo Assassins (unreleased)
 * Tech Romancer
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time
 * Tekken
 * Tetris the Grand Master
 * Three Wonders
 * Thunder Cross II
 * Thunder Force AC (arcade port of a console game {Thunder Force III specifically}, unusually for its time)
 * Time Killers
 * Time Traveler
 * Tokimeki Memorial: Oshiete Your Heart
 * Tokimeki Memorial Taisen Puzzle Dama
 * Total Carnage
 * Tumblepop
 * Twin Cobra II
 * Undercover Cops
 * Violent Storm
 * Virtua Cop
 * Virtua Fighter
 * Virtual On

Arcade Games of the 2000s

 * Arcana Heart
 * Battle Fantasia
 * Blaz Blue
 * Blaz Blue Calamity Trigger
 * Blaz Blue Continuum Shift
 * Border Down
 * Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2 Mark of the Millennium
 * Death Smiles
 * Dinosaur King
 * Do Don Pachi II: Bee Storm
 * DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou
 * DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu
 * Esp Galuda series
 * Ghost Squad
 * Great Mahou Daisakusen (aka Dimahoo)
 * Guilty Gear X
 * Guilty Gear XX
 * Ibara
 * THE iDOLM@STER
 * THE iDOLM@STER 2
 * Ikaruga
 * Initial D Arcade Stage
 * In the Groove
 * Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi
 * Let's Go Jungle
 * Marvel vs. Capcom 2
 * Muchi-Muchi Pork
 * Mushihime-sama series
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Otomedius
 * Progear
 * Puyo Puyo Fever
 * Razing Storm
 * Senko no Ronde
 * Senko no Ronde NEW Ver.
 * Senko no Ronde SP
 * Shikigami no Shiro
 * Soul Calibur II-IV
 * Street Fighter IV
 * Super Monkey Ball
 * Taiko Drum Master
 * Time Crisis
 * Too Spicy
 * Triggerheart Exelica
 * Virtual On Force
 * Wangan Midnight
 * Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune

Arcade Games of the 2010s

 * Akai Katana
 * Border Break
 * Do Don Pachi: DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label
 * The King of Fighters XIII
 * Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

Unsorted

 * Battle Gear
 * Chicken Invaders