Space Invaders is an arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. In designing the game, Nishikado drew inspiration from popular media: Breakout, The War of the Worlds, and Star Wars. To complete it, he had to design custom hardware and development tools.
It was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helped expand the video game industry from a novelty to a global industry. When first released, Space Invaders was very successful.
The game has been the inspiration for other video games, re-released on numerous platforms, and led to several sequels. The 1980 Atari 2600 version quadrupled the system’s sales and became the first “killer app” for video game consoles. Space Invaders has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows, and been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions. The pixelated enemy alien has become a pop culture icon, often used as a synecdoche representing video games as a whole.
Space Invaders is a two-dimensional fixed shooter game in which the player controls a laser cannon by moving it horizontally across the bottom of the screen and firing at descending aliens. The aim is to defeat five rows of eleven aliens—some versions feature different numbers—that move horizontally back and forth across the screen as they advance towards the bottom of the screen. The player defeats an alien, and earns points, by shooting it with the laser cannon. As more aliens are defeated, the aliens’ movement and the game’s music both speed up. Defeating the aliens brings another wave that is more difficult, a loop which can continue without end.
The aliens attempt to destroy the cannon by firing at it while they approach the bottom of the screen. If they reach the bottom, the alien invasion is successful and the game ends. A special “mystery ship” will occasionally move across the top of the screen and award bonus points if destroyed. The laser cannon is partially protected by several stationary defence bunkers—the number varies by version—that are gradually destroyed by a numerous amount of blasts from the aliens or player.
Released in December 1980, Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I aka Zork I was an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Read more
WWF WrestleMania was a game developed by Twilight and published by Ocean Software in 1991 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and DOS. It was the first WWF licensed game available for these computers Read more
Since the release of Rogue One people have been wanting to know more about the character Saw Gerrera (played in the movie by Forest Whitaker) - so we have dug deep into Read more
In the distant future, the B.E.D.A. Corporation, a company involved in the development of electronic equipment and military weapons, is actually a front operated by a race of alien beings who Read more
Transformers: War for Cybertron - Autobots and Transformers: War for Cybertron - Decepticons are the Nintendo DS iterations of Transformers: War for Cybertron These versions have different gameplay from the console Read more
Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It was released in North America on June 22, 2010 and Read more
A video game based on the cartoon series of the same name was released by Takara in 1987 for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS). It can be played in Read more
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is an action-adventure video game based on the Transformers toy franchise. It was developed primarily by Edge of Reality, with the Nintendo 3DS version Read more
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 third-person shooter video game based on the 2009 live action film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Read more
Transformers: Human Alliance is an arcade rail shooter developed by Sega and released in 2013, based on the live action films. The game can be played with one or two Read more
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It is the sequel to the 2010 video game Transformers: War Read more
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (marketed as Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Stealth Force Edition for Nintendo 3DS and Wii) is an Action-adventure video game which was released on June Read more
Transformers: Cybertron Adventures is the Wii version of the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron. It was developed by Next Level Games and published by Activision. The game was released Read more
Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals is a 1999 versus styled fighting game based on the Beast Wars cartoon series and toy-line for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. The Nintendo 64 version Read more
Transformers Universe was a third person multiplayer online battle arena game developed by British game develop Jagex Games Studio in partnership with American toy company Hasbro. The game was officially Read more
Transformers: Prime – The Game is a brawler video game developed by Nowpro for the Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS and Altron for the Nintendo DS. Transformers: Prime – Read more
Transformers G1: Awakening is a turn-based tactics mobile game in the Transformers franchise developed and published by Glu Mobile. It was originally released for feature phones on November 12, 2008, Read more
Transformers Decepticons is a video game based on fictional alien robots, Transformers. This version follows an alternate plot of the 2007 live action film Transformers. Most prominently, while the Autobots version Read more
Transformers Autobots is a video game based on fictional alien robots, Transformers. This version follows the plot of the 2007 live action film Transformers. Most prominently, while the Autobots version has Read more
Transformers Animated: The Game is a video game for the Nintendo DS handheld based on the Transformers television incarnation, Transformers: Animated. The story is centered around the rogue factory robots and Read more
Brett Summers
Founded Cult Faction in 2014. Some would describe him as a teacher, writer, dream weaver, and visionary... some would not...
More Stories
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (1987)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1986)
Chambers of Shaolin (1989)