Forget Pong, Breakout or anything that came before, this is The Daddy of all Video Games as we know them.
Space Invaders arrived on the scene in 1978. In Japan there was a Yen shortage and many stores and shops converted into Space Invader parlours overnight to cash in on the craze. It was not unheard of for some shop keepers to erect giant speaker systems outside their shops blasting the what was to become familiar thudding sound of ever advancing Invaders.
The game was designed and programmed by a certain Mr Toshihiro Nishikado and I would certainly like to meet him and shake his hand. This game took the games industry out from the dark seedy shadows of arcades (not that there is anything wrong with that) and into shopping malls, takeaways and even newsagents.
The game was licensed from Taito by Midway. There were several sequels to it as well - Space Invaders Part II, Deluxe and Super Space Invaders 91, there was also a cocktail table version.
Many rip off versions where made about this time to cash in on the craze. Atari at this same time had brought out the VCS Home Console System. It was not selling too well until Atari negotiated with Taito for exclusive home rights to Space Invaders. Atari went on to produce a brilliant version in February 1980.
People then bought the console simply to play Space Invaders. Half a million cartridges were sold in Britain alone in that year. The home version had an incredible 112 variations on the theme. Rick Mauer the programmer of the game received, it is rumoured only $11,000, the game went on to gross more then $100 million, not surprisingly Rick left Atari suffering "programmers burnout" and an empty pocket.
Space Invaders II Screenshot
Tips
& Tricks:
There is a hidden message in the game. Wait until
you see the demo begin. Then press these keys repeatedly as fast as is possible
left, right, fire, 1 player and 2 player. A message should appear after some
seconds, guess what it says!
A well known one here. Fire 22 shots then wait for the UFO at the top, with your next shot number 23, hit the UFO and you will get 300 points. Next count 14 shots hit the UFO again and get, you guessed it 300 points and so on. You can do this on every level as far as I know.
Summary
Personally I liked our little white friends and spent
many a credit and wasted hour on them. I have the blisters to prove it and
the scars to this day. Although the concept was simple and some would say
the gameplay was a tad repetitive the techno jump from playing Pong or Breakout
to Space Invaders was astronomical and kick started the whole damn Video Game
Craze which we are celebrating on this site today 24 years later.
While
I cannot do full justice to the history and endless tips for the game here,
a site which can and does is www.spaceinvader.de
where the author obviously has a passion for this very game. Go there now
you won't be disappointed earthling.
Overall
Classic Game Rating - 7.0
