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1975 in video games

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1975 saw several critical influences in the history of video games, including the first commercial games utilizing large-scale integrated circuits and microprocessors, as well as the first role-playing video games.

On the back end of the Pong boom, the coin-operated video game industry achieved new expressions of gameplay and animation in arcade games. Racing games and competitive shooting games became particularly popular. Local multiplayer games accommodating more than four players were released by Atari, featuring advanced implementations of transistor-transistor logic hardware. Several games utilizing microprocessors debuted in coin-op, including the influential Gun Fight from Midway Mfg.

The console industry saw its first competitive environment in the United States with Magnavox, Atari, and smaller competitors introducing systems utilizing advanced circuit designs. Atari’s Pong home console featured a sophisticated custom chip created in-house.[1][2] European dedicated consoles remained isolated to specific regions, but offered some of the first console lines from companies like Videomaster. Japan’s first native console was developed and released by toy company Epoch.

Computer networks saw a mass proliferation of game variants written in the BASIC programming language which influenced the emerging field of microcomputers. Games introduced in publications like People’s Computer Company and 101 BASIC Computer Games were frequently played via teletypes on time-sharing connected terminals; some were distributed via the remote connected ARPANET. The PLATO network likewise experienced a massive uptick in titles following the popularity of Empire and Spasim. Midwestern universities connected to the PLATO system were early recipients of the spread of Dungeons & Dragons, which prompted several student groups to develop the earliest computer role-playing games.

Events

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  • February 16–19[3] – Atari attends the New York Toy Fair to interest retailers to stock their forthcoming Pong home console. They fail to find any interest among toy buyers.[1][2]
  • March 12 – Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel file US Patent #4,026,555 for Alpex Computer Corporation relating to a bitmapped system for video game graphics.[4]
  • March 17 – Sears, Roebuck & Co. signs an agreement with Atari Inc. to distribute their Pong home console in their Sears retail stores.[2] Sears creates the Tele-Games brand to market the game while also allowing Atari’s logo to appear on the product. Magnavox later sues Sears over infringement of their Odyssey patents.[2][5]
  • September 16–19 – The first WESCON computer trade show is held in San Francisco, California. Premiering there is the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, which powers many future video game systems. Steve Mayer and Ron Milner of Atari's Cyan Engineering are convinced to use the 6502 in their prototype home video game system which developes into the Video Computer System.[1][2]
  • October 17–19 – The Music Operators of America show is held in Chicago, Illinois. Several microprocessor video games make their debut including Gun Fight from Midway, Shark from U.S. Billiards, PT-109 from Mirco Games, and Destruction Derby from Major Manufacturers.[6]
  • October 29 – Stephen Bristow of Atari Inc. patents the technology behind the first hardware-enabled sprites for video games, dubbed Player/Missile Graphics by Atari.[7]
  • November 26 – A market study evaluating the Alpex Computer home video game system using ROM cartridges is drafted by Gene Landrum for Fairchild Semiconductor, which convinces the company to create the Fairchild Video Entertainment System.[2]

Financial performance

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United States

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Arcade

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Total unit sales: 50,000–79,000.[8][9][Note 1]

Total Revenue (machine sales): $68–76 million.[9][Note 2]

Title Arcade cabinet units (Estimates) Manufacturer Developer Genre
Gun Fight 8,600[10] Midway Manufacturing Dave Nutting Associates Multi-directional shooter
Wheels 7,000[11][Note 3]

2,400[12]

Midway Manufacturing Taito Corp Racing
Wheels II 3,000[11] Midway Manufacturing Taito Corp Racing
PT 109 1,500[11] Mirco Games Mirco Games Action
Avenger 1,200[11] Electra Games Universal Research Laboratories Fixed shooter
Tank II 1,000[11] Kee Games Atari Inc. Multi-directional shooter
Super Flipper 538[13] Chicago Coin Model Racing Sports
Crash 'N Score 500[11] Atari Inc. Atari Inc. Racing
Jet Fighter 500[11] Atari Inc. Atari Inc. Multi-directional shooter
Shark Jaws 500[11] Atari Inc. Atari Inc. Action
Steeplechase 500[11] Atari Inc. Atari Inc. Racing
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RePlay magazine published its first popularity chart for coin-operated games in the United States in March 1976, covering games of the previous year. The lists were based on polling operators regarding their opinions of games receiving the most attention in their locations.[14] RePlay's charts were based only on a subset of operators and are not on imperial metrics such as earnings reports, but they give a strong indication of games which were of the most value to arcades and street locations.

The RePlay rankings included both video and electro-mechanical games which ran in close competition through the 1970s until video games became dominant. Outside of the top twenty ranked in order, forty-eight other games were also listed.[14]

Rank Arcade video games
Title Genre Manufacturer
1 Tank / Tank II Multi-directional shooter Kee Games
2 Wheels / Wheels II Racing Midway Manufacturing
3 Gun Fight Multi-directional shooter Midway Manufacturing
4 Indy 800 Racing Kee Games
5 Gran Trak 10 / Gran Trak 20 Racing Atari Inc.
6 Twin Racer Racing Kee Games
7 BiPlane Multi-directional shooter Atari Inc.
8 Racer Racing Midway Manufacturing
9 Demolition Derby Racing Chicago Coin
10 Street Burners Racing Allied Leisure Industries

Home consoles

Total unit sales: 250,000-400,000 consoles.[9][15]

Total revenue (retail): $32-40 million.[15][16]

Title Game console units (1975) Manufacturer Developer
Odyssey 80,000[11] Magnavox Sanders Associates/Magnavox
Odyssey 100 / Odyssey 200 100,000[11] Magnavox Sanders Associates/Texas Instruments
Pong 85,000[16] Atari Inc. MOS Sorcery/Atari Inc.[1]

Notable releases

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Publications

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  • October – RePlay magazine publishes its first issue. Edited by Eddie Adlum – previously editor for the coin machine section of publication Cash Box – the monthly magazine covers all aspects of coin-operated entertainment.

Arcade games

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  • April – Indy 800 by Atari (published under the Kee Games label) begins production.[17] The game features color graphics and an eight player cabinet powered by eight circuit boards. Despite its massive profile and price restricting the range of venues, the game is highly successful and proves the earning power of large, multiplayer games.[2]
    • Atari releases Hi-Way, a scrolling racing game featuring a sit-down cabinet and screen-warping effects.[18]
  • September – Western Gun is released by Taito in Japan. It features the first human-on-human combat in a video game as well as destructible environments.
  • October – Sega’s American marketing arm, Sega of America, releases their first video game in the United States, Bullet Mark.[19]
    • Project Support Engineering releases Maneater. The game is noted for its special cabinet design which is molded in the shape of a great white shark with open jaws.[20] It is one of several games capitalizing on the release of the movie Jaws – including Shark Jaws by Atari and Shark by U.S. Billiards. Steven Spielberg is photographed with the Maneater cabinet.
    • Atari introduces Steeplechase – a unique, six-player game. Controls are simplified to a single button which causes a horse to leap.[21] It is the first graphical game featuring a character who can jump.
    • Electra Games releases Avenger.[22] It is an early example of a scrolling shoot 'em-up.
  • November – Gun Fight is released by Midway Manufacturing, based off of Western Gun by Taito.[23] It is the preeminent video game to use a microprocessor as well as the first twin-stick shooter. The game is among the most successful of 1975 and its hardware is used for subsequent Midway-released games.[2]
  • December – Exidy’s Destruction Derby is released; Chicago Coin releases it as Demolition Derby.[24] The game is later modified to become Death Race (1976).
  • Fairchild employee Jerry Lawson creates the game Destruction Derby[Note 4] which he offers to Major Manufacturers.[25][26] Though the game is never officially released, its creation leads to Lawson’s engineering leadership of the Fairchild Video Entertainment System console.[27]

Computer games

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Console Games

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  • April – The company Jolieb distributes the Odyssey console in Japan, the first home video game to be sold in the country.[32]
  • May – Control Sales offers the Video Action II console for sale for $299.[33] The console runs into difficulties with Federal Communications Commission restrictions, forcing the company to pull it from sale.[2]
  • September – Toy company Epoch releases TV Tennis Electrotennis in Japan.[34] It is the first Japanese-developed home video game console, with the unusual feature of a wireless connection to the television via a UHF antenna.
  • October – The Tele-Games home version of Pong (sometimes called Home Pong) is made available for purchase in Sears retail stores.[2]
  • November – Magnavox releases two new models consoles based on the Odyssey using chips developed by Texas Instruments, the Odyssey 100 and Odyssey 200. These consoles are paired down to play variants of the Ping Pong game from the original Odyssey – which is discontinued – and are much more successful.[2]
    • Videomaster releases its Olympic Home T.V. Game model in the United Kingdom which plays six games.[35][36]
    • Television Tennis is released by Executive Games in the United States.[37]
  • December – Philips releases the ES 2201 Tele-Spiel console in the Netherlands, an early console featuring interchangeable games similar to the original Odyssey.[38][39]

Business

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Frost & Sullivan estimate totals 53,000 games with traditional arcade cabinets and 26,000 for those under the new cocktail table presentation.
  2. ^ The Frost & Sullivan estimate totals $58 million in games with traditional arcade cabinets and $18 million for those under the new cocktail table presentation.
  3. ^ Ralph Baer's numbers compiled in April 1976 are mostly estimates without direct access to sales figures.
  4. ^ Unrelated to the Destruction Derby released by Exidy.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Goldberg, Marty; Vendel, Curt (2012). Atari Inc.: Business is Fun. Syzygy Press. ISBN 978-0985597405.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Smith, Alexander (2020). They create worlds: the story of the people and companies that shaped the video game industry. Boca Raton, [Florida] London New York, [New York]: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis group. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8.
  3. ^ Zemo, Gini (February 14, 1975). "Toymakers Await Holidays". Asbury Park Press. pp. A–15.
  4. ^ US4026555A, Kirschner, Wallace & Haskel, Lawrence Martin, "Television display control apparatus", issued 1977-05-31 
  5. ^ "Complaint For Patent Infringement". Magnavox Company v. Sears, Roebuck and Co. US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. September 22, 1974. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  6. ^ "V/TMG Visits the Displays at MOA Expo". Vending Times. 15 (11): 74–76. November 1975.
  7. ^ US4045789A, Bristow, Stephen D., "Animated video image display system and method", issued 1977-08-30 
  8. ^ Kerwin, Robert (June 6, 1976). "Put Another Quarter In...". The San Francisco Examiner. pp. Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 24.
  9. ^ a b c The Coin Operated and Home Electronic Games Market. Frost & Sullivan Inc. 1976.
  10. ^ Jarrell, Timothy (November 1976). "Like Old Man River Midway Sales Go Rollin' Along". Play Meter. 2 (12): 50–52.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1.
  12. ^ Cognevich, Valerie (March 15, 1986). "Video-game industry still evolving". Play Meter. 12 (4): 12, 14–16.
  13. ^ Neven, John F. (July 11, 1977). "Notice of Motion". Magnavox Company v. Chicago Dynamic Industries, et al. US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "The Nation's Top Arcade Games". RePlay. 1 (22): 26. March 1976.
  15. ^ a b Electronic Games & Personal Computers. Predicasts Inc. February 1979.
  16. ^ a b The Electronic Games Market in the U.S. Frost & Sullivan Inc. 1983.
  17. ^ "New Kee game has chills, spills, enough for eight". Play Meter. 1 (6): 55. May 1975.
  18. ^ "Go out in the traffic and play!". Vending Times. 15 (4): 59. April 1975.
  19. ^ "Bullet Mark Another First From Sega". RePlay. 1 (1): 41. October 1975.
  20. ^ "Maneater from PSE". RePlay. 1 (1): 28. October 1975.
  21. ^ "Starshine". Cash Box: C7. October 18, 1975.
  22. ^ "Electra Intro's 'Avenger' At MOA Expo; 1-Plyr. W/3 Plays For 2 Quarters Pricing". Cash Box: C9. October 18, 1975.
  23. ^ "New Midway's 'Gun Fight' – 'Old West' Thrills". Cash Box: 39. November 8, 1975.
  24. ^ "It's Chicago Coin's Game with a Brain". RePlay. 1 (10): 7. December 20, 1975.
  25. ^ "Major Manufacturing's Kinsel Hails Fascination". Vending Times. 15 (10): 95. October 1975.
  26. ^ "Illogical". Microelectronics News with Manager's Casebook: 2. October 18, 1975.
  27. ^ Donovan, Tristan (2010). Replay: the history of video games. East Sussex, England: Yellow Ant. ISBN 978-0-9565072-0-4.
  28. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world: a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego, CA: Unreason Press. ISBN 978-0-615-64204-8.
  29. ^ Bollingbroke, Chester (November 11, 2013). "The CRPG Addict: Game 123: Orthanc (1975)". The CRPG Addict. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  30. ^ Daglow, Don L. (August 1988). "The Changing Role of Computer Game Designers" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 50. p. 18. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  31. ^ Lucas, Raphaël (April 2, 2015). "L'histoire du RPG: Don Daglow – Dungeon (1975)". Geek -O- Matick. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  32. ^ Herman, Leonard (April 29, 2020). "THE NINTENDO ODYSSEY". The Game Scholar. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  33. ^ "Plays on Your Home TV". The Los Angeles Times. May 23, 1975. pp. Part IV 34.
  34. ^ "Electronic Video Games". Focus Japan: 22. February 1977.
  35. ^ "Bridgers". Evening Post. November 20, 1975. p. 14.
  36. ^ "apollo". Lincolnshire Echo. December 1, 1975. p. 8.
  37. ^ "Video Games Playing to Home Market". Weekly Television Digest with Consumer Electronics. 15 (47): 8. November 24, 1975.
  38. ^ "Philips tele-spel". elektuur (147): 1206. December 1975.
  39. ^ "Philips Tele-Spel". Radio Bulletin: A18. December 1975.
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