1980 ARCADE GAMES - VIDEO DOMINATION

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1980 Arcade Games - Video Domination


 By Billy Mike


1980 arcade games proved that the gaming market would become huge worldwide in the years to come with no signs of stopping. This, of course, was extremely evident in the release of the highest grossing game of all time. This was also heralded the first mascot character. Pac-Man was an international phenomena that also ushered in the maze chase genre, introduced power-ups, featured cut-scenes, and opened gaming to female audiences. Pre-1980 arcade games showed off their tech prowess and imagination through games such as Pong and Space Invaders. However, 1980 games showed the world how much money was to be made in this arena.
 

The Rise of Technology

To see how far we have gone in the realm of video-gaming, all one must do is to look back to the 1980's to see how far we have come. 1980 arcade games pave the way for standardized gaming for decades to come. Namco released another contestant in the arena of 1980 arcade games. Rally-X became the first game to introduce a bonus round an feature multi-directional scrolling. Universal releases Space Panic which many cite as being the first platform game. Nintendo releases Radar Scope which features a mock 3D third person perspective. Atari releases Battlezone which was later used for US military training (with a few upgrades, of course. These are only a few of the gaming advances that were introduced into 1980 video games.

Pac-Man is King

Even after all of the above mentioned gaming advances in other 1980 arcade games, Pac-Man remains the best in its category. It took traditional gaming to that point and not only introduced many never seen before features, but it crossed retail lines by having the first mascot character from gaming in history. There were Pac Man lunchboxes, Pac Man plush toys, Pac Man notebooks, Pac Man posters, Pac Man TV Shows. Namco took its place as the grandfather of arcade gaming. They showed us not only how to constantly innovate and make anew, but also how to cross sell your innovation through several retail markets. It was because of 1980 arcade games that we see the video game market as we do today.
 

A Foreshadowing of Things to Come

In the coming years and decades, companies would take Namco's example and use it as the basis for all of their future projects. Namco's plan was the golden template. Simply put, 1980 Arcade-games set the standard.

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