Video Games - 5/6 - Retroland

For those who didn't necessarily want to wage their arcade battles in the far reaches of space, there was once a game called Frogger, which allowed us to help a member of the animal kingdom traverse obstacles both natural and man-made, and find his way safely to his preferred habitat. This journey, both daunting and surprisingly addictive, made Konami's Frogger an instant hit among the masses, and one of the most beloved video games to emerge from the 80s.

Centipede

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The male-dominated video game industry was injected with a woman’s perspective in 1980, when Dona Bailey became the first woman to help design an arcade game. Alongside the legendary Atari programmer Ed Logg, who had unleashed Asteroids on the public a year earlier, the pair created a masterpiece called Centipede, one of the first games to appeal to both men and women alike. The result was one of the most successful titles in arcade history.

Missile Command

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Would you like to play a game? Back in the 80s the Cold War was still a very real threat so naturally, the whole global thermonuclear annihilation thing made a fantastic subject for arcade games. Missile Command, released by Atari in 1980, took advantage of the U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. standoff to create a virtual world where missiles were indeed flying fast and furious and only you and your quarters could save the country.

Air Hockey

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Greatness is often found in simplicity. And when it comes to arcade games, there is no greater embodiment of simplicity than Air Hockey, a game that can be learned in less than a minute and is still played, over 40 years since its inception, all around the world. It came upon the scene in the early 70s, and soon after, the distinctive click-clack sounds of two players battling it out could be heard in every arcade across the country.

Space Invaders

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Backed by a thudding bass beat, dozens of invaders from another world descended on our planet in 1978. Within months, Space Invaders was one of the hottest fads on the globe, helping propel the video arcade into a multi-billion dollar industry. Let's take a look back and trace this history of this beloved game.

Tempest

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Placing unsuspecting gamers right in the heart of a terrifying storm, Atari's Tempest literally put a whole new perspective on video games. With dazzling color vector graphics (an arcade first), the game was set in a gravity well, a forced-perspective structure with your claw-like yellow "Blaster" skirting around the outside rim. From inside the blackness, hordes of enemies approached, sliding up and around the walls, ready to destroy you on contact.

Donkey Kong

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Even when apes are angry and throwing things at you, they still retain a certain adorable charm which is why the big gorilla on a rampage in Manhattan is actually the tragic hero of 1933's King Kong. Nintendo might have gambled on simian appeal but could not have foreseen the lasting popularity their Donkey Kong character would have for decades to come. The game, released in 1981, would spawn countless sequels, spin-off and imitators - and even launched the career of Donkey Kong's nemesis, Jumpman.

Asteroids

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Of all the arcade games released over the years, a mere handful have reached iconic status, games that if you lived in a particular generation, there was little chance that you had escaped their magnetism. The Atari mega-hit Asteroids is certainly deserving of this special status. Released in 1979, during the era of Star Wars, it utilized simple black and white vector graphics, an (at the time) impressive array of buttons, and a repeatability factor that was unparalleled.

Breakout

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For all of the mass frenzy created by the introduction of Pong in 1972, the excitement started to wane four years later, as the public was eager for new and exciting arcade games. As a result, future Apple computer creators Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak put their heads together and the result was Breakout, the newest chapter in coin-operated game history that was destined to sweep the world.