Trivia: space invaders has one of the first bug turned features. The creator wanted the aliens to move the same throughout, but the limits of his hardware made them slow at first. The more aliens destroyed however freed up more processor space, so everything moved faster. The creator liked how it made the game more dynamic so kept it in :)
Pause the video and use period key to frame advance. Each 1/60th of a second, the player moves, player bullet moves, and one -- and only one -- invader moves. (Invader bullets move every 3rd frame). So when there are 3 invaders left (name them A, B and C), each frame moves invader A, then B, then C, A, B, C, etc. This would keep the processing consistent for each frame. So it's not like processing was freed up per-se (though that's a good high level way to explain it), it was that only so much could be accomplished in 1/60th of a second, and this decision was programmed into the gameplay (identical processing is performed no matter what's going on, on-screen) which creates a deterministic system.
It is incredible and outstanding mechanics. Truly worthy of being one of the greatest and oldest games of our time. Successors including Pong, Spacewar, and Asteroids.
Fun fact: The reason the aliens got faster as you shot more and more of them was because of an unintentional consequence of the computer able to process them faster due to fewer aliens being on the screen. The programmer decided to keep it in as a feature to make the game more challenging.
I just realize that the BASS sound was probably an important ingredient for the success of Space Invaders. Can feel the sensation i had again listening. And i played it like crazy when i was and around 12 year old.
1978 I was 9 years old when I saw this game in the back of a pizza shop... very addicting and I will always cherish those days. I thank my mother for putting up with waiting until I ran out of quarters. Thanks MoM
I was in England for one year at a Ladbroke Hotel in the New Forest. We had a mechanic that had a girl friend there. When he came he filled the machine up and I filled his belly, as the night porter I could just go to the kitchen and get him a steak :-)
I was 10. My older sister sat me down to play this game in her room one day while she entertained company in the living room. She used to DJ and practiced her mixing with her friends. I was just an annoying little brother. I was transfixed on this game. The sounds alone bring back some many memories. I can just close my eyes and listen to the sounds of this game and go right back to her room. Thank you, Lex, for the memories. I love you so much big sis. This game was an important part of us bonding. Tears...
That looks like one of the earliest examples in games where projectiles can actually interact with each other, something we, ironically enough, rarely see in games these days.
That's because most shots in modern FPS games are hitscan based. If you look at some modern shmups like ZeroRanger or Ganablade, there are often projectiles you can destroy.
@@bob3767 You should have seen how popular back in the day. You could buy your favorite Comic Book, and Kiss had an old 70s comic book. Play a Kiss pinball machine, and play a game of Space Invaders the same day...
I love how in Space Invaders things can go south so quickly, one minute you're feeling confident with three lives and then they're all gone a minute later and you're like wtf!
Still an awesome game. One of the first roms I loaded onto my Super Retrocade was Space Invaders. It's a classic! No retro arcade set-up is complete without Space Invaders.
My family had this on the Atari 2600. I never played this one when I was a kid, though, but apparently, my parents found it addicting, because when I set the system up in the early 2000's (I was in my late teens, early 20's at that point), my mom came in while my dad was playing and asked "are you addicted to Space Invaders yet?"
That artwork was amazing, I love the look of those old cabinets. I'm fortunate to be old enough to have experienced Arcades as a kid; back then they felt like Heaven lmao
There's something so satisfying listening to this after all this time. And I remember how deep the bass was on the cabinets. You could hear this rumble from a mile away!
I was born in 81, and this game was still a must as a boy of 6 or so, every time I had to spend hours at the laundromat with my mom. Though when I was at the Dairy Queen it was Ms. PacMan only. Loved it! life sucks for kids now, they don't know what they are missing.
I remember years ago when I visited a college campus while in high school. I went to the arcade room and saw Space Invaders for the first time during the 80s. I dropped in one quarter and had a blast playing the game. I became hooked ever since to the 80s arcades of that time. Boy, I really miss those days. Given a chance, I'd spend all those quarters again the same way without any regret. :)
I remember my cousin had this game and when he got older he gave it to me when I was 6-7 and it was the only thing I did for like a solid year I loved that game sadly I have not been able to find it sense then I am now 16 and still occasionally think of the fun I had sitting on the couch and playing this game kinda brings a tear to my eye
THANKS!!!! I was making a Space Invaders Clone for a school project and this helped me get more insight in the games mechanics, positions of the sprites and how the game functions overall.
Unfortunately I didn’t live that years...my father told me that the game room was his favourite place where he could have fun...I would give EVERYTHING to feel the same feeling😢
My OCD is killing me watching this game play. I remember spending 10p after 10p mastering this game. Was it 21 shots then hit the big space ship on 22 then all the others 14 and hit on the 15 to get the 300 point max points. Then of course if you had a piece of strimmer wire you could click up the credits for free...... oh the memories :)
The game can move 1 alien every screen refresh. It is very obvious when all the aliens are on the screen. As you run out of aliens, turn to move for each alien comes faster. I used to move them all at the same time when i remade it. Its one of the first things i do when i learn a new programming language as its not so hard to do (when you dont care if it plays or looks like the original - e.g. : boxes for aliens, no title screen, no sfx etc.). Last year i recorded a session of my playthrough of the arcade with mame and split the video in to jpgs. That changed my perspective in re-making the game.
@Genexolev Ashtiani Wow, I never expected someone to reply to my comment. Thanks a bunch! I was seeing two different versions of the game with different colors for the aliens and different pitches for the beeps. Is the multicolored version the MAME version of Space Invaders?
This is the game that inspired John Carmack to become a videogame developer. If it weren't for this game there wouldn't be classic games like Doom and Quake.
Even though Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Galaga are the superior classic arcade video games, Space Invaders came first and was easily the best video game of it's time.
Hey Paul, hi Frank it's one hell of a pounding today. Woops There goes Carl. He has three kids. The UFO has mini fridge. Frank and Paul did the most the ultimate sacrifice they ever did. They killed the game.
GOOD NEWS - I REACHED 1850 POINTS! NEW PERSONAL BEST SCORE HAPPENED YESTERDAY AT THE EMPORIUM ARCADE BAR PLAYING THE ORIGINAL SPACE INVADERS ARCADE GAME THAT EXISTED IN 1978!! WAS ALSO ABLE TO DESTROY FOR THE FIRST TIME THE YELLOW MYSTERY INVADER ON THE TOP OF THE SCREEN AND PASS ENEMY WAVE 1 WITHOUT MY TUBE SHOOTER BEING HIT AT ALL!!!
I noticed that Elliott's older brother Michael mentioned this arcade game from E.T. (I'm glad he told Elliort that Tyler (played by C. Thomas Howell) pulled the plug!)
@@gearsofwar3xXx Which is something that pretty much everyone (me included) who has tried to write a space invaders game forgets, that and each row moves on its own frame.
My parents had an Atari 2600 when I was growing up in the 90s. It's probably still in their loft somewhere. Fond memories of playing 2-player with my Dad, playing with my brother, and watching my Dad and my auntie play it 🙂 Breakout and some of the plane games were good too.
Únicamente vine aquí, quizá por qué me gustan los entornos destructibles en videojuegos Y la manera en como se van destruyendo las defensas del jugador me parece un exelente detalle para la época :D
I always liked the way that the notes decrease in repeating half steps, and gradually become faster and faster. It feels really ominous, and it has sort of the same atmosphere as the "Jaws" theme.
Man!!!! When that music sped up during the first game and there was only one invader left? My heart genuinely started pounding and I started to yell at the screen!!
@@jphataraki6764 100%, I still love and respect the purity of old Arcade games, equally happy playing this as I am any recognised PC gaming classic. Graphics are no barrier for entry, such a travesty what's happened to game, still at least we have the classics it's important to preserve them.
Fun fact: The original arcade graphics were all the same color: white. The screen cover had a transparent res strip at the top and transparent green strip at the bottom to "color" the space ship, the bases and your "missile launcher."
I actually played this game at school in 2nd grade. I'm not sure if the school couldn't afford new computers but it basically had these kind of graphics.
Still better then The Last of Us 2.
Yeah
“better THAN” not “better then” why are so many people misusing these words
Still can't believe it got game of the year I demand a revote
Boom
@@icronnus people are bad at grammar
Trivia: space invaders has one of the first bug turned features.
The creator wanted the aliens to move the same throughout, but the limits of his hardware made them slow at first.
The more aliens destroyed however freed up more processor space, so everything moved faster. The creator liked how it made the game more dynamic so kept it in :)
this is neat !
Pause the video and use period key to frame advance. Each 1/60th of a second, the player moves, player bullet moves, and one -- and only one -- invader moves. (Invader bullets move every 3rd frame). So when there are 3 invaders left (name them A, B and C), each frame moves invader A, then B, then C, A, B, C, etc. This would keep the processing consistent for each frame. So it's not like processing was freed up per-se (though that's a good high level way to explain it), it was that only so much could be accomplished in 1/60th of a second, and this decision was programmed into the gameplay (identical processing is performed no matter what's going on, on-screen) which creates a deterministic system.
Lol, he wanted all the aliens to move as fast as the one alien at 1:50? That's a bit unfair :p
Yes, ironically. That whole thing wasn't originally planned.
It is incredible and outstanding mechanics. Truly worthy of being one of the greatest and oldest games of our time. Successors including Pong, Spacewar, and Asteroids.
Fun fact: The reason the aliens got faster as you shot more and more of them was because of an unintentional consequence of the computer able to process them faster due to fewer aliens being on the screen. The programmer decided to keep it in as a feature to make the game more challenging.
Programmer were genius this decade
most people would think in a game like this it was intentional xd
Can’t be entirely true. Maybe for the aliens, but the bullets and UFO maintain a constant speed so there are still timers.
Porqué hay lag sólo en los extraterrestres y no en toda la pantalla?
@@Poopmukl This wasn't exactly a stroke of genius but rather something fun that came up that the dev decided to keep which is very neat still
The "bum...bum..." sound used to terrify me as kid. Especially when it sped up when there were fewer aliens on the screen.
It’s actually the bass line of
D C A# A
The real arcade sounds way better..: ua-cam.com/video/uqYNrv37DnY/v-deo.html
Hello all i am making the same game with slightly different things. Will anyone play my game. I am currently making the game just want to know
How old are you now
@@fluff3r_muff1nz008 44
@@gulgul2006
I created an acid line on my TB-303 that I plan to create some jacking Techno beats to. It goes like this:
D#
D
C#
C
Works for me!
This game is a masterpiece, it's still fun to this day 42 years later. Incredible.
no it"s not ,
@@brain8484 *[cough]*
You mean 43
@@brain8484It's timeless
I just realize that the BASS sound was probably an important ingredient for the success of Space Invaders.
Can feel the sensation i had again listening. And i played it like crazy when i was and around 12 year old.
In the voids of deep space.
Pretty much like 'Darth Vader' (deep, brooding & sinister) ...in a way of comparisons
Can I get this replica Game on android install?
1978 I was 9 years old when I saw this game in the back of a pizza shop... very addicting and I will always cherish those days. I thank my mother for putting up with waiting until I ran out of quarters. Thanks MoM
me too... old gamers -since 70
@@DionisioChannel old game in 2019 im 9 and play pac man,galaga,space invaders,asteroids,donkey kong,sonic
I was in England for one year at a Ladbroke Hotel in the New Forest. We had a mechanic that had a girl friend there. When he came he filled the machine up and I filled his belly, as the night porter I could just go to the kitchen and get him a steak :-)
@@kuri1796 Not a bad start to life ;-)
Hello all i am making the same game with slightly different things. Will anyone play my game. I am currently making the game just want to know
I was 10. My older sister sat me down to play this game in her room one day while she entertained company in the living room. She used to DJ and practiced her mixing with her friends. I was just an annoying little brother. I was transfixed on this game. The sounds alone bring back some many memories. I can just close my eyes and listen to the sounds of this game and go right back to her room. Thank you, Lex, for the memories. I love you so much big sis. This game was an important part of us bonding. Tears...
That looks like one of the earliest examples in games where projectiles can actually interact with each other, something we, ironically enough, rarely see in games these days.
That's because most shots in modern FPS games are hitscan based. If you look at some modern shmups like ZeroRanger or Ganablade, there are often projectiles you can destroy.
1:51-2:00 Fry: I could never get the last one my brother always got it for me
That's the Futurama line....
Hahaahah nice, iam not born in the era, but still live this game.
@@bob3767 You should have seen how popular back in the day. You could buy your favorite Comic Book, and Kiss had an old 70s comic book. Play a Kiss pinball machine, and play a game of Space Invaders the same day...
1:25
"wahahah, instead of shooting at where I was, you should have shot at where I was going!"
I love how in Space Invaders things can go south so quickly, one minute you're feeling confident with three lives and then they're all gone a minute later and you're like wtf!
This game has such a weird atmosphere to it I love it so much
i love how the speed bug was passed on as a feature
when a bug becomes part of your career
I now have a space invaders arcade1up cabinet and I love it.
Still a great game!
I really want one of those! Lucky😂
I would go for the original 1978 cabinet.
Still an awesome game. One of the first roms I loaded onto my Super Retrocade was Space Invaders. It's a classic! No retro arcade set-up is complete without Space Invaders.
middle of the night and im going to work soon, and here i am...
ua-cam.com/video/rU7S84B2_RI/v-deo.html
Olha o que achei, top viu mini arcade com o jogo spacer invaders.
Same wtf
Hello all i am making the same game with slightly different things. Will anyone play my game. I am currently making the game just want to know
Did you finish with slavery?
How are you nowadays?
Man what a legend this game was
*is*
My family had this on the Atari 2600. I never played this one when I was a kid, though, but apparently, my parents found it addicting, because when I set the system up in the early 2000's (I was in my late teens, early 20's at that point), my mom came in while my dad was playing and asked "are you addicted to Space Invaders yet?"
I remember the side of the cabinet, the "Space Invaders" looked like huge evil electrified yeti with glowing eyes
That artwork was amazing, I love the look of those old cabinets. I'm fortunate to be old enough to have experienced Arcades as a kid; back then they felt like Heaven lmao
I was born in 1977 and I love it. It was quite exciting, and frustrating when I was invaded and killed by a bullet
There's something so satisfying listening to this after all this time.
And I remember how deep the bass was on the cabinets. You could hear this rumble from a mile away!
This was my first introduction to video games when I was a kid at the roller skating rink. Damn I'm old
I still play this game to this day. This game is my favorite and also the only reason why I go to Dave N Busters
Awesome. This game was in my local News Agency in the early 80's. 10 pence to play (York, North Yorkshire, England).
Thanks for the memory.
I was born in 81, and this game was still a must as a boy of 6 or so, every time I had to spend hours at the laundromat with my mom. Though when I was at the Dairy Queen it was Ms. PacMan only. Loved it! life sucks for kids now, they don't know what they are missing.
I remember years ago when I visited a college campus while in high school. I went to the arcade room and saw Space Invaders for the first time during the 80s. I dropped in one quarter and had a blast playing the game. I became hooked ever since to the 80s arcades of that time. Boy, I really miss those days. Given a chance, I'd spend all those quarters again the same way without any regret. :)
I remember my cousin had this game and when he got older he gave it to me when I was 6-7 and it was the only thing I did for like a solid year I loved that game sadly I have not been able to find it sense then I am now 16 and still occasionally think of the fun I had sitting on the couch and playing this game kinda brings a tear to my eye
It's Saturday night. I have no date, a 2 liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mixtape.
Let's rock.
THANKS!!!!
I was making a Space Invaders Clone for a school project and this helped me get more insight in the games mechanics, positions of the sprites and how the game functions overall.
How cool! If you're allowed to you should post it for us to play.
We got a Texas Instruments TI99/4A in 1981 and this was one of the included cartridge games. Kept me busy for weeks and weeks! My record was 98 waves.
Souvenirs... Mes 16 ans, l'âge du bonheur et de l'insouciance. Merci pour cette vidéo qui m'a ramenée sur les chemins du bonheur.
Unfortunately I didn’t live that years...my father told me that the game room was his favourite place where he could have fun...I would give EVERYTHING to feel the same feeling😢
Saaaammmme
My OCD is killing me watching this game play. I remember spending 10p after 10p mastering this game. Was it 21 shots then hit the big space ship on 22 then all the others 14 and hit on the 15 to get the 300 point max points.
Then of course if you had a piece of strimmer wire you could click up the credits for free...... oh the memories :)
The game can move 1 alien every screen refresh. It is very obvious when all the aliens are on the screen. As you run out of aliens, turn to move for each alien comes faster. I used to move them all at the same time when i remade it. Its one of the first things i do when i learn a new programming language as its not so hard to do (when you dont care if it plays or looks like the original - e.g. : boxes for aliens, no title screen, no sfx etc.). Last year i recorded a session of my playthrough of the arcade with mame and split the video in to jpgs. That changed my perspective in re-making the game.
Mom in 1980- "Son, you'll never get anywhere in life playing video games" Mom in 2020- "Maybe my son will make millions as a professional gamer"
Wow , it seems my mom is still in 1980 xD
Who ?
nope, ppl still don't respect esports.
creapsmantic lighten up
@@cyl3611 Me for one.
The background music is very unsettling for me, even today, but with a great game like this, I guess it's justified.
@Genexolev Ashtiani Wow, I never expected someone to reply to my comment. Thanks a bunch!
I was seeing two different versions of the game with different colors for the aliens and different pitches for the beeps. Is the multicolored version the MAME version of Space Invaders?
My neighbor has an arcade machine of this game in his basement.
Go play with him lol
how the fuck do you know that???
@@gabrielf66 Are you his neighbor, ahahahha?
@@gabrielf66 Roi... brasil, né?
time to rob someone
White and green with the red spaceship is my favourite colour scheme for space invaders
This is the game that inspired John Carmack to become a videogame developer. If it weren't for this game there wouldn't be classic games like Doom and Quake.
Even though Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Galaga are the superior classic arcade video games, Space Invaders came first and was easily the best video game of it's time.
I’m recreating this game as a pinball machine for a class project. Thank you for uploading gameplay!
so how was that?
@@undomielkay Got 98% hehe! 😊
Great video gaming history right here! Also, all of the games from the Golden Age of Arcade Games have the best sounds!
In my opinion, this is the first true videogame ever. There were a few before it, but this is THE game that launched videogames into the mainstream
This game has some weird feeling of nostalgia
Silas Peddle thats because its from the 1970s
I have this on the Atari VCS/2600, and it's a perfect example of why great design is timeless.
I was born in 1989 and remember playing this game as a child. proably mid 90s
wow, you remind me of just how good i was at that game, i would get to level 10 or 15 before ever losing a life and never miss the ufo :/
Hey Paul, hi Frank it's one hell of a pounding today.
Woops There goes Carl. He has three kids.
The UFO has mini fridge.
Frank and Paul did the most the ultimate sacrifice they ever did.
They killed the game.
GOOD NEWS - I REACHED 1850 POINTS! NEW PERSONAL BEST SCORE HAPPENED YESTERDAY AT THE EMPORIUM ARCADE BAR PLAYING THE ORIGINAL SPACE INVADERS ARCADE GAME THAT EXISTED IN 1978!! WAS ALSO ABLE TO DESTROY FOR THE FIRST TIME THE YELLOW MYSTERY INVADER ON THE TOP OF THE SCREEN AND PASS ENEMY WAVE 1 WITHOUT MY TUBE SHOOTER BEING HIT AT ALL!!!
ua-cam.com/video/rU7S84B2_RI/v-deo.html
Olha o que achei, top viu mini arcade com o jogo spacer invaders.
"The Force is strong with this one."
This game paved the way for more successful shooting games, like Galaxian, and Galaga. Thank you, Space Invaders.
I feel so nostalgic watching this. I had the game on the first play station
I noticed that Elliott's older brother Michael mentioned this arcade game from E.T. (I'm glad he told Elliort that Tyler (played by C. Thomas Howell) pulled the plug!)
This game was responsible for eating up a lot of quarters out of my pockets when it came out.
you can literally see the performance increasing with each and every invader erased from the screen. poor little cpu must have really struggled lol
That is actually what happened, the invaders sped up as more of them disappeared, reducing the CPU load. It wasn't intentional.
@@gearsofwar3xXx Which is something that pretty much everyone (me included) who has tried to write a space invaders game forgets, that and each row moves on its own frame.
Always satisfying when you beat a level in this version. It feels like a real accomplishment.
Final level, one life left, it's time for the combo breaker, 3 2 1, gogogogogogogogogogo COMBO BREAKER!!!!!
My parents had an Atari 2600 when I was growing up in the 90s. It's probably still in their loft somewhere. Fond memories of playing 2-player with my Dad, playing with my brother, and watching my Dad and my auntie play it 🙂 Breakout and some of the plane games were good too.
Nothing like them classic games that started off a new revolution and exciting industry! Good video!!
T-Shirt Idea: A representation of when the second to last alien is killed.
The tagline: Shit just got real.
That sound that gets faster and faster is more terrifying than most horror movies coming out today.
Wow this brings back memories of countless hours on the Atari when I was in elementary school!
Best arcade of the 1970s.
Únicamente vine aquí, quizá por qué me gustan los entornos destructibles en videojuegos
Y la manera en como se van destruyendo las defensas del jugador me parece un exelente detalle para la época :D
I always liked the way that the notes decrease in repeating half steps, and gradually become faster and faster.
It feels really ominous, and it has sort of the same atmosphere as the "Jaws" theme.
Agreed, that music is part of the allure. But to my ear it descends B, A, G, F sharp. So not all half steps.
Space Invaders is the bomb and I am looking forward to playing the game.
this really does keep you on the edge of your seat huh
45 years? Dude this is insane.
Thank you for posting
Tmw when ur in space invaders and the pacman chases you and you get crushed by a tetris block
Man!!!! When that music sped up during the first game and there was only one invader left? My heart genuinely started pounding and I started to yell at the screen!!
This sound meant you were on holiday and in the arcade. Never liked the game but later on (late 80s and 90s) I like the sound for nostalgia.
The little “boop boop boop boop” noise holds tension better than most modern horror games
I remember playing that!
ill be using this footage for homework thank you in advance
Simple, but classic and fun.
I FINALLY SEE THIS AGAIN! DEYM IM LOOKING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG!
AND YAAAH THAT EFFIN BUM BUM SOUND HAHAHAHHAAHA
the move sounds, and the shooting sounds are really unnerving
An absolute legend, even 45 years later.
This used to be my dad's favorite game of atari when he was a kid.
Wow what a classic 😊
"Paul didn't see you there."
"Hey Frank! Ooh it's a hell of a pounding we're taking today."
Bring back memories of playing this on my Dad's old Atari.
I never managed to beat it though.
*oh my god is that what happened to the air force base in pixels?*
that was the most intense 3 minutes 54 second of my life
Perhaps the best "simple" game of all time; linear, clear objective, stress-inducing, existentialist, do or die. This one or Tetris.
Crazy to think this was what video games were like 41 years ago compared to what they are today
Better than most "cinematic" trash coming out now.
@@jphataraki6764 100%, I still love and respect the purity of old Arcade games, equally happy playing this as I am any recognised PC gaming classic. Graphics are no barrier for entry, such a travesty what's happened to game, still at least we have the classics it's important to preserve them.
Fun fact:
The original arcade graphics were all the same color: white.
The screen cover had a transparent res strip at the top and transparent green strip at the bottom to "color" the space ship, the bases and your "missile launcher."
the first and ONLY time in history where lag is an actual part of the game
Entering Korok Forest in BotW feels like lag is part of the game..
It's not lag it's like that
just made a couple of GIFs from this video & they'll be on FB & twitter from tomorrow
This game was invented in Japan 👌👌. One of the classixs and most loved games
Every time you kill the aliens, they move faster.
Fun fact: one of this game’s enemies are also the alien monster emoji for a few platforms, slightly different: 👾
I actually played this game at school in 2nd grade. I'm not sure if the school couldn't afford new computers but it basically had these kind of graphics.
That is awesome. Please, how to do? Is there a place to get the code and instructions?
The music makes this feel like a horror game
*Reach for the stars.... To reach so faaaarr...*
*_uncontrollable sobbing_*
What’s the Japanese song that plays during the intro?
The guy made this game had to design all the hard ware from the ground up, because standard computers were simply garbage back then.
This game will always be better than Fortnite
Hell yeah
Yep
This is what boomers who don’t acknowledge video games as art think gamers are referring to.