10:34 “Once Space Invaders came out in 1978, people had a reason to go back to the arcade, because the arcades were struggling - remember all people had at the arcade was table tennis - all the arcade cabinets were table tennis.” No. No no no. We had so much variety at the arcades. Pong burst onto the scene in 72. By late 72 new games were joining Pong cabinets, though it was the quintessential game (much like jewel flipping/match games are the quintessential free mobile time-waster). We had games. Tons of games. Different gameplay games. At a bar or pizzeria, chances are the one cabinet they had would be Pong, or an older Pong tabletop. By mid 1977 we had Canyon Bomber, Indy 500, Tank, Space Ace, Drag Race, Combat, Destroyer, Robot Bowl, Acrobat, Circus, Comotion, Gridiron, Car Polo, Space War, Crash Course, Sub Hunter, UN Command, Roadrunner, Star Cruiser, Breakout, Bombs Away, Depthcharge, Cops ‘n Robbers, Starhawk, Lazer Command, Super High-way, Anti-Aircraft II, Witch Hunt, Desert Patrol, Fonz, Ace, Super Bug, Deluxe Baseball, Chase1, Moro-Cross, Great White Buffalo Hunt, Bullet Mark, Avenger, Alley Rally, Speed Race Twin, LeMans, Barricade, Wings, Midnight Racer, Night Driver, Man T.T., B-29, Laguna Racer, Aztec, Sky War, Tank-8, Heavyweight Champ, Cobra Gunship, Demolition Derby, Indy-4, UFO Chase, Crash n Score, Knights in Armor, Batter Up, Pool Shark, Safari, Spitfire, Air Combat, Super Crash, Outlaw, Minesweeper, Survival, Sky Battle, Starship1, Missile-X, Scratch, Sprint, Block Buster, 280 Zzzap, Kong, Hit Me, Jet Fighter, Highway, Maneater, Shark, JAWS, Steeplechase, Stockcars, Slot Race, Wheels, Wheels II... a hundred others I’m missing. Thanks for giving time to the first major crash, and I don’t want to discourage as your research was better than many, but there’s so much to gaming in the mid-70s, so much. UA-cam videos does so little justice to the era, so on a video like yours, just wanted to elaborate and share what we had. Also, in addition to those 500 Home Pong/Super Pong clones, there were other dedicated home systems for auto racing, stunt cycle, tank, light gun systems.. home video games went deeper than Pong.
From what I was able to find, the arcades were also hurting and losing revenue in the late 70's. If game variety was not the problem, as you pointed out, I am curious to know what was. I presumed it had to do with the decline of Pong. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my research. I promise to be more careful in the future when it comes to making certain assertions.
I'm confused by the stats at 0:55. In 1971 only two arcade games existed: Galaxy Game and Computer Space, and only Computer Space was mass manufactured and distributed. From what I understand, Computer Space was not particularly successful either. How could the videogame industry be worth any appreciable amount in 1971?
Also the only things released in 1972 were Pong and the Magnavox Odyssey. I know Pong was really successful, but $2 billion dollars successful? Perhaps I'm not understanding the stats on some level?
@@RealCynicalGamerAs someone who spent a lot of time in arcades in the 1970’s, I can confirm that there were A LOT of other games besides Pong before Space Invaders. Sea Wolf, Sprint 2, Tank, etc. were all massively popular in the years before Space Invaders.
10:34 “Once Space Invaders came out in 1978, people had a reason to go back to the arcade, because the arcades were struggling - remember all people had at the arcade was table tennis - all the arcade cabinets were table tennis.”
No. No no no. We had so much variety at the arcades. Pong burst onto the scene in 72. By late 72 new games were joining Pong cabinets, though it was the quintessential game (much like jewel flipping/match games are the quintessential free mobile time-waster). We had games. Tons of games. Different gameplay games.
At a bar or pizzeria, chances are the one cabinet they had would be Pong, or an older Pong tabletop. By mid 1977 we had Canyon Bomber, Indy 500, Tank, Space Ace, Drag Race, Combat, Destroyer, Robot Bowl, Acrobat, Circus, Comotion, Gridiron, Car Polo, Space War, Crash Course, Sub Hunter, UN Command, Roadrunner, Star Cruiser, Breakout, Bombs Away, Depthcharge, Cops ‘n Robbers, Starhawk, Lazer Command, Super High-way, Anti-Aircraft II, Witch Hunt, Desert Patrol, Fonz, Ace, Super Bug, Deluxe Baseball, Chase1, Moro-Cross, Great White Buffalo Hunt, Bullet Mark, Avenger, Alley Rally, Speed Race Twin, LeMans, Barricade, Wings, Midnight Racer, Night Driver, Man T.T., B-29, Laguna Racer, Aztec, Sky War, Tank-8, Heavyweight Champ, Cobra Gunship, Demolition Derby, Indy-4, UFO Chase, Crash n Score, Knights in Armor, Batter Up, Pool Shark, Safari, Spitfire, Air Combat, Super Crash, Outlaw, Minesweeper, Survival, Sky Battle, Starship1, Missile-X, Scratch, Sprint, Block Buster, 280 Zzzap, Kong, Hit Me, Jet Fighter, Highway, Maneater, Shark, JAWS, Steeplechase, Stockcars, Slot Race, Wheels, Wheels II... a hundred others I’m missing.
Thanks for giving time to the first major crash, and I don’t want to discourage as your research was better than many, but there’s so much to gaming in the mid-70s, so much. UA-cam videos does so little justice to the era, so on a video like yours, just wanted to elaborate and share what we had. Also, in addition to those 500 Home Pong/Super Pong clones, there were other dedicated home systems for auto racing, stunt cycle, tank, light gun systems.. home video games went deeper than Pong.
From what I was able to find, the arcades were also hurting and losing revenue in the late 70's. If game variety was not the problem, as you pointed out, I am curious to know what was. I presumed it had to do with the decline of Pong. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my research. I promise to be more careful in the future when it comes to making certain assertions.
@@RealCynicalGamer Did you ever get a reply about this?
I'm confused by the stats at 0:55. In 1971 only two arcade games existed: Galaxy Game and Computer Space, and only Computer Space was mass manufactured and distributed. From what I understand, Computer Space was not particularly successful either. How could the videogame industry be worth any appreciable amount in 1971?
Also the only things released in 1972 were Pong and the Magnavox Odyssey. I know Pong was really successful, but $2 billion dollars successful? Perhaps I'm not understanding the stats on some level?
The most overlooked video game crash in history. Because the one in 1983
is much more consequential.
But some day in the 2020s this lesson will never be learned thanks to ea and Activision greedy behavior
This video was very professionally done good job
Well, saying that before Space Invaders every arcade game was Pong is just a straight up lie. This wasn't the case at all.
Technically true but in terms of commercial viability and public awareness, it was Pong and only Pong before Space Invaders
@@RealCynicalGamerAs someone who spent a lot of time in arcades in the 1970’s, I can confirm that there were A LOT of other games besides Pong before Space Invaders.
Sea Wolf, Sprint 2, Tank, etc. were all massively popular in the years before Space Invaders.
Great video. This is the kind of content that makes channels take off. Keep it up.
This is an awesome video. Well done.
22 billion dollar industry in 1977. Sheeeiit
1st gen: *iCaNtCoUnT*
2nd gen: Atari 2600/5200, Odyssey2, Intellivision, Colecovision, Vectrex, Fairchild Channel F, RCA Studio II, SG-1000.
3rd gen: NES/FDS, Sega master system, Atari 7800
4th gen: SNES, Sega Genesis/CD/32x, Turbografx 16/CD/Supergrafx/TurboDuo, Atari Jaguar/CD, 3DO, SNK Neo Geo/CD, Amiga CD-32, Philips CD-I.
5th gen: N64, Sega Saturn, PS1, Apple Pippin.
6th gen: Game Cube, Sega Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox.
7th gen: Wii/Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Hyperscan.
8th gen: Switch, PS4/Pro, Xbox One/XB1X, Ouya, Google Stadia, Steam Machine.
9th gen: New Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, Atari VCS, Intellivision Amico.
Also my dad when he was a kid had a friend that had a Magnavox Odyssey.