Space Invaders
TECHNICAL DATASHEET
Game name: Space Invaders
Manufacturer: Taito Corporation
Year of development: 1978
Category: Shoot'em up
Hardware Platform Info:
- CPU: Taito 8080 @ 2MHz
- Sound: SN76477 @1.9968MHz
Main developer: Toshihiro Nishikado, Taito Corporation
Music Composer: N/A
GAME STORY
History of development:
The creators of Taito wanted to develope a video game in which a soldier shot enemy troops, but considered it violent and replaced it with the famous Space Invaders. Leaving the design to Toshihiro Nishikado, the game saw the light in 1978, being a mass phenomenon. The hardware available at that time was not sufficient for Space Invaders and Nishikado designed his own hardware using new microprocessors that had recently been released in the United States.
Game Overview:
The player controls a cannon that can move from right to left and a fire button. Rows of invading aliens appear in three types: squid, crab, and octopus. These come closer to Earth, faster and faster, as the player destroys his enemies.
Curiosities:
- It was the first game that contained a music, although simple, since it was composed with 4 notes that are repeated. As more aliens are defeated, the aliens' movement and the game's music both speed up.
- It is the first game that includes a maximum score marker, which encouraged competition among players and increased, in return, the number of games.
- It was the first game in which enemies shot the player and had several lives.
- This arcade appeared as a hidden mini-game in a multitude of subsequent video games.
- Legend has it that there was a shortage of coins in Japan due to its success.
- While programming the game, Nishikado discovered that the processor was able to render each frame of the alien's animation graphics faster when there were fewer aliens on the screen, So even though this feature was not planned, it was finally retained in the game, as a way to increase the difficulty by advancing in the destruction of aliens.
HISTORY OF MACHINE IN ARCADE VINTAGE
Status: OPERATIONAL
Information about the location and purchase by Arcade Vintage:
Machine acquired by José Mª Litarte, on July 8, 2013, from Steve Hatton. It was transported by TV program Shiping Wars from Birkenhead (England).
Links to other related websites:
Video Shiping Wars: https://youtu.be/arKBrXTjmro