oobject » revolutionary arcade cabinets

revolutionary arcade cabinets

During the golden age of video arcade games, arcades were blowing up and reaching all new levels of popularity in the states. However, in the mid 1980s the fad suddenly came to a halt with the production of home computers and home video game consoles which assured players that they would never need to leave the house or burn quarters to play their favorite games. The video arcade business still exists today, but it is a decedent husk of what it once was. The following 12 arcade cabinets were revolutionary not only during the golden age but long after the arcade industry and arcade games were forgotten.

(Ranked by user votes) Vote on and review the contenders below.

"Computer Space is a video arcade game released in November 1971 by Nutting Associates. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who would both later found Atari, it is generally accepted that it was the world's first commercially sold coin-operated video game."

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wistit »

1971: Computer Space. more...

(votes: +9)

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"Tron is a coin-operated arcade video game manufactured and distributed by Bally Midway in 1982. It is based on the Walt Disney Productions motion picture Tron released in the same year. Events from this science fiction film were the inspirations for four subgames of which the game consists. It features some characters and equipment known from the film, eg the Light Cycles, battle tanks, the Input/Output Tower. The game earned more than the film's initial release."

(votes: +8)

"Star Wars is an arcade game produced by Atari Inc. and released in 1983. The game is a first person space simulator, based around Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. More specifically the game's action covers the final act of the movie: the attack on the Death Star. The game is composed of 3D color vector graphics."

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wistit »

1983: Star Wars. more...

(votes: +6)

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"Donkey Kong is an arcade game developed by Nintendo, released in 1981. It is an early example of the platform genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging obstacles."

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wistit »

1981: Donkey Kong. more...

(votes: +6)

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"Space Invaders is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally."

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wistit »

1978: Space Invaders. more...

(votes: +5)

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"X-Men is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992. It is a side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the characters of the same name under license from Marvel Comics."

(votes: +3)

"Tempest is an arcade game by Atari Inc., originally designed and programmed by David Theurer. The game is notable for being the first video game with a selectable level of difficulty (determined by the initial starting level). The game is a tube shooter, a type of shoot 'em up where the environment is fixed, but is viewed from a three-dimensional perspective."

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wistit »

1981: Temptest. more...

(votes: +3)

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"Gauntlet is the name of a fantasy-themed hack and slash 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. Released during the emergence of popularity of other role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, the game was a sensation, being one of the first true dungeon crawl arcade games."<p /><p />In the sequel, players are able to choose their character and are not bound by the original's assigned joysticks for character selection.

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wistit »

1986: Gauntlet 2. more...

(votes: +3)

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"Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game developed and released by Sega. The game gives the player the experience of flying a fighter craft through a fortress while shooting at enemy entities. At the time of its release, Zaxxon was unique as it was the first game to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game (AXXON from AXONometric projection). The type of axonometric projection is isometric projection: this effect simulated three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint."

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wistit »

1982: Zaxxon. more...

(votes: +2)

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"Crystal Castles is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc in 1983. The player controls a cartoon bear by the name of Bentley Bear, who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies out to get him as well as the gems.<p />Crystal Castles is also notable for being one of the first arcade games with an actual ending, whereas most games of the time either continued indefinitely, or simply just restarted from the first level."

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wistit »

1983: Crystal Castles. more...

(votes: +2)

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"Hologram Time Traveler is a stereographic laserdisc FMV arcade game released in 1991 by Sega and designed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer. It is called the "World's First Holographic Video Game"[1] because it utilizes a special arcade cabinet that projects the game's characters. The holographic effect is an optical illusion using a huge curved mirror and a CRT television set."

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wistit »

1991: Hologram Time Traveler. more...

(votes: +1)

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"Lucky & Wild is a 1992 rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. The game's plot and setting resembles the 1989 American action/comedy film titled Tango & Cash. The first player controls Lucky, a businessman who drives and wields a gun simultaneously, while second player controls Wild, a surfer with long blonde hair who just shoots with a gun. The game can be played in five ways (two of them official and three of them unofficial)."

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wistit »

1992: Lucky & Wild. more...

(votes: 0)

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