PixlBit

My first task in 2026 is the Atari years, 1977-1984. The system dominated the home console wars until the Famicom in '84. Arcades were king and PCs were just beginning to explore more complex experiences but for a high price. Here's a very personal breakdown of those years. I'm sure others have different ideas of what's most notable. 

1977

My arcade favorite was Breakout at third best overall in sales according to wiki behind Sea Wolf, #1 and Sprint 2, #2. I was surprised to learn this game did better than Pong in Japan. I can relate to that. 

Although the Japan exclusive Color TV-Game system won the sales war overall that year, it was all AVCS in America and #2 overall in sales worldwide. My family didn't get one until 1980. I was playing Mattel's various handheld LED systems and Simon until then. 

A notable local event was the opening of Electronics Boutique at the King of Prussia Mall in KOP, Pa this year. This was my main mall where I experienced the arcades. I was biking it there on weekends with friends to play the latest video games. EB became GameStop eventually. 

I always feel '77 is like ground zero for my interests in gaming. The Apple II came out, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons released and my favorite war game Squad Leader dropped. But, I didn't get into any of these until the 80s. 

1978

This is the year of Taito's Space Invaders which really jump started the arcade craze. Also a few favorites of mine Namco's Gee Bee and Atari's Super Breakout. 

The Atari Video Computer System takes top spot in console sales this year. 

1979

Space Invaders is still killing it but Namco's Galaxian is in second in sales in the arcades. Space Invaders Part II had come out but my favorite this year was Lunar Rescue, a sort of spiritual third game in the series and highly inspired by another favorite of mine this year, Lunar Lander. Asteroids comes out and will soon overtake Space Invaders in America.  

The AVCS is still tops in home systems but in second is IBM's PC, which I got to experience on holidays at my aunt and uncle's place. 

Activision and Capcom are founded this year. 

1980

I feel I was the perfect age, 13, this year to experience the full bloom of the arcades. Add Pac-Man, Berzerk and Missile Command to the list of hit games and I start to remember specific arcade rooms where these games were always present alongside Space Invaders, Galaxian, Asteroids, and Lunar Lander. 

Game & Watch takes the top spot in sales for home systems. I don't remember seeing these anywhere in the U.S. when I was growing up, but maybe I just overlooked them. #2 was still the AVCS (now the Atari 2600) and my family finally got one, a four-switch, that year. The Space Invaders port was the top game for it which got us kids to always compare arcade to home ports of games and which system did it best. 

Mattel's Intellivision was in the fourth spot in sales behind the TRS-80 home computer. My same age friend next door had an Intellivision and all the nieghborhood kids would go over there to play head-to-head sports games. I liked Sea Battle the best though because I was into war board games at the time. 

I experienced Zork this year on my aunt's IBM PC on holidays. 

1981

Things are really heating up with a ton of great arcade game releases: Donkey Kong, Defender, Frogger, Galaga, Tempest.

Wizardry, Ultima and Castle Wolfenstein come out on computers. I would only play Wiz but not until '84. 

The Space Invaders port is still tops in sales on home systems. The top three systems are: Game & Watch, Atari 2600 and Intellivision in that order. 

The birth of video game magazines is this year with Electronic Games being the one I know about. I don't remember reading it in the day though. I was reading DnD related ones like White Dwarf and Dragon. 

1982

 Arcades were a wild madness for me this year. Us neighborhood kids would be biking all over the place finding arcades or single machines in every sort of business you could imagine. New titles like Dig Dig, Q*bert, Time Pilot, Front Line, Dk. Junior, Centipede, Zaxxon, Joust, Robotron 2084 and Ms. Pac-Man just blew our socks off. 

The best selling home games were all arcade ports, the tops being Pac-Man. Us kids called Mattel's ColecoVision the best system for ports. Luckily another neighbor's same age as me kids had one and we'd all truck over there to experience the best in arcade ports like Donkey Kong and Front Line at home. 

The 2600 overtakes Game & Watch this year but GW holds at second place. Intellivision and ColecoVision are both in the top ten and with the 2600 made up the three big ones us kids played at home in my neighborhood. The Commodore 64 comes out but it's a system I didn't see at the time. 

Starcade was a tv game show centered around video games, the first of its kind. I only watched it much, much later. I somehow overlooked it in the day. 

EA Games and Lucasfilm Games are founded this year. 

1983

Arcades see games like Mario Bros., Dragon's Lair on laserdisc, Spy Hunter, Xevious, and the Star Wars vector graphics game come out. There's so many more but these are ones I saw regularly in my area. 

Game & Watch takes the top spot again in home systems with the 2600 second, then C64 and ColecoVision fourth. 

Saturday Supercade aired, an animated show that told the stories of various video games. I've only seen this recently. I guess I was watching something else at the time. Maybe, at 16, I was not watching Saturday morning cartoons anymore. 

1984

Capcom's 194X series of shooters came out as well as Punch Out!!, Dragon's Lair sequel Space Ace, and Marble Madness just to name ones I played back then. 

The Atari 2600 falls right off the top ten list of sales this year overtaken by the Famicon in Japan at number one and the C64 in second in America and beyond. This was the year my family got a home computer, the Apple IIc, a sort of portable Apple computer at a lower price. We still had the Atari, and I still played it a bit, but the Apple IIc was the center of my gaming world this year. I was playing Wizardry I every Sunday after my Verger duties at my church. 

And that pretty much ended the Atari years for me. After this it was all Apple computers and arcades until I caught up with the NES in the 90s. There's so much more than I mentioned here to explore and talk about. I hope to come across some new games that I can add to what I can talk about for these years. 

What's notable to you for these years?