Now gamers, without leaving home or even looking up from their mobile device, can start computer battles in multiplayer shooters or immerse themselves in an entertaining strategy. But it all started with arcade machines in America about forty years ago.

And then, probably, the ultimate dream of the young gamer was to rush instead of lessons to the shopping center to the arcade shooter games, to the magnificent bright consoles that predetermined the development of computer games for years to come. Today we will remember the most iconic of them.



According to legend, the first slot machine with the most primitive filling was developed and installed within the walls of Stanford University back in 1971. It was based on the prototype of modern computers - the 16-bit minicomputer PDP-11 from the Massachusetts company Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). This slot machine came out with a pre-installed Spacewar game! and cost the creators a pretty penny. But, as they say, it did its job, giving impetus to the endeavors of many programmers and development companies.

Such as the legendary Atari, which entered the market a year later, in 1972, with the Pong table tennis emulator. For those who have forgotten what we are talking about, or were not even born in those distant times, we will simply show a picture - and you will understand everything:

And although it was not possible to find a real arcade console on eBay, the original versions of TV set-top boxes released in 1975 (!!!), still available for sale. And in working condition and original packaging! By the way, you only need to pay $100 or even less to dive into the distant past with a game that is amazing in its fascination and primitiveness.

And if Pong largely defined the direction of the arcade video game industry, then the next development, the cult game Space Invaders, was like an explosion that changed the cultural landscape, without exaggeration, all over the world for many years.

Created in 1978 by one of the leading figures in the video game industry at the time, Japanese Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders became so popular in its homeland that there was an acute shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan - all of them were going out of circulation, accumulating in the receivers of arcade consoles. Which, by the way, can still be purchased.

About the nightmare of all young gamers of the eighties - the famous yellow pizza eating everything in its path and the arcade game Pac-Man of the same name.

Owing its appearance in 1980 in its original form to yet another Japanese programmer, Toru Iwatani, the game gained incredible popularity in the United States. Especially after Midway took over its promotion, introducing a new console design. You can also purchase the original model on eBay, where the average price is about $3,000 .

Shigeru Myamoto was never interested in computer games. Exactly until the moment he saw and spent a couple of days at the Space Invaders console. And after that, he fell ill with arcade games, as they say. The result is the appearance of an adventure game of his own composition, the legendary platformer Donkey Kong.

It was thanks to this game that the mustachioed plumber Mario, who was originally called simply “Jumper” in the first versions of Donkey Kong, saw the light of day. He, in turn, has already become a symbol of Nintendo.

Then, in 1982, the Vidz Kidz company introduced its revolutionary arcade console model with the Robotron game pre-installed. There was nothing innovative in the game itself - a typical shooter at that time. But its management was truly revolutionary. Instead of the standard set - a joystick for moving and a button for shooting, the engineers proposed using two eight-way joysticks:

This technology gave impetus to the development of many new devices - for example, the Xbox joystick works on exactly the same principle. Well, if you have a desire to place the Robotron 204 device at home next to a modern device, then this can be arranged - prices for original models fluctuate around $1500-2000 .

And finally, the prototype of modern multiplayer shooters and quests is the Gauntlet video console from Atari, released in 1985. One of the first arcade games with up to four players.

Due to its phenomenal success, Gauntlet was subsequently ported to most home gaming systems of the eighties - from the Apple II to the eight-bit Atari, DOS and so on.