159 Fun Facts About Arcade

Which 1971 game by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney was the first commercial arcade video game?

It was a coin-op adaptation of the 1962 mainframe game Spacewar!, and Bushnell designed its curvy fiberglass cabinet to look futuristic.

Atari's Pong was built by engineer Allan Alcorn as what kind of assignment from Nolan Bushnell?

Bushnell based the concept on the table-tennis game of the Magnavox Odyssey, and Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement.

In which Sunnyvale, California bar was the Pong prototype test-installed in August 1972?

The prototype was so popular its coin box jammed with quarters, convincing Atari it had a hit.

Which retailer sold Atari's Home Pong console exclusively during the 1975 Christmas season?

Toy retailers had turned Atari down; Bushnell only approached the chain after spotting a Magnavox Odyssey ad in the sporting goods section of its catalogue.

Space Invaders designer Tomohiro Nishikado modelled his aliens on the octopus-like creatures from which novel?

He also borrowed the space theme after seeing the anime Space Battleship Yamato and a magazine feature on Star Wars.

Which company released Space Invaders in Japan in July 1978?

Demand was so high that by December 1978 the company was importing Midway-built cabinets back into Japan to keep up.

The first Space Invaders cabinets had black-and-white graphics. How did they add colour to the screen?

Both Taito's and Midway's originals used transparent orange and green overlays; Namco's Galaxian brought a true RGB display a year later.

The 1980 Atari 2600 port of Space Invaders is credited with roughly what effect on console sales?

It was the first officially licensed arcade-to-console port and is often called the first killer app for home consoles.

Under what title was Pac-Man originally released in Japan in May 1980?

The name came from the Japanese phrase paku paku taberu (gobbling), and was changed for North America over fears vandals would turn the P into an F.

Which of the four Pac-Man ghosts is the orange one that alternates between chasing and fleeing?

Namco's president originally wanted all four ghosts to be identical and red; designer Toru Iwatani gave each its own colour and personality.

What is the perfect score on the original Pac-Man arcade game?

It requires maxing out all 255 levels and then squeezing every point from the glitched 256th level, and Billy Mitchell was the first to do it publicly in 1999.

Which novelty duo took the song "Pac-Man Fever" to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100?

The single went gold with more than a million copies sold by 1982, and the album of the same name sold over a million too.

What was the unofficial Pac-Man enhancement kit that became Ms. Pac-Man called?

GCC had to take the project to Midway because of an earlier legal fight with Atari, and Midway turned it into an official sequel.

Donkey Kong was created to salvage thousands of unsold cabinets of which flop Nintendo game?

Nintendo of America was stuck with about 2,000 unsold machines, so a conversion kit was ordered, giving Shigeru Miyamoto his first design job.

Donkey Kong's hero was originally called Jumpman. He was renamed Mario after whom?

Mario Segale rented Nintendo of America its first office space; the name Jumpman had been chosen for its similarity to Walkman and Pac-Man.

Which studio unsuccessfully sued Nintendo, claiming Donkey Kong infringed its King Kong trademark?

The court found the studio did not actually own the rights it claimed, and Nintendo's lawyer John Kirby was later thanked with a namesake character.

At the start of which level number does Donkey Kong's infamous kill screen occur?

It is the 130th stage overall, and a tool-assisted run in 2025 found a glitch that sometimes lets Mario climb straight to the top of it.

The King of Kong (2007) follows Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong rivalry with which challenger?

Its subtitle is A Fistful of Quarters, and Twin Galaxies later stripped Mitchell's Donkey Kong records before reinstating some of them.

Galaga was the 1981 sequel to which earlier Namco shooter?

Its signature trick lets a Boss Galaga capture your ship with a tractor beam; rescue it and you fight on as a dual fighter with double the firepower.

Asteroids, Atari's best-selling arcade game, was drawn on what kind of monitor?

The crisp line-drawn look came from hardware originally built for Lunar Lander; players soon found a 'lurking' exploit by hiding at the screen edge opposite the saucer.

Which 1981 trackball-controlled Atari game co-designed by Dona Bailey was an early arcade hit with women?

Bailey was one of the very few female programmers in the industry at the time; players fire darts at a segmented bug winding down through a field of mushrooms.

Defender was the first video game project of which Williams pinball programmer?

With a joystick plus five buttons controlling direction, thrust, fire, smart bombs and hyperspace, it is routinely listed among the hardest arcade games ever made.

In Frogger, how many frogs must you guide home to clear a level?

Konami made it and Sega/Gremlin distributed it in North America; by 2005 its home versions had sold 20 million copies.

Q*bert (1982), the hopper who curses in symbols, was the biggest video game hit for which pinball maker?

Because Columbia Pictures owned the company at the time, the rights to the character stayed with Columbia even after it sold the company in 1984.

Q*bert starts each round at the top of a pyramid made of how many cubes?

You win the level by hopping every cube to the target colour, and jumping off the edge kills the character.

Dragon's Lair (1983) stood out for film-quality animation by which former Disney animator?

It ran off a LaserDisc player, and a perfect no-death run of the game lasts under 12 minutes.

In Dragon's Lair the player controls Dirk the Daring on a quest to save whom?

The game was such a sensation that the LaserDisc players inside many cabinets broke down from overuse.

Roughly how many Pac-Man arcade units were produced, making it the best-selling cabinet of the golden age?

Asteroids was next at about 70,000 units, followed by Donkey Kong at over 60,000.

Which 1982 Sega game introduced isometric graphics and shadows to arcades?

The same year Sega shipped SubRoc-3D, which used a special eyepiece to give players stereoscopic 3D.

Street Fighter II is a landmark of which Capcom arcade hardware, being the fourteenth game to use it?

The team, led by Final Fight veterans Yoshiki Okamoto and Akira Yasuda, did not originally intend the combo system; players discovered that certain moves flowed into others.

How many playable fighters did the original 1991 Street Fighter II offer?

Ryu and Ken returned from the first game alongside six newcomers, with four CPU-only Grand Masters waiting at the end of the single-player ladder.

Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage was loosely modelled on which martial-arts star Midway had hoped to feature?

The actor was already negotiating a game deal elsewhere, so the team returned to their ninja-themed fighter idea and cast Daniel Pesina as both Cage and Scorpion.

Controversy over Mortal Kombat's digitized gore helped prompt the creation of which body?

Its playable roster had just seven characters, while Goro, Shang Tsung and the hidden Reptile were CPU-only.

Sega's Daytona USA (1994) was the first game released on which arcade board, developed with GE Aerospace?

The board could do texture mapping and filtering, and Sega's stated goal was to outdo Namco's Ridge Racer.

Namco's Time Crisis series set itself apart from other light-gun shooters with what mechanic?

The first game arrived in December 1995 and also forced players to clear each battle within a time limit, hence the title.

Dance Dance Revolution debuted in Japanese arcades in 1998 as part of which Konami music-game brand?

It reached North America and Europe in 1999 and is credited with pioneering the rhythm-and-dance genre.

Skee-Ball was patented in 1908 by Joseph Fourestier Simpson, a resident of which state?

The earliest alleys were 32 feet long, and the name came from the way the ball is 'skeed' into the pockets like a ski jumper leaving the ramp.

Whac-A-Mole descends from Mogura Taiji, a 1975 arcade machine Kazuo Yamada invented for which company?

In Japan it was the second highest-grossing electro-mechanical arcade game of both 1976 and 1977, beaten only by Namco's F-1.

Which New York City mayor banned pinball in the early 1940s, a ban that lasted until 1976?

He believed the machines robbed schoolchildren of their nickels and dimes; the ban ended after Roger Sharpe famously called a shot in front of the city council.

Which 1947 machine was the first pinball game with electromechanical player-controlled flippers?

Its low-power flippers were so weak it needed three pairs up the playfield, and they faced outward, the opposite of modern machines.

Which 1992 licensed pinball machine set the modern sales record with 20,270 units?

Williams celebrated in 1994 with a run of 1,000 gold-trimmed limited-edition machines with new software features.

The first mainstream solid-state pinball games of 1976 and 1977 all ran on which microprocessor?

Bally's Freedom in December 1976 led the way, with Williams' Hot Tip following nine months later.

Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre was founded in 1977 by the founder of which company?

The Atari founder wanted arcades in family-friendly venues rather than pool halls, and the chain doubled as a distribution outlet for Atari's new releases.

Dave & Buster's, founded in Dallas in 1982, calls the arcade inside each location by what name?

The company is named for founders David Corriveau and James 'Buster' Corley, and it later bought Main Event Entertainment.

Which 1980 game by Sun Electronics was the first arcade game to use speech synthesis?

Namco's King & Balloon followed soon after, and Berzerk's taunting robots made talking cabinets famous in the West.

The first arcade video game was a coin-operated version of which 1962 computer game?

It came in a futuristic fibreglass cabinet and 1,500 units were built by Nutting Associates.

Pong's ping-pong concept came from a game on which home console, whose maker then sued Atari?

Magnavox won a patent settlement, and Atari kept building the industry regardless.

Space Invaders supposedly caused a shortage of which item in Japan, a story now seen as a myth?

Numismatists at the time reported nothing unusual, and the designer himself was sceptical.

Who designed Pac-Man, aiming to make a game women would enjoy as much as men?

He led a nine-man team and has said the character was inspired by a pizza with a slice missing.

Which of Pac-Man's four ghosts is red and chases him directly?

Pinky and Inky try to get in front of him, while Clyde alternates between chasing and fleeing.

In Galaga, what can a Boss Galaga capture with its tractor beam?

Rescue it and you get a 'dual fighter' with double firepower.

Which company developed Frogger in 1981?

Sega published it, and Sega/Gremlin handled the North American release.

Frogger's second half has the frog crossing a river by hopping on logs, turtles and what?

Machines could be set to give players three, five or seven frogs.

What is the player protecting from the alien waves in Defender?

You start with three smart bombs that wipe every enemy off the screen.

Which control device does Missile Command use to aim its counter-missiles?

Designer Dave Theurer chose it because it was faster than a joystick for the Cold War panic he was simulating.

How many cities must the player defend in Missile Command?

Its designer went on to make Tempest for Atari the following year.

What is the name of the purple snake that chases Q*bert?

He starts life as a bouncing purple egg before hatching.

Dragon's Lair (1983) played its animation from which storage medium?

Ex-Disney animator Don Bluth drew Dirk the Daring's adventure, and the idea came from Sega's Astron Belt.

Which 1982 film was closely tied to an arcade game of the same name?

The golden age saw Pac-Man, Mario and Q*bert cross over into songs, cartoons and movies too.

How many video game arcades were there in North America at the 1982 peak?

By 1998 the number had fallen back to about 4,000.

How many attack buttons does Capcom's 1991 World Warrior fighting game use?

Combined with an eight-way joystick, the layout became the fighting-game standard.

What are Mortal Kombat's gruesome finishing moves called?

Each of the seven playable characters had their own, and the outcry helped create the ESRB.

Which two Sega games of the early 1990s popularised 3D polygon graphics in arcades?

The Sega Model 3 board stayed well ahead of home consoles for the rest of the decade.

What is regarded as the first microprocessor-based arcade video game, from 1975?

It was Midway's conversion of Taito's Western Gun; before it, arcade games were built from discrete logic chips.

Which 1966 Sega electro-mechanical game began an arcade 'technological renaissance'?

Audio-visual novelty games like it prepared arcades for the first video games in the early 1970s.

Which of these factors helped end the golden age around 1983?

A moral panic over arcades and children played a part too, alongside the separate 1983 console crash.

Donkey Kong is credited as the first game to feature which now-basic action?

It also pioneered platform games and used cutscenes to tell a story, years before the term existed.

Namco's 1979 rival to Space Invaders had enemies first shaped like which Star Wars craft?

Designer Kazunori Sawano's game was among the first with RGB colour graphics.

In Namco's 1979 answer to Space Invaders, what is the player's starfighter called?

The game sold around 50,000 US cabinets by 1982 and was Namco's first major arcade hit.

In Centipede, what is the small insect-like creature the player controls called?

It fires darts up through a field of mushrooms as the centipede winds down the screen.

Which 1982 arcade sequel followed Atari's Centipede?

More than 25 Centipede clones also appeared on home computers.

Tempest (1981) let players choose a starting level. What did Atari call the system?

Tempest was also among the first games to use Atari's Color-QuadraScan vector display.

Who designed and programmed Atari's tube shooter Tempest?

The player's claw-shaped blaster snaps between lanes as a rotary knob is turned.

Which 1980 Atari tank game is considered the first successful first-person shooter?

Its wireframe 3D vector graphics helped it sell roughly 15,000 cabinets.

In Atari's 1980 vector tank shooter, what colour tints the score and radar strip up top?

The monitor itself was black and white; a coloured overlay did the rest.

In Dig Dug, what are the round enemies in comically large goggles called?

The other enemy, the fire-breathing Fygar, is a small green dragon.

Dig Dug spawned which long-running Namco drilling spin-off series?

Namco marketed the original as a 'strategic digging game'.

The 1982 racer Pole Position is set at which real circuit?

Players first had to qualify with a one-lap time trial before the race proper.

How many tracks did Pole Position II (1983) offer, up from one in the original?

The original was the highest-grossing arcade game in North America in both 1983 and 1984.

Which company released BurgerTime, starring chef Peter Pepper, in 1982?

In Japan the game was simply called Hamburger.

Peter Pepper in BurgerTime is chased by hot dogs, fried eggs and what?

A limited supply of pepper can be thrown to stun them briefly.

In Joust, Player 1 rides an ostrich. What bird does Player 2 ride?

Enemy knights ride buzzards, and combat is decided by the height of collisions.

Robotron: 2084 is credited with popularising which control scheme?

One stick moves, the other fires, letting players shoot in any direction while fleeing.

Spy Hunter (1983) was originally meant to carry which film franchise's brand?

The player's weaponised car is called the Interceptor.

In Rampage, which of the three monsters is a giant werewolf?

George is a King Kong-like gorilla and Lizzie a Godzilla-like reptile.

Rampage (1986) plays out across how many days of city-smashing?

The cycle of North American cities repeats five times.

What is the name of the newspaper delivered in Atari's Paperboy?

The arcade cabinet used real bicycle handlebars as its controller.

Paperboy's three difficulty settings are Easy Street, Middle Road and what?

The harder settings double or triple all point values.

In Gauntlet, the Valkyrie character is given what name on the cabinet art?

In-game the four heroes are referred to only by class: Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie and Elf.

Gauntlet's core design came from which 1983 Atari 8-bit game, prompting a legal threat?

Atari shipped 7,848 Gauntlet cabinets, initially only in a four-player version.

Marble Madness (1984) was Atari's first arcade game programmed in which language?

Designer Mark Cerny drew on miniature golf and M. C. Escher's art.

Track & Field (1983) was known by what title in Japan?

The Japanese release carried an official licence for the 1984 Summer Olympics.

A 1984 Track & Field contest, the biggest organised video game event ever, drew how many players?

The publisher and its US distributor Centuri ran the event internationally.

In Capcom's first 194X shooter, what nickname does the player's P-38 Lightning carry?

A power-up adds two smaller escort fighters in a Tip Tow formation.

Which 1984 Capcom shooter, loosely based on the Battle of Midway, began the 194X series?

Despite Japanese developers, the goal is to reach Tokyo, as it was designed for Western markets.

In Ghosts 'n Goblins, knight Sir Arthur sets out to rescue which princess?

The kidnapper is Astaroth, king of Demon World; the game is often called one of the hardest ever.

In Bubble Bobble (1986), what colour is the dragon Bob?

Bub, the green dragon, is Player 1; the two must rescue their girlfriends from the Cave of Monsters.

Rainbow Islands (1987) is set across a chain of how many themed islands?

Each island has four rounds, and rising sea water forces you to climb.

Under what title was the arcade version of Contra released in Europe?

The PAL NES version went by yet another name, Probotector.

In Contra, Player 1 is commando Bill. Who is Player 2?

Bill is blond in a white tank top; Lance is shirtless with a red bandana.

Which Bruce Lee film gave its name to the 1987 beat 'em up starring Billy and Jimmy Lee?

Billy and Jimmy Lee fight the Black Warriors gang to rescue Billy's girlfriend Marian.

Which studio developed Double Dragon (1987), a successor to its own Renegade?

It became America's highest-grossing arcade game after topping Japan's charts.

In Sega's Golden Axe, who is the dictator the three heroes seek revenge against?

He has conquered the land of Yuria and murdered the heroes' friend Alex.

Final Fight (1989) takes place in which fictional setting?

The vigilantes battle the Mad Gear Gang within the Street Fighter universe.

Capcom's 1987 original fighter was ported to the TurboGrafx-CD in 1988 under what title?

That port was later re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2009.

Mortal Kombat II added which two non-lethal finishers alongside Fatalities?

The sequel moved the tournament to the realm of Outworld.

Which recurring Mortal Kombat villain made his debut in Mortal Kombat II?

Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao and hidden fighter Noob Saibot also arrived in the sequel.

Which studio developed the 1994 arcade fighter Killer Instinct?

Midway published the arcade version; Nintendo handled the SNES and Game Boy ports.

Which newcomer was created as the original protagonist of SNK's KOF series?

He is heir to a clan destined to save the world from the Yamata no Orochi demon.

Which Fatal Fury character was originally meant to appear in Capcom's Street Fighter?

Designer Takashi Nishiyama created both games after moving from Capcom to SNK.

Fatal Fury bosses Geese Howard and Billy Kane were influenced by which film?

Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo.

SNK's 1993 weapon-based fighting series is known in Japan by what title?

The series is set in 18th-century Japan and its characters speak only Japanese, even overseas.

In the 1991 Simpsons arcade beat 'em up, which family member are players trying to rescue?

The show's voice actors recorded new lines for the game.

The 1992 X-Men arcade game supported up to how many players in its deluxe cabinet?

The six-player version used two screens side by side.

The character designs in the X-Men arcade game came from which 1989 animated pilot?

That is why Dazzler makes the playable roster alongside Cyclops, Wolverine and Storm.

In Sega's Out Run (1986), what make of car does the player drive?

The goal is to impress a passenger girlfriend within the time limit.

Which motorcycle world champion inspired Yu Suzuki's riding style in Hang-On (1985)?

The deluxe cabinet was a full motorbike the player leaned to steer.

In After Burner (1987), the player flies which fighter jet?

Yu Suzuki was inspired by Top Gun and Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

Space Harrier's motion cabinet made it a 'taikan' game in Japan. What does taikan mean?

Suzuki first conceived it as a realistic military flight sim before hardware limits pushed it to fantasy.

Sega Rally Championship (1995) was the first racing game to simulate what?

A 1998 Saturn re-release added analog control and online play via the Sega Net Link.

How many buttons does Virtua Fighter's control scheme use?

Punch, Kick and Guard, plus an 8-way stick, are all you get.

Sega's 1994 polygon light-gun shooter, a Saturn hit in 1995, reached Windows in 1996 as what?

Sega billed it as the world's first texture-mapped polygon action game.

In The House of the Dead (1997), which mad scientist created the undead army?

Along with Resident Evil, the game is credited with reviving zombies in pop culture.

Namco's light-gun game Point Blank asks players to protect which pair of characters?

The game is known as Gun Bullet in Japan and consists of non-violent shooting contests.

NBA Jam (1993) was Midway's successor to which earlier basketball arcade game?

Its digitised players could leap many times their own height.

Cruis'n USA (1994) was branded the first release of which Midway-Nintendo collaboration?

In reality it ran on Midway's V-unit hardware, unrelated to the Nintendo 64.

Which Japanese guitar-controller rhythm series laid the foundations for Guitar Hero?

Patent problems with the guitar controller kept its PS2 games out of the US.

What does the name of Namco's fighting series Tekken mean in Japanese?

The games follow the King of Iron Fist Tournament hosted by the Mishima Zaibatsu.

Tekken 3 (1997) is set how many years after Tekken 2?

The time jump brought a largely new cast, including Jin Kazama.

Puzzle Bobble (1994) was long known internationally by what name?

It borrows its characters from Bubble Bobble and has 30 arcade levels.

In Arkanoid (1986), what is the name of the paddle-like craft the player controls?

The game came out of an internal contest between two design teams at its publisher.

Which future Apple co-founder built the prototype of Atari's Breakout (1976)?

The Apple II's hardware design was partly inspired by Breakout's logic.

How many rows of bricks line the top of the screen in Breakout?

The 1978 sequel Super Breakout added multiple bouncing balls.

Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov first programmed the game on which Soviet computer?

He wrote it in Pascal in about three weeks while at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Center.

Nintendo's 1983 Donkey Kong Jr. spin-off was an educational game teaching what?

Donkey Kong 3 arrived the same year.

In Namco's Mappy (1983), the hero is a police officer of what species?

The name likely comes from mappo, Japanese slang for a policeman.

In Rally-X (1980), what does the player's car lay down to stun pursuing red cars?

It was one of the first games with bonus stages and continuous background music.

The 1984 bartending game Tapper originally featured which beer brand?

Early cabinets even used real beer tap handles as controllers.

Why was Tapper re-themed as Root Beer Tapper in 1984?

The Japanese version swapped in the Suntory beer brand instead.

Which animated follow-up to Dragon's Lair was unveiled in October 1983?

It arrived just four months after its predecessor but never matched its success.

Atari's 1983 Star Wars game has the player fly as Luke Skywalker under which callsign?

The yoke controller carried four buttons, each firing a laser from a wing tip.

In Elevator Action (1983), how many storeys tall is the building the agent infiltrates?

Agent 17, codename Otto, collects documents from red doors on the way down.

Kung-Fu Master (1984) is a loose adaptation of which Jackie Chan film?

The hero Thomas is named after Chan's character in that film.

Air hockey was invented between 1969 and 1972 by employees of which company?

A trio of engineers set out to build a game on a low-friction surface.

Stern Electronics, formed from Chicago Coin's assets, is best known for which 1980 game?

The unrelated Stern Pinball, founded in 1986, still builds pinball machines today.

Williams entered the arcade video game market in 1973 with which Pong clone?

The pinball maker went on to create Defender, Joust and Robotron: 2084.

Which 1931 machine is regarded as the first successful coin-operated pinball game?

Its Chicago maker, founded in 1927, later produced the arcade hit Q*bert.

Where did the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre open in 1977?

It was the first family restaurant to combine food, arcade games and animatronic shows.

After a 1984 bankruptcy, Chuck E. Cheese's parent was bought by the owner of which rival chain?

The two brands were unified in 1990 under the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza name.

US home video game revenue fell by roughly what percentage between 1983 and 1985?

Revenue dropped from about $3.2 billion to around $100 million.

The name Namco is derived from what?

Founder Masaya Nakamura started the firm in 1955.

The company behind Space Invaders began in 1953 importing jukeboxes, vending machines and what?

Founder Michael Kogan was a Ukrainian businessman who set up the Taito Trading Company.

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell moved to California after college hoping to be hired by whom?

He was born in Clearfield, Utah, and studied engineering at Utah State.

What is the name of the starship the player pilots in Namco's 1983 shooter Xevious?

It carries two weapons, an air-to-air zapper and an air-to-ground blaster; Atari released the game in North America in February 1983.

Irem's Moon Patrol (1982) is often credited with introducing which visual technique to side-scrollers?

Takashi Nishiyama designed the lunar-rover game, which Williams Electronics released in North America.

Which 1984 Atari game was the first arcade title rendered entirely with 3D polygon graphics?

The game casts the player as a servant robot rebelling against Big Brother; it even included a three-minute drawing mode called Doodle City.

Which line does the giant spacecraft in Williams' Sinistar (1983) announce when it is completed?

The digitised voice then hounds the player with taunts like 'Run! Run! Run!' and 'I hunger!'; the game was notorious for its difficulty.

The 1983 tube shooter Gyruss set its action to an electronic arrangement of which composer's work?

The uptempo track is based on the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565; the game was licensed to Centuri in North America.

Which company published the 1984 fighting game Karate Champ, played with dual joysticks?

Originally titled simply Karate, it used the two sticks to input various kicks and punches and helped shape the one-on-one fighting genre.