1978 in video games

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1978 saw the release of new video games such as Space Invaders. The year is considered the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. The year's highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders, while the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS).

Financial performanceEdit

Highest-grossing arcade gamesEdit

Space Invaders was the top-grossing video game worldwide in 1978.<ref name="ACE">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The following table lists the top-grossing arcade games of 1978 in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide.

Market	Title	Gross revenue	Inflation	Cabinet sales	Developer	Distributor	Genre	Template:Abbr
Japan	Space Invaders	$670,000,000<ref name="Cohen"/>	Template:US$	100,000	Taito	Taito	Shoot 'em up	<ref name="GM113"/><ref name="GM159"/><ref name="EG1"/>
United Kingdom	Space Invaders	Template:Unknown	Template:Unknown	Template:Unknown Template:Efn	Taito	Midway Manufacturing	Shoot 'em up	<ref name="ACE"/>
United States	Space Wars	Template:Unknown	Template:Unknown	10,000	Cinematronics	Cinematronics	Shooter	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Replay">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Bloom">Template:Cite book</ref>
Worldwide	Space Invaders				Taito		Shoot 'em up	<ref name="ACE"/>

JapanEdit

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1978, according to the third annual Game Machine chart, which lists both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same arcade game chart. Taito's Space Invaders was the first video game to become highest-grossing overall arcade game on the annual Game Machine charts, after the two previous charts were topped by an EM game, F-1 by Namco.<ref name="GM113">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="GM159">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Arcade video games						Arcade electro-mechanical games (EM games)
Rank	Title	#1	#2	#3	Points	Rank	Title	#1	#2	#3	Points
1	Space Invaders	48	7	4	{{#expr:(483)+(72)+4}}	1	F-1	2	4	0	{{#expr:(23)+(42)+0}}
2	Super Speed Race V	1	18	8	{{#expr:(13)+(182)+8}}	2	Shoot Away	0	2	7	{{#expr:(03)+(22)+7}}
3	Template:Nihongo foot	4	9	8	{{#expr:(43)+(92)+8}}	3	Template:Nihongo foot	1	3	1	{{#expr:(13)+(32)+1}}
4	Scratch	3	4	5	{{#expr:(33)+(42)+5}}	4	Mogura Taiji (Whac-A-Mole)	1	2	2	{{#expr:(13)+(22)+2}}
5	Speed Race DX	3	4	3	{{#expr:(33)+(42)+3}}	5	Submarine	0	3	2	{{#expr:(03)+(32)+2}}
6	Cosmic Monsters	2	3	0	{{#expr:(23)+(42)+0}}	6	Template:Nihongo foot	1	1	1	{{#expr:(13)+(12)+1}}
7	Acrobat	1	2	2	{{#expr:(13)+(22)+2}}	7	Template:Nihongo foot	0	1	1	{{#expr:(03)+(12)+1}}
8	Gee Bee	1	1	3	{{#expr:(13)+(12)+3}}	8	Template:Nihongo foot Template:Nihongo foot	1	0	0	{{#expr:(13)+(02)+0}}
9	Super Breakout	0	2	2	{{#expr:(03)+(22)+2}}	9	Clay Champ	0	0	2	{{#expr:(03)+(02)+2}}
10	Template:Nihongo foot (Sankyo)	0	1	2	{{#expr:(03)+(12)+2}}	9	Template:Nihongo foot	0	1	0	{{#expr:(03)+(12)+0}}

The following titles were the highest-grossing games on each Game Machine arcade chart. Nintendo's EVR Race was the highest-grossing medal game for the third year in a row.<ref name="GM113"/><ref name="GM159"/>

Chart	Top title	Gross revenue	Inflation	Cabinet sales	Manufacturer	Genre	Template:Abbr
Arcade game	Space Invaders	$670,000,000<ref name="Cohen">Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:US$	100,000	Taito	Shoot 'em up	<ref name="GM113"/><ref name="GM159"/><ref name="EG1">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Medal game	EVR Race	Template:Unknown	Template:Unknown	Template:Unknown	Nintendo	Racing	<ref name="GM159"/>

United StatesEdit

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade video games of 1978, in terms of coin drop earnings according to the annual Play Meter and RePlay charts.

Rank	Play Meter<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	RePlay<ref name="Replay" />	Cabinet sales
1	Space Wars		10,000<ref name="Bloom"/>
2	Sprint 2		rowspan="9" Template:Unknown
3	Sea Wolf	Sprint 1
4	Sea Wolf II	Sea Wolf
5	Super Bug	Breakout
6	Starship 1	Super Bug
7	Circus	Starship 1
8	Breakout	Sea Wolf II
9	Night Driver	Smokey Joe
10	Sprint 1	LeMans

Best-selling home systemsEdit

Rank	System(s)	Manufacturer(s)	Type	Generation	Sales	Template:Abbr
1	Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS)	Atari, Inc.	Console	Second	{{#expr:550,000−250,000}}	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
1	Bandai Baseball	Bandai	Handheld	Template:N/A	{{#expr:550,000−250,000}}	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	TRS-80	Tandy Corporation	Computer	8-bit	150,000	citation	CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	Commodore PET	Commodore International	Computer	8-bit	30,000	<ref name=":222" />
5	Apple II	Apple Inc.	Computer	8-bit	20,000	<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
6	IMSAI 8080	IMS Associates, Inc.	Computer	8-bit	5,000	<ref name=":0" />
6	IBM 5110	IBM	Computer	Template:N/A	5,000	<ref name=":0" />
8	Altair 8800	MITS	Computer	8-bit	4,000	<ref name=":222" />
8	HP 9800 series	Hewlett-Packard	Computer	Template:N/A	4,000	<ref name=":0" />
10	Pertec/MITS 300	Pertec Computer	Computer	8-bit	3,000	<ref name=":0" />

EventsEdit

Consumer-oriented video game journalism begins with the golden age of arcade video games, soon after the success of Space Invaders, leading to hundreds of favourable articles and stories about the emerging video game medium being aired on television and printed in newspapers and magazines.<ref name="eg_2_36">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In North America, the first regular consumer-oriented column about video games, "Arcade Alley" in Video magazine, is penned by Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz, and Joyce Worley.<ref name="wired_kunkel">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

BusinessEdit

New companies: Automated Simulations (later Epyx), Koei, Muse, Supersoft, Synergistic, U.S. Games.
The American arcade game market earns a revenue of $1 billion<ref name="replaymag">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (equivalent to $Template:Formatprice in 2025).

The American home video game market is worth $200 million.<ref>Yuko Aoyama & Hiro Izushi (2003), Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry Template:Webarchive, Research Policy 32: 423-44</ref>

Notable releasesEdit

GamesEdit

Arcade

June – Taito releases Space Invaders in Japan. The worldwide success of Space Invaders marks the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. It sets the template for the fixed shooter genre<ref name="1UP-50">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and influences most subsequent shooters.<ref name="1UP-10things">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

October – Midway gives Space Invaders a wide release in North America.
October – Namco releases their first arcade video game, Gee Bee, in Japan.
Atari, Inc. popularizes the trackball controller with Football.
Atari, Inc. releases Super Breakout, the multi-directionall scrolling game Fire Truck, Canyon Bomber, and Avalanche. Avalanche later inspires Activision's Kaboom!
Konami Corporation releases their first arcade video game, Block Game.
Nintendo releases their first arcade video game, Computer Othello.