Editing Arkanoid (section)

==Development and release==
[[File:Arkanoid concept art.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the ball-and-paddle concept in ''Arkanoid'']]
''Arkanoid'' was designed by Akira Fujita and Hiroshi "ONIJUST" Tsujino, both of whom were members of [[Taito]]'s Yokohama Research Institute.<ref name="Interview">{{cite web |title=【第6回リレーブログ クリエーター編】"ニンジャウォリアーズ"辻野様 |url=https://www.beep-shop.com/column_entry/22453/ |website=BEEP! |access-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601132821/https://www.beep-shop.com/column_entry/22453/ |archive-date=June 1, 2019 |date=October 29, 2019}}</ref> The company's sales department requested a new [[Block kuzushi|block breaker]] arcade game due to the genre beginning to see an upturn in popularity, following a steady downfall in the early 1980s.<ref name="Interview"/> This led to a competition being held within the company to design the new game which was jointly won by Fujita and Tsujino, who were then instructed to combine their ideas into a single project.<ref name="Interview"/> The game builds on the overall block breaker concept established in [[Atari]]'s ''[[Breakout (video game)|Breakout]]'', a widely-successful arcade game that spawned a long series of similar clone games by other manufacturers.<ref name="Retro Gamer">{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Stuart |title=The Definitive Arkanoid |url=https://archive.org/details/RetroGamerIssue066-070 |access-date=30 January 2020 |agency=[[Retro Gamer]] |issue=66 |publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]] |date=August 2009 |location=United Kingdom |pages=[https://archive.org/details/RetroGamerIssue066-070/page/n49 54]–61}}</ref>

The development team consisted of Fujita in charge of planning, with Tsujino providing level design and graphics and two others programming the arcade board,<ref name="Interview"/> a modified version of the Taito Classic hardware.<ref name="KLOV">{{cite web |title=Arkanoid - Videogame by Taito |url=https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6916 |website=[[Killer List of Videogames]] |publisher=The International Arcade Museum |access-date=January 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925015419/https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6916 |archive-date=September 25, 2019}}</ref> The neon, futuristic aesthetic was inspired by the film ''[[Tron]]'' (1982), which Tsujino was a big fan of.<ref name="Interview"/> Blocks originally never had colors and were simply the same color, which was changed to the minor annoyance of Tsujino.<ref name="Interview"/> The various geometric-like enemies and power-up items were hand-drawn from 3-dimensional models before being converted into sprite art.<ref name="Interview"/> [[Hisayoshi Ogura]], the founder of Taito's "house band" [[Zuntata]], created the game's music.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Rancor |title=Zuntata — 2009 Darius Odyssey Book Interview |url=http://shmuplations.com/zuntatadarius/ |website=Shmuplations |access-date=January 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230190658/http://shmuplations.com/zuntatadarius/ |archive-date=December 30, 2019}}</ref>

The game had a short development time with tight work deadlines, a schedule which Tsujino has since claimed to be "murderous".<ref name="Interview"/> Location testing for the game began only a month after the start of development.<ref name="Interview"/> It was incredibly well received by playtesters, and generated a lot more popularity and income than Taito had expected.<ref name="Interview"/> ''Arkanoid'' was officially released in Japan in July 1986, and in North America later that year by distributor company [[Romstar]].<ref name="KLOV"/>