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Defender (1981 video game)
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===Commercial performance=== The game was slow to gain popularity,<ref name="GWR08-1"/> not attracting much attention at the 1980 AMOA show.<ref name="Ultimate"/><ref name="Gamasutra-Defender"/><ref name="GS-Hall"/> In retrospect, Jarvis believed many passersby were intimidated by its complexity. The game was well received in arcades, and crowds gathered around the cabinet during its first nights of play testing.<ref name="Fever"/> The success spurred Williams to release a cocktail version as well.<ref name="Arc-Treasure-1"/> ''Defender'' eventually became Williams' best-selling arcade game, with over 55,000 units sold worldwide,<ref name="Ultimate"/><ref name="Arc-Treasure-1"/><ref name="PriceGuide-1"/> and it became one of the highest grossing arcade games ever, earning over [[United States dollar|US$]]1 billion.<ref name="GS-Hall"/><ref name="GWR09">{{cite book| title= Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition| series= [[Guinness World Records]]| date= 2009-02-03| publisher= Guinness| isbn= 978-1-904994-45-9| page= [https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_o9k7/page/198 198]| chapter= Twin Galaxies Record Breakers| chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_o9k7/page/198}}</ref> It has sold 70,000 arcade units as of 2020,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Horowitz |first1=Ken |title=Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games |date=6 August 2020 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-1-4766-8420-8 |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3D0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200}}</ref> and grossed over {{US$|1.5 billion|long=no}} worldwide as of 2000.<ref name="Eugene">{{cite news |title=A Eugene celebration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cU5WAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA43&article_id=4872,3062687 |access-date=17 July 2024 |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |date=September 10, 2000}}</ref> In Japan, ''Defender'' was not as highly successful. It tied with ''[[Turbo (video game)|Turbo]]'' and ''[[Galaxian]]'' as Japan's 18th highest-grossing [[1981 in video games|arcade video game of 1981]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title="Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 β ''Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines"'' β|magazine=[[:ja:γ²γΌγ γγ·γ³|Game Machine]]|issue=182|publisher=[[:ja:γ’γγ₯γΌγΊγ‘γ³γιδΏ‘η€Ύ|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=15 February 1982|page=30|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19820215p.pdf#page=16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131232143/https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19820215p.pdf|archive-date=31 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Six months after its release, the game was one of the top earners in the United States video game industry.<ref name="Arc-Treasure-1"/> On the 1981 arcade game charts, it topped the ''[[Play Meter]]'' arcade chart in August,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kubey |first1=Craig |title=The Winners' Book of Video Games |date=1982 |publisher=New York: [[Warner Books]] |isbn=978-0-446-37115-5 |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/Winners_Book_of_Video_Games/page/n50/mode/1up}}</ref> and the ''RePlay'' arcade charts for most months between April<ref>{{cite magazine |title=RePlay: The Players' Choice |magazine=RePlay |date=April 1981}}</ref> and November.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=RePlay: The Players' Choice |magazine=RePlay |date=November 1981}}</ref> The annual ''[[Cash Box]]'' and ''RePlay'' arcade charts listed ''Defender'' as the second highest-grossing [[1981 in video games|arcade game of 1981]] in the United States, just below ''[[Pac-Man]]''.<ref name="cashbox">{{cite magazine |title=Authoritative Industry Sources Acclaim: Pac-Man Top Video Game of the Year |magazine=[[Cash Box]] |date=26 December 1981 |page=91 |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox43unse_30/page/91 |publisher=Cash Box Pub. Co.}}</ref> The Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) later listed ''Defender'' among America's six highest-grossing [[1982 in video games|arcade games of 1982]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=AMOA Announces Jukebox and Games Awards Winners |journal=[[Cash Box]] |date=30 October 1982 |page=37 |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox44unse_20/page/37 |publisher=Cash Box Pub. Co.}}</ref> Co-designer Larry Demar was surprised by the game's popularity.<ref name="Ultimate"/> At the time of its release, Stan Jarocki, director of marketing at then-competitor [[Midway Games|Midway Manufacturing]],<ref group="Note">Williams Electronics purchased Midway in 1988, and later transferred its games to the [[Midway Games]] subsidiary.</ref> described the game as "amazing".<ref name="Arc-Treasure-1"/> The Atari VCS port sold over {{nowrap|3 million}} copies, becoming the second best-selling Atari [[1982 in video games|home video game of 1982]] (just below the [[Pac-Man (Atari 2600)|Atari version of ''Pac-Man'']]). However, at least 68,993 copies of ''Defender'' were [[Video game crash of 1983|returned in 1983]].<ref name="Atari">{{cite book |title=Cartridge Sales Since 1980 |publisher=[[Atari Corp.]]}} Via {{cite episode |title=The Agony & The Ecstasy |series=Once Upon Atari |date=August 10, 2003 |number=4 |minutes=23 |publisher=Scott West Productions}}</ref> Across all home platforms, the game has sold over 5 million cartridges worldwide as of 2000.<ref name="Eugene"/>
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