5 Video Games From 1978 That Changed Gaming Forever

The 1970s were a foundational decade for the entire video game industry, marking the start of widespread home platforms. Within the same period, arcade titles reached new heights in technology and commercial success as the scene grew considerably. Overall, the ’70s highlighted how rapidly gaming was changing in its early days, with increasingly more sophisticated experiences being developed. This is certainly true of 1978, a year that saw pivotal games released with various longstanding effects on the industry.

From enormously popular arcade games to early console titles that confirmed the viability of the market, 1978 helped the gaming industry continue to build momentum. The year also saw several major developers get their start, setting the stage for their global dominance over subsequent years. Modern gamers may not be aware, but the impact of titles released in 1978 continue to reverberate across the industry today. Here are five video games from 1978 that changed gaming forever, each spawning their own far-reaching legacy.

The history of Nintendo actually stretches as far back as 1889, when it was a playing card company, eventually becoming the first in Japan to produce cards from plastic. As the long-term viability of conventional toys and playing cards began to falter in the ’70s, Nintendo turned to electronic entertainment. The first non-light gun arcade game the company released was a version of the board game “Othello.” Aptly titled “Computer Othello,” the game was released in June 1978 as a Japanese market exclusive with a cocktail table-style arcade cabinet design.

It would be several years until Nintendo made its first attempt to break into the American market with the huge commercial flop “Radar Scope” in 1980. But “Computer Othello” opened the door for Nintendo to enter the arcade game space in a big way, even if only by translating a board game experience at first. This small step led to more ambitious moves from the company, as it pivoted to video games after decades of focusing on playing cards. Over 40 years later, Nintendo stands as a cornerstone in the gaming industry — and it all started with “Computer Othello.”

Easily one of the biggest titles of 1978, “Space Invaders” became a global phenomenon upon its launch in April of that year. A fixed space shooter, players move left and right along the bottom of the screen while waves of incoming enemy ships descend in formation. Players can take cover by hiding behind barricades as they trade fire with the alien vessels. The enemy’s advance speeds up steadily over time, with the game ending when the player either runs out of lives or the enemy reaches the bottom of the screen.

By the end of 1978, “Space Invaders” had installed 100,000 arcade cabinets in Japan alone, after only eight months on the market. In the United States, the game remained a major money-earner through 1980 as a clear testament to its enduring appeal. The game spawned plenty of space shooter imitators, including “Galaxian” and its own sequel “Galaga,” which similarly boasted having endless replay value. A staple in the arcade scene throughout the late ’70s, “Space Invaders” remains the most iconic game of 1978.

Nintendo wasn’t the only company to embrace the possibilities of game development in 1978 before becoming powerhouses in the industry. While Namco had been publishing outside developers’ titles in Japan, it also published “Gee Bee,” the first game that it developed in-house. The game was a sort of block breaker, by way of a digitized pinball machine-style layout in its levels. Using rotary knob inputs, players move the in-game paddles to propel the ball across the map and break blocks organized around it for points.

“Gee Bee” wasn’t the first block breaker game ever released, nor was it the only block breaker title issued in 1978. Another one that arrived in arcades that year was the Atari game “Super Breakout,” an enhanced version of the company’s 1976 game “Breakout.” But what makes “Gee Bee” one of those forgotten ’70s arcade games that started everything is that it was successful enough to convince Namco to continue developing its own arcade games. Within several years, the company put out “Galaga” and “Pac-Man,” catapulting it to even greater industry dominance.

Atari certainly didn’t rest on its laurels in 1978 and continued its steady growth in the industry with arcade titles and games for its recently launched Atari 2600. This included the revolutionary sports game “Football,” which was deceptively pioneering in the innovations that it brought to the medium compared to its presentation. In recreating the beloved American sport, the game has players control opposing teams represented by x’s and o’s. The title itself was influenced by the Taito-developed Japanese soccer game, “World Cup,” but found considerable success in North America.

Among the important features in “Football” was the game’s vertical scroll, which demonstrated progression on the playing field rather than relying on a static screen. The game also popularized the use of a trackball for its movement inputs, later adopted by arcade titles like “Centipede.” Finally, the game had a then-groundbreaking number of simultaneously moving objects on-screen, demonstrating how primitive gaming technology still was at the time. “Football” may not seem like an innovative title to modern audiences, but it advanced what was possible for the medium significantly.

Rounding things out with one last Atari game, “Avalanche” featured a relatively simple premise. The game has players control a set of paddles moving left and right along the screen. Using these paddles, the players catch rocks before they can fall to the bottom of the screen to build up their high score. As the game progresses, the speed of the falling rocks increases while their size decreases and players lose the number of paddles they have available.

“Avalanche” is another case of a game not necessarily being an unmitigated commercial success in its own right but an influential title. The 1978 game set the template for the 1981 Atari 2600 game “Kaboom!,” which was an early success for Activision. “Kaboom!” became one of the best-selling games for the Atari 2600 as the home console market began to gain momentum in the ’80s. While not advancing the medium technologically by leaps and bounds, “Avalanche” played its own vital role in early video game history.