Space Invaders

Space Invaders[b] is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade video game

Space Invaders
developed and released by Taito in Japan, and licensed to Midway
Manufacturing for overseas distribution. Commonly considered as
one of the most influential video games of all time, Space Invaders
was the first fixed shooter and set the template for the genre. The
goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a
horizontally moving laser to earn as many points as possible.

Designer Tomohiro Nishikado drew inspiration from North

American target shooting games like Breakout (1976) and Gun
Fight (1975), as well as science fiction narratives such as the novel
The War of the Worlds (1897), the anime Space Battleship Yamato
(1974), and the film Star Wars (1977). To complete development,
he had to design custom hardware and development tools. Upon
release, Space Invaders was an immediate commercial success; by
1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion ($13 billion in 2022-adjusted
terms),[19] with a net profit of $450 million ($1.6 billion in 2022
terms). This made it the best-selling video game and highest-
grossing entertainment product at the time, and the highest-grossing Arcade flyer
video game of all time.
Developer(s) Taito
Space Invaders is considered one of the most influential video Publisher(s) JP/AS/EU: Taito
games of all time. It ushered in the golden age of arcade video
NA/EU:
games. It was the inspiration for numerous video games and game
Midway[9][10]
designers across different genres, and has been ported and re-
released in various forms. The 1980 Atari VCS version quadrupled AU: Leisure & Allied
sales of the VCS, thereby becoming the first killer app for video Industries[11]
game consoles. More broadly, the pixelated enemy alien has Atari, Inc. (home)
become a pop culture icon, often representing video games as a
Designer(s) Tomohiro Nishikado
whole.
Series Space Invaders

Gameplay Platform(s) Arcade, Atari 2600,

Atari 5200, Atari 8-
Space Invaders is a fixed shooter in which the player moves a laser bit, MSX, handheld,
cannon horizontally across the bottom of the screen and fires at tabletop, watch,
aliens overhead. The aliens begin as five rows of eleven that move calculator,[12]
left and right as a group, shifting downward each time they reach a NES,[13]
screen edge. The goal is to eliminate all of the aliens by shooting SG-1000,[14]
them. While the player has three lives, the game ends immediately WonderSwan,[15]
if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen.[20][21][13][22] The VG Pocket,[16]
aliens attempt to destroy the player's cannon by firing projectiles. mobile,[17] iOS[18]
The laser cannon is partially protected by stationary defense
Release Arcade
JP: April 1, 1978[a]
 bunkers which are NA: November
gradually destroyed from 1978[1][2]
the top by the aliens and, if Atari 2600
the player fires when
NA: March 10,
beneath one, the bottom
1980[4][5]
gets destroyed.
EU: 1981[3]
As aliens are defeated, their
movement and the music Genre(s) Fixed shooter
both speed up. Defeating all Mode(s) 1-2 players
the aliens brings another alternating turns
wave which starts lower, a
loop which can continue endlessly.[20][21][13][22] A special "mystery
ship" will occasionally move across the top of the screen and award
The player-controlled laser cannon bonus points if destroyed.
shoots the aliens as they descend.

Development
Space Invaders was developed by Japanese designer Tomohiro Nishikado, who spent a year designing it
and developing the necessary hardware to produce it.[23] The game was a response to Atari's arcade game
Breakout (1976). Nishikado wanted to adapt the same sense of achievement and tension from destroying
targets one at a time, combining it with elements of target shooting games.[23][24][25] The game uses a
similar layout to that of Breakout but with different game mechanics; rather than bounce a ball to attack
static objects, players are given the ability to fire projectiles at moving enemies.[26]

Nishikado added several interactive elements that he found lacking in earlier video games, such as the
ability for enemies to react to the player's movement and fire back, and a game over triggered by the
enemies killing the player (either by getting hit or enemies reaching the bottom of the screen) rather than
simply a timer running out.[24] He replaced the timer, typical of arcade games at the time, with descending
aliens who effectively served a similar function, where the closer they came, the less time the player had
left.[25]

Early enemy designs included tanks, combat planes, and battleships.[23] Nishikado, however, was not
satisfied with the enemy movements; technical limitations made it difficult to simulate flying.[23][27]
Humans would have been easier to simulate, but the designer considered shooting them immoral.[27][28]
After seeing the release of the 1974 anime Space Battleship Yamato in Japan,[29][30] and seeing a magazine
feature about Star Wars (1977), he thought of using a space theme.[23][24] Nishikado drew inspiration for
the aliens from a novel by H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, and created initial bitmap images after the
octopus-like aliens.[23][24][27] Other alien designs were modeled after squids and crabs.[23][27] The game
was originally titled Space Monsters after a popular song in Japan at the time, "Monster", but was changed
to Space Invaders by the designer's superiors.[23][24]

Hardware

Nishikado designed his own custom hardware and development tools for Space Invaders.[23][27] It uses an
Intel 8080 central processing unit (CPU), displays raster graphics on a CRT monitor using a bitmapped
framebuffer, and uses monaural sound hosted by a combination of analog circuitry and a Texas Instruments
SN76477 sound chip.[31][28][32] The adoption of a microprocessor was inspired by Gun Fight (1975),
Midway's microprocessor adaptation of Nishikado's earlier discrete logic game Western Gun, after the
designer was impressed by the improved graphics and smoother animation of Midway's version.[33] Space
Invaders also adopted the multi-chip
barrel shifter circuit first developed by
Midway for Gun Fight, which had
been a key part of that game's
smoother animation. This circuit
allowed the 8080 CPU to shift
pictures in the graphics framebuffer
faster than it could using only its own
native instructions.[34]

Despite the specially developed

hardware, Nishikado was unable to
program the game as he wanted—the
Control Program board was not
powerful enough to display the
graphics in color or move the enemies Cocktail table arcade cabinet Upright arcade cabinet
faster—and considered the
development of the hardware the
most difficult part of the process.[23][27] While programming, Nishikado discovered that the processor was
able to render each frame of the alien's animation graphics faster when there were fewer aliens on the
screen. Since the alien's positions updated after each frame, this caused the aliens to move across the screen
at an increasing speed as more and more were destroyed. Rather than design a compensation for the speed
increase, he decided that it was a feature, not a bug, and kept it as a challenging gameplay mechanism.[24]

Taito released Space Invaders in July 1978.[8] They released both an upright arcade cabinet and a so-called
"cocktail-table" cabinet; following its usual practice, Taito named the cocktail version T.T. Space Invaders
("T.T." for "table-top"). Midway released its upright version a few months later and its cocktail version
several months after that. The cabinet artwork featured large humanoid monsters not present in the game;
Nishikado attributes this to the artist basing the designs on the original title of "Space Monsters", rather than
referring to the actual in-game graphics.[23] In the upright cabinets, the graphics are generated on a hidden
CRT monitor and reflected toward the player using a semi-transparent mirror, behind which is mounted a
plastic cutout of a moon bolted against a painted starry background. The backdrop is visible through the
mirror and thus appears "behind" the graphics.[13] Both Taito's and Midway's first Space Invaders versions
had black-and-white graphics with a transparent colored overlay using strips of orange and green
cellophane over certain portions of the screen to add color to the image. Later Japanese releases used a
rainbow-colored cellophane overlay,[13] and these were eventually followed by versions with a color
monitor and an electronically generated color overlay.[13]

Music
Space Invaders music
0:00 / 0:00
The game's signature looping four-note bassline, as heard during gameplay

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Despite its simplicity, the music to Space Invaders was revolutionary for the gaming industry of the time.
Video game scholar Andrew Schartmann identifies three aspects of the music that had a significant impact
on the development of game music:
 1. Whereas video game music prior to Space Invaders was restricted to the extremities (i.e., a
short introductory theme with game-over counterpart), the alien-inspired hit featured
continuous music — the well-known four-note loop, consisting of the first four notes of the
descending D minor natural scale — throughout, uninterrupted by sound effects: "It was thus
the first time that sound effects and music were superimposed to form a rich sonic landscape.
Not only do players receive feedback related directly to their actions through sound effects;
they also receive stimulus in a more subtle, non-interactive fashion through music."[35]
2. The music interacts with on-screen animation to influence the emotions of the player: "That
seemingly pedestrian four-note loop might stir us in the most primitive of ways, but that it stirs
us at all is worthy of note. By demonstrating that game sound could be more than a simple
tune to fill the silence, Space Invaders moved video game music closer to the realm of
art."[35]
3. The music for Space Invaders popularized the notion of variability—the idea that music can
change in accordance with the ongoing on-screen narrative. The variable in Space Invaders,
the tempo, is admittedly simple, but its implications are not to be underestimated. "Over the
years, analogous strategies of variation would be applied to pitch, rhythm, dynamics, form,
and a host of other parameters, all with the goal of accommodating the nonlinear aspect of
video games."[35]

At the deepest of conceptual levels, one would be hard-pressed to find an arcade game as
influential to the early history of video game music as Space Invaders. Its role as a harbinger of
the fundamental techniques that would come to shape the industry remains more or less
unchallenged. And its blockbuster success ensured the adoption of those innovations by the
industry at large.

—Andrew Schartmann, Thought Catalog (2013)

Next Generation editor Neil West also cited the Space Invaders music as an example of great video game
art, commenting on how the simple melody's increasing tempo and synchronization with the enemies'
movement chills and excites the player.[36]

Reception and versions

Reception
Review scores
Publication Score

(Arcade)[37]
(Atari VCS)[38]
AllGame
(Atari 5200)[39]
(SNES)[40]

Computer and Video Games 46% (Atari VCS)[41]

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games A (Atari VCS)[42]

10/10 (Atari VCS)[43]

Electronic Games
9/10 (Atari 5200)[44]

Games World 80% (Game Boy)[45]

Video Games Player A (Atari VCS)[46]

 Awards
Publication Award

Arcade Awards Game of the Year[47]

VideoGames Best Game Boy Game (runner-up)[48]

Guinness World Records Top Arcade Game of All Time[21]

The Times Most Influential Video Game Ever[49]

Arcade version

Space Invaders initially received mixed responses from within Taito and amusement arcade owners.
Nishikado's colleagues praised it, applauding his achievement while queuing up to play, whereas his bosses
predicted low sales as games often ended more quickly than other timer-based arcade games at the time. A
number of amusement arcade owners initially rejected it, but some pachinko parlors and bowling alleys
adopted it; it quickly caught on, with many parlors and alleys clearing space for more Space Invaders
cabinets.[50] In the first few months following its release in Japan, Space Invaders became popular,[28] and
specialty video arcades opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets.[23][28]

By the end of 1978, Taito had installed over 100,000 machines and grossed $670 million ($3 billion
adjusted for inflation) in Japan alone.[12][51] By June 1979, Taito had manufactured about 200,000–
300,000 Space Invaders machines in Japan, with each unit earning an average of ¥10,000 or $46
(equivalent to $185 in 2022) in 100 yen coins per day. However, this was not enough to meet the high
demand, leading to Taito increasing production to 25,000–30,000 units per month and raising projections to
400,000 manufactured in Japan by the end of 1979.[8] In order to cope with the demand, Taito licensed the
overseas rights to Midway for distribution outside of Japan. By the end of 1979, an estimated 750,000
Space Invaders machines were installed worldwide, including 400,000 in Japan, 85,000 in the United
Kingdom,[9] and 60,000 within a year in the United States[52][53][54] (where prices ranged from $2,000 to
$3,000 for each machine);[55] the game eventually sold 72,000 units in the United States by 1982.[56] By
1979, it had become the arcade game industry's all-time best-seller.[57]

Space Invaders had about 8 million daily players in Japan, with daily revenue peaking at ¥2.6 billion or
$12,000,000 (equivalent to $54,000,000 in 2022).[58] Space Invaders machines had grossed more than four
billion US quarters ($1 billion at the time, or $4.5 billion adjusted for inflation) by 1979.[59] It remained the
top arcade game for three years through 1980.[12] In 1981, several years after its release, it still had weekly
earnings of $7.7 million in the United States, second only to Pac-Man.[60] By 1982, it had crossed
$2 billion in quarters[61][62] (equivalent to $8.97 billion adjusted for inflation),[63] with a net profit of
$450 million[62] (equivalent to $2.02 billion adjusted for inflation).[63] This made it the best-selling video
game and highest-grossing "entertainment product" of its time,[61] with comparisons made to the then
highest-grossing film Star Wars,[61][64] which had grossed $486 million,[64] with a net profit of
$175 million.[64] By 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion, equivalent to over $13 billion as of 2016.[19] Space
Invaders earned Taito profits of over $500,000,000 (equivalent to $2,200,000,000 in 2022).[23][65]

Home versions

The 1980 Atari VCS (Atari 2600) version was the first official licensing of an arcade game for consoles and
became the first "killer app" for video game consoles after quadrupling the system's sales.[13][66] It sold
over one million units in its first year on sale as a home console game, then over 4.2 million copies by the
end of 1981, and over 5.6 million by 1982; it was the best-selling Atari 2600 game up until the Atari version
of Pac-Man (1982).[67] Space Invaders for the Atari 2600 had sold 6,091,178 cartridges by 1983,[67] and a
further 161,051 between 1986 and 1990,[68] for a total of over 6.25 million cartridges sold by 1990.

Other official conversions were released for the Atari 8-bit computer line and Atari 5200 console, while
Taito later released it for the Nintendo Famicom in 1985, but only in Japan. By 1982, versions of Space
Invaders were available for handheld electronic game devices, tabletop dedicated consoles, home
computers, watches and pocket calculators.[12] The Atari VCS conversion was programmed by Richard
Maurer,[69] while the Atari 5200 conversion was programmed by Eric Manghise and animated by Marilyn
Churchill.[70]

More than a hundred Space Invaders video game clones were released for various platforms,[71] such as the
popular computer games Super Invader (1979)[72] and TI Invaders (1981); the latter was the top-selling
game for the TI-99/4A through at least 1982.[73]

Legacy
As one of the earliest shooting games, Space Invaders set precedents and helped pave the way for future
games and for the shooting genre.[74][75] Space Invaders popularized a more interactive style of gameplay,
with the enemies responding to the player-controlled cannon's movement,[24] and was the first video game
to popularize the concept of achieving a high score,[20][76][74] being the first to save the player's score.[74]
While earlier shooting games allowed the player to shoot at targets, Space Invaders was the first in which
multiple enemies could fire back at the player,[77] and in contrast to earlier arcade games which often had a
timer, Space Invaders introduced the "concept of going round after round."[78] It was also the first game
where players were given multiple lives,[79] had to repel hordes of enemies,[28] could take cover from
enemy fire, and use destructible barriers,[80] in addition to being the first game to use a continuous
background soundtrack, with four simple diatonic descending bass notes repeating in a loop, which was
dynamic and changed pace during stages,[81] like a heartbeat sound that increases pace as enemies
approached.[82]

An urban legend states that Space Invaders' popularity led to a shortage of 100-yen coins in
Japan.[23][76][83] However, Nishikado himself was skeptical of the story.[50] In actuality, 100-yen coin
production was lower in 1978 and 1979 than in previous or subsequent years.[84][85] Additionally, arcade
operators would have emptied their machines and taken the money to the bank, thus keeping the coins in
circulation.[85] Reports from those living in Japan at the time indicate "nothing out of the ordinary ... during
the height of the Space Invaders invasion".[85]

Space Invaders was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2016.[86] Space Invaders
cabinets have become collector's items, with the cocktail and cabaret versions being the rarest.[87]

Impact

Game developers including Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of the franchises Donkey Kong, Mario, and The
Legend of Zelda),[88] Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear),[89] Satoshi Tajiri (Pokémon),[90] and John Romero and
John Carmack (both Doom) have cited Space Invaders as their introduction to video games.[91][92]
Miyamoto said Space Invaders had revolutionized the video game industry.[88] According to Alexander
Smith, by "allowing targets to attack the player and eliminating the timer, Nishikado created a new
paradigm in video games."[93] It also inspired Eugene Jarvis (Defender, Robotron: 2084) to become a video
game designer, stating it "laid the groundwork for a whole generation" of video games with the "animated
characters, the story, this amazing crescendo of action and climax"[94] and that many games "still rely on
the multiple life, progressively difficult level paradigm" of Space Invaders.[95] Deus Ex creator Warren
Spector said: "Space Invaders and games like it represent the roots of everything we see today in gaming. It
represents the birth of a new art form, one that literally changed the world. Space Invaders is important as
an historical artefact, no less than the silent films of the early twentieth century or early printed books."[96]

Edge attributed the shift of games from bars and amusement arcades to more mainstream locations, such as
restaurants and department stores, to Space Invaders.[97] Its popularity was such that it was the first game
where an arcade machine's owner could make up for the cost of the machine in under one month, or in
some places within one week.[54]

Space Invaders helped action games become the dominant genre in arcades and on consoles.[98] Guinness
World Records considered Space Invaders one of the most successful arcade shooting games by 2008.[76]
In describing it as a "seminal arcade classic", IGN listed it as the number eight "classic shoot 'em up".[99]
Space Invaders set the template for the shoot 'em up genre.[100] Its worldwide success created a demand for
a wide variety of science fiction games, inspiring the development of arcade games, such as Atari's
Asteroids,[101] Williams Electronics' Defender, and Namco's Galaxian and Galaga, which were modeled
after Space Invaders' gameplay and design.[102][103] This influence could be said to extend to most
shooting games released to the present day,[28] including first-person shooters (FPS) such as
Wolfenstein,[104][105] Doom,[106] Halo[107] and Call of Duty.[108] Space Invaders also influenced other
genres, including maze games such as Sega/Gremlin's Head On (1979) which adopted the concept of
"going round after round" instead of a timer,[78] and early computer dungeon crawl games such as
Dungeons of Daggorath, which used similar heartbeat sounds to indicate player health.[82]

The technology journalist Jason Whittaker credited Space Invaders with ending the video game crash of
1977, caused by Pong clones flooding the market, and beginning the golden age of video arcade games
(1978–1980s).[109] According to The Observer, home console versions of Space Invaders were popular
and encouraged users to learn to program; many became industry leaders.[83] [Link] stated that Space
Invaders showed that video games could compete against the major entertainment media at the time: films,
music, and television.[28] IGN attributed the launch of the "arcade phenomenon" in North America in part
to Space Invaders.[99] Electronic Games said it was the impetus behind video gaming becoming a rapidly
growing hobby, and as "the single most popular coin-operated attraction of all time."[110] Game Informer
considered it, along with Pac-Man, one of the most popular arcade games; it tapped into popular culture
and generated excitement during the golden age of arcades.[111]

Rankings

In 1995, Flux magazine ranked Space Invaders #1 on their "Top 100 Video Games."[112] In 1996, Next
Generation magazine put Space Invaders at number 97 on their list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time",
saying that it "provides an elegance and simplicity not found in later games like Phoenix [1980]."[113] IGN
listed it as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Games" in 2007, citing it as a source of inspiration to video
game designers and the impact it had on the shooting genre.[74] The Times ranked it No. 1 on its list of "The
ten most influential video games ever" in 2007.[49] 1UP ranked it at No. 3 on its list of "The 60 Most
Influential Games of All Time," stating that, in contrast to earlier arcade games which "were attempts to
simulate already-existing things," Space Invaders was "the first video game as a video game, instead of
merely a playable electronic representation of something else."[114]

In 2008, Guinness World Records listed it as the top-rated arcade game in technical, creative, and cultural
impact.[21] Entertainment Weekly named Space Invaders one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 home
console in 2013.[115] In 2018, it was ranked 87th in Video Game Canon's statistical meta-analysis of 48
"top games" lists published between 1995 and 2017.[116] The list aggregator site Playthatgame currently
ranks Space Invaders as the 57th top game of all time, game of the year, & game of the 1970s.[117] In 2021,
The Guardian listed it as the third-greatest video game of the 1970s, just below Galaxian and
Asteroids.[118]

Remakes and sequels

Space Invaders has been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include
ported and updated versions of the original arcade game. Ported versions generally feature different
graphics and additional gameplay options—for example, moving defense bunkers, zigzag shots, invisible
aliens, and two-player cooperative gameplay.[13] Ports on earlier systems like the Atari home consoles
featured simplified graphics, while later systems such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and
PlayStation featured updated graphics. Later games include several modes of gameplay and integrate new
elements into the original design. For example, Space Invaders Extreme, released on the Nintendo DS and
PlayStation Portable, integrated musical elements into the standard gameplay.[119][120] A 2008 spin-off for
WiiWare, Space Invaders Get Even, allows players to control the aliens instead of the laser cannon in a
reversal of roles.[121]

In 1980, Bally released a pinball version. However, few elements from the original game are included, and
the aliens instead resemble the xenomorphs from the film Alien; Bally was later sued over the resemblance
to the designs by H. R. Giger.[122] It became the third highest-grossing pinball machine of 1980 in the
United States.[123]

Ports have received mixed reviews; the Atari 2600 version was successful, while the Nintendo
Entertainment System version was poorly received.[13]

Taito has released several arcade sequels. The first was Space Invaders Part II in 1979;[124][125] it featured
color graphics, an attract mode, new gameplay elements, and added an intermission between gameplay.[126]
According to the Killer List of Videogames, this was the first video game to include an intermission.[76][126]
The game also allowed the player with the top score to sign their name on the high score table.[127] This
version was released in the United States as Deluxe Space Invaders (also known as Space Invaders
Deluxe), but it featured a different graphical color scheme and a lunar-city background. Another arcade
sequel, Space Invaders II, was released exclusively in the United States. It was in a cocktail-table format
with very fast alien firing and a competitive two-player mode. During the summer of 1985, Return of the
Invaders was released with updated color graphics and more complex movements and attack patterns for
the aliens.[13] Subsequent arcade sequels included Super Space Invaders '91, Space Invaders DX, and
Space Invaders '95. Each game introduced minor gameplay additions to the original design. Like the
original game, several of the arcade sequels have become collector's items, though some are considered
rarer.[87] In 2002, Taito released Space Raiders, a third-person shooter reminiscent of Space
Invaders.[128][129]

Space Invaders and its related games have been included in video game compilations. Space Invaders
Anniversary was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and included nine Space Invader variants.[130] A
similar game for the PlayStation Portable, Space Invaders Pocket, was released in 2005.[131] Space
Invaders, Space Invaders Part II and Return of the Invaders are included in Taito Legends, a compilation of
Taito's classic arcade games released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.[132][133] Super Space
Invaders '91, Space Invaders DX, and Space Invaders '95 were included in Taito Legends 2, a sequel
compilation released in 2006.[134] In April 2017, a redemption game by Raw Thrills, Space Invaders
Frenzy, was released.
 Release timeline

1978 Space Invaders

1979 Space Invaders Part II
1980 Space Invaders II
1981–1983
1984 Return of the Invaders
1985–1989
Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV
Mininvaders
1990
Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi
Space Invaders 90
1991–1992
1993 Space Invaders DX
1994
Space Invaders '95: The Attack of Lunar Loonies
1995
PD Ultraman Invaders
1996–1998
1999 Space Invaders X
2000–2001
Space Invaders EX
2002
Space Raiders
2003–2004
Space Invaders Revolution
2005 Space Invaders Evolution
Space Invaders × Pac-Man
2006 Yawaraka Sensha vs Space Invaders
Space Invaders Pinball
2007
Minna de Invaders
Space Invaders CX
Space Invaders The Beat Attacker
2008 Space Invaders Get Even
Space Invaders Extreme
Space Invaders World War
Space Invaders Extreme 2
2009
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
2010–2016
Space Invaders Frenzy
2017
Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders
2018 Space Invaders Gigamax
2019
2020 Space Invaders Counter Attack
2021 Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes
2022
2023 Space Invaders: World Defense

A stand-alone version was released by Super Impulse as part of its Tiny Arcade series, along with the
Namco games Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaxian.[135]
A Space Invaders game for the Atari Jaguar was worked on by
Virtuality Entertainment, which would have featured support for the
unreleased Jaguar VR peripheral; however, the project never
entered full development beyond reaching pre-production stages,
with the only remaining proof of its existence being a game design
document.[136][137]

In popular culture In Japan, Epoch Co. released a

Space Invaders clone in 1980 that
Many publications and websites use the pixelated alien graphic as could be played at home: the Epoch
an icon for video games in general, including the video game TV Vader.
magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, technology website Ars
Technica, and concert event Video Games Live.[28] There has also
been Space Invaders-themed merchandising, including necklaces
and puzzles.[138] The trend continues to this day, with handmade
sites like Etsy and Pinterest showcasing thousands of handmade
items featuring Space Invaders characters.

Space Invaders has

appeared in numerous
facets of popular culture.
Soon after its release,
hundreds of favorable
articles and stories about the
emerging video game Space Invaders Frenzy machine
medium as popularized by
Space Invaders aired on
A pixelated alien graphic from Space television and were printed in newspapers and magazines. The
Invaders used at the Video Games Space Invaders Tournament, held by Atari in 1980 and won by
Live concert event Rebecca Heineman,[139] was the first electronic sports (eSports)
event, and attracted more than 10,000 participants, establishing
video gaming as a mainstream hobby.[101] The Arcade Awards
ceremony was created that same year to honor the best video games, with Space Invaders winning the first
Game of the Year (GoTY) award.[47] The impact of Space Invaders on the video game industry has been
compared to that of The Beatles in the pop music industry.[140] Considered "the first 'blockbuster' video
game," Space Invaders became synonymous with video games worldwide for some time.[141]

Within a year of its release, the Japanese PTA unsuccessfully attempted to ban Space Invaders for allegedly
inspiring truancy.[51] In North America, doctors identified a condition called the "Space Invaders elbow" as
a complaint,[142] while a physician in The New England Journal of Medicine named a similar ailment the
"Space Invaders Wrist".[143] Space Invaders was also the first game to attract political controversy when a
1981 Private Member's Bill known as the "Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill",
drafted by British Labour Member of Parliament (MP) George Foulkes, attempted to allow local councils to
restrict the game and those like it by licensing for its "addictive properties" and for causing "deviancy".
Conservative MP Michael Brown defended it as "innocent and harmless pleasure", which he himself had
enjoyed that day, and criticized the bill as an example of "Socialist beliefs in restriction and control". A
motion to bring the bill before Parliament was defeated by 114 votes to 94 votes; the bill itself was never
considered by Parliament.[144][145][146] Similarly in the United States, in Westchester County, New York,
there was a controversial political debate in 1981 over a resolution to place age restrictions on Space
Invaders and other arcade games, following complaints that schoolchildren wasted time and lunch money,
and went to school late; the resolution drew national attention.[147]

Music

Musicians have drawn inspiration for their music from Space Invaders. The pioneering Japanese synthpop
group Yellow Magic Orchestra reproduced Space Invaders sounds in its 1978 self-titled album and hit
single "Computer Game",[148] the latter selling over 400,000 copies in the United States.[149] Other pop
songs based on Space Invaders soon followed, including disco records such as "Disco Space Invaders"
(1979) by Funny Stuff,[148] and the hit songs "Space Invader" (1980) by The Pretenders,[148] "Space
Invaders" (1980) by Uncle Vic,[150] and the Australian hit "Space Invaders" (1979) by Player One (known
in the US as 'Playback'),[151] which in turn provided the bassline for Jesse Saunders' "On and On"
(1984),[152][153] the first Chicago house music track.[154] The Clash sampled Space Invaders sound effects
on the song "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" from its 4th studio album, Sandinista!

Video Games Live performed audio from Space Invaders as part of a special retro "Classic Arcade Medley"
in 2007.[155] In honor of the game's 30th anniversary, Taito produced an album, Space Invaders 2008. It
was released by Avex Trax and features music inspired by the game. Six songs were originally used in the
PSP version of Space Invaders Extreme.[156] Taito's store, Taito Station, also unveiled a Space Invaders-
themed music video.[157]

Television and film

In the 1982 pilot of the series The Powers of Matthew Star, David Star uses his powers to cheat the game.
Space Invaders is shown with a colored backdrop of the moon. Multiple television series have aired
episodes that either reference or parody Space Invaders; for example, Danger Mouse,[158] That '70s
Show,[159] Scrubs,[160] Chuck,[161] Robot Chicken,[162] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[163] and The
Amazing World of Gumball.[164] Elements are prominently featured in the "Raiders of the Lost Arcade"
segment of "Anthology of Interest II", an episode of the animated series Futurama.[165][166]

Space Invaders also appears in the films Cherry 2000 (1987), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and
Pixels (2015) while its Deluxe game made an appearance in Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982). It also
appears in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph (2012). A film adaptation is in the works by Warner Bros. Pictures with
Akiva Goldsman producing.[167][168] On February 13, 2015, Daniel Kunka was set to write the script for
the film.[169] On July 12, 2019, Greg Russo was set to write the script for the film, with Goldsman still
producing alongside Safehouse Pictures partners Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell.[170]

Books

Various books have been published about Space Invaders, including Invasion of the Space Invaders: An
Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machines (1982) by Martin Amis,[171] Tomb
Raiders and Space Invaders: Videogame forms and Contexts (2006) by Geoff King and Tanya
Krzywinska,[172] and Space Invaders (1980) by Mark Roeder and Julian Wolanski.[173]

Miscellaneous

In the mid-1990s, the athletics company Puma released a T-shirt with a stamp having references to Space
Invaders, i.e. a spaceship aiming at the company's logo (see picture on the right).
In 2006, Space Invaders was one of several video game-related
media selected to represent Japan as part of a project compiled by
Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.[174][175] That same year,
Space Invaders was included in the London Science Museum's
Game On exhibition, meant to showcase the various aspects of
video game history, development, and culture.[176] Space Invaders
is a part of the Barbican Centre's traveling Game On
exhibition.[177]

At the Belluard Bollwerk International 2006 festival in Fribourg,

Switzerland, Guillaume Reymond created a three-minute video
recreation of a game of Space Invaders as part of the "Gameover"
project using humans as pixels.[178] The GH ART exhibit at the
2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, included an art
game, Invaders!, based on Space Invaders's gameplay. The creator
later asked for it to be removed from the exhibit following criticism
of elements based on the September 11 attacks in the United A spaceship aiming at the Puma
States.[179] logo, with clear references to Space
Invaders
A bridge in Cáceres, Spain, projected by engineers Pedro Plasencia
and Hadrián Arias, features pavement design based Space Invaders.
The laser cannon, some shots, and several figures can be seen on the deck.[180] A French street artist,
Invader, made a name for himself by creating mosaic artwork of Space Invader aliens around the
world.[28][181]

In 2014, two Brazilian zoologists (Kury & Barros) described a new species of arachnid as Taito
spaceinvaders. They were inspired by the resemblance of a fleck in the dorsal scutum of the animal to a
typical alien in Space Invaders. The genus Taito is named for the company that produces Space
Invaders.[182]

In 2018, Highways England launched a campaign titled "Don't be a Space Invader, Stay Safe, Stay Back"
to raise awareness on the dangers of tailgating. People were also able to order free car bumper stickers to
raise awareness of the campaign.[183]

Notes
a. Space Invaders was first published on April 1, 1978,[6] before entering mass-production in
July 1978.[7][8]
b. Japanese: スペースインベーダー , Hepburn: Supēsu Inbēdā

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Further reading
Parkin, Simon (October 17, 2013). "The Space Invader" ([Link]
22212511/[Link] The New Yorker.
Archived from the original ([Link] on
July 22, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.

External links
Official website ([Link]
 Space Invaders ([Link] at the
Killer List of Videogames
Space Invaders ([Link] can be played for free in the
browser at the Internet Archive
Game manual ([Link] for arcade
game, stored at [Link]
Game manual ([Link] for Atari 2600 game,
stored at [Link]

Retrieved from "[Link]