Space Invaders
Tomohiro Nishikado spent a year designing Space Invaders in 1978. He worked alone to create custom hardware for the arcade cabinet. The game debuted on the 19th of April 1978, in Japan. Nishikado drew inspiration from the novel The War of the Worlds and the anime Space Battleship Yamato. Early enemy designs included tanks and battleships before he settled on pixelated aliens. He believed shooting human characters would be immoral. The final design featured an octopus-like creature that moved across the screen. Nishikado used a light pen to adjust the pixel art directly on the monitor. He added bunkers and a mystery ship to the playing field later. The original title was Space Monsters after a popular song in Japan.
The arcade machine used an Intel 8080 microprocessor to display graphics. Michiyuki Kamei created the sound circuitry using a Texas Instruments SN76477 chip. Kamei reused a 556 timer integrated circuit from Super Speed Race to generate movement sounds. The audio looped at four notes that increased in pitch as enemies were destroyed. This effect mimicked a heartbeat and raised player heart rates. The cabinet displayed monaural sound through analog circuitry. A semi-transparent mirror reflected hidden CRT graphics toward the player. Orange and green cellophane strips added color to the black-and-white image. Later versions featured rainbow overlays and electronic color generation. Nishikado found the hardware development more difficult than programming the game itself.
Taito installed over 100,000 machines in Japan by the end of 1978. Pachinko parlors and bowling alleys adopted the game quickly. Specialty video arcades called Space Invaders Parlours opened with nothing but cabinets. Each machine earned an average of 200 yen per day by June 1979. Prices ranged from $2,000 to $3,000 per unit in 1982. By December 1978, Taito had to import Midway cabinets back into Japan to meet demand. An estimated 750,000 units were installed worldwide by the end of 1979. The game grossed $2 billion by 1982 with a net profit of $450 million. It became the best-selling entertainment product of its time. Midway released upright and cocktail versions outside Japan near the end of 1978.
The Atari 2600 port sold over 100,000 copies in its first year alone. This release quadrupled sales of the home console system worldwide. Bill Kunkel and Frank Laney found the variants interesting in Video magazine. Electronic Games magazine rated the game a perfect ten overall. Howard J. Blumenthal described it as highly competitive with skilled hand-eye coordination requirements. The version for Atari 8-bit computers received compliments for gameplay but only good ratings for graphics. Aaron Morales ranked it third on his list of top Atari 2600 games in 2013. Brett Alan Weiss praised the quality of graphic reproduction on Super Nintendo Entertainment System releases. Jeremy Parish ranked the Game Boy version twenty-first greatest title on that handheld system in 2019.
Yellow Magic Orchestra reproduced Space Invaders sounds on their 1978 self-titled album. The hit single Computer Game sold over 400,000 copies in the United States. A condition called Space Invaders Wrist appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1981. George Foulkes proposed a Private Member's Bill in the UK Parliament in 1981 to restrict access. The bill failed by 114 votes to 94 votes after being debated. An urban legend claimed the game caused a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan. Brazilian zoologists named a new arachnid species Taito spaceinvaders in 2014 due to its resemblance to the alien. The character became an emoji in Unicode version 10 in 2017. Highways England launched a safety campaign titled Don't be a Space Invader in 2018.
Space Invaders was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2016. Shigeru Miyamoto considers it the most revolutionary title in video game history. Hideo Kojima cites it as the first game that pulled him into the industry. John Romero and John Carmack named it their introduction to video games. Taito released Space Invaders Part II in 1979 with color graphics and intermissions. Return of the Invaders arrived in summer 1985 with updated color graphics. Space Invaders Extreme integrated musical elements on Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable in 2008. A miniature arcade cabinet for the 45th anniversary appeared in 2023 from Numskull Designs. Warner Bros. Pictures acquired film rights in 2014 after approaching Taito in 2010. Ben Zazove and Evan Turner wrote a new script for the project in August 2025.
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Common questions
Who designed Space Invaders and when was it released?
Tomohiro Nishikado spent a year designing Space Invaders in 1978. The game debuted on the 19th of April 1978, in Japan.
What hardware components powered the original Space Invaders arcade machine?
The arcade machine used an Intel 8080 microprocessor to display graphics. Michiyuki Kamei created the sound circuitry using a Texas Instruments SN76477 chip.
How many Space Invaders units were installed worldwide by the end of 1979?
An estimated 750,000 units were installed worldwide by the end of 1979. Taito installed over 100,000 machines in Japan by the end of 1978 alone.
Did Space Invaders cause any health issues or legal restrictions in the early 1980s?
A condition called Space Invaders Wrist appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1981. George Foulkes proposed a Private Member's Bill in the UK Parliament in 1981 to restrict access but it failed by 114 votes to 94 votes.
When was Space Invaders inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame?
Space Invaders was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2016. Shigeru Miyamoto considers it the most revolutionary title in video game history.