Gabriela Schmid

Spacelocker Meets Space Invaders



Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

by
Spacelocker

It's been a long time . . . a very long time . . .

PhotobucketThe other day I was wandering through the Spacelocker Widget Gallery (click on Get Widgets on your Locker Page, then click on Games), when I chanced to meet an old friend. It had been many years since we'd last seen each other, but the years had been good to my old friend.

We had a brief moment of awkward silence that seemed thick enough to cut, and then all doubt suddenly began to fade away. At the prompt, I replied, "Yes, I understand," and before I knew it, I was playing Space Invaders once again, after these many years.

Space Invaders and I go back to1978. Following on the early success of Pong, it ushered in the golden era of video arcade games, and video began to edge pinball out of the arcade. Space Invaders was at the forefront of the attack-it set precedents.

Space Invaders is one of the earliest and most successful arcade shooting games. After its release in Japan, the game became so popular that specialty arcades opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets. The crush of crazed teenaged Space Invaders players feeding the machines caused a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, which forced the Japanese mint to press more. By 2007, the game had generated almost US$500 million in revenue.

Space Invaders revolutionized the video game industry. Its phenominal success took the industry from a novelty in bars and arcades into a mainstream global contender that rivalled movies, music, and television. Along with Pac-Man, it is considered to be one of the most popular arcade games that tapped into popular culture during the golden age of arcades. In 2007, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized Space Invaders as the top-rated arcade game.

Space Invaders was the first video game to have an intermission between gameplay, to popularize the concept of achieving a high score, and to be recognized as a classic shoot 'em up. And Space Invaders has also inspired the development of games like Galaxian and Galaga.

It's been good to get back in touch with an old friend. At its core, meeting, connecting with, and keeping in touch with friends-old and new-is what Spacelocker is about. You never know what you'll find or who you'll meet. Check it out. And share it with your friends.

Spacelocker: The Happiest Space On Earth

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