1973 in video gaming
Overview of the events of 1973 in video games
Events
March 19 – Kagemasa Kōzuki establishes Konami Industry Co., Ltd. [1] Formerly the owner of a jukebox repair/rental business in Osaka, Japan , Kozuki launches Konami to manufacture amusement machines for video arcades .[2]
May – Hudson Soft Ltd. is established in Sapporo, Japan for the purpose of marketing telecommunications devices and art photographs.[3]
Taito , an electro-mechanical arcade game manufacturer, enters the video game industry and opens a North American branch.[4]
Sega , an electro-mechanical arcade game manufacturer, enters the video game industry with Pong clones.
Computer Space makes appearances in the films Soylent Green and Sleeper .
Empire versions I, II and III are developed for the PLATO system by John Daleske. Possibly the first team game ever, the first fifty-player game ever, and numerous other innovations.
Silas Warner takes over PLATO Empire version I and renames it Conquest.
Lemonade Stand is developed for the first time.
Maze War , an ancestor of the first-person shooter genre and an early network game, begins development for the Imlac PDS-1 computer.
Best-selling arcade video games in the United States
The following titles were the best-selling arcade video games of 1973 in the United States, according to annual arcade cabinet sales estimates provided by Ralph H. Baer .[5]
Rank
Title
Arcade cabinet sales
Manufacturer
Genre
1
Pong
8,000
Atari, Inc.
Pong
2
Pro Tennis
7,000
Williams Electronics
Winner
7,000
Midway Manufacturing
4
Super Soccer
5,000
Allied Leisure
Tennis Tourney
5,000
TV Tennis
5,000
Chicago Coin
7
Gotcha
3,000
Atari, Inc.
Maze
8
Asteroid (Space Race )
2,000
Midway Manufacturing
Racing
9
Space Race
1,500
Atari, Inc.
10
Hockey
1,000
Ramtek
Pong
TV Hockey
1,000
Chicago Coin
Volley
1,000
Ramtek
Notable releases
Arcade games
Computer games
Maze War , an ancestor of the first-person shooter genre, was ported to a number of computer systems. The above image was created from a version of the game written for the Xerox Star 8010 in 1985.
See also
References
^ a b c Thomas, Donald A. Jr (2005). "-1973-" . ICWhen.com . Archived from the original on October 26, 2002. Retrieved February 15, 2006 .
^ "Corporate Info / Corporate History" . Konami . Archived from the original on February 10, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2006 .
^ "Corporate Info. / History" . Hudson . Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2006 .
^ "The Golden Age Arcade Historian: Video Game Firsts??" . November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2014 .
^ Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning . Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1 .
^ "WINNER from Midway" (PDF) . The International Arcade Museum . 1973. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015 .
^ Winters, David. "Atari PONG –The first steps–" . PONG-Story . Archived from the original on February 13, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2006 .
^ Kurtz, Bill (1997). Slot Machines and Coin-Op Games . New Jersey: Chartwell Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-55521-731-0 .
^ "The Maze War 30 Year Retrospective" . DigiBarn Games . 2004. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2012 .
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