arcade VIDEO GAME history

The first computer arcade game, ‘Computer space’, was introduced in 1976. It was not a commercial success but it encouraged the inventor, Norman Bushnell, to set up a new company called Atari.
Atari’s first product was ‘Pong’, the classic tennis game, 1977.

Pong was made cheaply after the extravigant computer space - hence the wooden case - but it turned out to be highly successful, both in arcades and later as a home TV game. Pong started a rash of new designs. Predictably, there is much more about the history of video games on the web than other sorts of slot machines. Details of the individual machines can be found on:

Long before any commercial machine appeared, I tried Lunar Lander one night in 1971 in the Cambridge University maths lab. For details about earlier computer games made by scientists for fun and to show at open days see: http://www.emuunlim.com/doteaters/play1sta1.htm

Through the eighties and early nineties arcade video games were always faster and had better graphics than home TV games. However, as PCs became more powerful and better equipped for graphics, they caught up. Today arcade video games are little better than Playstation games and some people talk of an industry crisis. In the UK, the industry’s interest seems to have returned to fruit machines, with the opportunities for higher jackpots etc that the new legislation will bring.

Japan continues to innovate. The wierdest one I've found is Boon-Ga-Boon-Ga.

here is a review:

no idea why this game is called Spank Em, seeing as how there is no spanking per se involved. Rather, you pick up a pointy finger and proceed to shove it with as much force as you can muster into the arse of your chosen victim. According to the brochure, the funny face expressions will make people laugh and relieve stress! You can choose from six different characters to spank, including ex-boyfriend, paedophile and mother-in-law. There havent been many times in my life when I was rendered lost for words, but being confronted with this was one of them. What can you possibly say about a game whose mascot is a big steaming turd and that rates your sexual prowess based on how exactly you shoved a finger up someones bum? Also, apparently if you score highly enough, you win a special prize: you guessed it, a small plastic turd. When it was first revealed to the public at 2000's Tokyo Game Show, many considered it to be an April Fools Joke; sadly, it wasnt. The makers, Taff System, are actually a Korean company, but as they produced Boon-Ga Boon-Ga specifically for export to Japan, we still think it counts as a Japanese thing.

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