Computer Space is a space combat arcade video game released in 1971. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in partnership as Syzygy Engineering, it was the first arcade video game as well as the first commercially available video game. Computer Space is a derivative of the 1962 computer game Spacewar!, which is possibly the first video game to spread to multiple computer installations. It features a rocket controlled by the player engaged in a missile battle with a pair of hardware-controlled flying saucers set against a starfield background. The goal is to score more hits than the enemy spaceships within a set time period, which awards a free round of gameplay. The game is enclosed in a custom fiberglass cabinet, which Bushnell designed to look futuristic.
Bushnell and Dabney designed the game in 1970–71 to be a coin-operated version of Spacewar!. After the pair were unable to find a way to economically run the game on a minicomputer such as the Data General Nova, they hit upon the idea of instead replacing the central computer with custom-designed hardware created to run just that game. While they were working on an early proof of concept, Bushnell found a manufacturer for the game in Nutting Associates. Working in partnership with Nutting, the pair completed the game and ran their first location test in August 1971, a few months prior to the display of a similar prototype called Galaxy Game, also based on Spacewar!. It was first shown to industry press and distributors at the annual Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo in October. With encouraging initial interest, though mixed responses from distributors, Nutting ordered an initial production run of 1,500 units, anticipating a hit game.
While the game was successful and validated Syzygy's belief in the future of arcade video games, selling over 1,000 cabinets by mid-1972 and ultimately 1,300–1,500 units, it was not the runaway success that Nutting had hoped for. The game spawned one clone game, Star Trek (1972), and Nutting produced a two-player version of Computer Space in 1973 without involvement from Bushnell and Dabney. The pair left Nutting in June 1972 and incorporated Syzygy as Atari, launching the successful Pong (1972) as their next arcade game. Computer Space's release marked the ending of the early history of video games and the start of the commercial video game industry.
ComputerSpace is a space combat arcade video game released in 1971. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in partnership as Syzygy Engineering, it...
coin-operated arcade cabinet using a less expensive computer. This was released as ComputerSpace, the first arcade video game, in 1971. Bushnell and...
arcade game Galaxy Game and the release of the first arcade video game ComputerSpace, and then in 1972 with the release of the immensely successful arcade...
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation). Modern digital electronic...
ComputerSpace forum is a yearly computer art festival, organized by the Student Computer Art Society (SCAS) in Sofia, Bulgaria. It's one of the oldest...
of fixed shooter and multidirectional shooter. Within the personal computerspace, two publications established a small number of categories based on...
of ComputerSpace by Nutting Associates and Galaxy Game by Mini-Computer Applications. The majority of digital games remained on mainframe computers and...
game consoles and personal computers. Notable games released in the 1970s included ComputerSpace, The Oregon Trail, Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Galaxian...
console was the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games were ComputerSpace and Pong. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang...
developing the basics of video circuitry principles that were used for ComputerSpace and later Pong, one of the first and most successful arcade games. Dabney...
In computer science, binary space partitioning (BSP) is a method for space partitioning which recursively subdivides an Euclidean space into two convex...
try to implement computers, they had no interest in the virtual space as such: To us, "cyberspace" was simply about managing spaces. There was nothing...
SpaceSniffer is a freeware computer disk space analyser from Uderzo Software for Microsoft Windows platforms. It uses a treemap to visualise disk usage...
in development, the game which would become ComputerSpace began development in this period. In computer games, BASIC games written by high school and...
first commercial video game, ComputerSpace. The first North American Computer Chess Championship is held. 1971 – ComputerSpace and Galaxy Game are released...
A modern computer operating system usually uses virtual memory to provide separate address spaces called user space and kernel space. Primarily, this...
constant amount of time on a given computer and change only by a constant factor when run on a different computer. Space complexity is generally expressed...
Clarke's Space Odyssey series. First appearing in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL (Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer) is a sentient...
the video game industry. Early prototypical entries Galaxy Game and ComputerSpace in 1971 established the principle operations for arcade games, and Atari's...
smaller general-purpose computer developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct...
Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a computer security technique involved in preventing exploitation of memory corruption vulnerabilities. In...
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