Space Wars
1977 · Space Combat · Arcade
Overview
Space Wars (1977) is Cinematronics' two-player vector duel, Larry Rosenthal's commercial version of the MIT classic Spacewar!, drawn in crisp vector lines.
Deep Dive
Two ships circle a central star, fighting its gravity while trying to shoot each other down — the formula of MIT's Spacewar!, rebuilt for the arcade. Larry Rosenthal had developed a Spacewar! machine for his MIT master's thesis and designed his own vector display hardware to run it, then licensed the result to Cinematronics. Its sharp, flicker-free lines stood out against the blocky raster games of 1977, and Cinematronics built later vector games such as Tail Gunner and Rip Off on the same approach.
Developer Story
Space Wars was developed by Larry Rosenthal and released by Cinematronics in 1977. Rosenthal had built a Spacewar! clone for his MIT master's thesis, then commercialised it as an arcade game using vector graphics technology he developed himself. It was one of the first vector graphics arcade games and was technically superior to most raster-graphics games of its era.
Did You Know?
- Space Wars used vector graphics, drawing lines directly on the screen rather than lighting up pixels — producing crisp, flicker-free visuals unusual for 1977.
- Larry Rosenthal built the entire game himself as a one-man operation, then licensed it to Cinematronics for manufacturing.
- The game was essentially a commercial version of the MIT Spacewar! program, with Rosenthal having studied and improved the original code.
- Cinematronics went on to produce other vector classics including Tail Gunner and Rip Off, establishing vector graphics as a viable arcade format.
Sources & further reading
- Space Wars — Wikipedia
