1979 in Video Games — 7 Classic Releases

Asteroids, Galaxian and the First Third-Party Publisher

In 1979 the arcade boom gathered pace: Atari released Asteroids and Lunar Lander, Namco brought full colour to the fixed shooter with Galaxian, and Space Invaders was again the world's top-grossing game. At home, the Atari VCS reached a million sales, Atari launched the 400 and 800 computers, and Activision was founded.

Asteroids (November)

Atari's vector-graphics Asteroids followed its Lunar Lander from August and went on to become Atari's second best-selling game of all time.

Galaxian in Full Colour

Namco released Galaxian in November, a fixed shooter in the line of Space Invaders but displayed in full colour, with aliens that broke formation to dive at the player.

Activision Is Founded

Former Atari programmers David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead founded Activision with Jim Levy on 1 October — the first independent, third-party console game developer. Capcom, Infocom and Strategic Simulations were also founded in 1979.

Microvision and the Atari 400/800

Milton Bradley released Microvision, the first handheld console with interchangeable cartridges, and Atari launched its 400 and 800 home computers. Mattel test-marketed the Intellivision in Fresno, California.

The Arcade Market Booms

American arcades took about $1.5 billion in 1979, up from $1 billion the year before, and Space Invaders was again the highest-grossing game in the world, with more than 355,000 cabinets sold worldwide. Its rivals that year showed how quickly the medium was moving. Sega's Head On was an early dot-collecting driving game, Atari turned a decade-old minicomputer idea into the arcade Lunar Lander, and Asteroids arrived in November to become one of Atari's biggest hits.

The Home Gets Serious

The Atari VCS sold about a million units in 1979, and the home market reached $330 million in the United States. Atari's 400 and 800 computers launched in November, and Star Raiders became a reason to buy one. Role-playing games were also taking shape on home computers: Automated Simulations released Temple of Apshai, and Richard Garriott's Akalabeth on the Apple II laid the groundwork for Ultima. The founding of Activision mattered most in the long run — it proved that console games could be made and sold by companies other than the console's manufacturer.