1973 in video games

none March 2016 1973 video games The year 1973 saw a substantial increase in the number of video games created and distributed. In coin-operated games, a craze for Pong-style games ignited the first fad for video games both in the United States and other countries such as Japan and the United Kingdom. Time-sharing networks saw greater proliferation of popular programs through type-in listings. The PLATO system located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign played host to some of the earliest massively multiplayer games. Events January – Pong is licensed to Midway Mfg, subsidiary of Bally, for release as Winner. March – Atari Inc. launches Pong nationally to distributors of coin-operated games across the United States.1973-04-07 PONG Into National Distribution; Success for Atari, Inc. Cash Box 34 40 104 August 26–28 – The fourth U.S. American Computer Chess Championship is held in Atlanta, Georgia. It is won by Northwestern University's Chess 3.5 running on a CDC 6400 computer, successor to the undefeated champion from the prior three years.1973-08-17 Computer against computer in chess match The Daily Herald Section 2, 2Kenny Jr. Herbert 1973-09-30 Computer conquer space, but not Bobby Fischer The Boston Globe A-24 September – The Japanese Amusement Association show is held in Tokyo. The company Kansai Seiki displays the prototype game Playtron, among the first games utilizing color graphics – though it is never released.Akagi Masumi Soreha "Pon" Kara Hajimatta - Ākēdo TV Gēmu no Naritachi Amusement News Agency 2005 978-4990251208 89 ja:それは「ポン」から始まった-アーケードTVゲームの成り立ち In the Beginning, There was "Pong" - The Origins of Arcade TV Gamesshmuplations 2021-12-29 Kasco and the Electro-Mechanical Golden Age - shmuplations.com https://shmuplations.com/kasco/ 2024-07-21 en-US November 9–11 – The Music Operators of America show is held in Chicago, Illinois. Over a dozen companies exhibit video games at the show, almost all clones or variants of Pong.1973-11-24 Focus on MOA's 25th Anniversary Expo Cash Box 35 21 50–51 Financial performance United States Arcade Total Video Game Cabinets: 50,000-70,000 units.Cole Bernard C. 1974-06-27 A whole new game Electronics 69–70The Coin Operated and Home Electronic Games Market Frost & Sullivan Inc. 1976 87 Total Video Game Revenue (machine sales): $20 million-$77 million. TitleArcade cabinet units (Lifetime)ManufacturerDeveloperGenrePaddle Battle17,000Smith Alexander They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry November 27, 2019 CRC Press 978-1-138-38990-8 1: 1971 – 1982 173 enAllied Leisure IndustriesUniversal Research LaboratoriesSportsPro Tennis7,000Baer Ralph H. Ralph H. Baer https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up Videogames: In the Beginning 2005 Rolenta Press 978-0-9643848-1-1 12Ralph Baer's numbers compiled in April 1976 are mostly estimates without direct access to sales figures. NoteWilliams ElectronicsMagnetic Corporation of AmericaSportsWinner7,000Baer 2005 10Jarrell Timothy November 1976 Like Old Man River Midway Sales Go Rollin' Along Play Meter 2 12 50yesMidway ManufacturingAtari Inc.SportsTennis Tourney5,000Baer 2005 10Allied Leisure IndustriesUniversal Research LaboratoriesSportsSuper Soccer5,000Baer 2005 10Allied Leisure IndustriesUniversal Research LaboratoriesSportsTV Ping Pong3,300Neven John F. 1977-07-11 Notice of Motion https://archive.org/details/19770711NoticeOfMotion/page/n9/ 22 March 2024 Magnavox Company v. Chicago Dynamic Industries, et al. US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern DivisionyesRamtek CorporationRamtek CorporationSportsGotcha3,000Baer 2005 10Atari Inc.Atari Inc.MazeAsteroidLicensed version of Space Race. Note2,000Baer 2005 10Midway ManufacturingAtari Inc.RacingHockey2,000Baer 2005 12Ramtek CorporationRamtek CorporationSportsSpace Race1,500Baer 2005 10Atari Inc.Atari Inc.RacingTV Tennis1,000yes 5,000Baer 2005 10Chicago CoinChicago CoinSportsVolly1,000Baer 2005 12Ramtek CorporationRamtek CorporationSportsOlympic TV Hockey/ Olympic TV FootballReleased under both names. Note750yes 1,000Baer 2005 10Chicago CoinChicago CoinSportsElimination!500Baer 2005 10Kee GamesAtari Inc.SportsPong DoublesAtari's version of Elimination!. Note500Baer 2005 10Atari Inc.Atari Inc.Sports yes Indicates a sales number given by official company sources. Home consoles Total Console Revenue (retail): $4.6 million.The Electronic Games Market in the U.S. 1983 Frost & Sullivan Inc. 26 TitleGame console units (1973)ManufacturerDeveloperOdyssey89,0001974-05-13 Magnavox will drop Weekly Television Digest with Consumer Electronics 14 19 9yes 83,000Baer 2005 86Ralph Baer's numbers for Odyssey units sold per year contradict those of official figures disclosed by Magnavox in 1974. NoteMagnavox Co.Sanders Associates/Magnavox yes Indicates a sales number given by official company sources. Publications July – 101 BASIC Computer Games, edited and compiled by David Ahl, is published by Digital Equipment Corporation. The publication is vital in the dissemination of influential mainframe games like Hamurabi, Star Trek, and Lunar Landing variants.Smith 2019 244–245 Notable releases thumb|Gotcha|310x310px Arcade games March – Volly by Ramtek Corp, Rally by For-Play Manufacturing, and Paddle Battle by Allied Leisure are released in the United States, among the first clones of Pong. April – Ping-Pong by Alca Electronics is released in the UK as the first European coin-op video game.Meades Alan F. Arcade Britannia: A Social History of the British Amusement Arcade 2022 The MIT Press 978-0-262-37235-0 Game Histories / edited by Henry Lowood and Raiford Guins Cambridge, Massachusetts 124 July – Sega releases Pong-Tron and Taito releases Elepong, the first two video games produced for the coin-operated games market in Japan.Akagi Masumi アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) アミューズメント通信社 2005 978-4990251215 34, 40 ja List of Arcade TV Games (1971-2005) Atari Inc. releases Space Race, a combination of a racing game and obstacle avoidance.1973-07-21 Atari Bows 'SPACE RACE' Cash Box 35 3 39 August – Tennis Tourney by Allied Leisure is released, the first four-player variant of Pong.1973-08-25 4-Player, 50c, TV Game From ALI Cash Box 48 September – Gotcha is released by Atari, a game featuring characters in a maze.1973-09-29 Atari Ships 'Pong Doubles' & 'Gotcha' Cash Box 35 13 54 The game is notable for its low-production variant, Color Gotcha, which may be the first commercially released video game utilizing color graphics.Fries Ed 2016-05-25 Fixing Color Gotcha https://edfries.wordpress.com/2016/05/25/fixing-color-gotcha/ 2024-07-24 en October – Elimination! is released by Kee Games, a ball-and-paddle game featuring up to four people in an elimination-style contest. Atari's version is released as Quadrapong. December – Nutting Associates releases the ball-and-paddle game Wimbledon, among the first color games.1973-12-08 Nutting Industries Ships Color Tennis TV Cash Box 35 23 44 Computer games February 25 – Jack Burness completes Moonlander, a graphical version of the Lunar Lander game concept for the DEC GT-40 intelligent terminal. His version features the first overworld map and the first Easter egg in a video game.Willaert "Critical Kate" 2021-04-11 Moonlander: One Giant Leap For Game Design https://www.acriticalhit.com/moonlander-one-giant-leap-for-game-design/ 2024-07-24 A Critical Hit! en-US May – Hunt the Wumpus by Gregory Yob is first distributed on paper tape by the People's Computer Company newsletter.May 1973 Lost in the Caves People's Computer Company 1 5 4 Empire by John Daleske of Iowa State University is released on the PLATO IV, a game featuring trading and resource management elements with up to eight players.Daleske John PLATO Empire - Empire 1 https://www.daleske.com/plato/empire1.php 2024-07-24 www.daleske.com August – Empire II is released to PLATO by John Daleske and Silas Warner. This version evolved into an arena combat shooting game featuring fifty simultaneous players on any of eight teams.Daleske John PLATO Empire - Empire 2 - Tactics https://www.daleske.com/plato/empire2.php 2024-07-24 www.daleske.comDear Brian The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture Pantheon Books 2017 978-1-101-87155-3 New York 267–269 en Console games July – Magnavox releases the games Interplanetary Voyage, Basketball, W.I.N., and Brain Wave for the Odyssey at retail.Lewis Barbara 1973-07-28 Television Does Have Advantages The Telegraph-Journal and Evening Times-Globe 11 Previously they had provided the game Percepts to customers who returned their survey card, but these were the first commercial releases of console games separate from the hardware.Willaert "Critical Kate" 2020-02-09 Box Art History #1: The First Video Games In Boxes Were For Magnavox's Odyssey https://www.acriticalhit.com/best-box-art-part-1-magnavox-odyssey/ 2024-07-24 A Critical Hit! en-US Hardware Consoles Official test markets for the Odyssey console outside of North America begin.Baer 2005 90 Several clones of the Odyssey appear in Europe, including Spain's Overkal.Martorell Martin F. 2024-04-18 Overkal - The History of the Spanish Magnavox Odyssey clone https://prehistoricgaming.com/en/overkal-history/ 2024-12-22 prehistoricgaming en-US Business March 19 – Konami Industry Co., Ltd. is formerly incorporated in Japan by Kagemasa Kōzuki, Yoshinobu Naka, and Tatsuo Miyasako.Corporate Info / Corporate History http://www.konami.co.jp/en/corporate/data/index.html Konami February 15, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060210122851/http://www.konami.co.jp/en/corporate/data/index.html February 10, 2006 dead May – The company Hudson is established in Sapporo, Japan as the business arm of the radio shop CQ Hudson. The company later changes its name to Hudson Soft when it begins selling computers and associated software.Carlston Douglas G. Software People: An Insider's Look at the Personal Computer Software Industry 1985 Simon & Schuster 978-0-671-50971-2 New York 254–255Corporate Info. / History http://www.hudson.co.jp/corp/eng/coinfo/history.html https://web.archive.org/web/20051124135835/http://www.hudson.co.jp/corp/eng/coinfo/history.html November 24, 2005 February 15, 2006 Hudson August – Atari opens their Atari Japan subsidiary to import games for the domestic market.Goldberg Marty Atari Inc.: Business is Fun Vendel Curt Syzygy Press 2012 978-0985597405 122 en September 25 – Kee Games Inc. is founded in California. The company is majority owned by the principals of Atari but is presented as a competitor.Goldberg Vendel 2012 128–129 October 19 – Exidy Inc. is founded by former Ramtek engineer Pete Kauffman and Samuel Hawes. Their first product was a Pong clone. Taito Co Ltd. – in the business of coin-operated amusements as well as general import and export – opens its office Taito America in Illinois, the first Japanese company involved with video games to open an American office.Smith 2019 199 The toy company Nintendo Co. Ltd. establishes the label Nintendo Leisure System to release coin-operated games, starting with the electro-mechanical Laser Clay Shooting Range. Videomaster of the UK is established to distribute coin-operated Pong games throughout the nation.Eglin Roger 1977-06-26 Big shots with a small screen Sunday Times 63 See also 1973 in games Notes References 30em Category:Video games by year