Timeline | 1980: Space Invaders for Atari 2600

Space Invaders stormed onto the Atari 2600 playing a large roll in its success.

Space Invaders was a huge hit in the Arcades for Taito starting in 1978 with estimates of 100,000 machines installed grossing over $600 million in just that year, and just in Japan! Securing the license for the home console version of Space Invaders was an enourmous boon for the Atari 2600 and in 1980 the Arcade classic hit the home console and sales skyrocketted! Sales of the 2600 nearly quadrupled with the release of Space Invaders and the game itself went on to sell over two million copies in its first year on sale for the console. Now described as the first 'killer app' for a home video game console, many people were buying the Atari 2600 just to play Space Invaders.

Space Invaders Rocketed the Atari 2600 to popularity and even allowed it to extend its reach beyond the US to some degree.

To understand the phenomenon that was Space Invaders one has to look at the game in context with the times. No other game before it was as action oriented, it wasn't the first shooting game but it was the first shooting game where the targets shot back. It had waves of enemies that got faster and faster, rudimentary destructible environments (in the form of the blocks the player's cannon could hide behind). The basic concept of the player manning a movable cannon on the ground and shooting down invading aliens and its popularity helped to shift the video game industry from the mostly sports based titles before it (popularized by Pong and the like) to include more sci-fi and fantasy situations. Games like Galaga, Galaxian, Asteroids, Missile Command, Defender and even later first-person shooters like Doom, Quake and Halo feel the influence of Space Invaders.

Space Invaders on the Atari 2600.

Space Invaders for the Atari 2600 boasted '112 game' or rather game-variations (basically a bunch of slightly different game modes) but the main portion of the game had a few differences from the Arcade version. First it was smaller, only 36 aliens to start with instead of 55, only 3 hiding bunkers instead of 4. Also some key strategy changes included the bunkers disappearing altogether if/when an alien touched any of them (instead of grinding away like in the arcade version) and the fact that the player's and alien's shots pass through each other instead of canceling each other out like in the arcade version. Finally the sprites and colors themselves were slightly less impressive than the arcade cabinets could produce. Still Space Invaders on the Atari 2600 was probably one of the greatest games that could be played on any home console at the time - and definitely the most popular.

Further Reading:

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders

Space Invaders Wiki:
http://spaceinvaders.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Invaders_(Atari_2600)