Stay on top of important gaming anniversaries with this page, with a focus mostly on arcade gaming and the milestones found there.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

1974 – Atari releases Gran Trak 10, the first racing video game. The cabinet included a realistic shifter and steering wheel.

APRIL

1975 – Atari/Kee Games releases Indy 800, the first 8-player video game. Each player had their own steering wheel, shifter and gas pedal. This was also the company’s most expensive game to date, selling for $6495.

1976 – Atari releases Breakout, a very influential game. Both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked on this one.

MAY

22nd, 1980 – Namco releases Pac-Man to arcades. The game & character become a world-wide phenomenon, soon known as “Pac-Man Fever.”

JUNE

3rd, 1955 – Sega, short for Service Games, is founded in Japan. They begin with electro-mechanical entertainments, moving into video games in the 1970s.

6th, 1978 – Taito releases Space Invaders, which goes on to become one of the most important & influential games in the business.

6th, 1984 – Alexey Pajitnov publishes his iconic puzzle game, Tetris. Apart from official Tetris games, many variations of the game have also been released in arcades.

27th, 1972 – Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney incorporate Atari in California

JULY

1981 – Nintendo releases Donkey Kong, starring the iconic Mario (as Jumpman) and putting the company on the map.

1st, 1984 – Warner sells Atari Inc. (home division) to Jack Tramiel of Tramiel Technologies. The arcade division stayed with Warner, becoming known as Atari Games.

2nd, 1987 – Sega releases After Burner to arcades.

AUGUST

30th, 1987 – Capcom releases the first Street Fighter to arcades. Three years later the sequel would change the face of gaming forever.

SEPTEMBER

1973 – Atari releases Pong Doubles, the first 4-player video game.

1998 – Konami releases Dance Dance Revolution to arcades, which in conjunction with games like Beatmania, launches the rhythm gaming genre.

11th, 1977 – Atari releases the Atari VCS/2600 to the home market

OCTOBER

1973 – Atari releases their 3rd game, Gotcha in two models – B&W and Color. This is the first full color video game in history; It is also the first maze game and the first one to cause controversy due to “boob controllers” (that were later removed).

18th, 1985 – Nintendo releases their Famicom game system, known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) into the United States.

14th, 1986 – Gary Stern purchases Sega Pinball & renames it to Stern Pinball.

 

NOVEMBER

3rd, 1980 – Williams releases Defender, which goes on to become one of the highest grossing video games of the decade along with Pac-Man

12th, 1979 – Atari releases Asteroids, which becomes the best-selling game the company ever launched

DECEMBER