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Arcades will always be a cherished and nostalgic era in American history. They were dark coves of freedom for kids in the '70s and '80s — with some coins and a few friends, you could roam the arcade for hours, free from parental monitoring. 

It was a world of flashing lights and youthful excitement, where younger kids discovered games for the first time and the elders tried to retain their high scores. The environment of the arcade was iconic in itself, but even more intriguing than that were the games you found inside. 

There was something about arcade machines that electrified the American public, from the Pac-Man craze in the 1980s to the endless songs and movies that featured references to the arcade era. Though the actual "golden age" of arcade games was swift, it still has a long and nuanced history, with twists and turns and rich anecdotes that continue to be retold today. 

What Was the First Arcade Game?  

Many people think of the iconic ones as the first real arcade games — the ones that swept the nation off its feet and inspired musicians to write songs about them. But the invention of the arcade game actually started much earlier than that. So what were the first arcade games? 

Some of the earliest arcade games were Skee-Ball, invented in 1908, where you rolled a small ball down an alley into rings. The first Skee-Ball alley was extremely long — it was soon shortened to attract a broader demographic. 

Coin-operated machines soon hit the market, and with it came the invention of pinball — a game that would stir intense controversy in the United States. 

Baffle Ball (1931)

Baffle Ball, designed by David Gottlieb in 1931, was one of the first coin-operated machines. It is largely considered to be the first commercially successful pinball game, though the game itself hardly resembles what we would think of as a pinball machine. 

Missing the usual flippers and aspect of skill found in modern pinball machines, Baffle Ball only required the user to shoot a ball and hope for the best. Baffle Ball came on the heels of the Great Depression and offered a cheap option for entertainment. It was an immediate hit and inspired endless designs to come after it. 

For a while, a central issue was discussed regarding pinball machines — whether they were games of chance or skill. Many considered pinball machines that offered cash payouts to be gambling devices, as the game relied more on luck than strategy. Cash payouts were soon abandoned over fears of regulation, but the war on pinball machines had already started to turn fierce. 

Bans of pinball machines started to sweep the country. In 1942, Fiorello LaGuardia — Mayor of New York City — banned pinball in the entire city and ordered a seizure of thousands of machines. LaGuardia had city police execute raids that seemed to reflect the intensity of a drug bust rather than a gaming ban.

 In truth, the ban was an attempt on LaGuardia's part to clean up the city and rid it of corruption — pinball machines were lumped into the category of crime and had to be removed at all costs. Churches, schools and concerned parents also viewed pinball as a devious, wasteful pursuit, as they thought it corrupted children and made them lose their money for no reason. It was a time when leisurely pursuits of many kinds — billiards to bridge clubs — were being examined by the public eye and scrutinized for morality's sake. 

In 1947, to try to counter the gambling identity and bans, designers installed "flippers" in pinball machines — the two parts we see in modern machines that allow you to fling the ball. Flippers gave users an added element of skill that designers hoped would lift the game into a higher standing. 

But it would be a long time before pinball machines overcame their dark perception. The ban in New York City lasted until 1976, and by then, there was a new version of the arcade game sweeping through America's youth. 

Tennis for Two (1958)

While pinball was battling to stay a family-friendly, skilled game, a completely different kind of game was in its early stages. But these games didn't involve shooting a ball or using flippers — instead, they relied on innovative technology that would form the basis of the golden age of arcade games. 

William A. Higinbotham, a nuclear physicist, developed one of the first electronic games that utilized a graphic display. Tennis for Two required two players who used controllers to serve and volley in a tennis match. Rotating dials let you control the angle of the swing. It was a basic game with a display that showed only a side view of a tennis court and a brightly lit ball. 

In 1958, when Higinbotham introduced the game at Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual visitors' day, hundreds of people lined up to play. Ultimately, Higinbotham invented the game to show that scientific endeavors have relevance to society. He seemed relatively satisfied — maybe even a little amused — that the game got as much attention as it did. It was just a ball bouncing back and forth on a screen, after all — how much potential could something like that really have? 

A little over a decade later, a game called Pong would come out, helping jumpstart a billion-dollar industry based on that simple idea.  

Spacewar! (1962)

A group of students at MIT started developing Spacewar! in 1961, with improvements to the game made in 1962. Like most games during this time, it was simple, with two ships moving around a central star and firing at one another. The students created it on a PDP-1 — a new computer, making Spacewar! one of the first successful computer games. 

The clear problem was that only those who had access to the expensive computers of the day could play it, so any massive popularity it may have received was stifled. However, it did garner a lot of attention, and word of its gameplay spread throughout college campuses. 

It was a small highlight in arcade history that didn't get as much attention as some of the classic games that followed it, but it remains one of the most influential. 

Galaxy Game (1971)

In 1971, a video arcade game — Galaxy Game — hit the market. It was installed at Stanford in 1971 and became an instant hit, with students sometimes having to wait more than an hour just to play. Galaxy Game was essentially an expanded version of Spacewar! where two players maneuvered ships around a central star and fired torpedoes at one another. The game drew crowds, took the spot of the first coin-operated video game and eclipsed the unveiling of Computer Space.

Computer Space (1971)

A couple of months after the release of Galaxy Game, engineers Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney used the design of Spacewar! to create the next stepping stone toward a million-dollar company. Bushnell had spent his summers in Utah working at a nearby amusement park, where he attained a thirst for games and the way they were made. With his degree in electrical engineering, he sought out a way to merge these interests and skills. 

Together, Bushnell and Dabney invented the first mass-produced video game, Computer Space — where the player is engaged in a battle with two flying saucers. But to their disappointment, the game failed to get the popularity they wanted. Bushnell would later point to poor marketing and the game's complexity for reasons it didn't catch on — he didn't think the casual bargoer wanted to spend time reading instructions before they played. 

Computer Space also lacked a particular aspect of strategy that Spacewar! utilized — gravity. In Spacewar!, players had the added ability to use the central star's gravity to strategize with speed, whereas Computer Space lacked the computer power to do so. Instead, they were using television technology, which made the game commercial but provided another learning curve for Bushnell and Dabney to consider. 

Though Computer Space failed to live up to their expectations, it did provide the funding and collaboration needed for the pair to continue their venture. The two would soon go on to found Atari, Inc. 

These were the first arcade games, but they are far from the gigantic hits we remember from the arcade age. In the ensuing years, America would undergo an arcade game craze as Atari and others began pouring out iconic games. 

What Were the Most Popular Arcade Games? 

After the long and shaky history of pinball bans and bulky computer games, the industry finally started to catch fire with the video game. And it was one game that truly set the tone for the new decade in arcade gaming — Pong.

Pong (1972)

Decades since the first arcade game comes the answer to "What was the first popular arcade game?"

When Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded Atari, the plan was to license their games to bigger companies. They hired a young engineer named Allan Alcorn to help with designing the games, and the three set out for redemption after Computer Space's disappointing release. At the time, the Magnavox Odyssey — generally considered the first home video game system — introduced a game of ping pong. Atari saw this and attempted to redesign it for the arcade. 

They came up with Pong, a game with a simple premise — don't miss the ball. Players would control a small plank they could slide vertically to volley the ball back and forth until they missed. It was the simplicity that physicist Higinbotham had pointed out as its inevitable staleness, and yet when Atari released Pong, it changed the video game industry practically overnight. 

Released in 1972, Pong was selling so many cabinets that Atari's six employees couldn't keep up with orders. It wasn't long before they had sold 8,000 Pong arcade machines. These were staggering figures for video games at the time, and it altered the entire climate of the industry. Atari soon put Pong into the homes of families, as well — after striking a deal with Sears, you could now have a Pong console in your own living room. 

An old story goes that one of the first Pong consoles Atari installed stopped working after a few days. When they went to investigate, they found that the console wasn't broken, but the massive influx of coins had caused it to jam. 

Pong is one of the most influential games of all time. It showed the massive popularity that video games could have, proved at-home consoles to be immensely popular and essentially put pinball machines on the backburner. After Bushnell and Dabney's shaky start with Computer Space, they had unveiled a game that was changing the entire fabric of the industry. Pong was, and remains, one of the most popular arcade games of all time. 

Space Invaders (1978)

After the release of Pong and the massive popularity that followed, companies formed and scrambled to scoop up the gold in arcades. Technological innovations followed, and game after game was released as kids flocked to arcades to play. This exciting time marked the beginning of the "golden age" of arcade video games. Companies experimented with various genres and designs within the strictures of processing power. 

Creativity flourished and money poured into the industry. Video arcade games showed up in bars and restaurants and spread over various countries, and games started to have a significant impact on popular culture, showing up in movies, shows and songs.

In 1978, Japanese engineer and game designer Tomohiro Nishikado created Space Invaders, one of the most successful video arcade games of all time. The object of the game was to shoot aliens before they hit the bottom of the screen. As the game progresses, speed picks up and shooting the aliens becomes more challenging. Demand for the game was so high in Japan that it led to a coin shortage. 

Pac-Man (1980) 

Pac-Man came out in 1980, and it's hard to look back at the arcade age without remembering this most successful video arcade game of all time. The game itself was a unique, strangely abstract concept — a yellow mouth, or pizza, chomping up dots as it runs from ghosts in a maze. 

This game was different from other arcade games at the time, which mostly involved space themes and shooting. This was a slightly comical game that didn't take itself too seriously. In this way, it was able to appeal to a much broader demographic. 

Pac-Man was the first arcade game to bring in female audiences to the arcade, and it attracted casual and senior gamers alike. In the first year of its release, Namco sold more than 100,000 units. Anecdotes from the era — similar to the Pong story — claim that coin buckets had to be emptied on the hour to prevent the machines from jamming. 

Pac-Man T-shirts and toys started flooding the market. A cartoon called Pac-Man was released in 1982, its plot wholly dedicated to the character in the game. Billboard hit "Pac-Man Fever" came out around the same time, reaching as high as ninth place on the Hot 100. Pac-Mania was the common phrase used to describe the endless references and popular culture tied to the game. In initial trials, marketers had overlooked Pac-Man, and now it had become one of the driving forces of culture itself. 

In 1982, Namco released Ms. Pac-Man, catering to the female crowd, which was wildly popular, as well. Pac-Man continues to be in production today — one of the "golden age" video arcade games that have stood the test of time. 

Other Popular Arcade Games

Though Pong, Space Invaders and Pac-Man were some of the iconic golden age games we still remember today, there are others that were extremely popular as well: 

• Gun Fight (1975): The first video game to use a microprocessor, Gun Fight was a wild west-themed game where two cowboys lined up across from one another in a shooting duel. It was also one of the first games to depict a human death. The introduction of the microprocessor helped create smoother movements and better graphics. 
• Asteroids (1979): This was Atari's best-selling arcade game ever. It involved a ship hovering in the middle of the screen while asteroids flew toward you — you just had to make sure you shot the asteroids to pieces before they got to you. 
• Donkey Kong (1981): One of the first complex and story-oriented video arcade games, Donkey Kong featured the iconic monkey, a damsel in distress and introduced one of the most famous video game characters of all time — Mario. In the game, Mario has to maneuver various platforms and obstacles while he tries to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong's clutches. 

After the "golden age" of video games, the industry took a massive downturn in the early '80s. It turns out nuclear physicist Higinbotham was in some manner right — the video games that people would spend hours and days playing quickly lost their allure. The market became saturated with lower-quality games and creativity started to diminish. The 1983 economic recession didn't help matters, and arcade video games nearly became extinct. 

There was a brief rejuvenation in the late '80s and '90s as the Street Fighter series came out, followed by more fighting games such as Mortal Kombat. Though this was considered a "boom" in the industry, it was nowhere near the craze of Pac-Man or Pong. Arcade video games would never truly get back to that mountaintop, and in-home gaming quickly took over. 

Today, classic arcades themselves are hard to find, and you're much more likely to find a Dave and Buster's than a true arcade with iconic cabinets. 

View Other Entertainment History Resources: 

• History of Music Machines
• The History of the Carousel

Arcade Game History FAQs

Still want to know more about arcade games and their rich past? Here are some frequently asked questions about arcade games. 

What Was the Most Controversial Arcade Game?

The 1976 Death Race was particularly controversial — players would control a car that you directed toward walking figures that resembled people. In essence, the objective of the game was to run over pedestrians. The figures let out a scream when they got hit, and in turn, players would receive points. The National Safety Council criticized the game, and its portrayals of active violence were hotly debated.  

How Did Arcade Games Start? 

There is some discussion over how or when arcade games started. Arcade video games didn't appear until the '70s, but pinball and Skee-Ball date back to the 1930s. David Gottlieb created one of the first coin-operated, successful pinball machines, which very well could have been the spark that fueled the many games after it. 

When Were Arcades Popular? 

Arcades reached their golden age in the late '70s and early '80s. One could argue that the year Pac-Man was released — 1980 — was the peak of the arcade craze, with popular culture completely enamored with the game. 

Who Invented Arcade Games? 

Nolan Bushnell, Ted Dabney and Allan Alcorn of Atari were highly instrumental in crafting classic video arcade games. Though their first game, Computer Space, was outshined by Galaxy Game, they came out with the design of Pong, which completely changed the arcade landscape. Though they changed the industry, many came before them — David Gottlieb and William A. Higinbotham, to name a couple — who helped forge the path for them to get there.  

Visit Our Arcade Game Exhibit  

The golden age of arcade games only lasted a few years, but it's part of a larger history that expands back nearly a century. Nowadays, it's hard to find authentic pieces of this history. Volo Auto Museum has an antique arcade with all kinds of arcade games you can play with your family in Volo, Illinois. Stop by and step back in time with our antique arcade. Plan your visit today!