Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Space Invaders
June 26th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
Yep, it’s that time again: time to premiere a new Benj-crafted VC&G-related article from another site. Today we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders, and my ode to the seminal space shooter can be found on 1UP.com. I think the piece turned out well — 1UP did an especially good job with the illustrations. Here’s a blurb from the introduction:
Thirty years ago this month, Taito released Space Invaders, one of the most important and influential videogames of all time, to Japanese arcades. You might know that it set its native Japan ablaze and drove America crazy, but have you ever wondered why? Well, you’re about to find out. Here are 10 things everyone should know about Space Invaders.
Feel free to check out the article; I think you’ll enjoy it. When you’re done, tell us some of your Space Invaders memories. When was the first time you played it? What did you think of it at the time?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Space Invaders rocks. I want the PSP version.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Really enjoyed it. I would have loved to know more about Nishikado (background, family, education…) but I’m a geek that way.
Thanks for another great article.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I’m glad you liked it, Geoff. I would have loved to know more about Nishikado too. I tried to arrange an interview, but I was pressed on time and I don’t speak Japanese. Perhaps I’ll learn some day. 🙂
June 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Yeah, great article. This is the post of the week on the whole internet. Lots of facts I didn’t know about Invaders, especially on page 2. kudos.
-longtimereadernevercommenter
June 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
The 2600 version was great, with around a hundred different modes with various settings tweaks. But I must admit, overall, Space Invaders fills me with tension and dread.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I was never a big fan of Space Invaders but the scrolling shooters that it engendered, oh baby!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Space Invaders is among the handful of home console games that is better than the coin-op!
July 5th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Great article thanks.
Space invaders was the first game I ever played (on arcades) and the first game I ever owned (for atari 2600). So it has a special place in my heart.
Everytime I hear the famous marching sound, i feel oppressed, lol 🙂
July 6th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Thanks for the excellent article. It granted mi lot of information for my own blog entry. 🙂
July 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Great article Benj, read it before you posted it here actually, funnily enough (for some reason the 1Up articles don’t have dates on them though, so I didn’t know if it was new or old! You should tell them to add dates, it’s really confusing).
July 12th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I hate that game, it’s too slow/boring.