1975 in video games


1975 saw several critical influences in the history of video games, including the first commercial games utilizing large-scale integrated circuits and microprocessors, as well as the first role-playing video games.
On the back end of the Pong boom, the coin-operated video game industry achieved new expressions of gameplay and animation in arcade games. Racing games and competitive shooting games became particularly popular. Local multiplayer games accommodating more than four players were released by Atari, featuring advanced implementations of transistor-transistor logic hardware. Several games utilizing microprocessors debuted in coin-op, including the influential Gun Fight from Midway Mfg.
The console industry saw its first competitive environment in the United States with Magnavox, Atari, and smaller competitors introducing systems utilizing advanced circuit designs. Atari’s Pong home console featured a sophisticated custom chip created in-house. European dedicated consoles remained isolated to specific regions, but offered some of the first console lines from companies like Videomaster. Japan’s first native console was developed and released by toy company Epoch.
Computer networks saw a mass proliferation of game variants written in the BASIC programming language which influenced the emerging field of microcomputers. Games introduced in publications like People’s Computer Company and 101 BASIC Computer Games were frequently played via teletypes on time-sharing connected terminals; some were distributed via the remote connected ARPANET. The PLATO network likewise experienced a massive uptick in titles following the popularity of Empire and Spasim. Midwestern universities connected to the PLATO system were early recipients of the spread of Dungeons & Dragons, which prompted several student groups to develop the earliest computer role-playing games.
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Events

Financial performance

United States

Arcade

Total unit sales: 50,000–79,000.'
Total Revenue : $68–76 million.'
TitleArcade cabinet units ManufacturerDeveloperGenre
Gun Fight8,600Midway ManufacturingDave Nutting AssociatesMulti-directional shooter
Wheels7,000
2,400		Midway ManufacturingTaito CorpRacing
Wheels II3,000Midway ManufacturingTaito CorpRacing
PT 1091,500Mirco GamesMirco GamesAction
Avenger1,200Electra GamesUniversal Research LaboratoriesFixed shooter
Tank II1,000Kee GamesAtari Inc.Multi-directional shooter
Super Flipper538Chicago CoinModel RacingSports
Crash 'N Score500Atari Inc.Atari Inc.Racing
Jet Fighter500Atari Inc.Atari Inc.Multi-directional shooter
Shark Jaws500Atari Inc.Atari Inc.Action
Steeplechase500Atari Inc.Atari Inc.Racing

Most popular arcade games

RePlay magazine published its first popularity chart for coin-operated games in the United States in March 1976, covering games of the previous year. The lists were based on polling operators regarding their opinions of games receiving the most attention in their locations. RePlay's charts were based only on a subset of operators and are not on imperial metrics such as earnings reports, but they give a strong indication of games which were of the most value to arcades and street locations.
The RePlay rankings included both video and electro-mechanical games which ran in close competition through the 1970s until video games became dominant. Outside of the top twenty ranked in order, forty-eight other games were also listed.
Home consoles
Total unit sales: 250,000-400,000 consoles.
Total revenue : $32-40 million.
TitleGame console units ManufacturerDeveloper
Odyssey80,000MagnavoxSanders Associates/Magnavox
Odyssey 100 / Odyssey 200100,000MagnavoxSanders Associates/Texas Instruments
Pong85,000Atari Inc.MOS Sorcery/Atari Inc.

Publications

  • Ted Nelson publishes Computer Lib/Dream Machines. It discusses numerous games, including variants of Spacewar! and those on the PLATO network.
  • October – RePlay magazine publishes its first issue. Edited by Eddie Adlum – previously editor for the coin machine section of publication Cash Box – the monthly magazine covers all aspects of coin-operated entertainment.

Notable releases

Arcade games

  • April – Indy 800 by Atari begins production. The game features color graphics and an eight player cabinet powered by eight circuit boards. Despite its massive profile and price restricting the range of venues, the game is highly successful and proves the earning power of large, multiplayer games.
  • * Atari releases Hi-Way, a scrolling racing game featuring a sit-down cabinet and screen-warping effects.
  • September – Western Gun is released by Taito in Japan. It features the first human-on-human combat in a video game as well as destructible environments.
  • October – Sega’s American marketing arm, Sega of America, releases their first video game in the United States, Bullet Mark.
  • * Project Support Engineering releases Maneater. The game is noted for its special cabinet design which is molded in the shape of a great white shark with open jaws. It is one of several games capitalizing on the release of the movie Jaws – including Shark Jaws by Atari and Shark by U.S. Billiards. Steven Spielberg is photographed with the Maneater cabinet.
  • * Atari introduces Steeplechase – a unique, six-player game. Controls are simplified to a single button which causes a horse to leap. It is the first graphical game featuring a character who can jump.
  • * Electra Games releases Avenger. It is an early example of a scrolling shoot 'em-up.
  • November – Gun Fight is released by Midway Manufacturing, based on Western Gun by Taito. It is the preeminent video game to use a microprocessor as well as the first twin-stick shooter. The game is among the most successful of 1975 and its hardware is used for subsequent Midway-released games.
  • December – Exidy’s Destruction Derby is released; Chicago Coin releases it as Demolition Derby. The game is later modified to become Death Race.
  • Fairchild employee Jerry Lawson creates the game Destruction Derby which he offers to Major Manufacturers. Though the game is never officially released, its creation leads to Lawson’s engineering leadership of the Fairchild Video Entertainment System console.

Computer games

Hardware

Console

  • April – The company Jolieb distributes the Odyssey console in Japan, the first home video game to be sold in the country.
  • May – Control Sales offers the Video Action II console for sale for $299. The console runs into difficulties with Federal Communications Commission restrictions, forcing the company to pull it from sale.
  • September – Toy company Epoch releases TV Tennis Electrotennis in Japan. It is the first Japanese-developed home video game console, with the unusual feature of a wireless connection to the television via a UHF antenna.
  • October – The Tele-Games home version of Pong is made available for purchase in Sears retail stores.
  • November – Magnavox releases two new models consoles based on the Odyssey using chips developed by Texas Instruments, the Odyssey 100 and Odyssey 200. These consoles are pared down to play variants of the Ping Pong game from the original Odyssey – which is discontinued – and are much more successful.
  • * Videomaster releases its Olympic Home T.V. Game model in the United Kingdom which plays six games.
  • * Television Tennis is released by Executive Games in the United States.
  • December – Philips releases the ES 2201 Tele-Spiel console in the Netherlands, an early console featuring interchangeable games similar to the original Odyssey.

Business