1977 in video gaming

List of years in video gaming (table)
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Art ^. Archaeology ^. Architecture ^. Literature ^. Music ^. Science +...

1 Events
2 Notable releases
- 2.1 Video game consoles
- 2.2 Games
3 References

Events

Agnes Kim opens the first Electronics Boutique, a kiosk at the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania selling transistor radios and calculators.¹
Atari opens the first Pizza Time Theater (later Chuck E. Cheese's), a combination video arcade/pizzeria conceived by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. In June, Bushnell purchases the rights to Pizza Time Theater back from Atari for $500,000 USD.²
Sega acquires Gremlin Industries, a major developer of coin-operated "wall games."³
Nakamura Manufacturing Ltd. formally changes its name to Namco (which it has employed as a brand name since 1971), and establishes Namco Enterprises Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong, its first subsidiary based outside of Japan.⁴

Notable releases

The Atari Video Computer System was the most successful video game console of the second-generation era.

Video game consoles

Atari develops the Game Brain (model C-700), a dedicated console and the first Atari system to utilize cartridges. Only a handful of Game Brain prototypes are produced, and none are released commercially.⁵
Coleco releases a number of new models of the Telstar console: the Telstar Alpha, the Telstar Colormatic, the Telstar Regent, the Telstar Ranger, the Telstar Galaxy, and the Telstar Combat. Most of these systems feature only minor variations on the original Telstar model, such as new controller types (for example, the Ranger featured a light gun, while the Galaxy included joysticks).⁵
Nintendo releases the Color TV Game 6 dedicated console, featuring six variations of Light Tennis (a Pong clone). Nintendo's partner, Mitsubishi, produces most of the system's hardware components.⁶
Bally releases the Bally Home Library Computer video game console through mail order retailer JS&A National Sales Group. Delays in production of the system, however, mean that none of the units will actually ship until the following year.⁷
In January, RCA Corporation releases the Studio II video game console.⁸
In October, Atari releases the Video Computer System (later known as the Atari 2600) video game console alongside nine launch titles.⁹

Games

Cinematronics releases Larry Rosenthal's Space Wars, the first vector graphics arcade game.¹⁰
Mattel releases Missile Attack, the first handheld electronic game to feature a light-emitting diode (LED) display.¹¹
Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, the future founders of Infocom, develop the first version of Zork on a PDP-10 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science.¹²
While studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia, Kelton Flinn begins developing a text-based aerial combat game called Air, an early precursor to 1987's Air Warrior, the first massively multiplayer online game.¹³

References

^ Fischer, John (2002). "Famous Philadelphians – Nine Richest Philadelphians". About.com – Greater Philadelphia / South Jersey. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ Thomas, Donald A. Jr (2005). "–1977–". ICWhen.com. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ "Gremlin Industries Incorporated". Wall Games (2004). Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ "Namco History (English summary)". NAMCO WonderPage (2001). Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ ^a ^b Goldberg, Martin (2003). "Museum of Home Video Gaming". Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ "Color TV Game 6". Nintendo Database. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ Squire, Lance F. (2005). "The Bally/Astrocade FAQ version h2.8". Lance F. Squire Homepage. Retrieved on 19 February, 2006.
^ Miller, Michael (2005). "A History of Home Video Game Consoles > First Generation: 1972–1977". InformIT. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ "Atari 2600 History". AtariAge (2006). Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ Hunter, William (2005). "Player 2 Stage 1: The Coin Eaters". The Dot Eaters. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ Hunter, William (2005). "Timescape". The Dot Eaters. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ "History of Infocom". Infocom – The Master Storytellers. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.
^ Koster, Raph (2002). "Online World Timeline". Raph Koster's Website. Retrieved on 18 February, 2006.

v • d • e History of video games

By generation	First (1972–1977) · Second (1976–1984) · Video game crash of 1983 · Third (1983–1992) · Fourth (1987–1996) · Fifth (1993–2002) · Sixth (1998–2006) · Seventh (2004–)

By decade	1990s · 2000s

By year	Years prior to 1972 · 1970 1971 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 2010

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