Games Released in 1979

210 new games debuted in 1979 across 9 platforms, with Arcade seeing 16 releases. June was the busiest month, with 10 releases. Galaxian was the most popular release of the year.

Which days had the most releases?

February 1 was the busiest single day of 1979 with 9 releases.

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9 releases

February 1

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6 releases

December 31

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6 releases

June 1

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3 releases

June 2

Which month had the most releases?

The busiest release month of 1979 was June, totaling 10 titles.

How did each season compare?

Q2 was the busiest quarter of 1979 with 12 releases.

Q1 (Jan–Mar)

9 releases

Q3 (Jul–Sep)

3 releases
Galaxian

Most popular release in Q3

Galaxian

Galaxian is a shooter arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was released by Namco in Japan and a few months later by Midway Games in North America. The game was developed to compete with Taito Corporation's Space Invaders, released a year earlier, and featured a similar space theme. The player controls a space ship in the bottom part of the screen and shoots at enemies descending from the top of the screen. The game was received very well by the public and has continued to be a game with a competitive community to this day. It was followed by a successful sequel called Galaga in 1981 and two less known sequels called Gaplus in 1984 and Galaga '88 in 1987. Galaxian was one of the most popular games in the golden age of arcade video games.

Q4 (Oct–Dec)

12 releases
Asteroids

Most popular release in Q4

Asteroids

Asteroids is an arcade space shooter released in November 1979. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The objective of the game is to destroy both, asteroids and saucers. The triangular ship can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. Once the ship begins moving in a direction, it will continue in that direction for a time without player intervention unless the player applies thrust in a different direction. The ship eventually comes to a stop when not thrusting. The player can also send the ship into hyperspace, causing it to disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen, at the risk of self-destructing or appearing on top of an asteroid.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Arcade received 16 new titles in 1979, holding the most releases. The runner up was Odyssey 2 / Videopac G7000 with 6 new titles.

Arcade16 releases
Odyssey 2 / Videopac G70006 releases
TRS-804 releases
Texas Instruments TI-993 releases
Apple II2 releases
Exidy Sorcerer1 release
Intellivision1 release
Microvision1 release
Plug & Play1 release

What genres were most popular?

Arcade was the dominant genre in 1979 with 10 titles. Shooter followed closely with 9.

Arcade10
Shooter9
Strategy8
Adventure3
Puzzle3
Racing3
Sport3
Card & Board Game2
Pinball2
Simulator2
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