Games Released in 1979

36 new games released in 1979 across 8 platforms, with Arcade being the most popular seeing 21 new titles. February was the busiest month of the year, launching 10 new releases.

Top Platform

Arcade

New Releases

36

Busiest Month

February

Galaxian

What was the most popular game of 1979?

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.

Which days had the most releases?

February 1 was the busiest single day of 1979 with 10 releases.

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10 releases

February 1

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6 releases

June 1

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6 releases

December 31

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3 releases

June 2

Which month had the most releases?

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

How did each season compare?

Q4 was the busiest quarter of 1979 with 13 releases.

Q1 (Jan–Mar)

10 releases
Thunderball!

Most popular release in Q1

Thunderball!

For a normal ball action game, press 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the alpha-numeric keyboard for one, two, three or four players. For a slow motion game, press 5 for one player, press 6 for two players, press 7 for three players and press 8 for four players. Players 1 and 3 take turns using the right hand control unit. Players 2 and 4 alternate using the left hand control unit. To shoot, pull the joy stick back and release. The longer you hold the joy stick back, the greater the velocity of the ball. Audio beeps will indicate holding time. Push the action button to activate the flippers. Push the joy stick to the left to shift the flipper coverage to the left. Push right to shift flipper coverage to the right. Your game score will be automatically displayed at the far left of the scoreboard. Your bonus score will be displayed at the right side of the scoreboard. The bonus will automatically be added to you score at the end of each ball. The scoreboard will automatically show each player's score during the turn. 8,9 Roving Rebounds No effect on score. 1,2,3,4 Backfield Bonus Bumpers 4000 points each, disappear when hit. 6,7,10,11,12,13 Thumper Bumpers 100 points unless red, 500 points when red. 5 Bonus Box Scores randomly between 720 and 1350 each time hit. Bonus Bonus score is added to main score at end of each ball When bonus exceeds 5000 points, it is added to main score immediately; the bonus indicator is reset to 0 and the Backfield Bumpers 1, 2, 3 & 4 are restored and play continues. The winner is the player with the highest score for five balls. The scoreboard will automatically review each player's score at the end of the game. To play again, push RESET and then press the appropriate number on the alpha-numeric keyboard.

Q3 (Jul–Sep)

4 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)

13 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 21 new titles in 1979, holding the most releases. The runner up was Odyssey 2 / Videopac G7000 with 6 new titles.

Arcade21 releases
Odyssey 2 / Videopac G70006 releases
TRS-804 releases
Texas Instruments TI-993 releases
Apple II2 releases
Exidy Sorcerer1 release
Microvision1 release
Intellivision1 release

What genres were most popular?

Arcade was the dominant genre in 1979 with 11 titles. Shooter followed closely with 10.

Arcade11
Shooter10
Strategy8
Puzzle5
Racing3
Adventure3
Sport3
Simulator2
Pinball2
Turn-based strategy2
19781980