Games Released in 1980

81 new games released in 1980 across 10 platforms, with Arcade being the most popular seeing 30 new titles. December was the busiest month of the year, launching 20 new releases.

Top Platform

Arcade

New Releases

Busiest Month

December

What was the most popular game of 1980?

Pac-Man

Pac-Man is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. It is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. Players control Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called Power Pellets causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.

Which days had the most releases?

December 31 was the busiest single day of 1980 with 17 releases.

17 releases

December 31

9 releases

June 1

6 releases

January 1

6 releases

February 1

Which month had the most releases?

The busiest release month of 1980 was December, totaling 20 titles.

How did each season compare?

Q4 was the busiest quarter of 1980 with 32 releases.

Q1 (Jan–Mar)

22 releases

Most popular release in Q1

Moon Cresta

Moon Cresta is an arcade game released in 1980 by Nichibutsu. A moving starfield gives the impression of vertical scrolling, but the game is a fixed shooter in the vein of Namco's Galaxian. Incentive Software published a version of this arcade game for many 8-bit home computers of the time. Dempa also released a port of both Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta for the X68000. It was also released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 9, 2010 and PlayStation 4 (Arcade Archives) in 2014.

Q2 (Apr–Jun)

19 releases

Most popular release in Q3

Armor Battle

You are on a dangerous tank mission. To reach and destroy your assigned target, you must maneuver through a field filled with enemy mines. Although these are hidden, the mine detection equipment in your tank warns you of their presence by producing a buzzing sound. This is your signal to change course on route to your target. If you should stumble into a mine, your tank will be "destroyed" and returned to its original starting position. If you get through the minefield and successfully engage the target, the built-in computer will automatically set up another challenge with a new starting position, target location, and minefield.

Q4 (Oct–Dec)

32 releases

Most popular release in Q4

Berzerk

Maneuver your humanoid through the electrified mazes of robot filled rooms. You many kill off the first group of robots but initial success does not mean survival...future groups begin firing at your! Added danger lurks when Evil Otto enters. He can jump the maze walls and squash you if you linger too long!

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Arcade received 30 new titles in 1980, holding the most releases. The runner up was Apple II with 13 new titles.

Arcade30 releases

Apple II13 releases

Intellivision12 releases

TRS-8011 releases

Game & Watch6 releases

Odyssey 2 / Videopac G70005 releases

Atari 26005 releases

Fairchild Channel F3 releases

VC 40002 releases

Atari 8-bit2 releases

What genres were most popular?

Arcade was the dominant genre in 1980 with 36 titles. Shooter followed closely with 29.

Arcade36

Shooter29

Sport10

Strategy9

Adventure7

Simulator6

Puzzle4

Racing3

Turn-based strategy1

Quiz/Trivia1

1979 1981

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