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1982 in video games
Overview of the events of 1982 in video games

1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600 (Atari VCS). Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.

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Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

The highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 was Pac-Man, which had accumulated a total revenue of $6 billion worldwide ($19.5 billion adjusted for inflation) by 1982.45

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1982, according to the annual Game Machine chart.6

RankTitleGenreManufacturer
1Pole PositionRacingNamco
2Dig DugMaze
3GalagaFixed shooter
4PengoMazeSega
5Time PilotShoot 'em upKonami
6Donkey KongPlatformNintendo
7Front LineShoot 'em upTaito
8Donkey Kong Jr.PlatformNintendo
9Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump)Vehicular combatData East
10Mr. Do!MazeUniversal

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1982, according to RePlay and Cash Box magazines and the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).

RankRePlayCash Box7AMOA8Play Meter9
1Donkey Kong10Ms. Pac-Man
2Un­knownPac-ManPac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Defender, ZaxxonUn­known
3Donkey Kong, Centipede
4
5
6

The following table lists the top-grossing titles of each month in 1982, according to the RePlay and Play Meter charts.

MonthRePlayPlay MeterRef
Upright cabinetCocktail cabinet
JanuaryPac-ManUn­known11
FebruaryPac-Man12
MarchPac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man13
AprilMs. Pac-ManDonkey Kong141516
MayTurbo1718
JuneZaxxonUn­knownUn­known19
JulyMs. Pac-ManMs. Pac-Man20
AugustPac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man21
September22
OctoberJungle King23
NovemberMs. Pac-Man24
DecemberMs. Pac-Man2526
1982Donkey Kong2728

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were 1982's best-selling home video games.

RankTitlePlatform(s)DeveloperPublisher(s)Release YearSalesRevenueInflationRef
1Pac-ManVCS, Coleco, NelsonicNamcoAtari, Coleco, Nelsonic19829,271,844$200,000,000+$650,000,000+29
2Donkey KongColecoVision, VCSNintendoColeco19824,550,000$100,000,000+$330,000,000+30
3FroggerAtari VCSKonamiParker Brothers19824,000,000$80,000,000$260,000,00031
4DefenderAtari VCSWilliamsAtari, Inc.19823,006,790Un­known32
5E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialAtari VCSUniversalAtari, Inc.19822,637,985Un­known33
6BerzerkAtari VCSAtari, Inc.Atari, Inc.19821,798,773Un­known34
7Space InvadersAtari VCSTaitoAtari, Inc.19801,373,033Un­known35
8AsteroidsAtari VCSAtari, Inc.Atari, Inc.19811,331,956Un­known36
9Pitfall!Atari VCSActivisionActivision19821,000,000+Un­known3738
10Night DriverAtari VCSAtari, Inc.Atari, Inc.1980457,058Un­known39

Best-selling home systems

RankSystem(s)ManufacturerTypeGenerationSalesRef
1Atari 2600 (Atari VCS)Atari, Inc.ConsoleSecond5,100,00040
2Game & WatchNintendoHandheld4,600,000+41
3Coleco Mini-ArcadeColecoDedicated3,000,00042
4IntellivisionMattelConsoleSecond1,100,00043
5Timex Sinclair 1000Timex SinclairComputer8-bit750,00044
6Atari 400 / Atari 800Atari, Inc.Computer8-bit600,00045
Commodore 64 / VIC-20Commodore InternationalComputer8-bit600,00046
TI-99/4 / TI-99/4ATexas InstrumentsComputer16-bit600,00047
9ColecoVisionColecoConsoleSecond550,0004849
10Nelsonic Game WatchNelsonic IndustriesHandheld500,000+50

Events

Major awards

Business

Notable releases

Games

Arcade

Console

Computer

Hardware

Arcade

Console

Computer

See also

Notes

References

  1. Video Game Myth Busters - Did the "Crash" of 1983/84 Affect Arcades?, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (December 27, 2013) http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/video-game-myth-buster-did-crash-of.html

  2. Everett M. Rogers & Judith K. Larsen (1984), Silicon Valley fever: growth of high-technology culture, Basic Books, p. 263, ISBN 0-465-07821-4, Video game machines have an average weekly take of $109 per machine. The video arcade industry took in $8 billion in quarters in 1982, surpassing pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion). Those 32 billion arcade games played translate to 143 games for every man, woman, and child in America. A recent Atari survey showed that 86 percent of the US population from 13 to 20 has played some kind of video game and an estimated 8 million US homes have video games hooked up to the television set. Sales of home video games were $3.8 billion in 1982, approximately half that of video game arcades. 0-465-07821-4

  3. "The Home Video-Game Industry (1983-1996) - Competitive Strategy Revolving around Industry Standards" (PDF). gbrc.jp. p. 43. http://www.gbrc.jp/content/old/PDF/GameCase.PDF#page=43

  4. Uncle John's Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader. Portable Press. September 1999. p. 373. ISBN 978-1-879682-74-0. In 1982 alone, Americans pumped $6 billion in quarters into Pac-Man's mouth—more than they spent in Las Vegas casinos and movie theatres combined. 978-1-879682-74-0

  5. Uncle John's Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader. Simon and Schuster. November 2012. p. 348. ISBN 978-1-60710-670-8. In 1982 alone, Americans pumped $6 billion in quarters into Pac-Man's mouth—more than they spent in Las Vegas casinos and movie theatres combined. 978-1-60710-670-8

  6. ""Pole Position" No. 1 Video Game: Game Machine's "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" Survey Results" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 207. Amusement Press, Inc. March 1, 1983. p. 30. https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19830301p.pdf#page=16

  7. "1982 Jukebox / Games Route Survey". Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co. November 20, 1982. p. 53. https://archive.org/details/cashbox44unse_23/page/53

  8. "AMOA Announces Jukebox and Games Awards Winners". Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co.: 37 October 30, 1982. https://archive.org/details/cashbox44unse_20/page/36/mode/2up

  9. "1982". Play Meter. Vol. 20, no. 13. December 1994. p. 68. https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-20-number-13-december-1994/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%2020%2C%20Number%2013%20-%20December%201994/page/68

  10. "Top Hits of Last 5 Years". RePlay. March 1987.

  11. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. January 1982.

  12. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. February 1982.

  13. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. March 1982.

  14. "Top Videos". Play Meter. May 1, 1982. /wiki/Play_Meter

  15. "Ten Years Ago". Play Meter. Vol. 18, no. 5. April 1992. p. 52. https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-18-number-5-april-1992-600DPI/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%2018%2C%20Number%205%20-%20April%201992/page/n57

  16. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. April 1982.

  17. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. May 1982.

  18. "Top Videos". Play Meter. May 1, 1982. /wiki/Play_Meter

  19. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. June 1982.

  20. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. July 1982.

  21. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. August 1982.

  22. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. September 1982.

  23. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. October 1982.

  24. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. November 1982.

  25. "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. December 1982.

  26. Sullivan, George (1983). Screen Play: The Story of Video Games. F. Warne. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7232-6251-0. Before the end of the year Ms. Pac-Man had climbed to the top of the Play Meter chart. 978-0-7232-6251-0

  27. "Top Hits of Last 5 Years". RePlay. March 1987.

  28. "1982". Play Meter. Vol. 20, no. 13. December 1994. p. 68. https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-20-number-13-december-1994/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%2020%2C%20Number%2013%20-%20December%201994/page/68

  29. Atari VCS version sold 7,271,844 cartridges[26] ($200 million).[27] Coleco's Mini-Arcade version sold 1.5 million units.[28][29] Nelsonic Game Watch version sold more than 500,000 units.[30] /wiki/Pac-Man_(Atari_2600)

  30. ColecoVision version sold 550,000 cartridges.[31] Atari VCS version sold 4 million cartridges ($100 million).[32] /wiki/ColecoVision

  31. "Ed English: 2600 (Frogger, Mr. Do!, Roc 'n Rope)" (PDF). Digital Press. No. 52. May–June 2003. p. 7. Retrieved April 19, 2021. https://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/digitalpress/dp52.pdf#page=7

  32. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  33. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  34. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  35. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  36. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  37. Sigel, Efrem; Giglio, Louis (1984). Guide to Software Publishing: An Industry Emerges. Knowledge Industry Publications. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-86729-108-7. Pitfall won the award from Electronic Games magazine as the best video game adventure of 1983, and in 1982 sold more than 1 million copies. 978-0-86729-108-7

  38. "Our games have birthdays, but they don't get old". Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co.: FS-5 October 8, 1983. https://archive.org/details/cashbox45unse_17/page/5

  39. Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in. /wiki/Atari_Corp.

  40. Guins, Raiford (January 24, 2014). Game After: A Cultural Study of Video Game Afterlife. MIT Press. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-262-32018-4. 978-0-262-32018-4

  41. Japan Company Handbook. Toyo Keizai. 1982. p. 729. In Aug. '82 term, sales of "Game & Watch" will increase from 4.6 million to 7 million units https://books.google.com/books?id=PmyxAAAAIAAJ

  42. "More Mini-Arcades Coming From Coleco" (PDF). Arcade Express. Vol. 1, no. 13. January 30, 1983. p. 2. http://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n13.pdf#page=2

  43. Secretan, Lance H. K. (1986). Managerial Moxie: A Basic Strategy for the Corporate Trenches. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-03-928852-5. Industry observers estimate that while Intellivision unit sales sank from 1.1 million units in 1982 to 550,000 in 1983, Coleco Vision unit sales rocketed from 550,000 to 1.2 million 978-0-03-928852-5

  44. Libes, Sol (April 1983). "Bytelines: Market Share for the PC". BYTE. Vol. 8, no. 4. pp. 457–460 (458). Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-04-rescan/page/n467/mode/2up

  45. Reimer, Jeremy (December 15, 2005). "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2021. Jeremy Reimer (December 7, 2012). "Total Share: Personal Computer Market Share 1975-2010". Jeremy Reimer. https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/

  46. Libes, Sol (April 1983). "Bytelines: Market Share for the PC". BYTE. Vol. 8, no. 4. pp. 457–460 (458). Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-04-rescan/page/n467/mode/2up

  47. Libes, Sol (April 1983). "Bytelines: Market Share for the PC". BYTE. Vol. 8, no. 4. pp. 457–460 (458). Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-04-rescan/page/n467/mode/2up

  48. Carlisle, Rodney P. (April 2, 2009). Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society. SAGE Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-4129-6670-2. 978-1-4129-6670-2

  49. Secretan, Lance H. K. (1986). Managerial Moxie: A Basic Strategy for the Corporate Trenches. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-03-928852-5. Industry observers estimate that while Intellivision unit sales sank from 1.1 million units in 1982 to 550,000 in 1983, Coleco Vision unit sales rocketed from 550,000 to 1.2 million 978-0-03-928852-5

  50. Shea, Tom (December 20, 1982). "Shrinking Pac-Man leads game-wristwatch market". InfoWorld. Vol. 4, no. 50. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. pp. 44–5. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=FTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44

  51. "Pac-Man Scores!". Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 11. January 1983. p. 12. https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGames/Electronic%20Games%20Issue%2011%20%28January%201983%29/page/n12

  52. Buchanan, Levi (August 26, 2008). "Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/26/top-10-best-selling-atari-2600-games

  53. Buchanan, Levi (August 26, 2008). "Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/26/top-10-best-selling-atari-2600-games

  54. "ランダム・アクセス・メモ". Oh! FM-7. August 4, 2001. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2011. (Translation) https://web.archive.org/web/20120322151107/http://www.retropc.net/fm-7/random_access_memo/04.html

  55. "Dark Age of JRPGS (1): The Dragon & Princess (1982)". http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2013/04/dark-age-of-jrpgs-dragon-princess-1982.html

  56. Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier, Hardcore Gaming 101, reprinted from Retro Gamer, Issue 67, 2009 http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/JPNcomputers/Japanesecomputers3.htm

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  62. "Time Zone: An interview with Roberta Williams". Computer Gaming World. May–June 1982. pp. 14–15. /wiki/Computer_Gaming_World

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