The Golden Age of Arcades, 1978 to 1983

Space Invaders in 1978 started a five year explosion that filled arcades, bars and corner shops with cabinets. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga and Asteroids pulled in billions of quarters, and arcade revenue rivaled Hollywood box office at the peak.

High scores, initials on leaderboards and a machine per genre defined the culture. The 1983 crash and rising home consoles ended the boom, but the golden age fixed the design vocabulary of the entire industry..