computer space computer spacecomputer space promotional flyer developers syzygy engineering publishers nutting associates designers nolan bushnell ted dabney platforms arcade release na november december 1971 genres space combat simulation modes single player multiplayer computer space is a space combat arcade game developed in 1971 as one of the last games created in the early history of video games created by nolan bushnell and ted dabney in partnership as syzygy engineering it was the first arcade video game as well as the first commercially available video game computer space is a derivative of the 1962 computer game spacewar possibly the first video game to spread to multiple computer installations it features a rocket controlled by the player engaged in a missile battle with a pair of flying saucers set against a background starfield the goal is to score more hits than the enemy spaceships within a set time period which awards a free round of gameplay the game is enclosed in a custom fiberglass cabinet in one of four colors which bushnell designed himself to be futuristic the game was designed by bushnell and dabney during 197071 to be a coinoperated version of spacewar after the pair were unable to find a way to economically run the game on a minicomputer such as the data general nova they hit upon the idea of instead replacing the central computer with customdesigned hardware created just to run that game after they built an early proof of concept and founded syzygy engineering bushnell found a manufacturer for the game in nutting associates working in partnership with nutting the pair ran their first location test in august 1971 a few months prior to the display of a similar prototype called galaxy game also based on spacewar after encouraging initial results though mixed responses from distributors nutting ordered an initial production run of 1500 units with the anticipation of a hit game while the game was successful and validated syzygys belief in the future of arcade video games selling over 1000 cabinets by mid1972 and ultimately 13001500 units it was not the runaway success that nutting had hoped for the game spawned one clone game star trek 1972 and nutting produced a twoplayer version of computer space in 1973 without involvement from syzygy before closing in 1976 syzygy went on to be incorporated as atari with their next arcade game the successful pong 1972 although not as influential as pong computer spaces release marked the initial start of the commercial video game industry background at the beginning of the 1970s video games existed almost entirely as novelties passed around by programmers and technicians with access to computers primarily at research institutions and large companies one of these games was spacewar created in 1962 for the digital equipment corporation dec pdp1 minicomputer by steve russell and others in the programming community at the massachusetts institute of technology the twoplayer game has the players engage in a dogfight between two spaceships set against the backdrop of a starfield with a central star exerting gravitational force upon the ships gameplay in computer space the player controls a rocket as it attempts to shoot a pair of flying saucers while avoiding enemy fire the monochrome game has the three ships flying on a twodimensional plane set against the backdrop of a starfield missiles are fired one at a time and there is a cooldown period between launches the players rocket follows newtonian physics remaining in motion even when the player is not accelerating though the rocket can rotate at a constant rate without inertia the flying saucers stay in place or glide in a zigzag pattern around the screen in tandem with one staying a constant distance directly below the other if a ship or missile moves past one edge of the screen it reappears on the other side in a wraparound effect while the missile is in flight the player can turn it left or right by turning their rocket player controls are clockwise and counterclockwise rotation forward thrust and firing missiles whenever the player is hit by a missile or flying saucer the screen flashes and the players rocket spins rapidly and disappears then reappears in the same location if a flying saucer is hit by a missile the screen flashes and the saucer briefly disappears counters on the right side of the screen keep count of the number of times the players rocket has been destroyed and the saucers have been destroyed as well as how long that round of gameplay has lasted a round has an adjustable time limit of 60 to 150 seconds with a default of 90 when the time limit is reached the game ends if the players score is lower than the computers if it is higher the black and white colors invert in a hyperspace feature and another round begins for free the game continues on to new rounds with the display colors inverting indefinitely if the player continues to win one round costs a quarter or two quarters if the machine is adjusted against the instruction manuals recommendations the game displays distorted characters if the player or computer scores pass 9 and scores restart at 0 if they reach 16 in the twoplayer version of the game a second game mode is added featuring two playercontrolled rockets fighting each other instead of computercontrolled ships the modified control panel contains two sets of controls with joysticks replacing the movement buttons on some machines development singleplayer computer space cabinet in the late 1960s nolan bushnell saw spacewar running on a mainframe at the university of utah where he was a student after agreeing on an initial idea bushnell and dabney began trying to design a prototype based on a data general nova initially they were joined by larry bryan a computer programmer who also worked at ampex bushnell and dabney began to design custom hardware to run the games functions and they soon discovered that the cost to build the whole games computing systems would be much lower in january 1971 bushnell and dabney founded syzygy engineering as an official company now with a cash amount of us350 they approached ampex and a prior manager of dabneys with their prototype but found no interest location tests and release computer space control panel once he moved to nutting bushnell took over the majority of the engineering work for the game dabney has stated that he advised bushnell on some of the design and that some of the construction was done by steve bristow an intern at ampex there is disagreement in interviews with bushnell and dabney as to how much work dabney did on the final cabinet with dabney claiming credit for the controls sound power supply initial wooden cabinet and invention of the hyperspace color inversion while bushnell claims credit for everything but the sound cabinet power supply and monitor by august 1971 an initial prototype of the gamenow named computer space to be similar to computer quizwas complete and syzygy moved on to location testing they installed the game at the dutch goose bar near stanford university where it met with great success nutting was heartened by the response and rushed to make several finished cabinets for the music operators of america moa music amusement machines exposition in october the final computer space design uses no microprocessor or memory the entire computer system is a state machine made of 74series ttl chips with graphic elements held in diode arrays as syzygy and nutting prepared for the moa show bushnell learned that another pair of engineers were also creating an arcade version of spacewar in august 1971 bushnell called bill pitts and hugh tuck operating as minicomputer applications so that they could meet and discuss their solutions to the problem of running spacewar on an inexpensive computer computer space debuted at the moa show on october 1517 1971 dabneys wooden cabinet for the initial prototype was replaced with a curvy futuristic fiberglass cabinet designed by bushnell with modelling clay and built by a swimming pool manufacturer a control panel extended from the main body of the cabinet and contained the four control buttons syzygy had hoped to use a joystick to control the rockets movement but found that it broke too easily failing to last a single night in a location test reception 2player computer space cabinet in 2006 with buttons instead of joysticks nutting ordered an initial production run of 1500 units of computer space an optimistic decision given that a hit arcade game at the time would sell around 2000 units though a handful had reached 10000 while the game did not meet the high hopes of nutting it was successful enough that nutting produced a twoplayer version of the game in july 1973 with a green fiberglass cabinet built by steve bristow the design was initially contracted to bushnell but was either uncompleted or unused by may 1972 bushnell and dabney quit nutting associates and moved to incorporate syzygy engineering they instead named it atari due to another company with a similar name notes demaria rusel wilson johnny l december 2003 high score the illustrated history of electronic games 2nd ed mcgraw hillosborne isbn9780072231724 donovan tristan 20100420 replay the history of video games yellow ant isbn9780956507204 goldberg marty vendel curt 20121125 atari inc business is fun syzygy press isbn9780985597405 kent steven l 20010906 the ultimate history of video games three rivers press isbn9780761536437 rutter jason bryce jo 20060509 understanding digital games sage publications isbn9781412900348 computer space simulator vteearly history of video gamesanalog and lightbulb games 19471951 cathoderay tube amusement device bertie the brain nimrod interactive visual games 19521959 oxo tennis for two digital computer games 19601971 early mainframe games spacewar marienbad hamurabi space travel first arcade games 19701971 computer space galaxy game vte1970s atari arcade gamessyzygy engineering 1971 computer space 1972 pong 1973 gotcha space race 1974 gran trak 10 qwak rebound tank 1975 antiaircraft crash n score doctor pong hiway indy 800 jet fighter pursuit shark jaws steeplechase 1976 breakout indy 4 lemans night driver outlaw quiz show sprint 2 stunt cycle 1977 canyon bomber destroyer dominos starship 1 super bug triple hunt 1978 atari football avalanche fire truck sky diver tournament table 1979 asteroids basketball lunar lander list of atari inc games 