Computer Space

Computer Space is a 1971 arcade video game designed by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Its dedicated transistor–transistor logic circuitry displayed a space-combat game without a general-purpose computer.

Discrete logic: Digital circuits built from separate logic components rather than integrated programmable processors. Computer Space generated its game logic with dedicated circuitry rather than software running on a general-purpose computer.
Nolan Bushnell: An American engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Atari and helped create Computer Space. He conceived the commercial adaptation and co-designed the game.
Pong: A 1972 arcade video game in which players control paddles to volley a ball across a screen. Bushnell and Dabney followed Computer Space with a simpler arcade game that became a hit.
Computer Space cabinet: The dedicated arcade machine that housed the Computer Space game, controls, and display. Its sculpted fiberglass body made the game visually distinctive in arcades.
Transistor–transistor logic: A family of digital logic circuits built from bipolar junction transistors. Its TTL circuits implemented the game's control and display logic.
Ted Dabney: An American engineer who co-founded Atari and co-designed Computer Space. His electronics expertise helped make the game’s dedicated hardware practical.
Video game arcade: A venue where people play coin-operated video games on dedicated machines. Computer Space helped establish the commercial arcade video game as a product category.
Computer Space two-player version: A version of Computer Space designed for simultaneous play by two people. It extended the original space-combat design beyond its standard single-player configuration.
Cathode-ray tube: A vacuum tube that forms images by directing electron beams onto a phosphorescent screen. The cabinet displayed the moving ships and projectiles on a CRT.
Spacewar!: A 1962 computer game in which two players pilot spaceships and fire torpedoes around a star. It supplied the central game idea that Computer Space brought to arcades.

Linked from 8 pages