The period from the appearance of Space Invaders in 1978 through The Great Video Game Crash of 1983 is often known as the Golden Age of Arcade Games, note when 8-bit Arcade Video Games emerged to rule popular culture, coin-operated Video Arcades appeared in every shopping mall, and soon the Atari 2600 and its competitors popularized home video gaming by capitalizing on arcade ports.
Back then, the titans of the arcade were longtime Pinball manufacturing veterans such as Bally, Williams Electronics, and Gottlieb; Sega was known for making Arcade Games (including Vector Games) rather than consoles; and Nintendo's Mario had never stomped on a Goomba. Creativity reigned, and a single visionary designer could still see an entire game through from concept to finished product, unlike the enormous Hollywood-style teams needed for today's AAA game franchises.note Shoot Em Ups were especially popular, as outer space and stylized spacecraft were easy to render on the crude hardware of the day.
Your mileage may vary about considering this era as a true "golden age", considering the fondness for games from later periods. Still, it was the first time video games hit the big time, and in terms of industry revenues, this period was one of the highest peaks the North American video game industry has ever reached to this day (and the highest overall when adjusted for inflation), so it qualifies to some extent. However, while the 1980s was the golden age for arcade games, some consider the 1990s to be the Golden Age for home video games (i.e. consoles and computers).
Consoles from this period:
- Atari 2600 (1977–1992)
- Atari 5200 (1982–1984)
- ColecoVision (1982–1985)
- Intellivision (1979–1990)
- Odyssey² (1978–1984)
Games from the period included:
- Adventure
- The Adventures of Robby Roto
- Adventures of TRON
- Air-Sea Battle
- Atlantis
- Amidar
- Armor Battle
- Artillery Duel
- Asteroids
- Astro Blaster
- Astrosmash
- Battlezone
- B.C.'s Quest for Tires
- Berzerk
- Blue Print
- Bosconian
- Breakout
- Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
- Bump 'n' Jump
- BurgerTime
- Carnival
- Centipede
- Chuck Norris Superkicks
- Circus
- Combat
- Congo Bongo
- Cosmic Avenger
- Crazy Climber
- Defender
- Demon Attack
- Dig Dug
- Dishaster
- Donkey Kong
- Dragon's Lair
- Dragonstomper
- Escape from the MindMaster
- Fast Eddie
- Freeway
- Frog Bog
- Frogger
- Frostbite
- Galaxian
- Ghost Manor
- Gorf
- Gyruss
- Hamurabi
- Haunted House
- Indy 500
- Joust
- Jungle Hunt
- Kaboom!
- Kangaroo
- K.C. Munchkin!
- Keystone Kapers
- Kick Man
- Kozmik Krooz'r
- Libble Rabble
- Lock 'n' Chase
- Lost Luggage
- Lunar Lander
- Mangia
- Mappy
- Mario Bros.
- Miner 2049er
- Missile Command
- Mr. Do!
- Moon Patrol
- Mountain King
- Mouse Trap (1981)
- Night Driver
- Oink!
- Omega Race
- Pac-Man
- Pengo
- Phaser Patrol
- Phoenix (1980)
- Phozon
- Pitfall!
- Plaque Attack
- Pole Position
- Q*bert
- Qix
- Rally-X
- Red Baron
- River Raid
- Robotron: 2084
- Scramble
- Shamus
- Sheriff
- Sinistar
- Sky Kid
- Sky Skipper
- Snake
- Space Battle
- Space Fury
- Space Invaders
- Spike's Peak
- Spy Hunter
- Star Castle
- Star Fox (1983)
- Star Raiders
- Starship
- SubRoc-3D
- Surround
- Swordquest
- Tail Gunner
- Tapper
- Targ
- Tax Avoiders
- Tempest
- Thief
- Time Pilot
- Track & Field
- Vanguard
- Venture
- Video Olympics
- Video Pinball
- Wacko
- Warlords
- Wizard of Wor
- Xevious
- Yars' Revenge
- Zaxxon
- Zoo Keeper (1983)
There were even some early licensed games, many of which actually didn't suck:
- Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures In The Park
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: has possibly the worst reputation of all video games, ever. (It's not as bad as its reputation suggests, but what could be?)
- Ghostbusters
- Journey 1983, a Bally arcade game, and Journey Escape, a 1982 Atari 2600 game.
- Popeye
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Smurf: Rescue In Gargamel's Castle
- Spider-Man
- Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
- Star Wars: The Arcade Game
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari 2600)
- Superman (Atari 2600)
- TRON
- TRON Deadly Discs
- TRON Maze-a-Tron
