Chase Jones

Dr. Sweigart

Engineering

4 November 2019

Operation and Application

Arcade machines are coin operated machines that run games. Arcade machines can range

from pinball machines to Pacman. These games tend to start out with easy levels and get more

difficult as the player works their way up. They are also controlled very simply, usually by a

joystick and some buttons. Arcade games are also meant to be profitable for the owner of the

machine. The creators of the games must draw people back to the game in order for it to be

profitable. They do this by making the levels of the game increasing in difficulty which makes

the game addicting. As technology has improved Arcade machines have changed immensely.

They have become household products giving people more reason to play these games.

The way arcade games work is a very simple process. A person who wants to play the

game will go up to the machine and insert the amount of money required to play. This amount is

typically paid for in coins. Then the game will start and the person will play the game. If the

machine is advanced it will allow the user to choose from a catalog of games. The user will play

the game until they lose and then the game ends. The user then enters a name to put on their

score for the leaderboards of the specific machine they played on. In order to play the game

again the user must put more money into the machine.

The aspect of the games being addictive is a major factor of the money a game makes.

The more entertaining a game is the more money it will draw in. If a game designer can make a

game addictive it will be a major money maker.

Arcade machines were first introduced in the 1920s in the form of fortune tellers or

playing music, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that video games arcade machines were created. The

first arcade game was created by Sega in 1966. The game was called periscope and it was

electromechanical, meaning the game uses electro-mechanical components to produce sounds or

images instead of a cathode ray tube screen. The game was a huge success in the United States

and in Europe. SEGA went on to create many games in 1969 including Duck Hunt and Grand

Prix.

In 1972 Atari released their first arcade game, Pong. Pong was a two-dimensional

multiplayer game consisting of two paddles and a ball. Pong was very successful arcade game,

earning owners of the machine about $40 per day. Its massive success led to Atari creating a

home version of the game. Pong had such a huge cultural impact that it is currently on display at

the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1978 the shooter game era began with Space Invaders. Space Invaders was a simple

shooting game, but it was ahead of its time. It was the first fixed shooter game and it inspired the

shooting game genre. It was created by Tomohiro Nishikado, a Japanese game designer and

engineer. In 1982 Space invaders had earned Nishikado $3.8 billion and a profit of $445 million.

It is one of the highest grossing video games of all time.

Pacman was created in 1980 by a Japanese company called Namco. It was an incredibly

unique game, which was a huge reason for its popularity. Because of its popularity Namco

created many spin offs of the game including Ms. Pacman. The Pacman character is still used in

video games today such as Super Smash Brothers.

from the 80s and 90s have gotten older business owners have realized that people still enjoy

arcade games. Many restaurants and bars have invested in arcade games to draw in more

customers and remind them of their memories in arcades.

Impacts

The rise of arcade games had a huge impact on live in the 70s and 80s. Arcades gave

people a place to hang out and escape from the stress of life. The thrill of beating the high score

continued to draw people back to arcades for years. Arcades started to die out in the late 80s due

to the rise of video games. Arcade games had a major impact on the development of home video

games. Arcade games gave video game creators a blueprint for what people enjoy about games

and what people did not enjoy. It also gave the creators of video games a gage for how much

people would be willing to pay for video games.

As the highest selling arcade game of all time, Pacman has a massive impact on arcade

games and modern video games. Pacman was the first game that emphasized the use of a

playable character. Pacman ran with this concept, using the Pacman character as their mascot. It

was the first game to have a mascot. The creativeness of the Pacman was also a huge aspect of its

success. The intensity of running away from the ghosts until you eat all of the pellets or you get a

power up. The game was truly one of a kind. The game also included cut scenes that helped build

the storyline. The game was also unique because of the style of play. Most games at the time

were all about the user being the aggressor. The player had always been the one eliminating the

enemies. Pacman was the first game to introduce a stealth aspect, introducing an evading style to
beat your enemies. Pacman inspired video games today by showing that creativity is a major

factor in how fun a game is.

The improvement of technology is a major factor of the quality of video games. The

improvement of technology allows for modern games to be more complicated. It makes the

visuals of a game better while also improving the game itself. Consumers of video games enjoy a

realistic aspect to games, and improvements in technology allow this to happen.

Individual/Organization Contribution Content

Shigeru Miyamoto was born on November 16th, 1952 in Kyoto, Japan. His parents,

Iijake Miyamoto and Hinako Aruha, lived in a rural area of Kyoto where he grew up. As a young

child, Shigeru Miyamoto loved drawing, which had a huge influence on his career. Miyamoto

also enjoyed being in nature, which also had an impact on his career, specifically the

development of The Legend of Zelda. He graduated from Kanazawa Municipal College of

Industrial Arts in 1975 and got his degree in industrial design.

After getting his degree, Miyamoto started his career at Nintendo selling toys. The

president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was so impressed by his toy design that he promoted

him to the planning department of Nintendo. Miyamoto continued to climb the ranks of Nintendo

until he became the first artist at Nintendo. His first work as an artist was on the Nintendo game

known as Sheriff. Shortly after he helped with the development of Radar Scope which was a

massive failure.

Because of Nintendo’s struggles after Radar Scope, Miyamoto was tasked with the

development of a new game. He created Donkey Kong and released it in 1981. Donkey Kong

was a massive success and is now estimated to be worth $10 billion. He also developed the
sequels to Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3, which were released in 1982

and 1983. Miyamoto continued his success by developing Super Mario and The Legend of

Zelda. These games were also massive successes and put nintendo on the map. Miyamoto was

later the first video game producer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of

Interactive Arts and Sciences.

Miyamoto is currently the co-Representative Director of Nintendo. He lives with his wife

Yasuko Miyamoto and his son and daughter.