List of years in video games
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1977 had sequels such as Super Speed Race and Datsun 280 ZZZAP as well as several new titles such as Space Wars. The year's highest-grossing arcade games were F-1 and Speed Race DX in Japan, and Sea Wolf and Sprint 2 in the United States. The year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Color TV-Game, which was only sold in Japan.

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1977, according to the second annual Game Machine chart. Both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) are listed on the same arcade chart. Namco's EM racing game F-1 was the highest-grossing overall arcade game for the second year in a row, followed by Taito's racing video game Speed Race DX (its predecessor Speed Race was distributed as Wheels by Midway Manufacturing in North America).[1][2]

Arcade electro-mechanical games (EM games) Arcade video games
Rank Title #1 #2 #3 Points Rank Title #1 #2 #3 Points
1 F-1 12 6 5 53 1 Speed Race DX 8 5 8 42
2 Mogura Taiji (Whac-A-Mole) 5 1 3 20 2 Breakout 3 6 4 25
3 Shoot Away 4 3 0 18 3 Scratch 2 5 3 19
4 Flipper (Pinball)[a] 3 0 3 12 4 Circus 0 2 3 7
5 F-1 Mach 0 5 0 10 5 Road Champion 1 1 1 6
6 Shooting Trainer 1 2 1 8 6 Superbowl 1 1 0 5
7 Laser Clay 2 0 0 6 7 Sprint 2 1 0 1 4
8 Block Cut[b] 0 2 0 4 Super High-Way 0 2 0 4
9 Dead Line 1 0 0 3 9 Gran Trak 10 1 0 0 3
10 Heli-Shooter 0 0 2 2 Man T.T. 1 0 0 3
Crane[c] 0 0 2 2 Super Speed Race 1 0 0 3

Note: Medal games are listed on a separate chart, with Nintendo's EVR Race being the highest-grossing medal game for the second year in a row.[1][2]

United States

In the United States, Play Meter magazine began publishing annual lists of top-grossing arcade games in 1977. The following titles were the top ten highest-earning arcade video games of the year on the annual Play Meter and RePlay charts. Lifetime arcade cabinet sales are also given in a separate column.

Rank Play Meter[3] RePlay[4] Lifetime cabinet sales
1 Sea Wolf 10,000[5]
2 Sprint 2 8,200[6]
3 Breakout 11,000[6]
4 LeMans Drag Race Un­known
5 Gun Fight (Western Gun) Starship 1
6 Night Driver Double Play
7 Death Race Night Driver
8 Tornado Baseball Bazooka
9 Datsun 280 ZZZAP Robot Bowl
10 Blockade Datsun 280 ZZZAP
Indy 4

Best-selling home systems

Rank System(s) Manufacturer(s) Type Generation Sales Ref
1 Color TV-Game Nintendo Console First 800,000 [7]
2 Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) Atari, Inc. Console Second 250,000 [8]
3 Personal computer (PC) Various Computer — 150,000 [9]
4 TRS-80 Tandy Corporation Computer 8-bit 100,000 [9]
5 Altair 8800 MITS Computer 8-bit 10,000 [9]
6 Commodore PET Commodore International Computer 8-bit 4,000 [9]
7 Apple II Apple Inc. Computer 8-bit 600 [9]

Events

Notable releases

The Atari Video Computer System was the most successful video game console of the second-generation era.

Video game consoles

Home computers

Games

See also

Notes

  1. ^ フリッパー, Furippā
  2. ^ ブロック・カット, Burokku Katto
  3. ^ クレーン, Kurēn

References

  1. ^ a b "結果ベスト3" [Best 3 Results] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 90. Amusement Press, Inc. February 15, 1978. pp. 2–3.
  2. ^ a b "調査対象5年間のベスト1" [Best 1 of the 5 Years Surveyed] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 159. Amusement Press, Inc. February 15, 1981. p. 1.
  3. ^ "Top Arcade Games". Play Meter. November 1977.
  4. ^ "Profit Chart". RePlay. November 1977.
  5. ^ Steven L. Kent (2000), The first quarter: a 25-year history of video games, BWD Press, p. 83, ISBN 0-9704755-0-0, retrieved April 9, 2011, Sea Wolf, which was another creation of Dave Nutting, did solid business, selling more than 10,000 machines. (A later color version sold an additional 4000 units.)
  6. ^ a b Product: Total Build (PDF). Atari Games. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "昔(1970年代）のテレビゲームは何台売れた？" [How many old (1970s) video games sold?]. Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Rubin, Michael (2006). "Eighteen: A Hole in the Desert [1982–1983]" (PDF). Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution. Triad Publishing Company. pp. 291-314 (292). ISBN 978-0-937404-67-6.
  9. ^ a b c d e Reimer, Jeremy (December 15, 2005). "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Fischer, John (2002). "Famous Philadelphians – Nine Richest Philadelphians". About.com – Greater Philadelphia / South Jersey. Archived from the original on March 29, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  11. ^ Thomas, Donald A. Jr (2005). "–1977–". ICWhen.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  12. ^ "Namco History (English summary)". NAMCO WonderPage. 2001. Archived from the original on January 10, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  13. ^ Miller, Michael (2005). "A History of Home Video Game Consoles > First Generation: 1972–1977". InformIT. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  14. ^ "Atari 2600 History". AtariAge. 2006. Archived from the original on February 19, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  15. ^ Goldberg, Martin (2003). "Museum of Home Video Gaming". Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  16. ^ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2003. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  17. ^ "Seb - Telescore (mod.750)". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  18. ^ "Serious Game Classification : Seb Telescore 750 / 751 / 752 (1977)". serious.gameclassification.com. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  19. ^ "Color TV Game 6". NinDB. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  20. ^ Squire, Lance F. (2005). "The Bally/Astrocade FAQ version h2.8". Lance F. Squire Homepage. Archived from the original on February 7, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2006.
  21. ^ Hunter, William (2005). "Player 2 Stage 1: The Coin Eaters". The Dot Eaters. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  22. ^ "History of Infocom". Infocom – The Master Storytellers. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
  23. ^ Koster, Raph (2002). "Online World Timeline". Raph Koster's Website. Archived from the original on February 14, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2006.
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