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40th Anniversary of Space Invaders Celebrated with 10-Player Game Version

Catwell

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(Image credit: Taito Corporation)

 

I saw this and wonder if it’s possible to bring to the Raspberry Pi.

 

It’s been 40 years since Taito released their iconic Space Invaders video game back in 1978 and four decades later the music still haunts me- that deep bass that rolls faster as those ships get closer to your bases. The hardware for the game amazes me as well, considering the game’s creator Tomohiro Nishikado designed the arcade board using an Intel 8080 CPU with raster graphics on a CRT monitor.

 

Why’s that special? The Intel CPU wasn’t powerful enough to maintain the alien ships render-rate speed when there was a lot of them on screen, and as a result, the ships sped up when fewer were displayed. Instead of designing the game to compensate for that speed difference, Tomohiro decided to keep it in the game as a challenge.

 

40 years later and you can find Space Invaders or some version of it on nearly every console, PC and mobile device- a clear testament to the love of the game. There was also an exciting exhibition event held in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills district celebrating the anniversary of the game with three different attractions according to the Anime News Network.

 


The first was a massive 10-player version of the game, which was projected across an enormous 50-foot by 23-foot windowed wall, the second was a return of the Bahamut Disco Burlesque Techno Concert from Square-Enix (a great VR event) and the third featured Arkinvaders, a version of the game where players kick a ball to destroy the alien ships (see below).

 

 

 

To round out the celebration, Taito is collaborating with Steam to release Space Invaders Extreme to the gaming community sometime this year, which brings updated graphics, new styles of gameplay and an online ranking system for those who like to boast the best score.

 

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