Space Invaders#Home versions

File:SpaceInvaders-Gameplay.gif

Space Invaders is a fixed shooter in which the player moves a laser cannon horizontally across the bottom of the screen and fires at a group of aliens overhead. The aliens begin as five rows of eleven—the amount differs in some versions—that move left and right as a group, advancing on the shooter by shifting downward each time they reach a screen edge. The goal is to eliminate all the aliens by shooting them. Regardless of how many game lives remaining the player has, the game ends if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen.

The aliens attempt to destroy the player's cannon by firing projectiles. The laser cannon is partially protected by stationary defense bunkers that are gradually destroyed from the top by the aliens; the bottom will be destroyed if the player fires when beneath one. As aliens are defeated, their movement, as well as the accompanying music, speeds up. Defeating all the aliens brings another wave which starts lower, a loop that can continue endlessly. A special "mystery ship" will occasionally move across the top of the screen and award bonus points if destroyed.{{cite book| editor-first=Craig| editor-last= Glenday| title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series=Guinness World Records| date=March 11, 2008 |publisher=Guinness| isbn=978-1-904994-21-3| page=237| chapter=Top 100 Arcade Games: Top 5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/237| url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0}}{{Cite magazine| title=The Definitive Space Invaders| magazine=Retro Gamer| publisher = Imagine Publishing| location = Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom| date=September 2007| issue=41| pages=24–33| first = Stuart| last = Campbell| issn = 1742-3155}}{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2008/04/14/89612882/replay-the-evolution-of-video-game-music| title=Replay: the Evolution of Video Game Music| publisher=National Public Radio| work=All Things Considered| last=Seabrook| first= Andrea| date=April 12, 2008 |access-date=June 17, 2025 |author-link=Andrea Seabrook}}

File:Tomohiro-nishikado.jpg

Space Invaders was developed by Japanese designer Tomohiro Nishikado, who spent a year designing it and developing the necessary hardware to produce it.{{Cite magazine| date=January 2008| title=Classic GI: Space Invaders| magazine=Game Informer| author= Staff| publisher=GameStop, Inc.| location = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States| issue=177| pages=108–109| issn = 1067-6392| url = https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-177-january-2008/page/108/mode/2up}} Because he worked alone and handmade many of the development tools, the process incured minimal costs.{{cite news| title=スペースインベーダー・今明かす開発秘話――開発者・西角友宏氏、タイトー・和田洋一社長対談| trans-title=Space Invader, Development Secret Story Revealed Now―Interview With Developer Tomohiro Nishikado, Taito President Yoichi Wada| url=http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20080318/1008218/ |access-date=May 3, 2021| work=The Nikkei| first = Tetsuya| last = Inamoto| date=March 21, 2008| language=ja| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323064622/http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20080318/1008218/| archive-date=March 23, 2008}} The game was a response to Atari, Inc.'s 1976 arcade game Breakout.{{cite magazine| author= Staff| title=Nishikado-San Speaks| magazine=Retro Gamer| publisher=Live Publishing| location = Macclesfield, Cheshire, United Kingdom| issue=3| date=April 15, 2004| page=35| issn = 1742-3155}}{{cite book| last =Williams| first =Andrew| title=History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction| date=March 16, 2017| publisher=CRC Press| isbn=978-1-317-50381-1| pages=73–76}}{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/jun/04/space-invaders-at-40-tomohiro-nishikado-interview| title=Space Invaders at 40: 'I tried soldiers, but shooting people was frowned upon'| website=The Guardian | date=June 4, 2018 | last =Freeman | first =Will}} Nishikado noted that Breakout-style games were very popular in Japan in 1977.{{cite web| url = https://gamesbeat.com/how-tomohiro-nishikado-created-space-invaders-46-years-ago-exclusive-interview/| title = How Tomohiro Nishikado created Space Invaders 46 years ago| website = GamesBeat| author = Staff| date = September 24, 2024| access-date = June 26, 2025}} The developer wanted to adapt the same sense of achievement and tension from destroying targets one at a time, combining it with elements of target shooting games. The game uses a similar layout to that of Breakout but with different game mechanics; rather than bounce a ball to attack static objects, players are given the ability to fire projectiles at moving enemies.{{cite web| url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-history-of-i-pong-i-avoid-missing-game-to-start-industry| title=The History of Pong: Avoid Missing Game to Start Industry| first1=Bill| last1 =Loguidice| first2 =Matt| last2 = Barton| website=Gamasutra| date=January 9, 2009| access-date=January 10, 2009| archive-date=January 12, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112004852/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3900/the_history_of_pong_avoid_missing_.php| url-status=live }}

Early enemy designs included tanks, combat planes, and battleships. However, Nishikado was not satisfied with the enemy movements; technical limitations made it difficult to animate flying.{{Cite magazine| date=October 2005| title=A Making of ... Special: Taito Legends| magazine=Edge| publisher = Future Publishing| location = United Kingdom| issue=154| author = Staff| pages=108–109| issn = 1350-1593| url = http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2005/10/taito_men_talk.php| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080512215315/http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2005/10/taito_men_talk.php| archive-date = 2008-05-12}} The designer believed animating human characters would have been easier to program, but he considered shooting them immoral.{{cite web| url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3168373 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226064943/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3168373 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 26, 2009 |title=Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders |website=1UP.com| last =Edwards| first = Benj |access-date=July 11, 2008}} Nishikado also said that shooting people was frowned upon. After seeing the release of the 1974 anime Space Battleship Yamato in Japan,{{cite magazine| title=Tomohiro Nishikado – 2000 Developer Interview| magazine=Game Maestro| date=2000| volume=1| url=http://shmuplations.com/nishikado/| access-date=March 4, 2018| archive-date=June 8, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608174731/http://shmuplations.com/nishikado/| url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Kohler |first=Chris |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |date=2016 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=9780486801490 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD4fDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA19}} and seeing a magazine feature about the 1977 Star Wars, he thought of using a space theme. Nishikado drew inspiration for the aliens from a novel by H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, and created initial bitmap images after the octopus-like aliens. Other alien designs were modeled after squids and crabs. After creating the pixel art, Nishikado created a tool to animate two frames of movement for each character and adjusted the design on-screen with a light pen. He added the bunkers and the mystery ship to the playing field afterward.

Nishikado added several interactive elements that he found lacking in earlier video games, such as the ability for enemies to react to the player's movement and fire back, and a game over triggered by the enemies killing the player character (either by getting shot or enemies reaching the bottom of the screen) rather than simply a timer running out. He replaced the timer, typical of arcade games at the time, with descending aliens who effectively served a similar function, where the closer they came, the less time remained for the player. During the process, Nishikado wanted the game's difficulty to increase the longer the game progressed; he reasoned this kept the gameplay fresh and that the game would earn less if players could play for extended periods. The game was originally titled Space Monsters after a popular song in Japan at the time, "", but was changed to Space Invaders by the designer's superiors.

File:Intel 8080 open-closed.jpg microprocessor (pictured) into development in order to display improved graphics and animation.]]

Nishikado designed his own custom hardware and development tools for Space Invaders. The game uses an Intel 8080 central processing unit (CPU) and displays raster graphics on a CRT monitor using a bitmapped framebuffer.{{cite web |url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9662 |title=Space Invaders Videogame by Bally Midway (1978) |publisher=Killer List of Videogames |access-date=May 12, 2008 |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125042142/http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9662 |url-status=live }} The game outputs monaural sound hosted by a combination of analog circuitry and a Texas Instruments SN76477 sound chip.{{cite book| title = Midway's Space Invaders Parts Catalog| publisher = Midway Manufacturing Co.| type = Booklet| format = PDF| page = 13| date = October 1978| url = https://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/S/Space-Invaders-Upright--Midway.pdf| access-date = June 25, 2025}}{{cite book |title=The Art of Game Worlds| publisher=Harper Design International| location = New York, New York, United States| first1 =Dave| last1 =Morris| first2 = Leo| last2 = Hartas| author-link1 = Dave Morris (game designer)| chapter = Funky Town: 12| page=166| year=2004| isbn=0-06-072430-7| edition = 1st| quote = The audio for early arcade games like Pong and Space Invaders was built from analog circuitry, more of a job for an engineer than a sound designer.}} The adoption of a microprocessor was inspired by the 1975 arcade game Gun Fight, Midway's microprocessor adaptation of Nishikado's earlier discrete logic game Western Gun, after the designer was impressed by the improved graphics and smoother animation of Midway's version.{{cite book|first = Chris| last = Kohler| year=2005| title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life| chapter=Chapter 2: An Early History of Cinematic Elements in Video Games| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auMTAQAAIAAJ| page=19| publisher=BradyGames| isbn=0-7440-0424-1|access-date=March 27, 2011}}{{cite book|title=Atari Inc.: Business is Fun| publisher=Syzygy Company Press| location = Carmel, New York, United States| date= November 2012| last1=Goldberg| first1=Marty| last2=Vendel| first2=Curt| page = 511| isbn=978-0-9855974-0-5}}

Despite the specially developed hardware, Nishikado was unable to program the game as he wanted—the Control Program board was not powerful enough to display the graphics in color or move the enemies faster—and considered the development of the hardware the most difficult part of the process. While programming, Nishikado discovered that the processor was able to render each frame of the alien's animation graphics faster when there were fewer aliens on the screen. Since the alien's positions updated after each frame, this caused the aliens to move across the screen at an increasing speed as more were destroyed;{{cite magazine| title = Space Invaders: the sound of success| magazine = IEEE Spectrum| publisher = Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers| location = New York, New York, United States| volume = 19| number = 12| first = Carol| last = Truxal| date = December 1982| p = 24| issn = 0018-9235| url = https://spectrum.ieee.org/space-invaders| access-date = 2025-06-23}} the accompanying audio sped up as well. Rather than design a compensation for the speed increase, he decided to keep this undocumented feature as a challenging gameplay mechanism.

The cabinet artwork features large humanoid monsters absent from the game, which Nishikado attributed to the artist basing the designs on the original "Space Monsters" title rather than referring to the in-game graphics. In the upright cabinets, the graphics are generated on a hidden CRT monitor and reflected toward the player using a semi-transparent mirror, behind which is mounted a plastic cutout of a moon bolted against a painted starry background. The backdrop is visible through the mirror and thus appears "behind" the graphics. Both Taito's and Midway's first Space Invaders releases have black-and-white graphics with strips of transparent orange and green cellophane over certain portions of the screen to add color to the image. Later Japanese releases feature a rainbow-colored cellophane overlay, and these were eventually followed by versions with a color monitor and an electronically generated color overlay.

{{multiple image

| footer = Taito released Space Invaders in several types of arcade cabinets, some of which have since become collector's items.

| image1 = Space Invaders.JPG

| caption1 = Cocktail table arcade cabinet

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| caption2 = Modified upright arcade cabinet

}}

Taito released Space Invaders in July 1978. The company released both an upright arcade cabinet and a cocktail-table cabinet; Taito named the cocktail version T.T. Space Invaders in Japan to indicate it was a "table-top" version. Midway released its upright version a few months later and its cocktail version several months after that. Space Invaders cabinets have since become collector's items, with the cocktail and cabaret versions the rarest.{{cite book| title=Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games| last=Ellis| first=David| publisher=Random House| year=2004| isbn=0-375-72038-3| pages=411–412| chapter=Arcade Classics| url=https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/411}} At the end of 2003, Taito announced plans to produce 10,000 Space Invaders cabinets to sell again for the game's 25th anniversary.{{cite web| url = https://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/12/05/space.invaders.reut/| title = Space Invaders game set for new U.S. invasion| publisher = Reuters| via = CNN| author = Staff| date = December 5, 2003| access-date = July 1, 2025| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160409184350/http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/12/05/space.invaders.reut/| archive-date = April 9, 2016}}

The 1980 port to the Atari 2600 was the first official licensing of an arcade game for consoles and became the first killer app for home video game consoles after quadrupling the system's sales.{{cite book |title=Ultimate History of Video Games |first=Steven |last=Kent | author-link = Steven L. Kent|page=190 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |year=2001}} After selling over {{nowrap|1.0 million}} units in its first year, the Space Invaders port sold over {{nowrap|4.2 million}} copies by the end of 1981, becoming the best-selling Atari 2600 game until the 1982 Atari version of Pac-Man released. By 1983, the Atari 2600 version had sold almost {{nowrap|6.1 million}} cartridges.{{cite episode |title=The Agony & The Ecstasy |series=Once Upon Atari |date=August 10, 2003 |number=4 |minutes=23 |publisher=Scott West Productions| credits = Warshaw, Howard Scott, director}} Other official conversions were released for the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari 5200 console, while Taito later released it for the Nintendo Famicom in 1985 exclusively in Japan. By 1982, versions of Space Invaders were available for handheld electronic game devices, tabletop dedicated consoles, home computers, watches and pocket calculators.

File:Epoch-TV-Vader.jpg released the Epoch TV Vader in 1980 as a Space Invaders clone that could be played at home.]]

More than a hundred Space Invaders video game clones were released for various platforms,{{cite web | url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/original-space-invaders-icon-1970s-America-180969393/ | title = The Original 'Space Invaders' Is a Meditation on 1970s America's Deepest Fears | first = Lindsay | last = Grace | date = June 19, 2018 | access-date = April 22, 2021 | work = Smithsonian Magazine | archive-date = April 22, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210422215437/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/original-space-invaders-icon-1970s-America-180969393/ | url-status = live }} such as Super Invader (1979){{cite magazine |title=Super Invader Is Reader's Choice |magazine=Softalk |date=April 1981 |issue=13 |url=http://apple2history.org/appendix/aha/aha78/ |access-date=February 10, 2012 |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207130344/http://apple2history.org/appendix/aha/aha78/ |url-status=live }} and TI Invaders (1981); the latter was the top-selling game for the TI-99/4A through at least 1982.{{cite magazine| title=Cash In On the Video Game Craze| magazine=Black Enterprise| publisher = Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc.| location = New York, New York, United States| last =Hillard| first = S. Lee| date=December 1982| volume=12| issue=5| issn= 0006-4165| pages=41–42| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6pacvfrf0wC&pg=PA41 |access-date=May 1, 2011}} Prior to its industry dominance, Nintendo's foray into arcade games consisted of clones of existing popular games, including the Space Invader clone Space Fever. The influx of clones led to the term "Invader game" to identify the generic classification of games.{{cite journal| title = The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games| first = Martin| last = Picard| journal = Game Studies| volume = 13| issue = 2| date = December 2013| issn = 1604-7982| url = https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard| access-date = 2025-06-20}} Unofficial copies dominated the video game market in South Korea. The market demand for hardware to create the machines helped spur the early growth of Korea's semiconductor industry.{{cite journal| title = "Bursting Circuit Boards": Infrastructures and Technical Practices of Copying in Early Korean Video Game Industry| first = Dongwon| last = Jo| journal = Game Studies| volume = 20| issue = 2| date = June 2020| issn = 1604-7982| url = https://gamestudies.org/2002/articles/jo| access-date = 2025-06-20}}

Space Invaders initially received mixed responses from within Taito and amusement arcade owners. Nishikado's colleagues praised it, applauding his achievement while queuing up to play, whereas his bosses predicted low sales as games often ended more quickly than other timer-based arcade games at the time. A number of amusement arcade owners initially rejected it, but some pachinko parlors and bowling alleys adopted it; it quickly caught on, with many parlors and alleys clearing space for more Space Invaders cabinets.{{cite book |last1=Barton |first1=Matt |chapter=Space Invaders: The Japanese Invasion |title=Vintage Games 2.0: An Insider Look at the Most Influential Games of All Time |date=May 8, 2019 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-000-00092-4 |pages=21–7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fU-fDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21}} In the first few months following its release in Japan, Space Invaders became popular to the point that specialty video arcades, referred to as "Space Invaders Parlours" and "Space Invaders Houses", opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets.{{cite web| title = The Origin of The 'Shmup' Genre: A Historical Study| website = Game Developer| first = Luke| last = McMillan| url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-origin-of-the-shmup-genre-a-historical-study| date = February 6, 2013| access-date = June 25, 2025}}

A year after its release, Space Invaders had become the arcade game industry's all-time best-seller.{{cite magazine |title=1979: The Year in Review |magazine=Cash Box |date=December 19, 1979 |page=114 |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox41unse_31/page/n131 }} By the end of 1978, Taito had installed over 100,000 machines and grossed {{US$|670 million|long=no}} ({{US$|{{inflation|US|0.67|1978|r=1}} billion|long=no}} adjusted for inflation) in Japan alone.{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Daniel |title=Video Games |date=1982 |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=0-671-45872-8 |pages=15–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/book_video_games/page/n21/mode/2up}}{{cite magazine| title=Can Asteroids Conquer Space Invaders?| magazine=Electronic Games| date=Winter 1981| volume=1| issue=1| page =31 |url=http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf#page=31 |access-date=February 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319212242/http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |url-status=live }} By June 1979, Taito had manufactured about 200,000–300,000 Space Invaders machines in Japan, with each unit earning an average of {{JPY|10,000}} or {{US$|{{To USD|10000|JPN|year=1979|round=yes}}|long=no|1979|round=0}} in 100 yen coins per day. However, this was not enough to meet the high demand, leading to Taito increasing production to 25,000–30,000 units per month and raising projections to 400,000 manufactured in Japan by the end of 1979. In order to cope with the demand, Taito licensed the overseas rights to Midway for distribution outside of Japan. By the end of 1979, an estimated 750,000 Space Invaders machines were installed worldwide, including 400,000 in Japan, 85,000 in the United Kingdom,{{cite magazine| title=After Pong| magazine=ACE| publisher = Future Publishing Ltd.| location = Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom| date=February 4, 1988 |issue=6 (March 1988)| author = Staff| page = 29| issn = 0954-8076| url=https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_06_1988-03_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n28/mode/1up}} and 60,000 within a year in the United States{{cite book| title=Genesis II, creation and recreation with computers| first =Dale| last = Peterson| publisher=Reston Publishing| year=1983 |isbn=0-8359-2434-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL1YAAAAMAAJ |access-date=May 1, 2011 |page=175 |quote=By 1980, some 300,000 Space Invader video arcade games were in use in Japan, and an additional 60,000 in the United States.|author-link=Dale Peterson}}{{cite book |title=Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games |first=David |last=Ellis |chapter=Arcade Classics |page=[https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/345 345] |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-375-72038-3 |year=2004 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi |url=https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/345 }}{{cite book| last=Kohler |first=Chris |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life| year=2004| publisher=BradyGames |location=Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |isbn=0-7440-0424-1| page=19| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=auMTAQAAIAAJ&q=%22represented+a+significant+portion+of+the+cost%22| quote=Within one year of its US release, an additional 60,000 machines had been sold.
One arcade owner said of Space Invaders that it was the first arcade game whose intake "represented a significant portion of the cost of [buying] the game in any one week." That is, it was the first video game that paid for itself within about a month.}} Space Invaders{{'}} popularity propelled it to become the first game that recouped an arcade machine's owner in less than a month, with some places seeing profits within one week; prices ranged from $2,000 to $3,000 per machine.{{cite magazine| title=Video arcades rival Broadway theatre and girlie shows in NY| magazine=InfoWorld| date=April 12, 1982| volume=4| issue=14|issn=0199-6649| page=15| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 |access-date=May 1, 2011}} The game eventually sold 72,000 units in the United States by 1982.{{cite magazine|last1=Stone |first1=Andrea |title=The House That Pac Built: Midway Manufacturing is king of the coin-op hill and loving it! |magazine=Video Games |date=December 1982 |volume=1 |issue=3 |publisher=Pumpkin Press |pages=53–55 (54) |url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_03_1982-12_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n53}}

Space Invaders had about {{nowrap|8 million}} daily players in Japan, with daily revenue peaking at {{JPY|2.6 billion}} or {{US$|{{To USD|2600|JPN|year=1978|round=yes}},000,000|long=no|1978|round=-6}}.{{cite magazine |title=The Games Boom Rolls On |magazine=Asiaweek |date=May 1981 |volume=7 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHQMAQAAMAAJ |publisher=Asiaweek Limited |quote=Roughly {{nowrap|8 million}} people played the game daily, spending {{nowrap|2.6 billion}} yen (US$114m.) a day and forcing the Bank of Japan to make three special mintings of 100-yen coins.}} Space Invaders machines had grossed more than four billion US quarters ({{US$|1 billion|long=no}} at the time, or {{US$|{{inflation|US|1|1978|r=1}} billion|long=no}} adjusted for inflation) by 1979.{{cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=George |chapter=The First Big Hits |title=Screen Play: The Story of Video Games |date=1983 |publisher=F. Warne |isbn=978-0-7232-6251-0 |pages=38–47 (40) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ScreenPlaytheStoryofVideoGames/page/n49}} It remained the top arcade game for three years through 1980. In 1981, several years after its release, it still had weekly earnings of {{US$|7.7 million|long=no}} in the United States, second only to Pac-Man.{{cite news |title=Arcade games a bigger draw than the movies |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5P0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0KQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=arcade%20game&pg=922%2C2509334 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |work=The Montreal Gazette |date=July 27, 1981 |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306000720/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5P0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0KQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=arcade%20game&pg=922%2C2509334 |url-status=live }} By 1982, it had crossed $2 billion in quarters{{cite web|date=November 23, 1982|title=Making millions, 25 cents at a time|url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/video-games-making-millions-25-cents-at-a-time|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222152117/http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/media/clips/15869/|archive-date=December 22, 2008|access-date=April 30, 2011|website=The Fifth Estate|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}{{cite magazine| title=Space Invaders vs. Star Wars| magazine=Executive| volume=24|publisher=Southam Business Publications| year=1982| page=9| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KwTAQAAMAAJ |access-date=April 30, 2011| quote=According to TEC, Atari's arcade game Space Invaders has taken in $2 billion, with net receipts of $450 million.}} (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|2000000000|1978}}}} adjusted for inflation),{{cite web |title=CPI Inflation Calculator |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |url=http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm |access-date=March 22, 2011 |archive-date=September 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917111520/https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm |url-status=live }} with a net profit of $450 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|450000000|1978}}}} adjusted for inflation). This made it the best-selling video game and highest-grossing "entertainment product" of its time, with comparisons made to the then highest-grossing film Star Wars, which had grossed $486 million, with a net profit of $175 million.{{cite magazine| title=Space Invaders vs. Star Wars| magazine=Executive| volume=24| publisher=Southam Business Publications| year=1982| page=9| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KwTAQAAMAAJ |access-date=April 30, 2011| quote=They compare this to the box office movie top blockbuster Star Wars, which has taken in only $486 million, for a net of $175 million.}} By 1982, it had grossed {{US$|3.8 billion|long=no}}, equivalent to over {{US$|13 billion|long=no}} as of 2016. Space Invaders earned Taito profits of over {{US$|500,000,000|long=no|1978|round=-8}}.{{cite web| title=The Gamespy Hall of Fame: Space Invaders| website=GameSpy| first =Kevin| last = Bowen|url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/spaceinvaders.shtm| access-date=April 30, 2011| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408152913/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/spaceinvaders.shtm| archive-date=April 8, 2008}} The Arcade Awards ceremony was created that same year to honor the best video games, with Space Invaders winning the first Best Coin-Op Electronic Game award.{{cite magazine |title=The Arcade Awards |magazine=Electronic Games |date=Winter 1981 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=38–39 |url=http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf |access-date=February 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319212242/http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |url-status=live }}

Ports have received mixed reviews; the Atari 2600 version was successful, while the Famicom version was poorly received.

{{Video game reviews

| Allgame = Arcade: 5/5{{cite web| last=Weiss| first=Brett Alan| title=Space Invaders|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=4717&tab=review| website=AllGame| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114110545/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=4717&tab=review| archive-date=November 14, 2014| access-date=March 2, 2021}}
{{nowrap|Atari 5200:}} 4/5{{cite web| last=Weiss| first=Brett Alan| title=Space Invaders| url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15766&tab=review| website=AllGame| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114125957/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15766&tab=review| archive-date=November 14, 2014| access-date=March 2, 2021}}
SNES: 4/5{{cite web| last=Weiss |first=Brett Alan | title=Space Invaders| url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7469&tab=review| website=AllGame| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114195553/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7469&tab=review| archive-date=November 14, 2014| access-date=March 2, 2021}}

| rev1 = Games World

| rev1Score = Game Boy: 80%{{cite magazine| last1=Perry| first1=Dave| author1-link=Dave Perry| last2=Walkland| first2=Nick| last3=Roberts| first3=Nick| last4=Price|first4=Adrian| title=Reviews| magazine=Games World| date=November 1994| issue=7 (January 1995)| publisher=Paragon Publishing| location = Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom| page=23| url=https://archive.org/details/games-world-07/page/n22}}

| award1Pub = Arcade Awards

| award1 = Best Coin-Op Electronic Game (1980)

| award2Pub = VideoGames

| award2 = {{nowrap|Runner-up}} for Best Game Boy Game (1994){{cite magazine| title=VideoGames Best of '94| magazine=VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine | publisher = L.F.P., Inc.| location = Beverly Hills, California, United States| date=February 1995| issue=74 (March 1995)| author = Staff| pages=44–47| issn = 1059-2938| url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_The_Ultimate_Gaming_Magazine_Issue_74_March_1995/page/n45/mode/2up}}

| award3Pub = Guinness World Records

| award3 = Top Arcade Game of All Time (2008)

| award4Pub = The Times

| award4 = Most Influential Video Game Ever (2007)

}}

In 1995, Flux magazine staff ranked Space Invaders first on their "Top 100 Video Games".{{Cite magazine| date=April 1995| title=Top 100 Video Games| url=https://archive.org/details/flux-issue-4/page/n23/mode/2up| magazine=Flux| publisher=Harris Publications, Inc.| location = New York, New York, United States| first1 = Dan| last1 = Amrich| first2 = Ralph| last2 = Barbagallo| first3 = Mark| last3 = East| first4 = Chris| last4 = Hudak| first5 = Jeff| last5 = Kitts| first6 = Zach| last6 = Meston| first7 = Jeff| last7 = Yang| issue=4| pages=25| issn = 1074-5602}} In 1996, Next Generation magazine put Space Invaders at number 97 on their list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time", saying that it "provides an elegance and simplicity not found in later games like Phoenix [1980]."{{cite magazine| date=September 1996| title=Top 100 Games of All Time|magazine=Next Generation| publisher = Imagine Media| location = Brisbane, California, United States| issue=21| page=38| author = Staff| issn = 1078-9693}} IGN listed it as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Games" in 2007, citing it as a source of inspiration to video game designers and the impact it had on the shooting genre. The Times ranked it No. 1 on its list of "The ten most influential video games ever" in 2007.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110902230443/http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2455080.ece The ten most influential video games ever], The Times, September 20, 2007 1UP ranked it at No. 3 on its list of "The 60 Most Influential Games of All Time", stating that, in contrast to earlier arcade games which "were attempts to simulate already-existing things," Space Invaders was "the first video game as a video game, instead of merely a playable electronic representation of something else."{{cite web| url=http://www.1up.com/features/most-influential-games?pager.offset=12| title=The 60 Most Influential Games of All Time| last=Kaiser| first=Rowan| date=May 10, 2011| website=1UP.com| page=13| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109194732/http://www.1up.com/features/most-influential-games?pager.offset=12| archive-date=November 9, 2012| url-status=dead| access-date=December 25, 2011}} Guinness World Records considered Space Invaders one of the most successful arcade shooting games by 2008. In describing it as a "seminal arcade classic", IGN listed it as the number eight "classic shoot 'em up".{{cite web|url=http://retro.ign.com/articles/865/865346p1.html|title=Top 10 Classic Shoot 'Em Ups|author=Buchanan, Levi|date=April 8, 2008|website=IGN|access-date=September 7, 2008|archive-date=September 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924201901/http://retro.ign.com/articles/865/865346p1.html|url-status=live}}

In 2008, Guinness World Records listed it as the top-rated arcade game in terms of technical, creative, and cultural impact. Entertainment Weekly named Space Invaders one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 home console in 2013.{{cite magazine|last=Morales|first=Aaron|date=January 25, 2013|title=The 10 best Atari games|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2013/01/25/the-10-best-atari-games|access-date=April 17, 2016|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} In 2018, it was ranked 87th in Video Game Canon's statistical meta-analysis of 48 "top games" lists published between 1995 and 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.videogamecanon.com/essays/space-invaders/|title=Space Invaders|date=February 17, 2017|website=Video Game Canon|language=en-US|access-date=December 5, 2018|archive-date=December 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205103435/https://www.videogamecanon.com/essays/space-invaders/|url-status=dead}} In 2021, The Guardian listed it as the third-greatest video game of the 1970s, just below Galaxian and Asteroids.{{cite news| title=The 15 greatest video games of the 70s – ranked!| url=https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/may/13/15-greatest-video-games-of-the-70s-ranked| access-date=May 23, 2021| work=The Guardian| date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=August 1, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801003901/https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/may/13/15-greatest-video-games-of-the-70s-ranked| url-status=live}} Space Invaders was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2016.{{cite web| url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/gta-iii-the-sims-among-2016-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-inductees| title=GTA III, The Sims among 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductees| last=Brightman| first=James| date=May 5, 2016| website=GamesIndustry.biz| publisher=Gamer Network| access-date=June 22, 2025| archive-date=December 26, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226063035/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/gta-iii-the-sims-among-2016-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-inductees| url-status=live}}

{{main|List of Space Invaders video games{{!}}List of Space Invaders video games}}

Space Invaders has been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include ported and updated versions of the original arcade game. Ported versions generally feature different graphics and additional gameplay options—for example, moving defense bunkers, zigzag shots, invisible aliens, and two-player cooperative gameplay. Ports on earlier systems like the Atari home consoles featured simplified graphics,{{Clarify|reason=simpler than the arcade?|date=March 2019}} while later systems such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and PlayStation featured updated graphics. Later games include several modes of gameplay and integrate new elements into the original design. For example, Space Invaders Extreme, released on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, integrated musical elements into the standard gameplay.{{cite web| url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/04/02/space-invaders-arkanoid-set-for-us| title=Space Invaders Extreme Set for US| website=IGN| last=Hatfield| first = Daemon| date=April 2, 2008| access-date=June 7, 2008| archive-date=January 26, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126080255/http://psp.ign.com/articles/863/863894p1.html| url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine |date=May 2008 |magazine=Official Nintendo Magazine |title=Space Invaders |issue=29 |page=46}} A 2008 spin-off for WiiWare, Space Invaders Get Even, allows players to control the aliens instead of the laser cannon in a reversal of roles.{{cite web| date=June 17, 2008| title=Space Invaders Set for WiiWare| url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/06/17/space-invaders-set-for-wiiware| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090516231912/http://wii.ign.com/articles/882/882265p1.html| archive-date=May 16, 2009| access-date=August 19, 2008| website=IGN| author = Staff}}

In 1980, Bally released a pinball version. However, few elements from the original game are included, and the aliens instead resemble the xenomorphs from the film Alien; Bally was later sued over the resemblance to the designs by H. R. Giger.{{Cite magazine |date=January 2008 |title=A Whole Different Ball Game |magazine=Retro Gamer |issue=45 |page=47}} It became the third highest-grossing pinball machine of 1980 in the United States.{{cite magazine |last=Adlum |first=Eddie |title=The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum |magazine=RePlay |date=November 1985 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=134-175 (160-3) |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-11-issue-no.-2-november-1985-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2011%2C%20Issue%20No.%202%20-%20November%201985/page/162/mode/2up}} A stand-alone version was released by Super Impulse as part of its Tiny Arcade series, along with the Namco games Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaxian.{{cite web |url=http://www.superimpulse.com/our-brands/tiny-arcade-2/ |title=Miniature iconic arcade games are now available from Super Impulse.| website = Super Impulse| date=October 14, 2017| access-date=October 15, 2017| archive-date=October 15, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015044455/http://superimpulse.com/our-brands/tiny-arcade-2/| url-status=live}}

File:SPACE INVADERS FRENZY.jpg

Taito has released several arcade sequels. The first was Space Invaders Part II in 1979;{{cite web |title=Space Invaders Part II |url=http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1036| website=The Arcade Flyer Archive |publisher=Killer List of Videogames |access-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708165320/http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1036 |url-status=live }}{{cite web| last=Davies| first=Jonti| title=Space Invaders Pocket| url=http://uk.psp.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/space-invaders-pocket/614422p1.html|website=GameSpy| access-date=September 27, 2011| date=May 16, 2005| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331231442/http://uk.psp.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/space-invaders-pocket/614422p1.html| archive-date=March 31, 2012}} it featured color graphics, an attract mode, new gameplay elements, and added an intermission between gameplay. According to the Killer List of Videogames, this was the first video game to include an intermission.[http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=12743 Space Invaders Deluxe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225045946/http://arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=12743 |date=December 25, 2010 }}, klov.com. Accessed on line March 28, 2011. The game also allowed the player with the top score to sign their name, which would appear at the top of the screen for as long as the game was powered on.{{cite web| title=The Definitive Space Invaders| url=http://www.nowgamer.com/features/894697/the_definitive_space_invaders_part_1.html| website =NowGamer| access-date=September 30, 2011| date=January 19, 2009| archive-date=July 14, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714114148/http://www.nowgamer.com/features/894697/the_definitive_space_invaders_part_1.html| url-status=live}} This version was released in the United States as Deluxe Space Invaders (also known as Space Invaders Deluxe), but it featured a different graphical color scheme and a lunar-city background. Another arcade sequel, Space Invaders II, was released exclusively in the United States. It was in a cocktail-table format with very fast alien firing and a competitive two-player mode. During the summer of 1985, Return of the Invaders was released with updated color graphics and more complex movements and attack patterns for the aliens. Subsequent arcade sequels included Super Space Invaders '91, Space Invaders DX, and Space Invaders {{'}}95. Each game introduced minor gameplay additions to the original design. Like the original game, several of the arcade sequels have become collector's items, though some are considered rarer. In 2002, Taito released Space Raiders, a third-person shooter reminiscent of Space Invaders.{{cite web| url=https://www.gamespot.com/games/space-raiders-2002/| title=Space Raiders: Release Summary |website=GameSpot |access-date=April 30, 2008| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317105157/http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/action/spaceraiders/similar.html?mode=versions |archive-date=March 17, 2009 }}{{cite book |editor-first = Rico| editor-last = Komanoya| title=Japanese Game Graphics: Behind the Scenes of Your Favorite Games| year=2004| publisher=Harper Design International| location=New York, New York, United States| isbn=0-06-056772-4|pages=116–121| chapter=Space Raiders}}

Space Invaders and its related games have been included in video game compilations. Space Invaders Anniversary was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and included nine Space Invader variants.{{cite web| url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/spaceinvadersanniversary/news.html?sid=6086826| title=Empire signs Space Invaders titles| last=Calvert| first = Justin| website=GameSpot| date=January 22, 2004| access-date=May 10, 2008| archive-date=March 17, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317105202/http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/spaceinvadersanniversary/news.html?sid=6086826| url-status=live}} A similar game for the PlayStation Portable, Space Invaders Pocket, was released in 2005.{{cite web| url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/05/13/boot-to-the-head-for-bootleggers| title=Boot to the Head for Bootleggers| website=IGN| author=Nix| date=May 12, 2005| access-date=June 7, 2008| archive-date=May 12, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512222832/http://psp.ign.com/articles/613/613267p1.html| url-status=live}} Space Invaders, Space Invaders Part II and Return of the Invaders are included in Taito Legends, a compilation of Taito's classic arcade games released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.{{cite web| url=http://www.2sega.com/corporate/corporate.php?item=pr_20051025c |title=Sega and Empire Interactive Launch Taito Legends for PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC |website=Sega |date=October 25, 2005 |access-date=May 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512103357/http://www.2sega.com/corporate/corporate.php?item=pr_20051025c |archive-date=May 12, 2009}}{{cite web| url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/taitolegends/news.html?sid=6133138 |title=Sega goes old school with Taito| last =Surette| first = Tim| website=GameSpot| date=August 13, 2005| access-date=May 10, 2008| archive-date=March 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317105145/http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/taitolegends/news.html?sid=6133138| url-status=live}} Super Space Invaders '91, Space Invaders DX, and Space Invaders {{'}}95 were included in Taito Legends 2, a sequel compilation released in 2006.{{cite web| url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-taito-legends-headed-to-us/1100-6168839/| title=More Taito Legends headed to US| last = Sinclair| first = Brendan| website=GameSpot| date=April 10, 2007| access-date=May 10, 2008| archive-date=May 13, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513034652/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168839.html| url-status=live}}

{{Quote box| quote = "Space Invaders and games like it represent the roots of everything we see today in gaming. It represents the birth of a new art form, one that literally changed the world. Space Invaders is important as an historical artifact, no less than the silent films of the early twentieth century or early printed books."| width=35%| source = Video game developer Warren Spector on Space Invaders{{'}} industry impact{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22714047|title=Space Invaders keeps on blasting|last=Betters|first=Elyse|date=May 31, 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=June 8, 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=January 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110085711/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22714047|url-status=live}}

}}

Numerous figures in the video game industry have highlighted Space Invaders{{'}}s milestones and the impact they have had. Shigeru Miyamoto, the longtime general manager of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development, considers Space Invaders the video game industry's most revolutionary title. According to video game historian Alexander Smith, by "allowing targets to attack the player and eliminating the timer, Nishikado created a new paradigm in video games."{{cite book| last =Smith| first =Alexander| title=They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982| date=November 19, 2019| publisher=CRC Press| isbn=978-0-429-75261-2|page=391| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT391}} Video game developer Eugene Jarvis stated it "laid the groundwork for a whole generation" of video games with the "animated characters, the story, this amazing crescendo of action and climax."{{cite magazine| first=Chris| last = Kohler| url=https://www.wired.com/2013/12/eugene-jarvis-pioneer/ |title=This Game Industry Pioneer Never Gave Up on the Video Arcade |magazine=WIRED |date=December 18, 2013| access-date=September 15, 2016 |archive-date=January 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130200802/https://www.wired.com/2013/12/eugene-jarvis-pioneer/| url-status=live}} He further stated that many games "still rely on the multiple life, progressively difficult level paradigm" of Space Invaders.{{cite book| editor-first = James| editor-last = Hague |chapter=Eugene Jarvis |title-link=Halcyon Days (book) |title=Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers |date=1997 |publisher=Dadgum Games |chapter-url=https://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020622145031/http://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |archive-date=June 22, 2002 |access-date=May 18, 2021}} Video game journalists Brian Ashcraft and Jean Snow also attribute the introduction of multiple video game lives to Space Invaders.{{cite book| title=Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers| first1=Brian| last1 = Ashcraft| first2=Jean| last2 = Snow| name-list-style=amp| publisher=Kodansha International| year=2008| isbn=978-4-7700-3078-8| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wX8kAQAAIAAJ| access-date=May 1, 2011| quote=Space Invaders offered a novelty: players had three lives. Those who got good at the game could play for as long as they could keep from being blown to bits.}} While several publications have credited the game for introducing the concept of saving high scores, Guinness World Records recognizes the 1976 arcade game Sea Wolf as the first to implement the feature.

In addition to establishing the shooter genre, 1UP.com{{'}}s Jeremy Parish credits Space Invaders with several industry-firsts: the first "hit game" developed in Japan and the first to capitalize on quirky characters. Parish further noted that the alien characters' "charm" and "rudimentary sense of personality" helped video games break away from a "realistic simulation" design style; previous games were predominantly inspired by sports and racing.{{cite web| title=Essential 50: Space Invaders| website=1UP.com| first = Jeremy| last = Parish| url=http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-space-invaders| access-date=March 26, 2011| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108123019/http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-space-invaders| archive-date=January 8, 2016}} Technology journalist Jason Whittaker noted that Space Invaders helped action games become the dominant genre in arcades and on consoles, and he attributes the popularity of shoot 'em ups to the game's simple gameplay rules.{{cite book| title=The Cyberspace Handbook| first=Jason| last=Whittaker| publisher=Routledge| location = London, United Kingdom| year=2004| isbn=0-415-16835-X| page=129}} Whittaker further remarked that Space Invaders was the start of Japanese developers obtaining success in the video game market, a trend that culminated in the country's dominance of the industry in mid-1980s.{{cite book| title=The Cyberspace Handbook| last=Whittaker| first=Jason| publisher=Routledge| location = London, United Kingdom| year=2004| isbn=0-415-16835-X| page=122| quote = By the mid-1970s every videogame manufacturer in the world released a Pong clone so that the glut of hardware led to the first crash in 1977. As quickly as they arrived, computer games appeared to be on the edge of extinction, but the arcade market was really only on the verge of a golden age. The renaissance came with Taito's release of Space Invaders in 1978. ... While Taito, a pachinko manufacturer, had kick started the revolution with Space Invaders, most successful games were being manufactured in the USA at this point. From the mid-1980s, however, arcade games and then consoles were dominated for a decade by the Japanese company Nintendo and its rival Sega.}} Electronic Games writers observed an increase of science fiction and space-themed games following Space Invaders{{'}}s release. They noted that many built upon its gameplay through iterative changes, like Galaxian and derivatives with a similar style, while others drew inspiration from Space Invaders but took the design in new directions, such as Atari's Asteroids and Activision's Laser Blast.{{cite magazine| title=Players Guide To Electronic Science Fiction Games| magazine=Electronic Games| publisher = Reese Publishing Company, Inc.| location = New York, New York, United States| date=March 1982| volume=1| issue=2| author = Staff| pages=35–45|url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGames/Electronic%20Games%20Issue%202%20%28March%201982%29/page/n41/mode/1up |access-date=February 1, 2012}} Scott Osborne of GameSpy also noted the derivative design of Namco's 1979 Galaxian and 1981 Galaga games but acknowledged that their innovative changes and refinements made the games very successful in their own right.{{cite web| url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/493/493431p1.html| title=Hall of Fame: Galaxian and Galaga |last=Osborne| first = Scott| publisher=GameSpy| date=June 1, 2001| access-date=April 30, 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225124740/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/493/493431p1.html| archive-date=December 25, 2007}} The game's influence also extended to the development of Williams Electronics' first game, the 1981 Defender; early versions of the game drew heavily from Space Invaders before its developer, Eugene Jarvis, took it a different direction.{{cite magazine| magazine=Retro Gamer| publisher = Imagine Publishing| location = Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom| title=The Making of Defender| issue=55| pages=34–39| date=October 2008| issn = 1742-3155}} Outside shooting games, Sega/Gremlin's 1979 Head On adopted the concept of "going round after round" in lieu of a timer after a senior developer from its parent company, Sega, had seen Space Invaders. The game's designer, Lane Hauck, credits this change to Head On{{'}}s success.{{cite news|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1982/jul/15/cover-exactly-zaxxon/|title=San Diego's Gremlin: how video games work|work=San Diego Reader|date=July 15, 1982|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-date=January 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117222922/https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1982/jul/15/cover-exactly-zaxxon/|url-status=live}}

Video game journalist David McCarthy considered Space Invaders an early game that helped shape the wider shooter genre.{{cite book| editor-first=Craig| editor-last= Glenday| title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series=Guinness World Records| date=March 11, 2008| publisher=Guinness| isbn=978-1-904994-21-3| page=88| chapter=Record Breaking Games: Shooting Games |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/88}} In listing it as one of the ten most influential games, IGN{{'}}s Ryan Geddes and Daemon Hatfield credited Space Invaders for introducing design elements that have since become common place in the industry. The two attributed the popularity of shooting-endless-waves-of-enemies gameplay to the creation of the shoot 'em up subgenre, citing titles like Galaga, Centipede, and Ikaruga as part of its lineage.{{cite web| url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/12/11/igns-top-10-most-influential-games|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211223739/http://games.ign.com/articles/840/840621p1.html| url-status=live| archive-date=December 11, 2007| title=IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games| website=IGN| last1 =Geddes| first1 = Ryan|last2 =Hatfield| first2 = Daemon| date=December 10, 2007| access-date=July 11, 2008}} Kevin Bowen of GameSpy wrote similar observations, noting that numerous titles, like Galaga and Gradius, have been influenced by the gameplay established by Space Invaders.{{cite web| url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/spaceinvaders.shtm| title=The Gamespy Hall of Fame: Space Invaders| website=GameSpy| first =Kevin| last = Bowen| access-date=January 27, 2010| url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408152913/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/spaceinvaders.shtm| archive-date=April 8, 2008}} Writing for 1UP.com, Benj Edwards also credited it for spawning the shoot 'em up subgenre, which was very prominent in Japan during the 1980s and early 1990s. He noted that though there were several notable shooting games before it, Space Invaders "put it all together" in way unseen before.

Writing for GameSetWatch in 2010, Simon Carless noted a similar influence on contemporary first-person shooters like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, commenting that it and Space Invaders share core principles: take cover behind walls and shoot enemies to obtain a high score.{{cite web| website=GameSetWatch |date=November 16, 2010 |title=No More Russian – Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2, One Year On| first=Simon| last = Carles| url=http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/11/no_more_russian_infinity_wards.php |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-date=November 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122170415/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/11/no_more_russian_infinity_wards.php |url-status=dead }} Ashcraft credits the game with the origin of the cover system of gameplay, as well as the use destructible barriers.{{cite web| first=Brian| last = Ashcraft| url=http://kotaku.com/5452654/how-cover-shaped-gamings-last-decade| title=How Cover Shaped Gaming's Last Decade| publisher=Kotaku| date=January 20, 2010| access-date=March 26, 2011|archive-date=June 30, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630080500/http://kotaku.com/5452654/how-cover-shaped-gamings-last-decade| url-status=live}} In observing the lineage between Space Invaders and Wolfenstein 3D, English professor Ronald Strickland commented that the two, as well as all previous first-person shooting games, were grounded on the same theme of "kill or be killed".{{cite book| title=Growing Up Postmodern: Neoliberalism and the War on the Young| editor-first=Ronald| editor-last=Strickland| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield| location = Lanham, Maryland, United States| year=2002| isbn=0-7425-1651-2| pages=112–113| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxsj7-aTN9IC&pg=PA112| access-date=April 10, 2011}} Interactive media professor Frans Mäyrä made a similar comparison to Doom, commenting that both present a clear challenge to survive by "shooting everything that moves."{{cite book |title=An Introduction to Games Studies: Games in Culture |first=Frans |last=Mäyrä | publisher=SAGE| year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4129-3445-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI0kAQAAIAAJ |access-date=April 10, 2011 |page=104 |quote=The gameplay of Doom is at its core familiar from the early classics like Space Invaders ... it presents the player with the clear and simple challenge of surviving while shooting everything that moves.}} Nishikado attributed the game's popularity among younger players to these elements, commenting that the more interactive attacks from enemies coupled with the requirement to defeat them all made the gameplay more thrilling.

{{Listen| filename = Space Invaders Music.ogg| header = Recording of Space Invaders{{'}} music, as heard during gameplay| title = Space Invaders music| description = The game's signature looping four-note bassline has been recognized as an early innovation in video game music}}

Noting its impact, music scholar Andrew Schartmann wrote that the fundamental audio techniques Space Invaders introduced shaped the industry and that the game's immense popularity facilitated a widespread adoption of those techniques. Prior to Space Invaders, music typically played during introductions or closings. Its continuously looped music plays during gameplay while the game's interactions generate sound effects, which together Schartmann described as a "rich sonic landscape". He further noted that while the four-note loop seemed "pedestrian", its ability to stir a reaction from players moved video games closer to an art form. Schartmann acknowledged how the title's changing tempo popularized variability in game music; developers later applied the strategy to pitch, rhythm, form, and other parameters to accommodate nonlinear aspect of games.{{cite book| title = Maestro Mario| publisher = Thought Catalog| location = Brooklyn, New York, United States| year = 2013| first = Schartmann| last = Andrew| url = http://thoughtcatalog.com/book/maestro-mario-how-nintendo-transformed-videogame-music-into-an-art/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823064005/http://thoughtcatalog.com/book/maestro-mario-how-nintendo-transformed-videogame-music-into-an-art/| archive-date=August 23, 2013| url-status=dead}} Karen Collins, a professor of interactive media, echoed similar statements, noting that the combination of introducing continuous background music and dynamically changing its pace during gameplay was a worthy milestone.{{Cite book| title=From Pac-Man to Pop Music| first=Karen| last = Collins| publisher=Ashgate| year=2008| page=2| isbn=978-0-7546-6200-6| doi = 10.4324/9781351217743| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFEYAQAAIAAJ |access-date=April 8, 2011}}

Next Generation editor Neil West cited Space Invaders{{'}} music as an example of great video game art, commenting on how the simple melody's increasing tempo and synchronization with the enemies' movement chills and excites the player.{{cite magazine| last=West| first=Neil| date=November 1997| title=The Way Games Ought to Be...: Great Videogame Art (with No Pictures)| url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_35/page/n157/mode/2up|magazine=Next Generation| publisher = Imagine Media| location = Brisbane, California, United States| issue=35| page=157| issn = 1078-9693}} Tommy Tallarico, a video game composer and sound designer, cited Space Invaders as an example of how video game music is "not a passive linear medium", stating that the interaction elevates the experience to a higher level for the senses. He echoed West's assessment, commenting that the simple beats increased the player's heart rate—instilling a sense of panic—as the invaders approached the bottom of the screen. In describing the audio's increasing pace, video game journalist and historian Bill Loguidice likened the background music to the sound of a heartbeat. He noted that the effect carried forward into other games; for example, Dungeons of Daggorath features a similar heartbeat sound to indicate player health.{{cite book|title=Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time| first1 =Bill| last1 = Loguidice| first2=Matt| last2 = Barton |name-list-style=amp| publisher=Focal Press| year=2009| isbn=978-0-240-81146-8| page=232| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC&pg=PA232| access-date=May 1, 2011}} Writing for GameSpot, Glenn McDonald made similar observations about the effect the game's audio and noted a similar technique used in Asteroids.{{cite web| url = https://www.gamespot.com/articles/a-history-of-video-game-music/1100-6092391/| title = A History of Video Game Music| website = GameSpot| publisher = CNET| first = Glenn| last = McDonald| date = March 28, 2005| access-date = July 8, 2025}}

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| footer = Space Invaders inspired numerous video game developers, who have gone on to shape the industry in their own right.

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Several game developers have cited Space Invaders as their introduction to video games. Miyamoto—the creator of Donkey Kong, Mario, and The Legend of Zelda—commented that before seeing it he was not interested in video games and had never considered pursuing video games as a profession.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645158,00.html|title=10 Questions for Shigeru Miyamoto|author=Sayre, Carolyn|date=July 19, 2007| website=Time| publisher = Time Warner| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826025748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1645158%2C00.html| archive-date=August 26, 2007| url-status=dead| access-date=September 4, 2007}} In response to Miyamoto's acknowledgement, Geddes and Hatfield noted that the franchises he created were possible because of Space Invaders{{'}} influence. During his time in junior high school, Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri felt inspired to make a Space Invaders sequel after playing it.{{cite web| last =Petit| first=Carolyn| title=This 2004 Interview With The Creator Of Pokémon Is Full Of Details I Love| url=https://kotaku.com/this-2004-interview-with-the-creator-of-pokemon-is-full-1847495348| access-date=November 16, 2021| website=Kotaku| date=August 16, 2021| archive-date=November 16, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116010111/https://kotaku.com/this-2004-interview-with-the-creator-of-pokemon-is-full-1847495348| url-status=live}} While Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear, played Pong as a child, he cites Space Invaders as the first game that "pulled him in". When recalling the game's early media coverage, he expressed how impressed he was at the time with the game's existence.{{cite news| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/the-things-that-made-the-man-who-made-metal-gear/254831/|title=How Hideo Kojima Became a Legendary Video-Game Designer|last=Snyder| first=Daniel D.| date=March 21, 2012| work=The Atlantic| access-date=March 22, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323215936/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/the-things-that-made-the-man-who-made-metal-gear/254831/| archive-date = 2012-03-23}} Eugene Jarvis began his career at Williams Electronics developing pinball games but decided to pursue arcade games after seeing Space Invader{{'}} gameplay, leading him to work on Defender, Williams' first arcade game.{{cite book| editor-first = James| editor-last = Hague |chapter=Eugene Jarvis |title-link=Halcyon Days (book) |title=Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers |date=1997 |publisher=Dadgum Games |chapter-url=https://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020622145031/http://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM |archive-date=June 22, 2002 |access-date=May 18, 2021}} He further described the industry scene at the time as an "incredible universe now open to video game designers", citing the hype of Space Invaders and other popular space games released around 1979. The two creators of Doom, John Romero and John Carmack, have also named it as their introduction to video games.{{cite magazine| title = In The Chair Special With... John Romero| magazine = Retro Gamer| publisher = Imagine Publishing, Ltd.| location = Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom| issue = 75| year = 2010| page = 78| issn = 1742-3155| url = http://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/john-romero/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022063046/http://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/john-romero/| archive-date=October 22, 2021}}{{cite web| url = http://www.bethblog.com/2011/01/26/all-the-rage-john-carmack/| title = All the RAGE: John Carmack| website = Bethesda Softworks| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320052321/http://www.bethblog.com/2011/01/26/all-the-rage-john-carmack/ | archive-date=March 20, 2017}} Romero commented that he thought games like Space Invaders and Targ were "cool" because they were not limited by physical materials like pinball and electromagnetic games and felt they opened up creative possibilities. Andrew and Philip Oliver, the creators of the Dizzy series, attribute their initial desire for video games to Space Invaders.{{cite book| title = Let’s Go Dizzy| publisher = Fusion Retro Books| location = Kenilworth, Warwickshire, United Kingdom| year = 2016| first1 = Chris| last1 = Wilkins| first2 = Roger| last2 = Kean| chapter = Part One: How It All Started| pages = 10–11| edition = 1| isbn = 9780993131585}} Writing for The Observer, Giles Richards attributed the popularity of the game's home console versions to encouraging users to learn programming, many of which later becoming industry leaders. Nishikado has expressed happiness at the number of developers inspired by his game, specifically calling it an honor to have inspired someone like Miyamoto.

McCarthy noted that players competed to achieve the highest score for Space Invaders, even decades after its release, and its sequels. Twin Galaxies, who officiated and tracked competitive high scores for players, recorded high scores for the arcade version and some of its handheld ports into the 2000s.{{cite book| editor-first=Craig| editor-last = Glenday| title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series=Guinness World Records| date=March 11, 2008| publisher=Guinness| isbn=978-1-904994-21-3|page= 248| chapter=Record Breaking High Scores}} In 1980, Atari sponsored a nation-wide Space Invaders tournament in the United States with regional qualifiers in Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Fort Worth, Chicago, and New York.{{cite magazine| title = The First National Space Invaders Competition| magazine = Creative Computing| publisher = Creative Computing | location = Morris Plains, New Jersey, United States| volume = 7| number = 3| first = Matt| last = Mihovich| pages = 44–46| date = March 1981| issn = 0097-8140| url = https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1981-03/page/n43/mode/1up}} The company started the event to help promote its recent port of Space Invaders, which contestants played to earn the highest score. Over 10,000 participants competed in the tournament, which culminated in a championship round between the five regional finalists at Warner Communications Inc.'s headquarters in New York. The winner, Rebecca Heineman, would go on to become a video game developer.{{cite book| title=Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play| publisher=Dorling Kindersley| location = London, United Kingdom| first=Meagan| last=Marie| date=December 4, 2018| isbn=9780241395066| pages=32–33| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ad2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32}} Electronic Games magazine staff noted an increased amount of media coverage around the same time and stated that the event helped establish video gaming as a mainstream hobby.

Numerous publications have pointed to the game's success as a catalyst to the video game industry's growth. Electronic Games{{'}}s editors called Space Invaders the impetus behind video gaming becoming a rapidly growing hobby in 1981 and "the single most popular coin-operated attraction of all time."{{cite magazine|title=Atari Offers Largest Game Library| url=http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf| magazine=Electronic Games| publisher = Reese Publishing Company, Inc.| location = New York, New York, United States| author = Staff| volume=1| issue=1| date=Winter 1981| page = 41| access-date=February 1, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319212242/http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games_winter81.pdf| archive-date=March 19, 2012| url-status=live}} Edge staff attributed the shift of games from bars and amusement arcades to more mainstream locations, such as restaurants and department stores, to Space Invaders.{{cite web| url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/30-defining-moments-gaming| title=The 30 Defining Moments in Gaming| author=Staff| date=August 13, 2007|publisher = Edge| via = Next-Gen.biz| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029232528/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/30-defining-moments-gaming| archive-date=October 29, 2011| url-status=dead| access-date=September 18, 2008}} Video game writer and collector David Ellis echoed similar comments, writing that by the end of the 1970s, arcade games began appearing in hotel lobbies, airports, and convenience stores.{{cite book| title=Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games| last=Ellis| first=David| publisher=House of Collectibles| location = New York, New York, United States| year=2004| isbn=0-375-72038-3| page=5| chapter=A Brief History of Video Games| url=https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi}} Writing for IGN, Levi Buchanan attributed the launch of the "arcade phenomenon" in North America in part to the title. Whittaker credited Space Invaders with ending the video game crash of 1977 and ushering in the golden age of video arcade games. Staff for Game Informer magazine considered it, along with Pac-Man, one of the most popular arcade games for tapping into popular culture and generating excitement during the golden age of arcades.{{Cite magazine| date=February 2008| title=Classic GI: King of the Hill| magazine=Game Informer| publisher=GameStop, Inc.| location = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States| issue=178| author = Staff| page=108| issn = 1067-6392| url = https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-178-february-2008/page/108/mode/1up}} Benj Edwards of 1UP.com wrote that Space Invaders demonstrated video games could compete against the major entertainment media at the time: films, music, and television.

Musicians have drawn inspiration for their music from Space Invaders. Soon after the game's arcade release, the Japanese synthpop group Yellow Magic Orchestra reproduced Space Invaders sounds in its 1978 self-titled album and hit single "Computer Game";{{cite magazine| title = Cross Platform: A new exhibition of videogames scores high on the music content| magazine = The Wire| publisher = The Wire Magazine Ltd.| location = London, United Kingdom| first = Ken| last = Hollings| editor-first = Anne Hilde| editor-last = Neset| date = July 2002| issue = 221| page = 78| issn = 0952-0686}}{{cite magazine| title = Video Arcadia| magazine = The Wire| publisher = The Wire Magazine Ltd.| location = London, United Kingdom| first = Ken| last = Hollings| date = October 2002| issue = 224| page = 44| issn = 0952-0686}} the latter sold over 400,000 copies in the United States.{{cite news| title=Computer rock music gaining fans| work=Sarasota Journal| date=August 18, 1980| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223| access-date=May 25, 2011| page=8| archive-date=April 9, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409150919/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223| url-status=live}} The next year, the band Funny Stuff released "Disco Space Invaders" in Japan and songwriters Russell Dunlop and Bruce Brown released "Space Invaders" in Australia as the group Player One.{{cite news| url = http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/a-drummer-for-all-times-20090618-clxo.html| first = Pat| last = Sheil| title = A drummer for all times| work = Sydney Morning Herald| publisher = Fairfax Media| date = June 19, 2009| access-date = June 20, 2025}}{{cite web| author = Staff| title = Space invaders / words and music by Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop| publication-date = 1979 | website = Trove| publisher = National Library of Australia| url = http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/30001792| access-date = June 20, 2025}} The trend continued in 1980 with two more songs titled "Space Invaders"; one on The Pretenders' self-titled album and another by WGCL disc jockey Victor Blecman.{{cite news| last=Lovelace| first=Craven| title=Take a waka-waka-waka on the wild side| url=http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20100827/COMMUNITY_NEWS/100829973| work=Grand Junction Free Press| series = KAFM Notes| access-date=July 15, 2011| date=August 27, 2010| archive-date=September 27, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927233952/http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20100827/COMMUNITY_NEWS/100829973| url-status=dead}}

File:Taito Station Akihabara -01.jpg.]]

Decades later, Video Games Live performed audio from Space Invaders as part of a special retro "Classic Arcade Medley" in 2007.{{cite press release| url=http://games.ign.com/articles/816/816582p1.html | title=Microsoft Brings Video Games Live to London| via=GameSpot| publisher =Microsoft| date=August 28, 2007| access-date=September 7, 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301003229/http://games.ign.com/articles/816/816582p1.html| archive-date=March 1, 2012}} In honor of the game's 30th anniversary, Taito produced an album titled Space Invaders 2008 that features music inspired by the game. Released by Avex Trax in December 2008, the album includes six songs that were originally in the PSP version of Space Invaders Extreme.{{cite web| trans-title = 30th Anniversary Special Compilation Album Released!| url=http://spaceinvaders.jp/news/detail/1188686_1819.html| title = 30周年記念 スペシャルコンピレーションアルバム発売！| publisher=Taito| year=2008| language=ja|access-date=April 6, 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127063447/http://spaceinvaders.jp/news/detail/1188686_1819.html| archive-date=January 27, 2012}} Taito produced a Space Invaders-themed animated music video to promote the album. Initially showcased only in its chain of stores (Taito Station) starting in April 2008, the company later released the video on DVD in October 2008.{{cite web |url=http://spaceinvaders.jp/blog/blog_detail/1186880_2321.html |language=ja| title= 店舗限定で配信中のアニメーションPVを大公開しちゃいます！| trans-title = We're Going to Reveal the Animated PV that's Only Available in Stores!| website = Space Invaders| publisher = Taito| author=弓削 |date=October 21, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403071159/http://spaceinvaders.jp/blog/blog_detail/1186880_2321.html |archive-date=April 3, 2009}}

Multiple television series have aired episodes that either reference or parody Space Invaders; for example, Danger Mouse,{{cite episode |title=Custard |episode-link=List of Danger Mouse episodes#Series 2 (Spring 1982) |series=Danger Mouse |series-link=Danger Mouse (1981 TV series) |network=ITV |air-date=January 4, 1982 |season=2 |number=12}} That '70s Show,{{cite episode |title=Donna's Story |episode-link=List of That '70s Show episodes#Season 4: 2001–2002 |series=That '70s Show |series-link=That '70s Show |network=Fox Broadcasting Company |air-date=November 20, 2001 |number=84}} Scrubs,{{cite episode |title=My Bad Too |series=Scrubs |series-link=Scrubs (TV series) |network=NBC |air-date=April 10, 2008 |season=7 |number=7}} Chuck,{{cite episode |title=Spy to you |episode-link=List of Chuck episodes#Season 3: 2009 |series=Chuck |series-link=Chuck (TV series) |network=NBC |air-date=March 3, 2009 |season=3 |number=11}} Robot Chicken,{{cite episode |title=Suck It |episode-link=List of Robot Chicken episodes#Season 2: 2006 |series=Robot Chicken |series-link=Robot Chicken |network=Cartoon Network (US) |air-date=April 2, 2006 |season=2 |number=1}} Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles{{cite episode |title=Graduation Day: Class of 2105 |episode-link=Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series, season 6) |series=Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) |series-link=Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) |network=4Kids Entertainment (US) |air-date=March 24, 2007 |season=6 |number=15}} and The Amazing World of Gumball.{{cite episode |title=The Phone |episode-link=The Amazing World of Gumball (season 2) |series=The Amazing World of Gumball |series-link=The Amazing World of Gumball |network=Cartoon Network (US) |air-date=September 18, 2012 |season=2 |number=7}} Elements are prominently featured in the "Raiders of the Lost Arcade" segment of "Anthology of Interest II", an episode of Futurama.{{cite episode |title=Anthology of Interest II |episode-link=Anthology of Interest II |series=Futurama |series-link=Futurama |network=Fox Broadcasting Company |air-date=January 6, 2002 |season=3 |number=18}}{{cite magazine |url=http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/12/video-games-fut.html |title=Videogames & Futurama, Part 1: Raiders of the Lost Arcade |last = Baker| first = Chris |magazine=Wired News |date=December 17, 2007 |access-date=May 12, 2008 |archive-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804234344/http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/video-games-fut/ |url-status=live }} The Space Invaders aliens also appear in the French online short film Pixels, which Happy Madison Productions later adapted into a feature film by the same name in 2015.{{cite web| url = https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/03/03/space-invaders-the-movie| title = Pixels Feature Planned| website = IGN| first = Chris| last = Tilly| date = May 13, 2010| access-date = June 25, 2025}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.philstar.com/movies/2014/07/23/1349432/classic-video-game-characters-unite-film-pixels| first = Chris| last = Kohler| title=Classic video game characters unite via film 'Pixels'| website=Philstar| date=July 23, 2014 |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723010101/http://www.philstar.com/movies/2014/07/23/1349432/classic-video-game-characters-unite-film-pixels |url-status=live }}

In 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures approached Taito for the film rights to the video game, with Mark Gordon, Jason Blum, and Guymon Casady attached as producers.{{cite web| url = https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/03/03/space-invaders-the-movie| title = Space Invaders: The Movie| website = IGN| first = Orlando| last = Parfitt| date = Mar 3, 2010| access-date = June 25, 2025}} By the time Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 2014, Akiva Goldsman was slated to produce.{{Cite web |url=https://www.thewrap.com/akiva-goldsman-to-produce-space-invaders-for-warner-bros-exclusive/ |first = Jeff| last = Sneider |title=Akiva Goldsman to Produce 'Space Invaders' for Warner Bros. (Exclusive)| website=The Wrap| date=July 18, 2014| access-date=July 18, 2014| archive-date=July 20, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720045226/http://www.thewrap.com/akiva-goldsman-to-produce-space-invaders-for-warner-bros-exclusive/| url-status=live}} In February 2015, Daniel Kunka was set to write the script for the production company, Safehouse Pictures.{{cite news| last =Fleming| first =Mike Jr.| title='Space Invaders' Lands Dan Kunka To Script |url=https://deadline.com/2015/02/space-invaders-dan-kunka-warner-bros-1201364892/| access-date=February 14, 2015| website = Deadline |date=February 13, 2015| archive-date=February 14, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214003954/http://deadline.com/2015/02/space-invaders-dan-kunka-warner-bros-1201364892/| url-status=live}} The project stalled until July 2019, when Warner Bros.'s subsidiary, New Line Cinema, announced that Greg Russo would write the script. Goldsman remained the producer alongside Safehouse Pictures partners Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell.{{cite news| last = Fleming| first = Mike Jr.| title='Space Invaders' On New Line Launchpad; 'Mortal Kombat's Greg Russo To Script Alien-Invasion Pic| url=https://deadline.com/2019/07/space-invaders-movie-new-line-taito-arcade-game-new-line-greg-russo-mortal-kombat-1202645635/|access-date=July 12, 2019| website=Deadline| date=July 12, 2019| archive-date=July 12, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712193449/https://deadline.com/2019/07/space-invaders-movie-new-line-taito-arcade-game-new-line-greg-russo-mortal-kombat-1202645635/| url-status=live}}

Space Invaders has been the subject of several books, such as the 1980 Space Invaders by Mark Roeder and Julian Wolanski, the 1982 Invasion of the Space Invaders by Martin Amis, and the 2006 Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders by Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska.{{cite book| title = Space Invaders| first1 = Mark| last1 = Mendick| author1-link = Mark Roeder| first2 = Julian| last2 = Wolanski| publisher = Murray| year = 1981| isbn = 9780855668228| url = https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/25404943}}{{cite news| last = Shippey| first = Tom| author-link = Tom Shippey| title=Vidkids |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v04/n24/tom-shippey/vidkids |access-date=January 26, 2024 |work=London Review of Books |date=December 30, 1982 |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126021625/https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v04/n24/tom-shippey/vidkids |url-status=live }}{{cite book| title = Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders: Videogame Forms and Contexts| publisher = I. B. Tauris| first1 = Geoff| last1 = King| first2 = Tanya| last2 = Krzywinska| date = January 2006| isbn = 978-1845111083| doi = 10.5040/9780755695546}} It has been recreated in other video games. Players have used the gameplay mechanics in the sandbox games Minecraft and Astroneer to reproduce Space Invaders.{{cite web| url = https://www.wired.com/2016/12/minecraft-atari-2600-emulator/| title = Super-Hacker Builds Atari 2600 Emulator... In Minecraft?!| website = Wired| first = Chris| last = Kohler| date = December 7, 2016| access-date = June 26, 2025}}{{cite web| url = https://www.pcgamesn.com/astroneer/space-invaders| title = Someone got Space Invaders playable in Astroneer| website = PCGamesN| first = Chris J.| last = Capel| date = September 5, 2021| access-date = June 26, 2025}} Epic Games included a hidden game in Fortnite that features gameplay similar to Space Invaders.{{cite web| url = https://www.vg247.com/fortnite-how-to-access-konami-code-minigame| title = Fortnite: how to access the Konami code minigame| website = VG247| first = Lauren| last = Aitken| date = October 14, 2019| access-date = June 26, 2025}}

{{popcruft|date=May 2025}}

The impact of Space Invaders on the video game industry has been compared to that of The Beatles in the pop music industry.{{cite news |last=Horwitz |first=Jeremy |title=Technology: Mortal Apathy? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/08/technology/08MIDW.html |access-date=March 4, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 8, 2002 |archive-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003002950/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/08/business/technology-mortal-apathy.html?pagewanted=2 |url-status=live }} Considered "the first 'blockbuster' video game", Space Invaders became synonymous with video games worldwide for some time.{{cite book|first = Chris| last = Kohler |year=2005 |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |page=18 |publisher=BradyGames |isbn=0-7440-0424-1}} Many publications and websites use the pixelated alien graphic as an icon for video games in general, including the video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, technology website Ars Technica, and concert event Video Games Live. There has also been Space Invaders-themed merchandising, including necklaces and puzzles.{{cite magazine |last=Paige |first=Earl |title=Children's Video Promotions Help Boost Volume |magazine=Billboard |date=September 25, 1982 |volume=94 |issue=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Space+Invaders&pg=PT19 |access-date=March 4, 2012 |page=19 |issn=0006-2510}}

File:Vgltoronto.jpg alien graphic from Space Invaders used at the Video Games Live concert event]]

The game became the center of an urban legend that its popularity led to a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan.{{cite book| editor-first=Craig| editor-last = Glenday| title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series=Guinness World Records| date=March 11, 2008| publisher=Guinness| isbn=978-1-904994-21-3|pages= 106–107| chapter=Record Breaking Games: Shooting Games Roundup| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/106}}{{cite web| url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2005/jul/24/games.shopping| title=A life through video games| website=The Observer| location=United Kingdom| last = Richards| first =Giles| date=July 24, 2005| access-date=May 22, 2008| archive-date=June 12, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143942/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2005/jul/24/games.shopping| url-status=live}} However, reports from those living in Japan at the time indicate "nothing out of the ordinary" around Space Invaders{{'}} release. Nishikado had also expressed skepticism. Numismatist Mark Fox noted that arcade operators would have regularly emptied their machines, keeping the currency in circulation. He attributed the myth to lower 100-yen coin productions in 1978 and 1979.{{cite web| url=http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/WorldCoinPrices.aspx?category=54449&worldcoinid=147774| title=JAPAN 100 Yen Y# 82 Yr.42(1967)-Yr.63(1988)| publisher=Numismatic Guaranty Corporation| website =World Coin price Guide| access-date=February 27, 2013| archive-date=October 17, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017181935/https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/| url-status=live}}{{cite magazine| last=Fox| first=Mark| year=2012| title=Space Invaders targets coins| magazine=World Coin News| volume=39| issue=2| pages=35–37| publisher=Krause Publications| url=https://www.academia.edu/2568838| access-date=March 11, 2013| archive-date=February 26, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226135339/https://www.academia.edu/2568838| url-status=live}}

Within a year of its release, the Japanese PTA unsuccessfully attempted to ban Space Invaders for allegedly inspiring truancy. In North America, doctors identified a condition called "Space Invaders elbow" as a complaint,{{cite book |last=Forester |first=Tom |title=High-tech society: the story of the information technology revolution |year=1988 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=0-262-56044-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gqgb946KPfQC&pg=PA155 |edition=1st MIT Press paperback |page=155}} while a physician in The New England Journal of Medicine named a similar ailment the "Space Invaders Wrist".{{cite news |title=The Video Game Invasion: What Is It Doing To Children? |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q4MsAAAAIBAJ&pg=4620,4423386 |access-date=March 5, 2012 |newspaper=The Herald Journal |date=December 18, 1981 |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414071941/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q4MsAAAAIBAJ&pg=4620,4423386 |url-status=live }} Space Invaders was also the first game to attract political controversy when a 1981 Private Member's Bill known as the "Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill", drafted by British Labour Member of Parliament (MP) George Foulkes, attempted to allow local councils to restrict the game and those like it by licensing for its "addictive properties" and for causing "deviancy". Conservative MP Michael Brown defended it as "innocent and harmless pleasure", which he himself had enjoyed that day, and criticized the bill as an example of "Socialist beliefs in restriction and control". A motion to bring the bill before Parliament was defeated by 114 votes to 94 votes; the bill itself was never considered by Parliament.{{cite web| title=30 Great Gaming World Records| url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/207943/features/30-great-gaming-world-records/| website=Computer and Video Games| publisher=ComputerAndVideoGames.com| access-date=January 26, 2012| date=February 14, 2009| archive-date=February 19, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219055853/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/207943/features/30-great-gaming-world-records/| url-status=live}}{{cite journal| title=Electronic and Computer Games: The History of an Interactive Medium |journal=Screen |year=1988 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=52–73 |doi=10.1093/screen/29.2.52 |quote=In the UK, the Labour MP George Foulkes led a campaign in 1981 to curb the 'menace' of video games, maintaining that they had addictive properties. His 'Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill' was put to the Commons and only narrowly defeated.|last1=Haddon |first1=L. }}{{cite hansard |house=House of Commons |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1981/may/20/control-of-space-invaders-and-other#S6CV0005P0_19810520_HOC_167 |title=Control of Space Invaders and Other Electronic Games |date=May 20, 1981 |column_start=287 |column_end=291 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131013911/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1981/may/20/control-of-space-invaders-and-other#S6CV0005P0_19810520_HOC_167 |date=January 31, 2015 }} Similarly in the United States, in Westchester County, New York, there was a controversial political debate in 1981 over a resolution to place age restrictions on Space Invaders and other arcade games, following complaints that schoolchildren wasted time and lunch money, and went to school late; the resolution drew national attention.{{cite news |last1=Whitehouse |first1=Franklin |title=Village Zeros in on Space Invaders |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/15/nyregion/village-zeros-in-on-space-invaders.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=June 15, 1981 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924001750/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/15/nyregion/village-zeros-in-on-space-invaders.html |url-status=live }} A similar restriction occurred in Mesquite, Texas, resulting in a court case that was eventually appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, who ruled the city ordinance unconstitutional.{{cite news| title = Issue and Debate; Should Video Games be Restricted by Law?| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/03/garden/issue-and-debate-should-video-games-be-restricted-by-law.html| work = The New York Times| location = New York, New York, United States| first = Pete| last = Kerr| date = June 3, 1982| page = C1| access-date = June 30, 2025}}

File:Space invaders avignon.jpg by French street artist Invader]]

In 2006, Space Invaders was one of several video game-related media selected to represent Japan as part of a project compiled by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/alieninvasionpart2/news.html?sid=6159315 |title=Japan honors NES, PS2, Mario |last = Wyman| first = Walt |website=GameSpot |date=October 4, 2006 |access-date=May 9, 2008 |archive-date=March 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317105153/http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/alieninvasionpart2/news.html?sid=6159315 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/hundred/hundred.html |script-title=ja:日本のメディア芸術100選 |language=ja |publisher=Japan Media Arts Plaza |access-date=May 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415195329/http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/hundred/hundred.html |archive-date=April 15, 2009 }} That same year, Space Invaders was included in the London Science Museum's Game On exhibition, meant to showcase the various aspects of video game history, development, and culture.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/alieninvasionpart2/news.html?sid=6159465 |title=London museum showcases games |last = Boyes| first = Emma |website=GameSpot |date=October 9, 2006 |access-date=May 9, 2008 |archive-date=March 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317105149/http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/alieninvasionpart2/news.html?sid=6159465 |url-status=dead }} Space Invaders is a part of the Barbican Centre's traveling Game On exhibition.{{cite web |url=http://www.barbican.org.uk/bie/exhibitions/game-on |title=Barbicon: Game on |publisher=Barbicon International Enterprises |access-date=June 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909203416/http://www.barbican.org.uk/bie/exhibitions/game-on |archive-date=September 9, 2010 }} At the Belluard Bollwerk International 2006 festival in Fribourg, Switzerland, Guillaume Reymond created a three-minute video recreation of a game of Space Invaders as part of the "Gameover" project using humans as pixels.{{cite web |url=http://www.notsonoisy.com/spaceinvaders/ |title=Space Invaders—Guillaume Reymond—video performance |publisher=NOTsoNOISY |year=2006 |access-date=May 22, 2008 |archive-date=February 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201034900/http://www.notsonoisy.com/spaceinvaders/ |url-status=live }} The GH ART exhibit at the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, included an art game, Invaders!, based on Space Invaders{{'}}s gameplay. The creator later asked for it to be removed from the exhibit following criticism of elements based on the September 11 attacks in the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19972 |title=Creator of Space Invaders-Based 9/11 Art Piece Pulls Exhibit |website=Gamasutra |last = Remo| first = Chris |date=August 25, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |archive-date=February 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214073938/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19972 |url-status=dead }} A bridge in Cáceres, Spain, projected by engineers Pedro Plasencia and Hadrián Arias, features a pavement design based on Space Invaders. The laser cannon, some shots, and several figures can be seen on the deck.{{cite book| last1=Lozano| first1=Pedro Plasencia| last2=Durán| first2=Hadrián Arias |year=2013 |chapter=La Ribera del Marco en Cáceres, un problema aún no resuelto de ordenación territorial | page=186 |title=Agua, Cultura y Sociedad, [Vigo 20-21 de mayo de 2013]| trans-title = Water, Culture and Society [Vigo, May 20-21, 2013] |series=II Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería Civil y Territorio de Galicia-Norte de Portugal |language=es}} The ISBN printed in the document (978-84-380-0464-4) is invalid, causing a checksum error. A French street artist, Invader, made a name for himself by creating mosaic artwork of Space Invader aliens around the world.{{cite web| url=http://swindlemagazine.com/issue03/space-invader-2/ |title=Space Invader |last = Fairey| first = Shepard| website=Swindle Magazine| access-date=May 6, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316032403/http://swindlemagazine.com/issue03/space-invader-2/| archive-date=March 16, 2008}} Locations include the International Space Station and European Space Agency installations.{{cite web| url = https://www.space.com/28888-space-invaders-art-esa-photos.html| title = Photos: 'Space Invaders' on the International Space Station| website = Space.com| author = Staff| date = March 23, 2015| access-date = June 26, 2025}}{{cite web| url = https://www.esa.int/Highlights/Space_Invaders| title = Space Invaders| website = European Space Agency| author = Staff| date = March 11, 2015| access-date = June 26, 2025}}

File:Taito adrik (10.11646-zootaxa.4729.1.7) Figure 1 (cropped).png, has a fleck that resembles a Space Invaders alien.]]

Brazilian zoologists, Adriano Kury and Carla Barros, named a new species of arachnid Taito spaceinvaders in 2014. Inspired by the resemblance of the species' fleck on its dorsal scutum to a Space Invaders alien, the zoologists named the arachnid after the game and the genus, Taito, after the development company.{{cite journal |title=A new genus and eight new species of Amazonian cosmetines (Opiliones, Laniatores, Cosmetidae) |first1=Adriano B. |last1=Kury |first2=Carla ML |last2=Barros |date=May 28, 2014 |journal=Zoological Studies |volume=53 |page=25 |doi=10.1186/s40555-014-0024-4|doi-access=free }}

Highways England launched a safety campaign in 2018 titled "Don't be a Space Invader, Stay Safe, Stay Back"—featuring the game's logo and alien character—to raise awareness on the dangers of tailgating.{{cite web |url=https://highwaysengland.co.uk/staysafestayback/ |title=Stay Safe, Stay Back |work=Highways England Improvements and major road projects |date=August 6, 2020 |publisher=Highways England |access-date=November 6, 2018 |archive-date=November 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107104049/https://highwaysengland.co.uk/staysafestayback/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news| url = https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/space-invaders-used-in-anti-tailgating-campaign-by-road-chiefs-254142| title = Space Invaders used in anti-tailgating campaign by road chiefs| website = Sunderland Echo| publisher = JPI Media| location = Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom| author = Staff| date = September 16, 2018| access-date = July 3, 2025}} People were able to order a free car bumper stickers as part of the campaign.

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• {{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-space-invader |title=The Space Invader |last=Parkin |first=Simon |date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=July 25, 2014 |magazine=The New Yorker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722212511/http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-space-invader |archive-date=July 22, 2014 |url-status=dead }}

{{Sister project links | wikt=no | commons=Category:Space Invaders | v=no | q=no | s=no | b=no | display=Space Invaders }}

• {{Official website|http://www.spaceinvaders.net/}}
• {{KLOV game|id=9662}}
• [https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameManualSpaceinv2ckt/ Game manual], for arcade game, stored at the Internet Archive
• [https://archive.org/details/Space_Invaders_1978_Atari/ Game manual] for Atari 2600 game, stored at the Internet Archive

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