All Articles: Space Invaders

Space Invaders: Invincible Collection launches in Japan on March 26… here’s a new trailer

Posted on January 6, 2020 by John Scalzo

While Space Invaders found fame all across the world, it was an absolute phenomenon in its homeland of Japan. Aside from making bucketfuls of money for Taito, it was also believed that Japanese fans were causing a monetary shortage by pumping coins into the game cabinets at such a furious rate.

Thankfully, you won’t need to continuously feed coins into an arcade cabinet to play the upcoming Space Invaders: Invincible Collection. Set to launch for the Switch in Japan on March 26, the Invincible Collection will bring the original Space Invaders, and its “Color Version” variant, to Nintendo’s hybrid console, along with several other sequels and spinoffs.

The Standard Edition will come packed with 1979’s Space Invaders Part II, 1990’s Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV, 1991’s Super Space Invaders ’91, 2008’s Space Invaders Extreme, 2017’s Arkanoid Vs Space Invaders, and 2018’s Space Invaders Gigamax 4 SE.

A Special Edition planned for launch the same day will include three additional games (1979’s Lunar Rescue, 1980’s Space Cyclone, and 1994’s Space Invaders DX), as well as a huge amount of physical goodies (a copy of the Space Invaders board game, an artbook, a drawstring bag, and more).

A North American release for Space Invaders: Invincible Collection has yet to be announced, but the compilation’s first trailer has been embedded above.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged ,

Space Invaders: The Board Game is looking for funding on Kickstarter

Posted on May 14, 2019 by John Scalzo

Taito’s Space Invaders celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018, and now the classic arcade cabinet is being adapted into a board game by 612 Entertainment.

The developers behind Space Invaders: The Board Game are seeking $45,000 from backers on Kickstarter to produce several special editions of the game. A Limited Edition with basic components can be pre-ordered for $30 (or $20 through the “Early Bird” tier), while a Deluxe Edition with premium components can be supported for $55. As of this writing, more than $14,000 has already been pledged towards the game’s funding goal.

Just like the revolutionary video game, Space Invaders: The Board Game asks players to move their cannons across the board while blasting away at the Space Invaders at the top of the playing field. Players will also be able to collect Energy Cards and Action Cards to augment their alien-killing arsenal, and research new technologies in search of the elusive High Score:

Space Invaders: The Board Game combines today’s popular deck-building genre with a more traditional strategy board game by allowing 2-4 players to collect Space Invaders cards and add them to their hands, while moving across the board and shooting enemies with their laser cannons. The game’s visual presentation and atmosphere are as close to the original arcade game as possible, creating a brilliant retro gaming experience.

The Kickstarter campaign for Space Invaders: The Board Game will come to an end on June 15, and 612 Entertainment hopes to make it available to backers by the end of the year, before launching a Retail Edition in 2020.

Posted in News, Retro | Tagged ,

The Video Game Canon: Space Invaders

Posted on February 17, 2017 by John Scalzo

Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at the simple, yet addicting, tricks that Taito used to create Space Invaders. Here’s a teaser…

“Drop down, increase speed, and reverse direction!”

Somehow, the writers of Futurama found a way to sum up the essence of Space Invaders (in 2002’s “Anthology of Interest II”) with a single succinct sentence. And yet, in the days and years after its release in 1978, the game was considered something of a phenomenon. Even today, an oft-repeated urban legend claims that obsessive Space Invaders fans caused a shortage of the 100 yen coin in Japan.

Obviously, dropping a coin into an arcade slot will keep it in circulation, so it would have been impossible for Space Invaders to be the cause of any shortage. Though one thing those obsessive fans did do was raise the profile of the game’s titular aliens so that now they’re something of a mascot for all video games.

But it all started with, “Drop down, increase speed, and reverse direction!” Which as a formula was later refined and improved upon by Namco when they created Galaxian and Galaga.

Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.

Posted in Features, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon | Tagged

World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2016 announced: Legend of Zelda, GTA3, Sonic, Space Invaders, Oregon Trail, The Sims

Posted on May 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

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The votes have been tallied and the results are in, the Strong Museum is ready to announce the induction committee’s selections for the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

This year’s shortlist includes many well-known names, but only six were able to secure the support of the committee, which weighed each title on its ability to appeal to an international cross-section of players, longevity in the eyes of the public, iconic status, and influence on the industry as a whole.

After much thought and deliberation, the committee chose to honor the following games with induction into the the World Video Game Hall of Fame:

  • Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar’s operatic open world crime saga.
  • The Legend of Zelda, Link’s inaugural adventure and one of the first open world RPGs.
  • The Oregon Trail, a revolutionary educational game that also taught a whole generation of kids about dysentery and cholera.
  • The Sims, Will Wright’s “virtual dollhouse” is one of the most popular PC games of all time.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega’s blue blur starred in several classic side-scrollers and served as a foil to Mario in the 90s.
  • Space Invaders, the originator of the iconic “Invader” design and one of the first space shooters.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame was established in 2015, and this year’s class will stand alongside last year’s class, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., Pong, Doom, World of Warcraft, and Pac-Man, as some of the best that video gaming has to offer.

A few days ago, I attempted to play oddsmaker for this year’s finalists, and I’m happy to say that I pegged three of this year’s inductees as “Sure Things” and two more as “Coin Flips.”

Nine other games, Elite, Final Fantasy, John Madden Football, Minecraft, Nurburgring, Pokemon Red/Blue, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Street Fighter II, and Tomb Raider, came up short during the induction process. But all of them will get another chance next year, and the Hall of Fame is already accepting nominations for their Class of 2017.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016 will be on permanent view in the Strong Museum’s “eGameRevolution” exhibit. And congratulations to all designers and developers who helped bring each of them to life.

Posted in News, PS2, Retro | Tagged , , ,

Here are the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016

Posted on March 29, 2016 by John Scalzo

videogamehalloffame-2016finalists

The Strong Museum has announced the finalists competing for a spot in the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016.

The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red and Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders were all nominated last year, but ultimately weren’t selected by the Hall of Fame’s international committee. They’ll get another shot in 2016, alongside Elite, Final Fantasy, John Madden Football, Nurburgring, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Street Figher II, and Tomb Raider.

Any and all of these titles would be worthy of enshrinement in the World Video Game Hall of Fame, but only a handful of titles will make the final cut when the inductees are announced on May 5 at 10:30 AM (Eastern Time).

If you’re unfamiliar with any of these classic games, a quick rundown of all 15 titles (provided by The Strong) is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Retro, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , ,

The Strong announces finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015

Posted on April 28, 2015 by John Scalzo

worldvideogamehalloffame

The Strong National Museum of Play and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games have announced the finalists for the inaugural class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame. More than a dozen classic games passed this first test on their way to video game immortality, which were selected from thousands of nominations that poured in from gamers all across the world. Nominations for the Class of 2015 were accepted from February 17 through March 31, but in case you missed out, the Hall of Fame is already accepting games for next year’s class.

This year’s inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be chosen from the finalist pool by an “international selection committee” made up of journalists, scholars, and other individuals. The inaugural class will be announced on June 4 at 10:30 AM (Eastern Time) during a ceremony at The Strong.

The finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 include:

  • Angry Birds
  • Doom
  • FIFA International Soccer
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Minecraft
  • The Oregon Trail
  • Pac-Man
  • Pokemon Red/Blue
  • Pong
  • The Sims
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Space Invaders
  • Super Mario Bros.
  • Tetris
  • World of Warcraft

“The 15 finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame span decades, gaming platforms, and geographies… but what they all have in common is their undeniable impact on popular culture and society in general,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.

Inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be selected based on the following criteria: “Icon Status,” “Longevity,” “Geographical Reach,” and “Influence.” All 15 finalists certainly qualify, but I know I’ll be rooting for Tetris.

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Retro, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Space Invaders film in the works

Posted on July 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

With films based on Uncharted, Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed in the works, the “video game movie” may be undergoing a radical shift in the near future. But in addition to those more cerebral games, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed there’s a movie adaptation of Space Invaders in the works as well.

The movie rights to the game adaptation have been acquired by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (one of the producers of the Transformers trilogy) and Odd Lot Entertainment’s Gigi Pritzker, who are currently looking for a writer. Although “adaptation” may be stretching the definition of the words as Space Invaders had little in the way of plot or characters. In fact, the whole story is right there in the title: invaders, possibly from space, are attacking Earth!

This isn’t the first time a Space Invaders movie has been mulled over by Hollywood. Last year, Warner Bros. and Criminal Minds mastermind Mark Gordon attempted to acquire the rights, but that deal must have fallen apart.

Whatever the final movie looks like, it’s unlikely it’ll top one of the greatest moments in the history of Futurama.

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