Space Invaders was designed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released by Taito in Japan in June 1978. It became so popular that it reportedly caused a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, and Taito had to produce four times the usual coin supply to meet demand. By 1980, it had generated $2 billion in revenue worldwide — equivalent to roughly $8 billion today.
The alien movement pattern — side-to-side, descending one row each time they reach a wall — was partly a technical constraint. The original hardware couldn't animate all the aliens at once, so they moved one at a time in sequence. As fewer aliens remained on screen, the processor had more time per alien, making them appear to speed up. Nishikado kept this behaviour because it created natural difficulty progression.
Space Invaders was the first game to track and display a high score, encouraging players to come back and beat their previous best. It also popularised the "lives" system — three chances before game over — which became standard across decades of games.
This CRT monitor edition gives the alien grid a period-accurate visual treatment, with scanline effects and the distinctive monochrome-with-colour-strips look of the original cabinet (which used transparent colour film overlays on a black-and-white CRT to fake colour graphics).
Space Invaders Strategy
- Shoot from the bottom row first. Eliminating bottom-row aliens keeps the descending grid higher for longer, buying time.
- Use the shields. Duck behind the bunkers to absorb enemy fire. They degrade with each hit, so use different sections strategically.
- Target the UFO. The mystery ship appears on a fixed timer — learn the timing and fire just before it reaches your position for guaranteed bonus points.
- Clear columns, not rows. Removing a full column is faster than targeting rows and gives you a cleaner shot path through the remaining grid.