Nowadays, 1977 in video games is a topic that has captured the attention of many people around the world. With its relevance and varied focus, 1977 in video games has become a crucial point for discussion and debate in various fields. With a direct impact on society, economy and culture, 1977 in video games is presented as a topic of common interest for people of all ages and backgrounds. In this article, we will further explore the impact of 1977 in video games and how it is shaping our world today.
| |||
---|---|---|---|
+... |
1977 had sequels such as Super Speed Race and Datsun 280 ZZZAP as well as several new titles such as Space Wars. The year's highest-grossing arcade games were F-1 and Speed Race DX in Japan, and Sea Wolf and Sprint 2 in the United States. The year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Color TV-Game, which was only sold in Japan.
In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1977, according to the second annual Game Machine chart. Both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) are listed on the same arcade chart. Namco's EM racing game F-1 was the highest-grossing overall arcade game for the second year in a row, followed by Taito's racing video game Speed Race DX (its predecessor Speed Race was distributed as Wheels by Midway Manufacturing in North America).
Arcade electro-mechanical games (EM games) | Arcade video games | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Title | #1 | #2 | #3 | Points | Rank | Title | #1 | #2 | #3 | Points |
1 | F-1 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 1 | Speed Race DX | 8 | 5 | 8 | 42 |
2 | Mogura Taiji (Whac-A-Mole) | 5 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 2 | Breakout | 3 | 6 | 4 | 25 |
3 | Shoot Away | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 3 | Scratch | 2 | 5 | 3 | 19 |
4 | Flipper (Pinball) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 4 | Circus | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
5 | F-1 Mach | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 5 | Road Champion | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
6 | Shooting Trainer | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | Superbowl | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
7 | Laser Clay | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | Sprint 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
8 | Block Cut | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Super High-Way | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
9 | Dead Line | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | Gran Trak 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
10 | Heli-Shooter | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Man T.T. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
Crane | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Super Speed Race | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Note: Medal games are listed on a separate chart, with Nintendo's EVR Race being the highest-grossing medal game for the second year in a row.
In the United States, Play Meter magazine began publishing annual lists of top-grossing arcade games in 1977. The following titles were the top ten highest-earning arcade video games of the year on the annual Play Meter and RePlay charts. Lifetime arcade cabinet sales are also given in a separate column.
Rank | Play Meter | RePlay | Lifetime cabinet sales |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sea Wolf | 10,000 | |
2 | Sprint 2 | 8,200 | |
3 | Breakout | 11,000 | |
4 | LeMans | Drag Race | Unknown |
5 | Gun Fight (Western Gun) | Starship 1 | |
6 | Night Driver | Double Play | |
7 | Death Race | Night Driver | |
8 | Tornado Baseball | Bazooka | |
9 | Datsun 280 ZZZAP | Robot Bowl | |
10 | Blockade | Datsun 280 ZZZAP | |
Indy 4 |
Rank | System(s) | Manufacturer(s) | Type | Generation | Sales | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Color TV-Game | Nintendo | Console | First | 800,000 | |
2 | Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) | Atari, Inc. | Console | Second | 250,000 | |
3 | Personal computer (PC) | Various | Computer | — | 150,000 | |
4 | TRS-80 | Tandy Corporation | Computer | 8-bit | 100,000 | |
5 | Altair 8800 | MITS | Computer | 8-bit | 10,000 | |
6 | Commodore PET | Commodore International | Computer | 8-bit | 4,000 | |
7 | Apple II | Apple Inc. | Computer | 8-bit | 600 |
Sea Wolf, which was another creation of Dave Nutting, did solid business, selling more than 10,000 machines. (A later color version sold an additional 4000 units.)