1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600 (Atari VCS). Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.
| |||
---|---|---|---|
+... |
The highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 was Pac-Man, which had accumulated a total revenue of $6 billion worldwide ($18.9 billion adjusted for inflation) by 1982.[4][5]
In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1982, according to the annual Game Machine chart.[6]
Rank | Title | Genre | Manufacturer |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pole Position | Racing | Namco |
2 | Dig Dug | Maze | |
3 | Galaga | Shoot 'em up | |
4 | Pengo | Maze | Sega |
5 | Time Pilot | Shoot 'em up | Konami |
6 | Donkey Kong | Platform | Nintendo |
7 | Front Line | Shoot 'em up | Taito |
8 | Donkey Kong Jr. | Platform | Nintendo |
9 | Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump) | Vehicular combat | Data East |
10 | Mr. Do! | Maze | Universal |
In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1982, according to RePlay and Cash Box magazines and the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).
Rank | RePlay | Cash Box[7] | AMOA[8] | Play Meter[9] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Donkey Kong[10] | Ms. Pac-Man | ||
2 | Unknown | Pac-Man | Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Defender, Zaxxon |
Unknown |
3 | Unknown | Donkey Kong, Centipede | ||
4 | Unknown | |||
5 | Unknown | — | ||
6 | Unknown | — |
The following table lists the top-grossing titles of each month in 1982, according to the RePlay and Play Meter charts.
Month | RePlay | Play Meter | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Upright cabinet | Cocktail cabinet | |||
January | Pac-Man | — | Unknown | [11] |
February | Pac-Man | Unknown | [12] | |
March | Pac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man | Unknown | [13] | |
April | Ms. Pac-Man | Donkey Kong[14][15] | [16] | |
May | Turbo | [17][14] | ||
June | Zaxxon | Unknown | Unknown | [18] |
July | Ms. Pac-Man | Ms. Pac-Man | Unknown | [19] |
August | Pac-Man / Ms. Pac-Man | Unknown | [20] | |
September | Unknown | [21] | ||
October | Jungle King | Unknown | [22] | |
November | Ms. Pac-Man | Unknown | [23] | |
December | Ms. Pac-Man | [24][25] | ||
1982 | Donkey Kong | Ms. Pac-Man | [10][9] |
The following titles were 1982's best-selling home video games.
Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Developer | Publisher(s) | Release Year | Sales | Revenue | Inflation | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pac-Man | VCS, Coleco, Nelsonic | Namco | Atari, Coleco, Nelsonic | 1982 | 9,271,844 | $200,000,000+ | $630,000,000+ | [a] |
2 | Donkey Kong | ColecoVision, VCS | Nintendo | Coleco | 1982 | 4,550,000 | $100,000,000+ | $320,000,000+ | [b] |
3 | Frogger | Atari VCS | Konami | Parker Brothers | 1982 | 4,000,000 | $80,000,000 | $250,000,000 | [33] |
4 | Defender | Atari VCS | Williams | Atari, Inc. | 1982 | 3,006,790 | Unknown | [26] | |
5 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Atari VCS | Universal | Atari, Inc. | 1982 | 2,637,985 | Unknown | [26] | |
6 | Berzerk | Atari VCS | Atari, Inc. | Atari, Inc. | 1982 | 1,798,773 | Unknown | [26] | |
7 | Space Invaders | Atari VCS | Taito | Atari, Inc. | 1980 | 1,373,033 | Unknown | [26] | |
8 | Asteroids | Atari VCS | Atari, Inc. | Atari, Inc. | 1981 | 1,331,956 | Unknown | [26] | |
9 | Pitfall! | Atari VCS | Activision | Activision | 1982 | 1,000,000+ | Unknown | [34][35] | |
10 | Night Driver | Atari VCS | Atari, Inc. | Atari, Inc. | 1980 | 457,058 | Unknown | [26] |
Rank | System(s) | Manufacturer | Type | Generation | Sales | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atari 2600 (Atari VCS) | Atari, Inc. | Console | Second | 5,100,000 | [36] |
2 | Game & Watch | Nintendo | Handheld | — | 4,600,000+ | [37] |
3 | Coleco Mini-Arcade | Coleco | Dedicated | — | 3,000,000 | [29] |
4 | Intellivision | Mattel | Console | Second | 1,100,000 | [38] |
5 | Timex Sinclair 1000 | Timex Sinclair | Computer | 8-bit | 750,000 | [39] |
6 | Atari 400 / Atari 800 | Atari, Inc. | Computer | 8-bit | 600,000 | [40] |
Commodore 64 / VIC-20 | Commodore International | Computer | 8-bit | 600,000 | [39] | |
TI-99/4 / TI-99/4A | Texas Instruments | Computer | 16-bit | 600,000 | [39] | |
9 | ColecoVision | Coleco | Console | Second | 550,000 | [31][38] |
10 | Nelsonic Game Watch | Nelsonic Industries | Handheld | — | 500,000+ | [41] |
Video game machines have an average weekly take of $109 per machine. The video arcade industry took in $8 billion in quarters in 1982, surpassing pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion). Those 32 billion arcade games played translate to 143 games for every man, woman, and child in America. A recent Atari survey showed that 86 percent of the US population from 13 to 20 has played some kind of video game and an estimated 8 million US homes have video games hooked up to the television set. Sales of home video games were $3.8 billion in 1982, approximately half that of video game arcades.
In 1982 alone, Americans pumped $6 billion in quarters into Pac-Man's mouth—more than they spent in Las Vegas casinos and movie theatres combined.
In 1982 alone, Americans pumped $6 billion in quarters into Pac-Man's mouth—more than they spent in Las Vegas casinos and movie theatres combined.
Before the end of the year Ms. Pac-Man had climbed to the top of the Play Meter chart.
By 1981, Atari's sales grew to $1 billion as it controlled about 75 percent of the fast-growing video game market. The dizzying climb continued into 1982, with Pac-Man alone bringing in over $200 million.
Designed & programmed Atari 2600 adaptation of hit arcade game Donkey Kong, 1982 wholesale revenues in excess of $100 million on 4 million units.
Pitfall won the award from Electronic Games magazine as the best video game adventure of 1983, and in 1982 sold more than 1 million copies.
In Aug. '82 term, sales of "Game & Watch" will increase from 4.6 million to 7 million units
Industry observers estimate that while Intellivision unit sales sank from 1.1 million units in 1982 to 550,000 in 1983, Coleco Vision unit sales rocketed from 550,000 to 1.2 million