1980 in computer games

Content

In December, Nintendo launches the Radar Scope arcade game.
Namco releases Navalone , Kaitei Takara Sagashi , SOS , King and Balloon (first game using a synthesized voice), Tank Battalion and Rally-X (first game with a bonus round).
The game Rogue , written by Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman and Ken Arnold, opened the genre of roguelike game.
Nintendo launches the first handheld game on the LCD screen - the Game & Watch series of Humpey Yokoi.
Stern Electronics launches the Berzerk arcade game.
Atari , owned by Warner Communications , launches the Missile Command and Battlezone arcades.
Williams Electronics launches arcade game Defender .
Atari also launches Centipede and Warlords as well as the Tempest color vector game.
Universal releases the Space Panic arcade game, which is often called the first platformer .
Edu-Ware releases The Prisoner , a classic on the Apple II platform.
Infocom releases its first game and first game in the Zork - Zork I series.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. releases Computer Bismarck , one of the first commercially successful wargames .

On May 22 in Japan, Namco launches the PUCK MAN gaming machine, which will appear in the United States under the name Pac-Man in October ^[1] .

Mattel launches Intellivision game console.
Sinclair Research launches the ZX80 home computer - the first computer available in the UK at a price below 100 pounds (if you do not take into account the single board Microcomputer Kit 14 ).
Acorn Computers launches the Acorn Atom home computer (120 pounds as an assembly kit).