Editing Space Invaders (section)

==Reception, impact, and legacy==
{{Video game reviews
| Allgame = Arcade: {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Brett Alan|title=Space Invaders|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=4717&tab=review|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=3 November 2014}}</ref><br />Atari 2600: {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Brett Alan|title=Space Invaders|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=8572&tab=review|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=3 November 2014}}</ref><br />Atari 5200: {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Brett Alan|title=Space Invaders|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15766&tab=review|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=3 November 2014}}</ref><br />SNES: {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Brett Alan|title=Space Invaders|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7469&tab=review|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=3 November 2014}}</ref>
| award1Pub = [[Electronic Games|Arcade Awards]]
| award1 = [[List of Game of the Year awards|Game of the Year]]<ref name="arcade_awards"/>
}}

After the first few months following its release in Japan, the game became very popular. Specialty [[Video arcade|arcades]] opened with nothing but ''Space Invaders'' cabinets, and by the end of 1978, Taito had installed over 100,000 machines and grossed over $600 million in Japan alone. Within two years by 1980, Taito had sold over 300,000 ''Space Invaders'' arcade machines in Japan, in addition to 60,000 machines in the United States, where prices ranged from $2000 to $3000 for each machine, within one year. The arcade cabinets have since become collector's items with the cocktail and [[Arcade cabinet#Mini cabinets|cabaret]] versions being the rarest. By mid-1981, more than four billion quarters, or $1 billion, had been grossed from ''Space Invaders'' machines, and it would continue to gross an average of $600 million a year through to 1982, by which time it had grossed $2 billion in quarters (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|2000000000|1978|r=0}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}), with a [[net profit]] of $450 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|450000000|1978|r=0}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}). This made it the [[List of best-selling video games|best-selling video game]] and [[List of highest-grossing arcade games|highest-grossing]] entertainment product of its time, with comparisons made to the then highest-grossing film ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'', which had grossed $486 million in movie tickets (costing $2.25 each on average) with a net profit of $175 million. ''Space Invaders'' had earned Taito profits of over $500 million.

An oft-quoted urban legend states that there was a shortage of 100-yen coins — and subsequent production increase — in Japan directly attributed to the game,<ref name="GI-177"/><ref name="GWR08-2">{{cite book| editor= Craig Glenday| title= Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series= [[Guinness World Records]]| date= March 11, 2008| publisher= Guinness| isbn= 978-1-904994-21-3| pages= 106–107| chapter= Record Breaking Games: Shooting Games Roundup}}</ref><ref name="guardian">{{cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/jul/24/games.shopping| title=A life through video games| publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]]|work=The Observer  |location=UK| author=Richards, Giles |date=July 24, 2005| accessdate=May 22, 2008}}</ref> although in actuality, 100 yen coin production was lower in 1978 and {{vgy|1979}} than in previous or subsequent years. The claim also doesn't hold up to logical scrutiny; arcade operators would have emptied out their machines and taken the money to the bank, thus keeping the coins in circulation. Reports from those living in Japan at the time indicate "nothing out of the ordinary ... during the height of the Space Invaders invasion".

The 1980 [[Atari 2600]] version was the first official licensing of an arcade game and became the first "killer app" for video game consoles by quadrupling the system's sales. It sold over two million units in its first year on sale as a home console game, making it the first title to sell a million cartridges. Other official ports of the game were made for the Atari 8-bit computer line and Atari 5200 console. Taito released it for the Famicom in 1985. Numerous unofficial clones were made as well, such as the popular computer games ''[[Super Invader]]'' (1979) and ''[[TI Invaders]]'' (1981).

Game designer [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] considered ''Space Invaders'' a game that revolutionized the video game industry; he was never interested in video games before seeing it. [[Hideo Kojima]] also described it as the first video game that impressed him and got him interested in video games. Several publications ascribed the expansion of the video game industry from a novelty into a global industry to the success of the game. ''[[Edge Magazine]]'' attributed the shift of video games from bars and arcades to more mainstream locations like restaurants and department stores to ''Space Invaders''. Its popularity was such that it was the first game where an arcade machine's owner could make up for the cost of the machine in under one month, or in some places, within one week.

Technology journalist Jason Whittaker credited the game's success to ending the video game crash of 1977, which had earlier been caused by ''[[Pong]]'' clones flooding the market, and beginning the [[golden age of video arcade games]]. According to ''The Observer'', the home console versions were popular and encouraged users to learn programming; many of whom later became industry leaders. [[1UP.com]] stated that ''Space Invaders'' showed that video games could compete against the major entertainment media at the time: films, music, and television. [[IGN]] attributed the launch of the arcade phenomenon in North America in part to ''Space Invaders''. ''Electronic Games'' credited the game's success as the impetus behind video gaming becoming a rapidly growing hobby and as "the single most popular coin-operated attraction of all time". ''[[Game Informer]]'' considered it, along with ''[[Pac-Man]]'', one of the most popular arcade games that tapped into popular culture and generated excitement during the golden age of arcades. IGN listed it as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Games" in 2007, citing the source of inspiration to video game designers and the impact it had on the shooting genre. 1UP.com ranked it at No. 3 in its list of "The 60 Most Influential Games of All Time", stating that, in contrast to earlier arcade games which "were attempts to [[Simulation Games|simulate]] already-existing things", ''Space Invaders'' was "the first video game as a video game, instead of merely a playable electronic representation of something else". In 2008, Guinness World Records listed it as the top-rated arcade game in technical, creative, and cultural impact.

As one of the earliest shooting games, it set precedents and helped pave the way for future titles and for the shooting genre.<ref name="IGN-10">{{cite web| url = http://games.ign.com/articles/840/840621p1.html| title = IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games| publisher = [[IGN]]| author = Geddes, Ryan|author2=Hatfield, Daemon | date = December 10, 2007| accessdate =July 11, 2008}}</ref><ref name="GWR08-1">{{cite book| editor= Craig Glenday| title= Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series= [[Guinness World Records]]| date= March 11, 2008| publisher= Guinness| isbn= 978-1-904994-21-3| page= 88| chapter= Record Breaking Games: Shooting Games}}</ref> ''Space Invaders'' popularized a more interactive style of gameplay with the enemies responding to the player controlled cannon's movement, and was the first video game to popularize the concept of achieving a [[high score]],<ref name="GS-SI-Hall">{{cite web| url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/spaceinvaders.shtm| title=The Gamespy Hall of Fame: Space Invaders| publisher=[[GameSpy]]| author=Kevin Bowen| accessdate=January 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name="GWR08-2"/><ref name="IGN-10"/> being the first to [[Saved game|save]] the player's score. While earlier shooting games allowed the player to shoot at targets, ''Space Invaders'' was the first in which targets could fire back at the player. It was also the first game where players were given multiple [[Health|lives]], had to repel hordes of enemies, could [[Cover in video gaming|take cover]] from enemy fire, and use [[Destructible environment|destructible]] barriers, in addition to being the first game to use a continuous background soundtrack, with four simple diatonic descending bass notes repeating in a loop, which was dynamic and changed pace during stages, like a heartbeat sound that increases pace as enemies approached.

It also introduced the concept of a [[Dynamic game difficulty balancing|difficulty curve]], with the aliens moving faster as the player kills more of them, making the game more difficult as it progresses. The game's concept of scaling difficulty became the basis for modern [[single-player]] video gaming. [http://www.cracked.com/article_19262_6-glitches-that-accidentally-invented-modern-gaming.html]

It also moved the gaming industry away from ''Pong''-inspired sports games grounded in real-world situations towards [[action game]]s involving fantastical situations. Whittaker commented that ''Space Invaders'' helped action games become the most dominant [[Video game genres|genre]] on both arcades and consoles, through to contemporary times. ''Guinness World Records'' considered ''Space Invaders'' one of the most successful arcade shooting games by 2008. In describing it as a "seminal arcade classic", IGN listed it as the number eight "classic shoot 'em up". ''Space Invaders'' set the template for the shoot 'em up genre. Its worldwide success created a demand for a wide variety of science fiction games, inspiring the development of arcade games, such as Atari's ''[[Asteroids]]'', [[Williams Electronics]]' ''[[Defender (video game)|Defender]]'', and [[Namco]]'s ''[[Galaxian]]'' and ''[[Galaga]]'', which were modelled after the gameplay and design of ''Space Invaders''. This influence extended to most shooting games released to the present day, ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]]'', ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' and ''[[Call of Duty (series)|Call of Duty]]''. ''Space Invaders'' also had an influence on early computer [[dungeon crawl]] games such as ''[[Dungeons of Daggorath]]'', which used similar heartbeat sounds to indicate player health.

Space Invaders' concept of a gradually increasing difficulty level also revolutionized the gaming industry.<ref>http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-38XdacYD6QC&pg=PA8</ref> According to ''[[Retro Gamer]]'', by "giving birth to the multi-billion-pound global industry" ''Space Invaders'' is "directly responsible for the existence of the ''[[Gran Turismo (series)|Gran Turismo]]'', ''[[Metal Gear|Metal Gear Solid]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series."<ref name="RG-41"/>

===Remakes and sequels===
''Space Invaders'' has been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include ported and updated versions of the original arcade game. Ported versions generally feature different graphics and additional gameplay options—for example, moving defence bunkers, zigzag shots, invisible aliens, and two-player cooperative gameplay. Ports on earlier systems like the Atari home consoles featured simplified graphics, while later systems such as the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] and [[PlayStation]] featured updated graphics. Later titles include several modes of gameplay and integrate new elements into the original design. For example, ''[[Space Invaders Extreme]]'', released on the [[Nintendo DS]] and [[PlayStation Portable]], integrated musical elements into the standard gameplay. A spin-off for [[WiiWare]], ''[[Space Invaders Get Even]]'', allows players to control the aliens instead of the laser cannon.

In 1980, Bally Midway released a pinball version of the game. However, few elements from the original game are included, and the aliens instead resembled the xenomorphs from the film ''Alien''; Bally Midway was later sued over the game's resemblance to designs by H. R. Giger. Different ports have been met with mixed receptions; the Atari 2600 version was very successful while the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] version was poorly received.

Taito has released several arcade sequels that built upon the basic design of the original. The first was ''Space Invaders Part II'' in 1979; it featured colour graphics, an attract mode, and new gameplay elements, and added an intermission between gameplay.  According to the ''Killer List of Video Games'', this was the first video game to include an intermission. This version was released in the United States as ''Deluxe Space Invaders'' (also known as ''[[Space Invaders Deluxe]]''), but featured a different graphical colour scheme (just yellow and green rather than the full color of ''Part II'') and a lunar-city background. Another arcade sequel, titled ''[[Space Invaders II]]'', was released exclusively in the United States. It was in a cocktail-table format with very fast alien firing and a competitive two-player mode. During the summer of 1985, ''[[Return of the Invaders]]'' was released with updated colour graphics, and more complex movements and attack patterns for the aliens.<ref name="RG-41"/> Subsequent arcade sequels included ''[[Super Space Invaders '91]]'', ''[[Space Invaders DX]]'', and ''[[Space Invaders '95]]''. Each game introduced minor gameplay additions to the original design. Like the original game, several of the arcade sequels have become collector's items, though some are considered rarer. In addition, Atari released a rare Atari 2600 version of the game called ''[[Pepsi Invaders]]'' in 1983, endorsed by [[The Coca-Cola Company]].<ref name="RG-41"/> In 2002, Taito released ''[[Space Raiders]]'', a [[third-person shooter]] reminiscent of ''Space Invaders''.

The game and its related games have been included in video game compilation titles. ''Space Invaders Anniversary'' was released in 2003 for the [[PlayStation 2]] and included nine ''Space Invader'' variants. A similar title for the PlayStation Portable, ''[[Space Invaders Pocket]]'', was released in 2005. ''Space Invaders'', ''Space Invaders Part II'' and ''Return of the Invaders'' are included in ''[[Taito Legends]]'', a compilation of Taito's classic arcade games released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. ''Super Space Invaders '91'', ''Space Invaders DX'' and ''Space Invaders {{'}}95'' were included in ''[[Taito Legends 2]]'', a sequel compilation released in 2006.