Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 26, 2024

Space Invaders (arcade cabinet pictured) is a 1978 arcade video game developed and released by Taito in Japan and distributed by Midway Manufacturing overseas. The goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser. Designer Tomohiro Nishikado drew inspiration from North American games like Breakout (1976) and Gun Fight (1975). Space Invaders was an immediate commercial success; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion (equivalent to about $13 billion in 2022), and it remains one of the highest-grossing arcade games of all time. Considered one of the most influential video games ever, it ushered in the golden age of arcade video games. It was an inspiration for numerous game designers across different genres, and has been ported and re-released in various forms. The 1980 version for the Atari Video Computer System (VCS), which quadrupled VCS sales, became the first killer app for video game consoles. The game's pixelated enemy alien has become a pop culture icon.