The 1980 arcade games proved that the gaming market would grow huge around the world in the years to come with no signs of stopping. This, of course, was extremely evident in the release of the highest-grossing game of all time. This was also announced as the first mascot character. Pac-Man was an international phenomenon who also ushered in the maze-hunting genre, introduced power-ups, featured cut scenes, and opened the game up to female audiences. Arcade games from before 1980 showed their technological prowess and imagination through games such as Pong and Space Invaders. However, the 1980 games showed the world how much money was to be won in this arena.
The rise of technology
To see how far we have come in the video game business, just look back to the 1980s to see how far we have come. The arcade games of 1980 paved the way for standardized games for decades to come. Namco released another contender in the arcade arena of 1980. Rally-X became the first game to introduce a bonus around a multi-directional scroll feature. Universal is releasing Space Panic which many cite as the first platform game. Nintendo releases Radar Scope which presents a false 3D perspective in third person. Atari released Battlezone which was later used for US military training (with a few improvements, of course. These are just a few of the game's advancements that were introduced in video games in 1980.
Pac-Man is king
Even after all of the gaming advancements mentioned above in other 1980s arcade games, Pac-Man remains the best in its class. It brought mainstream gaming to this point and not only introduced a lot of features never seen before, but it crossed the retail lines having the game's first mascot character in history. There were Pac Man lunch boxes, Pac Man plush toys, Pac Man notebooks, Pac Man posters, Pac Man TV shows. Namco took his place as the grandfather of arcade gaming. They showed us not only how to innovate and innovate constantly, but also how to sell your innovation across multiple retail markets. It is because of the arcade games of 1980 that we see the video game market as we do today.
A foreshadowing of things to come
In the years and decades to come, companies will take Namco's example and use it as the basis for all their future projects. Namco's plan was the golden model. Simply put, the arcade games of 1980 set the standard.