1973 in video gaming

Events

*On 19 March, Kagemasa Kozuki establishes Konami Industry Co., Ltd..cite web |title=-1973- |url=http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1970s/1973.shtml |author=Thomas, Donald A. Jr |work= [http://www.ichwen.com/book/ ICWhen.com] |accessmonthday=15 February |accessyear=2006 |year=2005] Formerly the owner of a jukebox repair/rental business in Osaka, Japan, Kozuki launches Konami to manufacture amusement machines for video arcades.cite web |title=Corporate Info / Corporate History |url=http://www.konami.co.jp/en/corporate/data/index.html |work= [http://www.konami.co.jp/ Konami] |accessmonthday=15 February |accessyear=2006]
*In May, Hudson Soft Ltd. is established in Sapporo, Japan for the purpose of marketing telecommunications devices and art photographs.cite web |title=Corporate Info. / History|url=http://www.hudson.co.jp/corp/eng/coinfo/history.html |work= [http://www.hudson.co.jp/ Hudson] |accessmonthday=15 February |accessyear=2006]
* Though, not a big hit in reality, the Computer Space game make appearances in the films "Soylent Green" and "Sleeper".

* Mazewar is developed for the Imlac PDS-1 computer. Mazewar is perhaps the first First Person Shooter and one of the earliest examples of a network game.

* Lemonade Stand is developed for the first time.

Notable releases

*Midway Manufacturing Co. licenses "Pong" from Atari to produce "Winner",cite web |title=WINNER from Midway|year=1973 |url=http://www.arcadedocs.com/vidmanuals/W/Winner.pdf |format=PDF |work= [http://www.arcadedocs.com/ Arcadedocs.com] |accessmonthday=15 February|accessyear=2006] their first video game arcade game.

*Atari releases "Gotcha", the first commercial maze game, to video arcades.
*Atari releases "PONG Doubles" to video arcades. A variation on the wildly successful "PONG", "PONG Doubles" is the first video arcade game to include four player gameplay.cite web |url=http://www.pong-story.com/atpong1.htm |author=Winters, David |title=Atari PONG –The first steps– |work= [http://www.pong-story.com/ PONG-Story] |accessmonthday=15 February |accessyear=2006]
*Williams Electronics releases "Paddle Ball", an unlicensed duplicate of "Pong", as their first arcade game.cite book|last=Kurtz |first=Bill |year=1997 |title=Slot Machines and Coin-Op Games |pages=p. 125 |publisher=Chartwell Books |location=New Jersey |id=ISBN 1-55521-731-1]

References