Space Invaders (1978)

Sure, Pong is sweet, but it never caused a national coin shortage in Japan. That honor belongs to Taito and its arcade smash hit, Space Invaders. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the game challenges players to quickly maneuver a laser canon from left to right, blasting aliens descending from the top of the screen. This addictive, twitch gaming experience sent people into frenzies as they desperately attempted to smash high scores. Released on the Atari 2600 and almost every console in history, Space Invaders helped launch the shooting genre.

How awesome was Space Invaders?