01
April 19, 1978
Space Invaders has an April publication anchor
Some sources cite April 19 as Taito's first publication date, while many popular histories describe a June Japanese release.
Invader publication card
Gaming History, One Month at a Time
GTM-1978-04
April 1978
Space Invaders enters the record, though sources disagree on whether April publication or June release should be treated as the beginning.
Space InvadersTaitosource conflictarcade future
Timeline archive
Select a year
1978 month drawer
Installed months are active; empty drawers are held for future exhibits.
Gallery 01
News
Five researched moments from an early videogame year, with broad context separated from confident month-level claims.
02
April 1978
The fixed shooter becomes something larger
Toshihiro Nishikado's cabinet will soon make one screen, one gun and descending aliens feel like a cultural event.
Alien formation
03
April 1978
The UK has not yet felt the full invasion
The British arcade experience will absorb Space Invaders as it spreads, not on a neat global day-one schedule.
UK arrival caveat
04
April 1978
Hardware limits shape the feel
The famous accelerating aliens are bound up with the limits of the arcade hardware as enemies disappear.
CPU timing label
05
April 1978
The release calendar is already complicated
This is exactly why the archive keeps certainty fields visible.
Curator pencil
Gallery 02
Releases
A deliberately sparse shelf: only releases supported by the sources reviewed are displayed.
April/June 1978Arcade
Arcade phenomenon
Space Invaders
Taito's landmark shooter. Included here because April publication is documented, while the wider release story is often framed around June.
Gallery 03
Hardware
Four objects explaining the month: public cabinets, home consoles, microcomputers and control technology.
Space Invaders arcade board
By April 1978, Taito's cabinet represents the new centre of arcade gravity, even where local rollout is still uneven.
Intel 8080Monochrome display with overlaysTaito/Midway regional context
Atari VCS before its killer app
The cartridge console exists, but it has not yet received the arcade conversion that will transform its sales.
Cartridge consoleReleased 1977Space Invaders port arrives 1980
Trackball control
Atari Football helps make the trackball a memorable public control surface.
Atari FootballPhysical momentumSports cabinet
Microcomputer magazine culture
Home computer games still travel through listings, ads and specialist computing magazines more than through ordinary game retail.
BYTECreative ComputingPCWType-in programs
Gallery 04
Magazine Covers
Paper remains the map: computing, electronics and arcade context before games media fully settles.
April 1978
BYTE
BYTE represents the paper network around early games: computing, electronics, arcades and the pre- or early-specialist games press world.
April 1978
CREATIVE COMPUTING
CREATIVE COMPUTING represents the paper network around early games: computing, electronics, arcades and the pre- or early-specialist games press world.
April 1978
PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD
PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD represents the paper network around early games: computing, electronics, arcades and the pre- or early-specialist games press world.
April 1978
PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS
PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS represents the paper network around early games: computing, electronics, arcades and the pre- or early-specialist games press world.
Gallery 05
Online Life
Networked play exists at the edges, but ordinary players live in a world of paper, cabinets and local knowledge.
Online life was not the ordinary visitor experience
For most players in April 1978, games are discovered through arcades, shops, magazines, clubs and word of mouth rather than online services.
Institutional networks remain the edge case
PLATO, university systems and early networked computing matter historically, but they are not normal UK consumer gaming.
Paper is still the search engine
Magazines, adverts, catalogues, manuals and club newsletters explain what machines and games exist.
The arcade is the live feed
High scores, queues and overheard advice make the cabinet a public information system.
Gallery 06
What It Felt Like
A young medium, a patchy record, and a future split between public machines and home hardware.
01
The future was still public
The arcade suddenly feels invaded: one cabinet can pull a room into a shared rhythm of shots, shields and descending pressure.
02
The home shelf was changing shape
Home games still feel smaller than the public machine. The VCS is promising, but the arcade owns the spectacle.
03
Britain saw the edges first
In Britain, this is a public memory first: cafes, arcades, seaside amusements, coins and the sound of aliens advancing.
04
The record is still uneven
Exact dates are often regional, trade-led or retrospective. The exhibit keeps month-level certainty separate from year-level context.