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in: Video games by year

1972

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1972 saw the release of the first hit arcade video game (Pong), the first video game console (Magnavox Odyssey), and the first handheld electronic game (Electro Tic-Tac-Toe). The arcade game industry is still dominated by electro‑mechanical games (EM games).

The year's best-selling arcade game is Speedway (Indy 500), an EM racing game developed by Kasco. The highest-grossing video game is the arcade title Computer Space for the second year in a row, while the best-selling home system is the Magnavox Odyssey, the only console on the market.

Financial performance[]

The following table lists the annual revenue generated by the electronic games industry this year, including video games and electro‑mechanical games.

Industry Products Market Annual revenue (est.) Ref
Nominal Inflation
Electronic games United States $187,500,000 $1,400,000,000
Arcade Arcade games Worldwide $542,000,000 $3,900,000,000
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Japan $360,000,000 $2,600,000,000 [1]
Arcade games United States $182,000,000 $1,300,000,000 [2][3]
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Worldwide $536,000,000 $3,900,000,000
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Japan $360,000,000 $2,600,000,000 [1]
United States $176,000,000 $620,000,000
Video games United States $11,500,000 $84,000,000
Arcade Arcade video games United States $6,000,000 $44,000,000 [4]
Console Video game consoles United States $5,500,000 $40,000,000 [5]
Electronic games Worldwide $547,500,000 $4,000,000,000

Highest-grossing arcade games[]

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1972. The list includes both video games (VG) and electro-mechanical games (EM games).

Rank Title Company Cabinet sales Gross revenue (est.) Genre Type
Annual Cume Nominal Inflation Ref
1 Speedway Kasco 1,000[6] 10,000[7] $10,000,000 $73,000,000 [8][9] Racing EM
2 Periscope Sega — 5,000[10] $7,000,000 $51,000,000 [9] FPS
3 Pong Atari 2,000[11][12] 2,000 $5,000,000 $36,000,000 [13][14] Pong VG
4 Sky Fighter II Taito — 3,000[15] $4,000,000 $29,000,000 [9] FPS EM
5 Indy 500 Kasco — 2,000[7] $3,000,000 $22,000,000 [9] Racing
6 Computer Quiz Nutting Unknown 4,400[16] $2,700,000 $20,000,000 [9] Quiz
7 I.Q. Computer Nutting Unknown 3,600[16] $2,000,000 $15,000,000
8 Computer Space Syzygy 200[17] 700[18] $1,000,000 $7,300,000 [19][20] Shooter VG
9 Periscope Namco — 100+[21] $140,000+ $1,000,000+ [9] FPS EM
10 Barrel-Pong Hunter 40[22] — $110,000 $800,000 [13][14] Pong
11 Air Hockey Brunswick — — $7,000+ $51,000+ [23] Sports
12 Pong Fun Games Fun Games — — $3,000+ $20,000+ [13][14] Pong VG
Pub Pong LAI Games — — $3,000+ $20,000+

Best-selling home systems[]

Rank System Company Type Generation Unit sales Gross revenue (est.) Ref
Nominal Inflation
1 Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox Console First 69,000 $5,500,000 $40,000,000 [5]
2 Shooting Gallery Nintendo Console First 20,000 $500,000 $4,000,000 [24][25][26]
3 Electro Tic-Tac-Toe Waco Handheld EM — — — [27][28][29]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 情報メディア白書 [Information Media White Paper]. Dentsu Institute. 2010. p. 293. https://books.google.com/books?id=fSFNAQAAIAAJ. "産業興行収入市場規模営業収入営業収入全体ビデオゲームアーケードゲーム中短波 FM (Box office revenue, Market size, Operating revenue, Total operating revenue, Video games, Arcade games, Medium and shortwave FM) ... 1965 755 152 713 1,090 4,843 1966 758 174 752 1,266 5,760 1967 789 214 788 1,530 6,793 1968 820 254 792 1,736 7,843 1969 838 323 0 848 2,206 9,305 1970 825 398 13 921 2,691 10,802 1971 793 430 17 1,010 2,893 12,649 1972 770 482 1,100 3,333 14,828 1973 927 580 235 24 1,187 4,018 17,344 1974 1,171 628 46 1,258 4,442 19,171 1975 1,308 683 52 1,314 4,856 21,555 1976 1,457 790 65 1,915 5,809 25,714 1977 1,524 892 83 2,091 6,512 34,784 1978 1,605 1,006 97 2,141 7,362 37,058 1979 1,582 1,164 115 2,191 8,326 39,255 1980 1,659 1,263 131 2,714 8,687 41,008 1981 1,633 1,347 143 2,816 9,284 42,625 1982 1,695 2,780 4,500 1,391 180 2,877 9,967 44,611 1983 1,863 3,860 4,570 1,450 237 2,926 10,713 46,915"
  2. ↑ Annual Survey of Manufactures • 1973. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. October 1975. p. 35. https://books.google.com/books?id=t_qUJBKU1-IC&pg=RA1-PA35.
  3. ↑ U.S. Commodity Exports and Imports as Related to Output: 1972 & 71. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 1979. p. 180. https://books.google.com/books?id=MUFVa-Hg4pwC&pg=PA180.
  4. ↑ Combined US revenue of Pong and Computer Space listed below.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
  6. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1971/Cash-Box-1971-12-25.pdf#page=164
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kasco and the Electro-Mechanical Golden Age: Former Kansai Seisakusho Staff Interview. Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (2001). Archived from the original on 2016.
  8. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1971/Cash-Box-1971-01-02.pdf#page=31
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 1972 AMUSEMENT MACHINE ROUTE SURVEY (Cash Box)
  10. ↑ https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/historical-interlude-the-history-of-coin-op-part-6-a-technological-revolution/
  11. ↑ The Effects of Video Games on Children: The Myth Unmasked. 1998. p. 12. https://books.google.com/books?id=gHu0Qf1n5TYC&pg=PA12.
  12. ↑ Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1. https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Production Numbers. Atari Games (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kent, Steven (2001). "The King and Court". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. https://archive.org/details/ultimatehistoryofvideogamesrevisited/page/n68.
  15. ↑ Smith, Alexander (19 November 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982. CRC Press. pp. 192–5. ISBN 978-0-429-75261-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT192.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Donovan, Tristan (April 20, 2010). Replay: The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-9565072-0-4. https://archive.org/details/replayhistoryofv0000dono/page/19.
  17. ↑ Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1. https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up.
  18. ↑ https://technologizer.com/2011/12/11/computer-space-and-the-dawn-of-the-arcade-video-game/3/
  19. ↑ Donovan, Tristan (April 20, 2010). Replay: The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant. pp. 14–26. ISBN 978-0-9565072-0-4.
  20. ↑ Goldberg, Marty; Vendel, Curt (November 25, 2012). Atari Inc.: Business Is Fun. Syzygy Press. pp. 40–46. ISBN 978-0-9855974-0-5. https://archive.org/details/atariincbusiness0000gold.
  21. ↑ https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-3-number-1-january-1977/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%203%2C%20Number%201%20-%20January%201977/page/n10
  22. ↑ https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/syzygy.html
  23. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-09-09.pdf#page=46
  24. ↑ Picard, Martin (December 2013). "The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games". Game Studies 13 (2). ISSN 1604-7982. https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard.
  25. ↑ https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/92331-first-home-console-light-gun
  26. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/06/01/odyssey-35-years-later
  27. ↑ Demaria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2002). High Score! The Illustrated History of Video games. McGraw-Hill. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-07-222428-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&q=High+Score!+The+Illustrated+History+of+Video+games.
  28. ↑ Die Geschichte der Handhelds, Teil 1 von 1972 – 1989. GIGA.
  29. ↑ Dillon, Roberto (12 April 2011). The Golden Age of Video Games. ISBN 9781439873236. https://books.google.com/books?id=pq6-X1fTm2oC&dq=waco&pg=PA162.
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