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in: Video games by year

1973

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In 1973, the arcade hit Pong spawned numerous clones, which led to the establishment of the video game industry. The year's best‑selling arcade game was Paddle Battle, a Pong clone that outsold Pong itself. The best-selling home console was the Magnavox Odyssey, the only console on the market for the second year in a row.

Financial performance[]

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

Industry Products Market Unit sales Annual revenue (est.) Ref
Annual Cume Nominal Inflation
Electronic games USA 189,000+ 1,158,000+ $189,000,000 $1,300,000,000
Arcade Arcade games Worldwide 250,000+ 1,750,000+ $682,000,000 $4,700,000,000
Arcade Arcade games Japan 100,000+ 700,000 $400,000,000 $2,700,000,000 [1][2]
USA 100,000+ 1,000,000+ $182,000,000 $1,250,000,000 [3][4][5]
Arcade video games UK 50,000 50,000 $100,000,000 $690,000,000 [6]
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Worldwide 130,000+ 1,427,000+ $328,000,000+ $2,300,000,000+
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Japan 100,000+ 500,000+ $300,000,000+ $2,100,000,000+ [1][2]
USA 30,000+ 927,000+ $28,000,000+ $190,000,000+
Video games USA 209,000 281,000 $261,000,000 $1,800,000,000
Arcade Arcade video games USA 70,000 73,000 $154,000,000 $1,100,000,000 [7][8]
UK 50,000 50,000 $100,000,000 $690,000,000 [6]
Console Video game consoles USA 89,000 158,000 $7,000,000 $48,000,000 [9]
Electronic games Worldwide 359,000+ 1,858,000+ $689,000,000 $4,700,000,000

Best-selling arcade video games[]

The following titles were the best-selling arcade video games of 1973 in the United States and Europe.

Rank Title Company Release Cabinet sales Gross revenue (est.) Genre
Annual[10] Cume Nominal[11] Inflation Ref
1 Paddle Battle Allied 1973-03[12] 17,000[13] 17,000 $40,000,000 $270,000,000 [12] Pong
2 Pong Atari 1972-11[14] 8,000 10,000[15] $25,000,000 $170,000,000 [14]
3 Winner Midway 1973-04[16] 7,000 7,000 $20,000,000 $69,000,000 [17]
4 Pro Tennis Williams 1973-11[18] 7,000 7,000 $9,300,000 $64,000,000 [19]
5 Tennis Tourney Allied 1973-07[12] 5,000 5,000 $9,400,000 $62,000,000 [12]
6 Super Soccer Allied 1973-11[20] 5,000 5,000 $4,000,000 $27,000,000 [21]
7 TV Ping Pong Chicago 1973-04[22] 3,300[23] 3,300 $5,000,000 $34,000,000 [23]
8 Ping-Pong Alca 1973-03[6] 3,000[6] 3,000 $8,000,000 $55,000,000 [6]
9 Gotcha Atari 1973-10[14] 3,000 3,000 $4,000,000 $27,000,000 [14] Maze
10 Tele-Tennis Pong COPS 1973-07[6] 2,000[6] 2,000 $5,000,000 $34,000,000 [6] Pong
11 Asteroid Midway 1973-10[24] 2,000 2,000 $3,000,000 $21,000,000 [14] Racing
12 Space Race Atari 1973-07[14] 1,500 1,500 $2,600,000 $17,000,000
13 Rally For-Play 1973-03[20] 1,200[25] 1,200 $2,500,000 $17,000,000 [17] Pong
14 TV Tennis Chicago 1973-08[20] 1,000[23] 1,000 $2,000,000 $14,000,000 [23]
Volley Ramtek 1973-03[26] 1,000 1,000 $2,000,000 $14,000,000 [21]
16 Hockey Ramtek 1973-11[27] 1,000 1,000 $1,400,000 $6,900,000 [21]
17 Olympic TV Hockey Chicago 1973-11[28] 750[23] 750 $1,500,000 $10,300,000 [23]
18 Pong Doubles Atari 1973-09[14] 500 500 $800,000 $5,500,000 [14]
19 Elimination Kee Games 1973-10[14] 500 500 $600,000 $4,100,000
20 TV Tennis US Billiards 1973-10[29] 300 300 $400,000 $2,700,000
21 TV Hockey Amutronics 1973-12[20] 250 250 $370,000 $2,500,000 [21]
Tele-Soccer BAC 1973-11[30] 250 250 $350,000 $2,400,000 [14]
Champion Ping Pong Mirco 1973-11[31] 250 250 $350,000 $2,400,000

Home console[]

Console Manufacturer Generation Unit sales Gross revenue (est.)
Annual Cume Nominal Inflation
Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox First 89,000[32] 158,000[9] $7,000,000[9] $48,000,000

Japan[]

Japan had a thriving arcade market, with more than 500,000–700,000 arcade machines by 1973, mostly consisting of electro-mechanical (EM) shooting and driving games from Japanese manufacturers alongside pinball machines imported from the United States.[1] The first arcade video games released in Japan were Pong clones from Taito and Sega, followed by Namco's official release of Pong later that year.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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. 119–20, 188–91. ISBN 978-0-429-75261-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT119.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 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"
  3. ↑ To Authorize a Change in the Composition of the One-cent Coin: Hearing, Ninety-third Congress, Second Session, on H.R. 11841 ... March 27, 1974. United States Congress House Committee on Banking and Currency Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs (U.S. Government Printing Office). 1974. pp. 137. https://books.google.com/books?id=d9UfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA137.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Annual Survey of Manufactures: 1974. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. November 1976. pp. 34. https://books.google.com/books?id=yOzan1iBnQoC&pg=RA1-PA34.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Meades, Alan (2022-10-25). "5: Pings, Pongs, and Pioneers". Arcade Britannia: A Social History of the British Amusement Arcade. The MIT Press. pp. 121-44. ISBN 978-0-262-37234-3. https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5459/chapter/3979910/Pings-Pongs-and-Pioneers.
  7. ↑ Video Game Sales: 1972-1999. Gaming Alexandria (June 7, 2021).
  8. ↑ 1972
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 1973 AMUSEMENT MACHINE ROUTE SURVEY (Cash Box)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 The Ultimate (So Far) History of Allied Leisure/Centuri - Part 2
  13. ↑ https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-was-best-selling-us-arcade-video.html
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9 Production Numbers. Atari Games (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  15. ↑ The Effects of Video Games on Children: The Myth Unmasked. 1998. p. 12. https://books.google.com/books?id=gHu0Qf1n5TYC&pg=PA12.
  16. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=winner&page=detail&id=4750
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-02-02.pdf#page=53
  18. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=pro-tennis&page=detail&id=4810
  19. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-07-27.pdf#page=38
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-etymology-of-term-video-game.html
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-06-01.pdf#page=36
  22. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (1971-2005). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition). Japan: Amusement News Agency (published 13 October 2006). pp. 114-5. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n115/mode/2up.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 "Stern Electronics, Inc.". 1977-07-11 Notice Of Motion. 1977-07-11. https://archive.org/details/19770711NoticeOfMotion/page/n10.
  24. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-10-06.pdf#page=48
  25. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-09-01.pdf#page=43
  26. ↑ https://www.igdb.com/games/volly
  27. ↑ https://www.igdb.com/games/hockey--1
  28. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-11-10.pdf#page=70
  29. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-10-27.pdf#page=65
  30. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-11-24.pdf#page=51
  31. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-02-16.pdf#page=56
  32. ↑ Smith, Alexander (2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982. CRC Press. pp. 151–153. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT202.
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