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in: Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Video games by year

1974

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In 1974, the video game industry was flooded with Pong clones, leading to the first video game crash by the end of the year.[1][2][3] Besides Pong clones, the year saw the release of new arcade video games such as Speed Race and TV Basketball, as well as the first 8-bit microcomputer, the Sord SMP80/20 in Japan.

The year's best-selling arcade game was Tank by Kee Games, while the best-selling home console is still the Magnavox Odyssey, the only console on the market for the third 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 229,000 1,787,000 $444,300,000 $2,700,000,000
Arcade games Worldwide 100,000+ 2,200,000+ $893,000,000 $5,500,000,000
Arcade Arcade games Japan — 700,000+ $460,000,000 $3,200,000,000 [4][5]
USA 100,000+[6] 1,500,000[6] $433,000,000 $2,700,000,000 [7][8][9]
Electro‑mechanical Worldwide 60,000+ 1,890,000+ $483,000,000+ $3,000,000,000+
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Japan — 500,000+ $300,000,000+ $1,900,000,000+ [4][5][10]
USA 60,000+ 1,390,000 $183,000,000 $1,100,000,000 [8][9]
Video games USA 169,000 397,000 $261,300,000 $1,600,000,000
Arcade Arcade video games USA 40,000 110,000 $250,000,000 $1,500,000,000 [7]
Console Video game consoles USA 129,000 287,000 $11,300,000 $70,000,000 [11][9]
Electronic games Worldwide 229,000+ 2,587,000+ $904,300,000 $5,600,000,000

Best-selling arcade video games[]

The following titles were the best-selling arcade video games of 1974 in the United States.

Rank Title Company Release Cabinet sales[12] Gross revenue (est.) Genre
Annual Cume Nominal[13] Inflation Ref
1 Tank Kee Games 1974-11[14] 10,000 10,000 $24,000,000 $150,000,000 [14] Maze
2 Formula K Kee Games 1974-04[14] 10,000 10,000 $16,000,000 $99,000,000 [14] Racing
3 Clean Sweep Ramtek 1974-04[15] 3,500 3,500 $8,000,000 $49,000,000 [16] Block
4 Flim-Flam Meadows 1974-03[17] 2,000 2,000 $4,000,000 $25,000,000 [18] Pong
5 TV Basketball Taito 1974-02[19] 1,400[20] 1,400 $4,000,000 $25,000,000 [21] Sports
6 Leader Midway 1973-12[22] 1,000 1,000 $2,000,000 $12,000,000 [23] Pong
7 Challenge Mirco Games 1974-03[24] 650 650 $1,400,000 $9,000,000 [14]
8 Gran Trak 20 Atari 1974-08[14] 500 500 $1,000,000 $6,000,000 [14] Racing
9 TV Pin Game Chicago Coin 1974-10[25] 500[26] 500 $800,000 $5,000,000 [26] Pinball
10 Robot Allied Leisure 1974-11[27] 500 500 $700,000 $4,000,000 [28] Pong
11 Flip-Out Volly 1974-04[29] 250 250 $600,000 $3,700,000 [16] Block
12 Qwak! Atari 1974-11[14] 250 250 $400,000 $2,000,000 [14] Shooter
Tennis Digital Games 1974-11[30] 250 250 $400,000 $2,000,000 [14] Pong
Baseball Ramtek 1974-10[31] 250 250 $400,000 $2,000,000 [32] Sports
Sneeky U.B.I 1974-11[33] 250 250 $400,000 $2,000,000 [14] Pong
16 Pin Pong Atari 1974-10[14] 250 250 $200,000 $1,000,000 [14] Pinball
17 TV Tennis US Billiards 1973-10[34] 200 500 $1,000,000 $6,900,000 [35] Pong
18 TV Hockey Amutronics 1973[36] 200 450 $1,000,000 $6,900,000 [37]
19 TV Hustler Amutronics 1974 200 200 — Pong
Spike It! Computer 1974[25] 200 200
Handicap Pong JRW 1973[38] 200 200
Pace Car Pro Electra 1974-09[39] 200 200 — Racing

Best-selling home systems[]

Rank System Manufacturer Type Generation Unit sales Gross revenue (est.) Ref
Nominal Inflation
1 Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox Console First 129,000 $11,300,000 $70,000,000 [11][9]
2 Sord SMP80/20 Sord Computer 8-bit Unknown $3,000+ $19,000+ [40][41]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/Winners_Book_of_Video_Games/page/n265/mode/2up
  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. 191–95. ISBN 978-0-429-75261-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT191.
  3. ↑ https://archive.org/details/coin-slot-location-1980-autumn/Coin%20Slot%20Location%20-%20Volume%201%20Issue%201%20-%20Autumn%201980/page/n50
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 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.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 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��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"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Donovan, Tristan (April 20, 2010). Replay: The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-9565072-0-4. https://archive.org/details/replayhistoryofv0000dono/page/26.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 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.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Video Game Sales: 1972-1999. Gaming Alexandria (June 7, 2021).
  10. ↑ https://shmuplations.com/kasco/
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
  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. ↑ 1974 route survey (Cash Box)
  14. ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 Production Numbers. Atari (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  15. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-04-20.pdf#page=50
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-11-16.pdf#page=76
  17. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-03-09.pdf#page=56
  18. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-05-03.pdf#page=36
  19. ↑ RePlay. October 15, 1986. https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html. "Foreign control over the American video game industry has been increasing gradually since Taito America opened its doors in 1973. The first landmark event came in February, 1974, when Taito licensed the first Japanese video, TV Basketball, to Atari."
  20. ↑ RePlay. April 15, 1986. https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html. "Midway licensed TV Basketball from Taito and set a production record of 1,400 games. Midway topped that record when it introduced Wheels"
  21. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-04-19.pdf#page=48
  22. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=leader-model-575&page=detail&id=4767
  23. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-11-30.pdf#page=38
  24. ↑ https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/11/company-profile-mirco-games.html
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 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.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Stern Electronics, Inc.". 1977-07-11 Notice Of Motion. 1977-07-11. https://archive.org/details/19770711NoticeOfMotion/page/n10.
  27. ↑ Cash Box (February 8, 1975), page 35
  28. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-09-27.pdf#page=53
  29. ↑ https://archive.org/details/canadian-coin-box-magazine-1974-04/page/5
  30. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-11-30.pdf#page=37
  31. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 129. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n130.
  32. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1976/Cash-Box-1976-05-15.pdf#page=46
  33. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-11-02.pdf#page=34
  34. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1973/Cash-Box-1973-10-27.pdf#page=65
  35. ↑ Production Numbers. Atari Games (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  36. ↑ 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. 109-10. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n110.
  37. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-06-01.pdf#page=36
  38. ↑ https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=18636
  39. ↑ 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. 116-7. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n117/mode/2up.
  40. ↑ 【Sord】 SMP80/x series. IPSJ Computer Museum. Information Processing Society of Japan. Retrieved on 2017-03-27.
  41. ↑ https://diarywind.com/blog/e/first-japan-made-pc.html

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