The "paddle game" trend came to an end in arcades around 1975, with the arcade video game industry entering a period of stagnation in the "post paddle game era" over the next several years up until 1977.[1]
In the United States, RePlay magazine published the first annual chart of top-grossing arcade games in March 1976, listing both video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same chart for the previous year. The following were the highest-grossing arcade games of the previous year, in terms of coin drop earnings.[3]
Sega (formerly Service Games), who at the time made a arcade game called "Bullet Mark" which was released this year changes their 1956 logo[6] to their current logo on October 11.[7]
September 12 – Epoch releases Japan's first home video game console, the TV Tennis Electrotennis dedicated home video game console. Its most unusual feature is that the console (including the controller) is wireless, functioning through a UHF antenna.[8]
Taito releases Western Gun, the first video game to depict human-to-human combat.[13][14] Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the game had two distinct joystick controls per player, with one eight-way joystick for moving the computerized cowboy around on the screen and the other for changing the shooting direction.[15][16]
dnd, the first video game to include a boss, and arguably the first computer role-playing game, wrapped up initial development. Some sources list the game as 1974; it is unclear exactly when it became playable.
^Bill Loguidice & Matt Barton (2009), Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time, p. 197, Focal Press, ISBN0-240-81146-1
^Thomas, Donald A. Jr. (2005). "–1975–". Archived from the original on March 12, 2006. Retrieved February 17, 2006.
^Cassidy, William (May 6, 2002). "Gun Fight". GameSpy. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
