Asteroids (video game)

Asteroids is a landmark multidirectional shooter video game released in 1979. Developed and published by Atari, Inc., it became a defining title of the golden age of arcade games.

In this game, players pilot a triangular spaceship through a dense field of floating asteroids. The primary objective is to destroy these asteroids and flying saucers using a laser. Players must simultaneously avoid colliding with rocks or being hit by enemy fire. As the game progresses, the difficulty increases by raising the number of asteroids on the screen. This creates a continuous cycle of escalating tension and skill requirements.

Gameplay relies on a physics model involving thrust and inertia. When a player presses the thrust button, the ship accelerates in a specific direction. Because of inertia, the ship continues to drift in that direction even after the player stops thrusting. To change course, the player must apply thrust in a different direction. The game also features a "hyperspace" mechanic. This allows the ship to disappear and reappear at a random location on the screen. However, this move is risky because the ship might reappear directly on top of an asteroid or self-destruct.

The asteroids behave according to specific rules of fragmentation. A level begins with several large asteroids drifting across the screen. When a player shoots a large asteroid, it breaks into smaller pieces. These smaller asteroids move faster than the larger ones, making them harder to hit. Because they are more difficult to target, smaller asteroids are worth more points. The game world uses a wrapping screen effect. If an object like an asteroid drifts off the top edge, it reappears at the bottom. This continues across both the horizontal and vertical axes of the display.

Players must also contend with two distinct types of flying saucers. The "big saucer" appears periodically and fires shots in random, unpredictable directions. The "small saucer" is much more aggressive and fires frequently at the player's ship. Once a player reaches a score of 40,000, only the small saucer appears. As the score climbs higher, the small saucer's aim becomes increasingly precise. To prevent players from waiting too long between actions, a steadily decreasing timer shortens the intervals between saucer attacks. A "heartbeat" soundtrack also plays, which quickens as the game progresses to build excitement.

The development of Asteroids was a collaborative effort led by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg. The project grew from an unfinished game called Cosmos, which featured an indestructible asteroid. Logg and Rains decided to refine the concept so that players could actually destroy the rocks. The game's mechanics were derived from earlier titles like Spacewar!, Computer Space, and Space Invaders. To ensure high image quality for precise aiming, Logg suggested using an XY monitor. This resulted in a vector display, where graphics are composed of bright lines rather than pixels. The hardware included a MOS 6502 processor and a specialized vector graphics processor called QuadraScan.

Asteroids was a massive commercial success for Atari. The company sold 47,840 upright cabinets and 8,725 cocktail cabinets. In total, Atari manufactured 76,312 units, including 21,394 Asteroids Deluxe units. The game was so popular that it displaced Space Invaders as the top game in the United States. It became the highest-grossing arcade video game of 1980 in the U.S. Atari earned an estimated $150 million from the game, while arcade operators earned approximately $500 million from coin drops. The game's popularity even extended to home consoles. The Atari 2600 version sold over three million copies.

Despite its success, the game contained a notable technical exploit known as "lurking." Because saucers could not aim across screen boundaries, players could stay near the edge of the screen. By keeping only one or two asteroids in play, players could shoot across the boundary to destroy saucers indefinitely. This allowed players to accumulate points with very little risk. Arcade operators complained about the loss of revenue, leading Atari to issue a patched EPROM. This event influenced how companies like Atari changed their development and testing policies to prevent similar exploits in future games. Asteroids remains a highly influential title that directly inspired games like Defender and Gravitar.