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Events

• On 19 March, Kagemasa Kozuki establishes Konami Industry Co., Ltd..^[1] Formerly the owner of a jukebox repair/rental business in Osaka, Japan, Kozuki launches Konami to manufacture amusement machines for video arcades.^[2]
• In May, Hudson Soft Ltd. is established in Sapporo, Japan for the purpose of marketing telecommunications devices and art photographs.^[3]
• Though, not a big hit in reality, the Computer Space game make appearances in the films Soylent Green and Sleeper.

• Mazewar is developed for the Imlac PDS-1 computer. Mazewar is perhaps the first First Person Shooter and one of the earliest examples of a network game.
• Empire versions I, II and III are developed for the PLATO system by John Daleske. Possibly the first team game ever, the first fifty-player game ever, and numerous other innovations.
• Silas Warner takes over PLATO Empire version I and renames it Civilization.
• Lemonade Stand is developed for the first time.

Notable releases

• Midway Manufacturing Co. licenses Pong from Atari to produce Winner,^[4] their first video game arcade game.^[1]
• Atari releases Gotcha, the first commercial maze game, to video arcades.^[1]
• Atari releases PONG Doubles to video arcades. A variation on the wildly successful PONG, PONG Doubles is the first video arcade game to include four player gameplay.^[5]
• Williams Electronics releases Paddle Ball, an unlicensed duplicate of Pong, as their first arcade game.^[6]

References