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1976 in video games — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-10-19T06:39:19.185Z
SHA-256 of the archived text: 8dd76381707abd099d09f67678b16508f98dc7c4876c319699223027287419ac
Stable URL of this page: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_81ab72efa331

How to cite

1976 in video games — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_81ab72efa331 (Metraipolis archive dc_81ab72efa331, sha256 8dd76381707abd099d09f67678b16508f98dc7c4876c319699223027287419ac)

BibTeX

@misc{dc81ab72efa331,
  title = {1976 in video games — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_81ab72efa331; sha256 8dd76381707abd099d09f67678b16508f98dc7c4876c319699223027287419ac},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

1976 was a mixed year for the expansion of the video game industry. While the consumer market in the United States for dedicated home consoles saw significant growth, the coin-operated video game market saw a decline despite individual hits. The year also marked the availability of some of the first computer game software for microcomputers, growing out of the hobbyist market. In the U.S coin-operated games market, video games were largely stalled due to the reemergence of pinball as a popular category. Licensed tables like Bally’s Wizard (1975) and the creation of successful tables utilizing solid-state electronics allowed pinball to outpace video games. Smaller companies – particularly those who relied on the cocktail table market – failed to keep pace and many new games were not successful. Several of the top earning games of the year were the same as those of the year prior with only a few standout releases such as Sea Wolf. Home consoles saw an explosion in interest in the U.S. after the successful 1975 Holiday season. Established companies like Atari and Magnavox created additional models sold throughout the year. New companies to the business adopted pre-made chips to create their own consoles, most prominently the General Instrument AY-3-8500 “Pong on a chip”. The most successful and lasting of these competitors was Coleco Industries who managed to outsell all their competition with their Telstar line of consoles. In Japan, the availability and development of dedicated console chips spurred the domestic market. The end of 1976 also saw the release of the first programmable home system with interchangeable ROM cartridges, Fairchild’s Video Entertainment System, the first console of the second generation. Computer games continued to be shared via timesharing networks on mainframe systems at institutions and universities through this period. The most significant game introduced in 1976 was Adventure, the origin of the interactive fiction genre – which in turn led to action adventure games. Adventure was distributed via the ARPANET which allowed its influence to reach not only locations across the United States but into Europe through the nascent Internet. The PLATO network also featured advances in interactive experiences, including sophisticated role-playing games both single and multiplayer. Microcomputers created for electronics enthusiasts proliferated after the introduction of the Altair 8800 in 1975. Several companies sold commercial game software targeted at hobbyists building computer kits. Many of these were adaptations of circulating BASIC games like Star Trek (1971) and others were made for specific computer addons – usually graphics boards. The software market for early microcomputers was largely based on trading rather than purchasing programs – which prompted Bill Gates to pen his famous An Open Letter to Hobbyists. In Japan, video games took on greater importance in the coin-operated market as Sega, Taito, and Namco transition

Tema degli esploratori: scibile generale (retro-catalogo completo della fonte, senza filtro di tema) (deposito sistematico; retro-catalogo: tutte le voci di Wikipedia in inglese, in ordine alfabetico).
Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «1976 in video games» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games
Wikidata Q2665448: «overview of video gaming-related events during the year of 1976» (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2665448
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_video_games?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1377657866, consultata il 2026-10-19T06:30:22.493Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: bb06145dc8f1cabb852b806168ece7526b89086419b1f8cfd8d52b7c90563b32