Space Odyssey: The Long Journey of Spacewar!

From MIT to Computer Labs Around the World

Abstract

Although Spacewar! is credited with inspiring the arcade videogame industry, little is recorded about the game outside its origins. It has been assumed that Spacewar! spread rapidly between computer labs and across computer platforms, but no systematic survey of its actual distribution and use has ever been attempted. Based on records and accounts from computer labs from 1962 to 1972, the authors propose a model wherein Spacewar! spread slowly, tied directly to the development of the interactive computer display industry around which communities of players developed, spreading more rapidly from 1967 on with the introduction of large numbers of CRTs.