Space Invaders-0.6.1 Installer.exe (750 KB) - Program executable with installer.
Space Invaders-0.6.1 Source.zip (870 KB) - Complete Visual C++ 6.0 project.
Space Invaders-0.6.1.zip (650 KB) - Program executable in zip archive.

If you experience an error message about msvcr70.dll please extract and put this file in windows/system32 for win 2000/XP or windows/system for win 98/ME.

Not many people know that Mr Nishikado, who wrote the original Space Invaders, actually based it on a real occurrence in 1977. It was Christmas Eve and what happened was a load of Japanese schoolkids, sitting waiting for Santa to appear in the sky above Hokkaido, saw row upon row of aliens advancing slowly from Venus. The clever kids realised the threat to Earth and quickly cobbled together a laser blaster from the hubcap, spark-plugs and battery of a parked car. They moved left and right, blasting aliens out of the sky. After about four waves, the aliens gave up and the Earth was saved.

The next morning (Xmas Day) the kids were rewarded with extra presents and figgy pudding. And that's how it happened.

Backed by a thudding bass beat, dozens of invaders from another world descended on our planet in 1978. Within months, Space Invaders was one of the hottest fads on the globe, helping propel the video arcade into a multi-billion dollar industry.

The invasion began in Japan. Programmer Toshihiro Nishikado took the classic sci-fi riff of alien invasion and transported it to the video screen. The otherworlders, arranged in a tight row and column formation, marched left and right across the screen, dropping down one level each time they hit the side. You controlled a lone laser base, defending the planet by firing back at the hostile armies. You could also move left and right, using four convenient shields to play a dangerous game of fire and retreat as the aliens unleashed their own laser assault.

As the invaders were knocked out one by one, their march grew faster and faster, until a lone invader sped across the screen. If you managed to hit them all, a new wave of invaders would take to the sky. But if the baddies hit ground zero, it was game over for you and for the Earth.

When Taito released Space Invaders in Nishikado’s homeland, the game caused a national furor. Hundreds of thousands of Space Invaders machines were produced, and the game’s popularity caused a shortage of 100-Yen coins. When restaurants complained that customers were playing instead of eating, Taito simply supplied them with sit-down cocktail cabinets, further fueling the Space Invaders hysteria.

Space Invaders eventually lost its arcade supremacy to later hits like Asteroids, Centipede and Pac-Man, but these games might never have made the big time without Space Invaders’ breakout success. The energy and fan mania that Space Invaders brought to the arcade were instrumental in creating the video game business as we know it today, and its legacy lives on in every space shooter that has arrived in its cosmic wake.

Release History

1978 - Space Invaders
1980 - Space Invaders II (Deluxe Space Invaders)
1985 - Return of the Invaders
1991 - Super Space Invaders (Majestic Twelve)
1995 - Space Invaders '95

from Stellar Base #78

Q. Space Invaders doesn't run on my computer. What's wrong?
A. Space Invaders requires a version of Windows (98/ME/NT/2000/XP should all be ok) with an OpenGL compatible 3D graphic card. You may need to download the latest version of your graphic card driver on the manufacturer site.

Q. Space Invaders runs slow on my computer. What's wrong?
A. Space Invaders requires a 3D accelerator card to yield acceptable frame rates. If you do not have a 3D accelerator card it *may* still run in software mode, however it will run at an incredibly low frame rate and render the game unplayable. If you know for a fact you have a 3D accelerator, then chances are it's your machine specs. Space Invaders runs great on a PII + GeForce 2 MX.

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