5 of the most popular arcade games of all time

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Which ones did you play the most?

Since the days of Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Gauntlet, Double Dragon, Street Fighter II, and more, people have been waiting in line with quarters for 90 seconds of great arcade action. In the 1980s, home video game consoles couldn't match the graphics of games like Dragon's Quest or OutRun, which let you ride in a car. Arcades were the place to be, and many kids spent most of their free time there.

Across the years, dozens of different arcade machines have carpeted the floors of tens of thousands worldwide, but which of them was the most popular? Revenue earned by the player is difficult to ascertain. Individual establishments don't keep track of every coin put into every machine. Still, they surely know which ones are filling up their coin banks more than others and, in many cases, end up investing in many units. During the heyday of arcade video games, when individual hardware units could cost as much as $4,000, and there were reportedly 10,000 such establishments in North America by 1982's end, manufacturers made a lot of money off this hefty outlay of capital.

The most accurate way to determine which arcade game was the most popular is by actual hardware units sold, so we've done precisely that-rounded up the ten arcade games that sold the most individual units.

What is your favorite classic arcade game?

Pac-Man

When Namco's arcade classic, Puck Man, first hit the scene in 1980, the P was changed to an F as a preventative step against defacement by players in the United States and elsewhere. The was renamed Pac-Man for foreign sales. Outside of Japan, which was made by Namco America and published by Midway Games, the game was a huge hit. It led to several sequels, thousands of licensed products, and even a Saturday morning cartoon.

Between 1980 and 1982, arcades sold an estimated 400,000 copies of the original Pac-Man cabinet game, which retailed for around $2,400. This marked the beginning of a successful Pac-Man video game series franchise. Over $14 billion has been made from various versions of Pac-Man, making it the best-selling arcade game of all time. That's a number worthy of a puck, for sure.

2. Space Invaders

The earliest game on the list, released in 1978, is widely credited for ushering in the modern era of video, which up until that point, had been located chiefly in pubs, restaurants, and diners. However, Space Invaders achieved iconic status. Three hundred and sixty thousand first-generation arcade units were purchased for between two and three thousand dollars.

3. Street Fighter II

Even though the majority of the top 10 hardware units date back to the heyday of arcade gaming, the arrival of Street Fighter II in 1991 gave the industry a much-needed boost after it had lost many customers to home video game systems. Over two hundred thousand hardware pieces ($1900 each) were sold to arcades worldwide for The World Warrior and The Champion Edition.

4. Donkey Kong

Jump Man, the game's protagonist in Donkey Kong from 1981, had to start somewhere, and after giving up his plumbing company, joining forces with his brother Luigi, and saving Princess Peach for the millionth time, he went on to do great things. A total of 132,000 arcade systems were sold shortly after Mario and Donkey Kong's initial releases, paving the way for what is now a multibillion-dollar industry for Nintendo.

5. Ms. Pac-Man

Crazy Otto was initially released in 1981 by General Computer as a modification kit for Pac-Man. After getting into legal trouble with Atari, GCC showed the game to Midway, Pac-Man's North American distributor, before its February 1982 release. The names Super Pac-Man, Miss Pac-Man, and Mrs. Pac-Man were all considered for the game's title before the final name was selected since it was simpler to say. Even though Namco's president, Masaya Nakamura, gave his approval, the business received the same royalties on each cabinet as they had with Pac-Man, and the game was released in Japan. Since 125,000 Ms. Pac-Man arcade machines were sold before the original cabinet's production was halted in 1988, it's safe to assume that they were pleased with their royalties.