Rare original two-player edition of the Computer Space arcade video game manufactured by Nutting Associates and released in July 1973, two years after the original one-player edition released by Syzygy Engineering, the company that evolved into Atari, made history by becoming the first arcade video game ever created and the first commercially available video game. The game is enclosed in its original futuristic green sparkle (metallic flake) fiberglass cabinet, the only color option issued for this version, and approximately measures 29.5˝ x 66.5˝ x 32˝, with the back bearing the Nutting Association parts label, which reads: “Model No. 724C, Serial No. 30644.” The front control panel features a 25-cent quarter slot, a coin return button, a red ‘Start Game’ button, a green “Two Player Operation” button, and two original rotational joysticks topped with red “Fire Missile” buttons. The game’s simple gameplay instructions, printed beneath the monitor, read as follows:
1. Insert quarter; press two-player if desired; press start button. (Two-player option must be selected before start button is pressed.)
2. In one-player operation, player one is pitted against the computer-controlled saucer.
3. In two-player operation, player one and player two are pitted against each other.
4. In one-player operation, outscore computer-controlled saucer for extended play.
The cabinet is in fine condition, with some slight scuffing and scratching to the body; the machine itself lights up, and the screen is functional. Original working 2-player Computer Space arcades are practically unobtainable and very rarely offered for public sale, with this example all the more impressive for its immaculate cabinet and original parts.
A coin-operated derivative of the 1962 computer game Spacewar!, the original one-player Computer Space made its official public debut at the Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo, which was held at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on October 15-17, 1971. Syzygy founders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney were thrilled with the early response, as was their manufacturer, Bill Nutting of Mountain View, California, whose company Nutting Associates greenlit initial production sometime in November or December, and then full production near the end of January 1972.
The ultimate sales tally was modest, but the game’s success led to a two-player sequel (offered here), and the game’s telltale cabinet even made cameos in the 1973 film Soylent Green (marking the first appearance of a video game in a movie) and Steven Spielberg's 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws. After parting ways with Nutting after the release of the original Computer Space, Bushnell and Dabney sought to incorporate Syzygy Engineering but learned that the name already existed in California. Inspired by the Japanese game Go, they changed the company name to Atari and ignited the video game revolution with PONG (1972), Home PONG (1975), and the Atari 2600 console (1977).
