.gif)
Defender (game)
Encyclopedia
Defender is an arcade
video game developed released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game
featuring two-dimensional (2D) graphics
, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis
, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis's first video game project, and drew inspiration from Space Invaders
and Asteroids. Williams planned to display the game at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) trade show, though development delays resulted in the team working on the game up until the show started.
Defender was commercially successful, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best selling arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the video game industry, as well as one of the most difficult video games. Defender was ported to numerous platforms, inspired the development of other games, and was followed by sequels and many imitations.
Defender was Williams Electronics' first attempt at developing a new video game; the company's earlier game was a Pong clone. The popularity of coin operated arcade games in 1979 spurred the company to shift its focus from pinball games to arcade games. The company chose Eugene Jarvis, who had a successful record of Williams pinball games, to head development. Larry DeMar
, Sam Dicker, and Paul Dussault assisted Jarvis. At the time, Williams had a small staff and the management was unfamiliar with technology used for its electronic games. As a result, the staff was afforded a large amount of creative freedom.
's Space Invaders
and Atari's Asteroids. First inspired by Space Invaders, he created a similar game with new gameplay mechanics. After spending a few weeks on the design, however, the team abandoned the idea, believing it lacked enjoyment. Development then shifted to emulating Atari's Asteroids, but hardware differences between Asteroids and Defenders proposed specifications were problematic. Asteroids displays vector graphics
on a special monitor, while the staff planned to use pixel graphics on a conventional monitor. The team experimented with recreating the game with pixel graphics, but also abandoned it because they felt the gameplay lacked enjoyment and visual appeal.
Believing their first attempts to be too derivative, the developers held brain storming sessions. During a session, they agreed that one of Asteroidss favorable elements was its wrapping
effect.In Asteroids, when the player navigates the ship to the edge of the screen, it will disappear into the side and reappear on the opposing edge of the screen. They felt a game that allowed the player to fly off the screen would be exciting, and decided to create a game world larger than the screen displayed. The game's environment was made longer than the screen, with the visible area scrolling horizontally. Expanding on the idea, they envisioned a version of Space Invaders rotated 90 degrees
. By changing the orientation of Space Invaders design, the ship moved up and down while flying horizontally. Large asteroids, an element from Asteroids, were then added to the game world, but were later removed because the staff felt it lacked enjoyment. Jarvis intended the screen to only scroll from left to right; fellow Williams employee Steve Ritchie
, however, convinced him the game should be able to scroll in either direction.
After six months of development, the team felt the game had not made enough progress. They examined other games and concluded that survival was a necessary component to implement. To achieve this, they devised enemies to present a threat, the first of which was the "Lander". Jarvis enjoyed violent, action entertainment, and wanted the game to have those elements. However, he felt the action should have a reasonable objective. Inspired by the 1960s television show The Defenders, Jarvis titled the game Defender, reasoning that the title helped justify the violence. He added astronauts to expand on the space theme and give players something to defend while they shot enemies. The element of flying over a planetscape was added after a brainstorming session between Jarvis and Ritchie. The landscape is depicted as a line only a pixel wide, primarily because the hardware was not powerful enough to generate anything more detailed.
to generate unique explosions for destroyed enemies. The new elements re-invigorated Jarvis, who felt the project began to show promise.
Development then shifted focus to the enemies. Landers were given the ability to capture humans, and a new enemy was devised from the mechanic: "Mutants", Landers that successfully abduct an astronaut. The Mutants added a rescue element to the game that Jarvis believed made it more interesting to players and encouraged them to continue playing. The element of making a "comeback" from a dire situation was applied to the planet as well. Jarvis felt it mimicked the ups and downs of real life. "Bombers", enemies which release floating bombs on the screen, were added next. More enemies were added to create different gameplay elements. "Swarmers" and "Pods" were designed to attack the spaceship as opposed to the astronauts. "Baiters" were included to add pressure to the player by preventing them from lingering. The enemies quickly follow the spaceship to collide with it, and were based on a similar enemy in Asteroids.
By September, the game was still unfinished, and almost every Williams programmer assisted in meeting the deadline for the AMOA trade show. The evening before the trade show, the arcade cabinets were delivered for display. The developers, however, forgot to create an attract mode
—an automated sequence designed to entice an audience to play—for the game, and began working on it that night. Early the next morning, the team created the final erasable programmable read only memory
chips for the mode and installed them in cabinets. The chips, however, did not work and the designers made additional attempts to correct the problem. Once the attract mode was operational, Jarvis and the team returned to their homes to prepare for the show. After the show, the developers expanded the game to allow users to play indefinitely. The display model featured five levels, which the team felt was more than enough because of the game's difficulty. Most Williams employees could not progress past the third level and Jarvis's score of 60,000 points seemed unbeatable to them. The developers decided it was best to be prepared for players that might exceed their expectations and added more levels that repeated.
sound and pixel graphics
on a CRT monitor
. A Motorola 6809
central processing unit
handles the graphics and gameplay, while a Motorola 6800
microprocessor handles the audio. A pack of three AA batteries
provide power to save the game's settings and high scores when the machine is unplugged from an electrical outlet. The cabinet artwork is stenciled on the wooden frame.
Development started by focusing on the game's hardware. The staff first debated what type of monitor to use: black and white or color. They reasoned that using advanced technology would better establish them as good designers, and chose a color monitor. The developers estimated the game would require four colors, but instead chose a monitor that could display each pixel in 16 colors. At the time, the designers believed that was more than they would ever need for a game. The monitor's resolution is 320×256, an expansion from the then industry standard of 256×256. The staff believed that the wider screen provided a better aspect ratio and would improve the game's presentation. Video games at the time relied on hardware to animate graphics, but the developers decided to use software to handle animation and programmed the game in assembly language
. The switch allowed them to display more on-screen objects at a lower cost.
The game's control scheme uses a two-way joystick and five buttons. Jarvis designed the controls to emulate both Space Invaders and Asteroids simultaneously. The player's left hand manipulates the joystick similar to Space Invaders and the right hand pushes buttons similar to Asteroids. The button functions also use a similar layout to Asteroidss, with the button to shoot projectiles and accelerate on the far right and left, respectively. Jarvis reasoned that players were accustomed to the control schemes of past games, and felt altering past designs would prove difficult for them.
1 billion. Williams employee Larry Demar was surprised at the game's popularity, stating that it was the only game he'd seen able to earn that quantity of quarters. Six months after its release, the game was one of the top earners in the United States video game industry. Mark Stearny of JoyStik magazine called Defender the most successful game in 1981, commenting that it out performed Pac-Man
.
The game garnered praise for its graphics, audio, and gameplay features. Cuciz lauded Defenders challenging gameplay, commenting that it is representative of what other games should be. He described the graphics as "beautiful", citing the varied sprites and flashing explosions. Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice of Gamasutra
stated the audio-visuals and gameplay's depth balanced the excessive difficulty. They praised the game's "catch and rescue" feature, as well as the minimap. Cuciz also praised the minimap, stating that the game is impossible without it and that it allows players to plan strategies. Author John Sellers praised the audio-visuals and the connection between the game's plot and gameplay. At the time of its release, Stan Jarocki, director of marketing at then competitor Midway Manufacturing
,Williams Electronics purchased Midway in 1988, and later transferred its games to the Midway Games
subsidiary. described the game as "amazing". In 2008, Guinness World Records
listed it as the number six arcade game in technical, creative, and cultural impact. That same year, Retro Gamer
rated the game number ten on their list of "Top 25 Arcade Games", citing it as a technical achievement and a difficult title with addictive gameplay. Also in 2008, Edge
ranked Defender the sixth best game from the 1980s. The editors described its design as very "elegant" despite a lack of narrative and characters.
Defender is often described as one of the most difficult games in the industry. GameDaily rated Defender the ninth most difficult game, citing the attack and rescue gameplay. Author Steven L. Kent
called it "one of the toughest games in arcade history". He also stated that novice players typically are able to play only a few seconds, and that enthusiasts saw proficiency at the game as a "badge of honor". GameSpy
's David Cuciz echoed similar comments. Sellers described Defenders difficulty as "humbling", saying that few could play it with proficiency. He further stated, however, that players would continue to play despite the difficulty. Author David Ellis attributes the game's success to its challenging design. Its difficulty is often attributed to its complex control scheme. Edge magazine called Defender "one of the most difficult-to-master" games, describing its controls as "daunting". Retro Gamer editor Craig Grannell called the game and controls "ruthless" and "complex" respectively.
s to extend the length of their play time. One bug, related to how the game keeps track of scoring, allows players earn a large number of "extra lives". Players can then use the extra lives to leave the game unattended while they rest. Other bugs allow the ship to avoid damage from the enemies, also prolonging the length of play. The game has been referenced in music: Manilla Road
's song "Defender" on their 1982 album Metal, Buckner & Garcia
's song "The Defender" on their 1982 album Pac-Man Fever
, and the Beastie Boys
' song "Body Movin'
" on their 1998 album Hello Nasty
.
Professor Jim Whitehead listed Defender as the first horizontally scrolling shooting game, and describes it as a breakthrough title for its use of full 2D motion, multiple goals, and complex gameplay that provides players with several methods to play. James Hague of Dadgum Games called Defender a landmark title from the 1980s, and credits it as the first horizontally scrolling game.Though Defender has been credited as the first horizontally scrolling game, other games (like Lunar Lander
) preceded it. Stearny said that the game's use of scrolling helped remove design limitations associated with the screen. Cuciz stated that Defenders use of scrolling introduce the "first true 'gaming environment'". He further said that though the game's minimap feature had been introduced before, Defender integrated it into the gameplay in a more essential manner. Stearny described it as the most important space game in the early 1980s. He commented that its realism and technological advances pushed developers to create more popular games, citing Gorf
and Phoenix as examples. Vince listed the game as a classic title that introduced new technology, specifically scrolling. Ellis stated that prior to Defender, companies designed video games to have a balanced challenge. They believed games should be easy enough to attract players, but difficult enough to limit play time to a few minutes; anything too challenging would dissuade players. Loguidice and Barton commented that Defenders success, along with Robotron: 2084
, illustrated that video game enthusiasts were ready for more difficult games, which spurred developers to create more complex game designs.
Jarvis's contributions to the game's development are often cited among his accolades. Author John Vince considered him as one of the originators of "high-action" and "reflex-based" arcade games, citing Defenders gameplay among other games designed by Jarvis. Ellis stated that Jarvis established himself as an early "hard-core" designer with Defender. In 2007, IGN listed Eugene Jarvis as a top game designer whose titles (Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Smash TV
) have influenced the video game industry. Barton and Loguidice stated that the game helped establish Williams and Jarvis as key figures in the arcade game industry. Sellers echoed similar comments. After the success of Defender, Williams expanded their business by building a new facility and hired more employees. Before the expansion, Jarvis could work in isolation. But the influx of people created an environment he was unhappy with. He left Williams along with DeMar to found their own development company, Vid Kidz
. The company served as a consulting firm to Williams and developed two games for them.
, and developed it as a sequel to Defender. It features new elements and improved the original's performance. Home ports of Stargate were released under the title Defender II for trademark purposes. In 1991, Midway released the arcade game Strike Force
. It features gameplay similar to Defender, but with additional options and more contemporary visuals. Jarvis and DeMar assisted with the game, which was programmed by Todd Allen and Eric Pribyl. Subsequent sequels were released on home and handheld consoles: the 1995 Defender 2000 and the 2002 Defender. The 2002 release features three-dimensional (3D) graphics
and behind the ship view opposed to the 2D side view.
Several home console and computer games like Defense Command, Repton, Dropzone, and Protector II copied Defenders design, while other built upon it. For example, Bob Whitehead's Chopper Command
for the Atari 2600 and Dan Gorlin's Choplifter
for the Apple II
mimics Defenders gameplay and features. Video game designer Jeff Minter
based several of his games on Defenders design. Magazines Edge and Retro Gamer commented that most official and unofficial ports failed to accurately emulate the arcade's gameplay, citing Planetoid, an unofficial version for the BBC Micro
, as the only home version to succeed. Grannell commented that even fairly accurate home conversion like the Commodore 64 port lacked the arcade's polish. Versions like the Atari 2600 port distinctly changed the gameplay and graphics to comply with the system's specifications. Barton and Loguidice commented that the Atari 2600 version, along with Space Invaders and Asteroids, helped the system gain a dominant market share. The success of the arcade game prompted Williams to release a pinball version in 1982. The pinball game features many elements from the original game: sound effects, enemies, waves, and weapons. One feature meant to emulate the reverse function of the arcade was a forerunner of the outlane "kickback" function found in contemporary pinball games. Williams produced less than 400 units, which have become rare machines. In 2000, a web-based version of Defender, along with nine other classic arcade games, was published on Shockwave.com. Four years later, Midway Games
also launched a website featuring the Shockwave versions. The game has been included in several multi-platform compilations: the 1996 Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
, the 2000 Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits
, and the 2003 Midway Arcade Treasures
.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
video game developed released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
featuring two-dimensional (2D) graphics
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis
Eugene Jarvis
Eugene Peyton Jarvis is a game designer and programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Atari and video games for Williams Electronics. Most notable amongst his works are the seminal arcade video games Defender and Robotron: 2084 in the early 1980s, and the Cruis'n series of driving games...
, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis's first video game project, and drew inspiration from Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
and Asteroids. Williams planned to display the game at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) trade show, though development delays resulted in the team working on the game up until the show started.
Defender was commercially successful, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best selling arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the video game industry, as well as one of the most difficult video games. Defender was ported to numerous platforms, inspired the development of other games, and was followed by sequels and many imitations.
Gameplay
Defender is a two-dimensional, side-scrolling shooting game set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a space ship as it navigates the terrain, flying either to the left or right. A joystick controls the ship's elevation, and five buttons control its horizontal direction and weapons. The object is to destroy alien invaders, while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Humans that are successfully abducted return as mutants that attack the ship. Defeating the aliens allows the player to progress to the next level. Failing to protect the astronauts, however, causes the planet to explode and the level to become populated with mutants. Surviving the waves of mutants results in the restoration of the planet. Players are allotted three chances (lives) to progress through the game and are able to earn more by reaching certain scoring benchmarks. A life is lost if the ship comes into contact with an enemy or its projectiles. After exhausting all lives, the game ends.Development
Larry DeMar
Lawrence E. DeMar is a video game and pinball designer and software programmer. He is known as one of the co-designers of the classic arcade game Defender ....
, Sam Dicker, and Paul Dussault assisted Jarvis. At the time, Williams had a small staff and the management was unfamiliar with technology used for its electronic games. As a result, the staff was afforded a large amount of creative freedom.
Initial development
Space was a popular setting for video games at the time, and Jarvis felt the abstract setting would help obscure simple graphics that lacked realism. Initially, Jarvis spent 3–4 months developing color variations of TaitoTaito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
's Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
and Atari's Asteroids. First inspired by Space Invaders, he created a similar game with new gameplay mechanics. After spending a few weeks on the design, however, the team abandoned the idea, believing it lacked enjoyment. Development then shifted to emulating Atari's Asteroids, but hardware differences between Asteroids and Defenders proposed specifications were problematic. Asteroids displays vector graphics
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
on a special monitor, while the staff planned to use pixel graphics on a conventional monitor. The team experimented with recreating the game with pixel graphics, but also abandoned it because they felt the gameplay lacked enjoyment and visual appeal.
Believing their first attempts to be too derivative, the developers held brain storming sessions. During a session, they agreed that one of Asteroidss favorable elements was its wrapping
Wrapping (graphics)
In computer graphics, wrapping is the process of limiting a position to an area. A good example of wrapping is wallpaper, a single pattern repeated indefinitely over a wall...
effect.In Asteroids, when the player navigates the ship to the edge of the screen, it will disappear into the side and reappear on the opposing edge of the screen. They felt a game that allowed the player to fly off the screen would be exciting, and decided to create a game world larger than the screen displayed. The game's environment was made longer than the screen, with the visible area scrolling horizontally. Expanding on the idea, they envisioned a version of Space Invaders rotated 90 degrees
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
. By changing the orientation of Space Invaders design, the ship moved up and down while flying horizontally. Large asteroids, an element from Asteroids, were then added to the game world, but were later removed because the staff felt it lacked enjoyment. Jarvis intended the screen to only scroll from left to right; fellow Williams employee Steve Ritchie
Steve Ritchie
Steven Scott Ritchie is an acclaimed pinball and video game designer. He has been called "The Master of Flow" by pinball aficionados due to the emphasis in his designs on ball speed, loops, and the like....
, however, convinced him the game should be able to scroll in either direction.
After six months of development, the team felt the game had not made enough progress. They examined other games and concluded that survival was a necessary component to implement. To achieve this, they devised enemies to present a threat, the first of which was the "Lander". Jarvis enjoyed violent, action entertainment, and wanted the game to have those elements. However, he felt the action should have a reasonable objective. Inspired by the 1960s television show The Defenders, Jarvis titled the game Defender, reasoning that the title helped justify the violence. He added astronauts to expand on the space theme and give players something to defend while they shot enemies. The element of flying over a planetscape was added after a brainstorming session between Jarvis and Ritchie. The landscape is depicted as a line only a pixel wide, primarily because the hardware was not powerful enough to generate anything more detailed.
Later develoment
By July, development was behind schedule and Jarvis's superior began to pressure him to finish the game in time for an upcoming trade show, the AMOA, in September. Jarvis spent several weeks creating the astronauts, which his boss felt should be omitted if the process didn't speed up. The pressure frustrated him to the point he considered resigning. Around that time, a new programmer named Sam Dicker was hired. He assisted programming the game and added visual and audio effects. For example, Dicker implemented a particle effect algorithmAlgorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
to generate unique explosions for destroyed enemies. The new elements re-invigorated Jarvis, who felt the project began to show promise.
Development then shifted focus to the enemies. Landers were given the ability to capture humans, and a new enemy was devised from the mechanic: "Mutants", Landers that successfully abduct an astronaut. The Mutants added a rescue element to the game that Jarvis believed made it more interesting to players and encouraged them to continue playing. The element of making a "comeback" from a dire situation was applied to the planet as well. Jarvis felt it mimicked the ups and downs of real life. "Bombers", enemies which release floating bombs on the screen, were added next. More enemies were added to create different gameplay elements. "Swarmers" and "Pods" were designed to attack the spaceship as opposed to the astronauts. "Baiters" were included to add pressure to the player by preventing them from lingering. The enemies quickly follow the spaceship to collide with it, and were based on a similar enemy in Asteroids.
By September, the game was still unfinished, and almost every Williams programmer assisted in meeting the deadline for the AMOA trade show. The evening before the trade show, the arcade cabinets were delivered for display. The developers, however, forgot to create an attract mode
Attract mode
Attract mode is an arcade game's screen display shown when no one is playing the game. The main purpose of the attract mode is to attract passers-by to play the game, although it might also have the side effect to act like a screensaver.-Summary:...
—an automated sequence designed to entice an audience to play—for the game, and began working on it that night. Early the next morning, the team created the final erasable programmable read only memory
EPROM
An EPROM , or erasable programmable read only memory, is a type of memory chip that retains its data when its power supply is switched off. In other words, it is non-volatile. It is an array of floating-gate transistors individually programmed by an electronic device that supplies higher voltages...
chips for the mode and installed them in cabinets. The chips, however, did not work and the designers made additional attempts to correct the problem. Once the attract mode was operational, Jarvis and the team returned to their homes to prepare for the show. After the show, the developers expanded the game to allow users to play indefinitely. The display model featured five levels, which the team felt was more than enough because of the game's difficulty. Most Williams employees could not progress past the third level and Jarvis's score of 60,000 points seemed unbeatable to them. The developers decided it was best to be prepared for players that might exceed their expectations and added more levels that repeated.
Hardware
The game features amplified monauralMonaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
sound and pixel graphics
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
on a CRT monitor
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
. A Motorola 6809
Motorola 6809
The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit microprocessor CPU from Motorola, designed by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced 1978...
central processing unit
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
handles the graphics and gameplay, while a Motorola 6800
Motorola 6800
The 6800 was an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips...
microprocessor handles the audio. A pack of three AA batteries
AA battery
An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
provide power to save the game's settings and high scores when the machine is unplugged from an electrical outlet. The cabinet artwork is stenciled on the wooden frame.
Development started by focusing on the game's hardware. The staff first debated what type of monitor to use: black and white or color. They reasoned that using advanced technology would better establish them as good designers, and chose a color monitor. The developers estimated the game would require four colors, but instead chose a monitor that could display each pixel in 16 colors. At the time, the designers believed that was more than they would ever need for a game. The monitor's resolution is 320×256, an expansion from the then industry standard of 256×256. The staff believed that the wider screen provided a better aspect ratio and would improve the game's presentation. Video games at the time relied on hardware to animate graphics, but the developers decided to use software to handle animation and programmed the game in assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
. The switch allowed them to display more on-screen objects at a lower cost.
The game's control scheme uses a two-way joystick and five buttons. Jarvis designed the controls to emulate both Space Invaders and Asteroids simultaneously. The player's left hand manipulates the joystick similar to Space Invaders and the right hand pushes buttons similar to Asteroids. The button functions also use a similar layout to Asteroidss, with the button to shoot projectiles and accelerate on the far right and left, respectively. Jarvis reasoned that players were accustomed to the control schemes of past games, and felt altering past designs would prove difficult for them.
Reception
Initially, the game slowly gained popularity. Defender did not attract much attention at the 1980 AMOA show. In retrospect, Jarvis believed many passersby were intimidated by its complexity. The game, however, was well received in arcades, and crowds gathered around the cabinet during its first nights of play testing. The success spurred Williams to release a cocktail version as well. Defender eventually became Williams' best selling arcade game, with over 55,000 units sold worldwide. By 2004, the game was a popular collector's item; the upright cabinets were common, while the cocktail models were more rare. Since its release, it has become one of the highest grossing arcade games ever, earning over US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 billion. Williams employee Larry Demar was surprised at the game's popularity, stating that it was the only game he'd seen able to earn that quantity of quarters. Six months after its release, the game was one of the top earners in the United States video game industry. Mark Stearny of JoyStik magazine called Defender the most successful game in 1981, commenting that it out performed Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
.
The game garnered praise for its graphics, audio, and gameplay features. Cuciz lauded Defenders challenging gameplay, commenting that it is representative of what other games should be. He described the graphics as "beautiful", citing the varied sprites and flashing explosions. Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice of Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
stated the audio-visuals and gameplay's depth balanced the excessive difficulty. They praised the game's "catch and rescue" feature, as well as the minimap. Cuciz also praised the minimap, stating that the game is impossible without it and that it allows players to plan strategies. Author John Sellers praised the audio-visuals and the connection between the game's plot and gameplay. At the time of its release, Stan Jarocki, director of marketing at then competitor Midway Manufacturing
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
,Williams Electronics purchased Midway in 1988, and later transferred its games to the Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
subsidiary. described the game as "amazing". In 2008, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
listed it as the number six arcade game in technical, creative, and cultural impact. That same year, Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
rated the game number ten on their list of "Top 25 Arcade Games", citing it as a technical achievement and a difficult title with addictive gameplay. Also in 2008, Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
ranked Defender the sixth best game from the 1980s. The editors described its design as very "elegant" despite a lack of narrative and characters.
Defender is often described as one of the most difficult games in the industry. GameDaily rated Defender the ninth most difficult game, citing the attack and rescue gameplay. Author Steven L. Kent
Steven L. Kent
Steven L. Kent is an American writer, known for both video game journalism and military science fiction novels. In 1993, Steven started work as a freelance journalist, writing monthly video game reviews for the Seattle Times...
called it "one of the toughest games in arcade history". He also stated that novice players typically are able to play only a few seconds, and that enthusiasts saw proficiency at the game as a "badge of honor". GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's David Cuciz echoed similar comments. Sellers described Defenders difficulty as "humbling", saying that few could play it with proficiency. He further stated, however, that players would continue to play despite the difficulty. Author David Ellis attributes the game's success to its challenging design. Its difficulty is often attributed to its complex control scheme. Edge magazine called Defender "one of the most difficult-to-master" games, describing its controls as "daunting". Retro Gamer editor Craig Grannell called the game and controls "ruthless" and "complex" respectively.
Impact and legacy
Players have competed to obtain the highest score at the game and the longest play time on a quarter. Competitive playing for the longest play time was popularized by Steve Juraszek from Illinois, who played Defender for over 16 and half hours in 1982. Though the authenticity of the record was questioned, the media attention spurred other players to attempt the same feat. Expert players exploited software bugSoftware bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s to extend the length of their play time. One bug, related to how the game keeps track of scoring, allows players earn a large number of "extra lives". Players can then use the extra lives to leave the game unattended while they rest. Other bugs allow the ship to avoid damage from the enemies, also prolonging the length of play. The game has been referenced in music: Manilla Road
Manilla Road
Manilla Road are an American heavy metal band from Wichita, Kansas, founded by lead guitarist Mark 'the Shark' Shelton .- Beginnings :...
's song "Defender" on their 1982 album Metal, Buckner & Garcia
Buckner & Garcia
Buckner & Garcia was a duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first collaboration was in 1980, when they wrote a novelty Christmas song, "Merry Christmas in the NFL", imagining Howard Cosell as Santa Claus...
's song "The Defender" on their 1982 album Pac-Man Fever
Pac-Man Fever (album)
Pac-Man Fever is a 1982 concept album recorded by Buckner & Garcia. It is also the name of the first song on that album. Each song on the album is about a different classic arcade game, and uses sound effects from that game. The album was released as an LP, a cassette, an 8-track tape, and later...
, and the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' song "Body Movin'
Body Movin'
"Body Movin" is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the second single from their fifth studio album Hello Nasty.-Track listing:CD single #"Body Movin'" – 3:09...
" on their 1998 album Hello Nasty
Hello Nasty
Hello Nasty is the fifth studio album by the Beastie Boys. It was released on July 14, 1998 via Capitol Records and sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart...
.
Professor Jim Whitehead listed Defender as the first horizontally scrolling shooting game, and describes it as a breakthrough title for its use of full 2D motion, multiple goals, and complex gameplay that provides players with several methods to play. James Hague of Dadgum Games called Defender a landmark title from the 1980s, and credits it as the first horizontally scrolling game.Though Defender has been credited as the first horizontally scrolling game, other games (like Lunar Lander
Lunar Lander (arcade game)
Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. Although not particularly successful, a vector-graphics generator was the impetus of Atari's most successful coin-operated game: Asteroids. The object of the game is to pilot a...
) preceded it. Stearny said that the game's use of scrolling helped remove design limitations associated with the screen. Cuciz stated that Defenders use of scrolling introduce the "first true 'gaming environment'". He further said that though the game's minimap feature had been introduced before, Defender integrated it into the gameplay in a more essential manner. Stearny described it as the most important space game in the early 1980s. He commented that its realism and technological advances pushed developers to create more popular games, citing Gorf
Gorf
Gorf is an arcade game released in 1981 by Midway Mfg., whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force". It is a multiple-mission fixed shooter with five distinct modes of play, essentially making it five games in one...
and Phoenix as examples. Vince listed the game as a classic title that introduced new technology, specifically scrolling. Ellis stated that prior to Defender, companies designed video games to have a balanced challenge. They believed games should be easy enough to attract players, but difficult enough to limit play time to a few minutes; anything too challenging would dissuade players. Loguidice and Barton commented that Defenders success, along with Robotron: 2084
Robotron: 2084
Robotron: 2084 is an arcade video game developed by Vid Kidz and released by Williams Electronics in 1982. It is a shooting game that features two-dimensional graphics. The game is set in the year 2084, in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans...
, illustrated that video game enthusiasts were ready for more difficult games, which spurred developers to create more complex game designs.
Jarvis's contributions to the game's development are often cited among his accolades. Author John Vince considered him as one of the originators of "high-action" and "reflex-based" arcade games, citing Defenders gameplay among other games designed by Jarvis. Ellis stated that Jarvis established himself as an early "hard-core" designer with Defender. In 2007, IGN listed Eugene Jarvis as a top game designer whose titles (Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Smash TV
Smash TV
Smash TV is a 1990 arcade game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams. Home versions were developed for various platforms and most were published by Acclaim Entertainment.-Description:...
) have influenced the video game industry. Barton and Loguidice stated that the game helped establish Williams and Jarvis as key figures in the arcade game industry. Sellers echoed similar comments. After the success of Defender, Williams expanded their business by building a new facility and hired more employees. Before the expansion, Jarvis could work in isolation. But the influx of people created an environment he was unhappy with. He left Williams along with DeMar to found their own development company, Vid Kidz
Vid Kidz
Vid Kidz was a video game developer formed in February 1981 by Defender programmers Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, following their departure from Williams Electronics. Eventually, Williams made a deal with Vid Kidz to design games for them....
. The company served as a consulting firm to Williams and developed two games for them.
Remakes and sequels
The game was followed by several sequels that feature a similar design, but with elements altered and added. The success of Defender prompted Williams to release another game. The company approached Vid Kidz, who originally wanted to create a new game. DeMar, however, suggested creating an enhanced version of Defender to meet Williams' four month deadline. Vid Kidz titled the game StargateStargate (video game)
Stargate is an arcade game released in 1981 by Williams Electronics. Created by Eugene Jarvis, it is a sequel to the 1980 game Defender, and was the first of only three productions from Vid Kidz, an independent development house formed by Jarvis and Larry DeMar...
, and developed it as a sequel to Defender. It features new elements and improved the original's performance. Home ports of Stargate were released under the title Defender II for trademark purposes. In 1991, Midway released the arcade game Strike Force
Strike Force (video game)
Strike Force is an arcade game released by Midway in 1991.The game shares many features with the earlier Defender and Stargate in that play takes place in a horizontally-scrolling play field above a planet's surface on which humans are under attack from alien invaders...
. It features gameplay similar to Defender, but with additional options and more contemporary visuals. Jarvis and DeMar assisted with the game, which was programmed by Todd Allen and Eric Pribyl. Subsequent sequels were released on home and handheld consoles: the 1995 Defender 2000 and the 2002 Defender. The 2002 release features three-dimensional (3D) graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
and behind the ship view opposed to the 2D side view.
Several home console and computer games like Defense Command, Repton, Dropzone, and Protector II copied Defenders design, while other built upon it. For example, Bob Whitehead's Chopper Command
Chopper Command
Chopper Command is a video game by Activision released for the Atari 2600 game console in June 1982. The game was successful due to its perceived superiority to Atari's home version of Defender; Chopper Command shares many similarities in gameplay to Defender...
for the Atari 2600 and Dan Gorlin's Choplifter
Choplifter
Choplifter is a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Brøderbund. It was ported to other home computers and, in 1985, Sega released a coin-operated arcade game remake, which in turn received several home ports of its own...
for the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
mimics Defenders gameplay and features. Video game designer Jeff Minter
Jeff Minter
Jeff 'Yak' Minter is a British computer/video game designer and programmer. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and his recent works include Neon , a non-game music visualization program that has been built into the Xbox 360 console, and the video games Space Giraffe , and Space Invaders...
based several of his games on Defenders design. Magazines Edge and Retro Gamer commented that most official and unofficial ports failed to accurately emulate the arcade's gameplay, citing Planetoid, an unofficial version for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, as the only home version to succeed. Grannell commented that even fairly accurate home conversion like the Commodore 64 port lacked the arcade's polish. Versions like the Atari 2600 port distinctly changed the gameplay and graphics to comply with the system's specifications. Barton and Loguidice commented that the Atari 2600 version, along with Space Invaders and Asteroids, helped the system gain a dominant market share. The success of the arcade game prompted Williams to release a pinball version in 1982. The pinball game features many elements from the original game: sound effects, enemies, waves, and weapons. One feature meant to emulate the reverse function of the arcade was a forerunner of the outlane "kickback" function found in contemporary pinball games. Williams produced less than 400 units, which have become rare machines. In 2000, a web-based version of Defender, along with nine other classic arcade games, was published on Shockwave.com. Four years later, Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
also launched a website featuring the Shockwave versions. The game has been included in several multi-platform compilations: the 1996 Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits is a video game anthology for the Super NES, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, and Sega Saturn consoles that features 1980s arcade games from the Williams Electronics company. The games included are Defender, Defender II, Joust, Robotron: 2084, and Sinistar...
, the 2000 Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits
Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits
Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits is an arcade game compilation released for the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Advance.- Volumes and Games included :Two volumes have been released so far....
, and the 2003 Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures is a collection of 24 arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC....
.