First arcade game with music?

GaryMcT

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Trivia question: What was the earliest arcade game with music? I'm curious. . I don't actually know the answer.
 
Hmmm, Reactor? I saw one a few years ago at a game party and that thing was kicking, and it seems like an earlier game. And by music I am assuming you mean actual music and not game background stuff.
 
It depends on how you phrase the question.
Arcade games of the 1920's had mechanical music but if you mean video arcade games with cabs I'd guess, depending on your definition of music, any of the mid to late 70's repeating rhythm games like Space Invaders or Asteroids. The first electronic handheld game featuring music was Simon.

But possibly the very first actual videogame music ever was recorded in 1951 from the Mark 1 computer in England. After a game of checkers it would play "God save the King".

Reactor came out in 82.



mark1-1.jpg
 
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Are we talking about a little tune at the beginning of the game or background music while in play? I would think Pac-Man for the former and Star Wars for the latter.

Of course those could be, and probably are, wrong... they were the first ones I could think of...


- Mike
 
Marble Madness is an early example of a game with a though out original score for each level. Probably not the first game to have continuous music, but certainly one of the most memorable IMO.

Brendan
 
battlezone also had a little tune at the end

That would be Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture They even used it as a selling point for the game.

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My answer to the OP's question would be Space Invaders, if "music" is more than one note played in a non-random pattern throughout the course of the game.
 
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