On the latest 'Ted Dabney Experience' podcast Eugene Jarvis was discussing Robotron, which he designed. He guessed that it might be the first arcade game where the player uses dual joystick controls.
It's definitely not. Robotron was released in '82, and I know of at least one Bronze age game that used dual joysticks: Taito's 'Safari' from 1977.
What other video games had dual joystick controls, and are there any earlier than '77 ?
EDIT: Here's what we've come up with so far, do you know any better?
Earliest B&W video game with two joysticks per player: Kee Games "Tank", 1974
Ealiest Color video game '' '' '' '' '' : 'Crazy Climber', 1980
Earliest video game with two joysticks: 'Galaxy Game', 1971