Should Warlords of Been A Bigger Hit in Arcades in 1980?

Hookindafoot

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Got thinking about WARLORDS (1980) and wondered why the Arcade version of the game was not that big as some other Arcade Games of the time. I think it the reason was the multiplayer was just too expensive in the day, and the 1 player action was not the greatest. Probably in competition with Breakout, Super Breakout, Arkanoid, all probably better 1 player games. Atari probably missed the mark on Pricing. They probably should of gave 2 credits for every Quarter. Probably would of been a Huge hit. One of the greatest games on the Atari 2600 as far as Multiplayer goes. But in the Arcades wasn't a huge hit.
Got to guess a Warlords cocktail cabinet is a sought after Arcade. 4 player action Warlords, tough to beat.😁
Pretty sure the Atari 2600 version was way more popular at the time. Saved you on quarters 😁

Would love to get a Warlords Cocktail Cabinet. Would be a great Pary Arcade.
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Probably in competition with Breakout, Super Breakout, Arkanoid, all probably better 1 player games.
It wouldn't have been in competition with arkanoid which came out much later.

Atari probably missed the mark on Pricing. They probably should of gave 2 credits for every Quarter. Probably would of been a Huge hit.

Also, the operator could have set it to 2 credit per coin. Atari didn't define the pricing entirely for the operator.Screenshot_20250520-130951.png

If I had to make a wild guess, it would be due to it being a much better game with multiple people compared to just one. It's not always easy to get a second player and with the upright you can only have 2 players (which is why the cocktail is more popular now).

But ultimately this is thinking too hard on the subject. The common individual probably just didn't like the game. Which led to operators buying less. It's as simple as that.
 
It wouldn't have been in competition with arkanoid which came out much later.



Also, the operator could have set it to 2 credit per coin. Atari didn't define the pricing entirely for the operator.View attachment 820636

If I had to make a wild guess, it would be due to it being a much better game with multiple people compared to just one. It's not always easy to get a second player and with the upright you can only have 2 players (which is why the cocktail is more popular now).

But ultimately this is thinking too hard on the subject. The common individual probably just didn't like the game. Which led to operators buying less. It's as simple as that.

Yep. I like it a lot now, but I don't remember it making a big impression in the arcades.
 
Yep. I like it a lot now, but I don't remember it making a big impression in the arcades.
Yeah, I know I played a couple games on a Cocktail back in the day, just to try it out. Probably because of the 2600 version muliplayer was so much fun. The experience was pretty fun, but the games just seemed to end to quickly in one player mode.
Also probably pretty tough to get 4 people to come together, to play a game in an arcade (Back iI The Day). Arcade Experience was pretty much an individual experience, While people were more likely to utilize multiplayer for Home Console use.
Great game Though
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It's a game I rember vaguely as a kid. The upright when I saw it as a adult the memories came back and I not only needed a upright too own but also beat the high score on aurcade.
 
There were a lot of much more significant games coming out in 1980 - a 2 or 4 player breakout would hardly get noticed.

But in a home, where if you have one guest over then you probably have several, a simple multiplayer game like Warlords can have long legs. Same for 4 player Track N Field cocktail. Throw in some gambling and alcohol and they're even better.

The reverse is true of some arcade hits, too. Button mash continue games like Xmen and Simpsons are not worth their same in a home gameroom, IMO.
 
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