The original Defender arcade game was released in 1981 by Williams Electronics. It featured a 19 CRT monitor and was housed in an upright cabinet. The game was a horizontally scrolling shooter, with the player controlling a spaceship and defending against invading aliens while protecting astronauts. The monitor and cabinet for Defender have become sought-after collector's items, with enthusiasts restoring and repairing these machines to their former glory.
What You'll Learn
The original Defender arcade cabinet monitor size was 19
The Defender arcade cabinet featured a 19" CRT monitor, which was later replaced by LCD/LED monitors. CRT stands for cathode-ray tube, and these monitors were commonly used in the early days of video games and computers. While CRT monitors provided a high-quality display for the time, they were eventually replaced by more advanced technologies such as LCD and LED monitors, which offered improved image quality, energy efficiency, and space-saving designs.
The Defender arcade cabinet with its 19" monitor was part of the early wave of video arcade games that captivated players worldwide. The game featured a horizontally scrolling shooter gameplay, where players controlled a spaceship to defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. The dynamic gameplay and challenging levels kept players engaged and coming back for more.
The 19" monitor on the Defender arcade cabinet provided a suitable display area for the game's graphics and gameplay mechanics. The monitor's resolution was 320x256, which was an expansion from the industry standard of 256x256 at the time. The developers chose this resolution to provide a wider screen and improve the game's presentation. The game's graphics were displayed in pixel form, with each pixel capable of displaying 16 colours.
In summary, the original Defender arcade cabinet monitor size of 19" was a standard size for arcade cabinets of that era. The Defender game itself was a significant title in the history of video games, and its impact extended beyond just the arcade cabinets. The game's success influenced the development of future games and helped establish Williams Electronics as a key player in the industry.
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The monitor was a CRT monitor
The CRT monitor in the Defender arcade game was 19 inches, measured diagonally. This was the standard size for arcade games at the time, and the cabinet was designed and built to fit this size of monitor. The early production runs of the game used WG 4900 monitors, but sometime in mid-production, the manufacturer, Williams, had trouble sourcing enough monitors and substituted them with Electrohome G07's. Other monitors used in the Defender arcade game include the WG 4600 and the Hantarex MTC900.
The CRT monitor in the Defender arcade game was a colour monitor. The development team had debated using a black-and-white monitor but decided that using colour would better establish them as good designers. They initially estimated that the game would require four colours, but the hardware they chose was capable of displaying 16 colours per pixel. At the time, the designers believed this was more than they would ever need for a game.
The CRT monitor in the Defender arcade game was a conventional monitor. The team had initially considered using a vector monitor, like the one used in the game Asteroids, but there were hardware differences between Asteroids and Defender's proposed specifications that made this problematic. The Defender staff planned to use pixel graphics, which were better suited to a conventional monitor.
The CRT monitor was an integral part of the Defender arcade game, displaying the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. The game was praised for its audio-visuals, and the CRT monitor was likely a contributing factor to this success. The game was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units and becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever.
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The game was developed by Williams Electronics
Defender is a scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Williams Electronics and released in 1981. The game is set on an unnamed planet or city, where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. The game was first demonstrated in late 1980 and was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units and becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever.
Williams Electronics, the developer of Defender, was a leading company in the arcade game industry. The company chose Eugene Jarvis, a successful pinball programmer, to head the development of Defender. Jarvis had previously worked on popular Williams pinball games and this was his first video game project. Defender was inspired by Space Invaders and Asteroids, and it drew on elements from these games while also introducing new features such as horizontal scrolling and a larger game world. The development of Defender involved a small staff who were afforded a large amount of creative freedom due to management's unfamiliarity with the technology used for electronic games.
The game features amplified monaural sound and pixel graphics on a CRT monitor. The monitor's resolution is 320x256, which was an expansion from the industry standard at the time. The developers chose to use a colour monitor and hardware that could display each pixel in 16 colours, even though they estimated that the game would only require 4 colours. The wider screen provided a better aspect ratio and improved the game's presentation. Defender's control scheme was designed to emulate both Space Invaders and Asteroids, with a two-way joystick and five buttons.
The original Defender arcade cabinets featured a 19" CRT monitor. The early production runs used WG 4900 monitors, but Williams started substituting Electrohome G07's when WG had trouble supplying enough monitors. Other models used include the Wells 4600, Hantarex MTC900, and Wells 4900. The CRT monitors have since been replaced by LCD/LED monitors in later versions of the game.
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Defender was released in 1981
Defender, the horizontally scrolling shooter arcade game, was released in 1981. It was developed by Williams Electronics and headed by pinball programmer Eugene Jarvis. Defender was Jarvis's first video game project, inspired by Space Invaders and Asteroids. The game was set on an unnamed planet or city, where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. The player controls a spaceship flying either to the left or right, using a joystick to control the ship's elevation, and five buttons to control its horizontal direction and weapons.
Defender was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units and becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever. It was praised for its audio-visuals and gameplay, and is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the gaming industry. The game was challenging and featured complex controls, with a two-way joystick and five buttons.
The original arcade cabinets of Defender featured 19" CRT monitors. These monitors displayed pixel graphics with a resolution of 320x256, an expansion on the then-industry standard of 256x256. The wider screen provided a better aspect ratio and improved the game's presentation. The game also featured amplified monaural sound, with audio handled by a Motorola 6800 microprocessor.
Defender's success led to the development of sequels and many imitations, and it is considered a landmark title from the 1980s, influencing the design of future games. It was also Williams Electronics' first attempt at developing a new video game, and its popularity spurred the company to shift its focus from pinball games to arcade games.
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Defender was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games
The original Defender arcade game cabinets used 19" monitors. The game was developed by Williams Electronics and released as an arcade video game in 1981. Defender was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best-selling game and one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever.
Defender is a horizontally scrolling shooter set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a spaceship flying either to the left or right, with a joystick controlling the ship's elevation and five buttons controlling its horizontal direction and weapons. The player starts with three "smart bombs", which can destroy all visible enemies. The player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Landers, a type of enemy in the game, pick up humans and attempt to carry them to the top of the screen, where they turn into fast-moving mutants. A captured human can be freed by shooting the lander, catching the falling human, and dropping them off safely on the ground.
The game's development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams. Defender was Jarvis's first video game project, and it drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Defender was Williams Electronics' first attempt at developing a new video game, and its success helped establish the company and Jarvis as key figures in the arcade game industry. The popularity of Defender led to the development of sequels, enhanced versions, and many imitations.
Defender's use of scrolling introduced the "first true 'gaming environment'", removing design limitations associated with the screen. The game's challenging gameplay, audio-visuals, and depth of gameplay have been praised by critics and players alike. Its success can also be attributed to its difficult control scheme, which requires players to master the use of a joystick and five buttons simultaneously.
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Frequently asked questions
The original Defender arcade game had a 19" monitor.
The original Defender arcade game used a CRT monitor.
The monitor's resolution was 320x256.
In addition to the Wells Gardner WG 4900, other models used include the Electrohome G07, Wells Gardner WG 4600, Wells Gardner WG 4500, Hantarex MTC900, and Wells Gardner WG 4900.