<s>
Fueled	O
by	O
the	O
previous	O
year	O
's	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
colorful	O
and	O
appealing	O
Pac-Man	B-Application
,	O
the	O
audience	O
for	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
in	O
1981	O
became	O
much	O
wider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pac-Man	B-Application
influenced	O
maze	B-Application
games	I-Application
began	O
appearing	O
in	O
arcades	O
and	O
on	O
home	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pac-Man	B-Application
was	O
the	O
highest-grossing	O
video	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
second	B-Application
year	O
in	O
a	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nintendo	O
's	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
defined	O
the	O
unnamed	O
platform	O
game	O
genre	O
,	O
while	O
Konami	O
's	O
Scramble	B-Application
established	O
forced-scrolling	O
shooters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
lesser	O
known	O
Jump	B-Application
Bug	I-Application
combined	O
the	O
two	O
concepts	O
into	O
both	O
the	O
first	O
scrolling	O
platform	O
game	O
and	O
the	O
first	O
platform	O
shooter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
arcade	O
hits	O
released	O
in	O
1981	O
include	O
Defender	B-Application
,	O
Frogger	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Galaxian	B-Application
sequel	O
Galaga	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
,	O
Ultima	B-Device
I	I-Device
and	O
Wizardry	B-Application
:	I-Application
Proving	I-Application
Grounds	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
Mad	I-Application
Overlord	I-Application
each	O
kicked-off	O
a	O
long	O
running	O
role-playing	O
game	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
port	O
of	O
Asteroids	B-Application
was	O
a	O
major	O
hit	O
for	O
the	O
console	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
best-selling	O
home	O
system	O
was	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
Game	B-Device
&	I-Device
Watch	I-Device
for	O
the	O
second	B-Application
year	O
in	O
a	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
market	O
in	O
the	O
US	O
generates	O
$4.8	O
billion	O
in	O
revenue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
year	O
's	O
highest-grossing	O
video	O
game	O
was	O
Pac-Man	B-Application
with	O
in	O
arcade	O
game	O
revenue	O
,	O
three	O
times	O
the	O
box	O
office	O
revenue	O
of	O
the	O
highest-grossing	O
film	O
Star	O
Wars	O
(	O
1977	O
)	O
in	O
five	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
the	O
following	O
titles	O
were	O
the	O
highest-grossing	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
of	O
1981	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
annual	O
Game	O
Machine	O
chart	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
February	O
–	O
Konami	O
releases	O
Scramble	B-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
side-scrolling	O
shooter	O
with	O
forced	O
scrolling	O
and	O
multiple	O
distinct	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
February	O
–	O
Williams	O
Electronics	O
releases	O
influential	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
Defender	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
July	O
9	O
–	O
Nintendo	O
releases	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
,	O
which	O
introduces	O
the	O
characters	O
of	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
and	O
Mario	B-Application
,	O
and	O
sets	O
the	O
template	O
for	O
the	O
platform	O
game	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
August	O
–	O
Konami	O
releases	O
Frogger	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
September	O
–	O
Namco	O
releases	O
Galaga	B-Application
,	O
the	O
sequel	O
to	O
Galaxian	B-Application
which	O
becomes	O
more	O
popular	O
than	O
the	O
original	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
–	O
Frogger	B-Application
is	O
distributed	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
by	O
Sega-Gremlin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
18	O
–	O
Sega	O
releases	O
Turbo	B-Application
,	O
a	O
racing	O
game	O
with	O
a	O
third-person	O
rear-view	O
perspective	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
21	O
–	O
Williams	O
Electronics	O
releases	O
Stargate	B-Application
,	O
the	O
sequel	O
to	O
Defender	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
–	O
Rock-Ola	O
'	O
s	O
Fantasy	B-Application
is	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
with	O
a	O
continue	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
–	O
Atari	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
releases	O
Tempest	B-Application
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
games	O
to	O
use	O
Atari	O
's	O
Color-QuadraScan	O
vector	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
November	O
–	O
Namco	O
releases	O
Bosconian	B-Application
,	O
a	O
multidirectional	O
shooter	O
with	O
voice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
December	O
–	O
Jump	B-Application
Bug	I-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
scrolling	O
platform	O
game	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
Hoei/Coreland	O
and	O
Alpha	O
Denshi	O
,	O
is	O
distributed	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
by	O
Rock-Ola	O
under	O
license	O
from	O
Sega	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Midway	O
releases	O
fixed-shooter	O
Gorf	B-Application
with	O
multiple	O
distinct	O
stages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Taito	O
releases	O
abstract	O
,	O
twin-stick	O
shooter	O
Space	B-Application
Dungeon	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
East	O
releases	O
the	O
vertically-scrolling	O
isometric	O
maze	B-Application
game	I-Application
Treasure	B-Application
Island	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
,	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
port	O
of	O
Asteroids	B-Application
is	O
a	O
major	O
release	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
use	O
bank-switching	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mattel	O
releases	O
Utopia	B-Application
for	O
Intellivision	B-Operating_System
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
city	O
construction	O
games	O
and	O
possibly	O
the	O
first	O
sim	B-Application
game	I-Application
for	O
a	O
console	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
June	O
–	O
Ultima	B-Device
is	I-Device
released	O
,	O
beginning	O
a	O
successful	O
computer	O
role-playing	O
game	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
September	O
–	O
Wizardry	B-Application
:	I-Application
Proving	I-Application
Grounds	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
Mad	I-Application
Overlord	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
is	O
the	O
first	O
in	O
a	O
computer	O
role-playing	O
franchise	O
that	O
eventually	O
spans	O
eight	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
include	O
the	O
game	O
DONKEY.BAS	B-Application
with	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
arguably	O
the	O
first	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
compatible	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Muse	O
Software	O
releases	O
the	O
stealth	O
action	B-Application
adventure	O
Castle	B-Application
Wolfenstein	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	B-Application
Program	I-Application
Exchange	I-Application
publishes	O
Caverns	B-Application
of	I-Application
Mars	I-Application
,	O
a	O
vertically	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
family	I-Device
,	O
and	O
wargame	O
Eastern	B-Application
Front	I-Application
(	O
1941	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
APX	O
also	O
sells	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
to	O
Eastern	B-Application
Front	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Epyx	O
releases	O
turn-based	O
monster	O
game	O
Crush	B-Application
,	I-Application
Crumble	I-Application
and	I-Application
Chomp	I-Application
!	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
BudgeCo	O
's	O
Raster	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
sparks	O
interest	O
in	O
more	O
realistic	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
pinball	B-Application
simulations	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
precursor	O
to	O
Pinball	B-Application
Construction	I-Application
Set	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Infocom	O
releases	O
Zork	B-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Wizard	I-Application
of	I-Application
Frobozz	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
October	O
–	O
the	O
VCO	O
Object	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
arcade	O
system	O
board	O
dedicated	O
to	O
pseudo-3D	O
,	O
sprite-scaling	O
graphics	O
,	O
debuts	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Turbo	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
June	O
–	O
Texas	O
Instruments	O
releases	O
the	O
TI-99/4A	B-Device
,	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
1979	O
's	O
TI-99/4	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
August	O
12	O
–	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
is	O
released	O
for	O
USD$1	O
,	O
565	O
,	O
with	O
16K	O
RAM	O
,	O
no	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
4-color	O
CGA	B-Device
graphics	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astrovision	B-Device
distributes	O
the	O
Bally	O
Computer	O
System	O
after	O
buying	O
the	O
rights	O
from	O
Bally/Midway	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Acorn	O
Computers	O
Ltd	O
releases	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
home	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Commodore	O
Business	O
Machines	O
releases	O
the	O
VIC-20	B-Device
home	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NEC	O
releases	O
the	O
PC-8801	B-Device
home	O
computer	O
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
November	O
–	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
Game	B-Device
&	I-Device
Watch	I-Device
is	O
released	O
in	O
Sweden	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microvision	B-Application
is	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
