1973 in video games
overview of video gaming-related events during the year of 1973
The year 1973 saw a substantial increase in the number of video games created and distributed. In coin-operated games, a craze for Pong-style games ignited the first fad for video games both in the United States and other countries such as Japan and the United Kingdom. Time-sharing networks saw greater proliferation of popular programs through type-in listings. The PLATO system located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign played host to some of the earliest massively multiplayer games.
Events
January – Pong is licensed to Midway Mfg, subsidiary of Bally, for release as Winner.
March – Atari Inc. launches Pong nationally to distributors of coin-operated games across the United States.
August 26–28 – The fourth U.S. American Computer Chess Championship is held in Atlanta, Georgia. It is won by Northwestern University's Chess 3.5 running on a CDC 6400 computer, successor to the undefeated champion from the prior three years.
September – The Japanese Amusement Association show is held in Tokyo.
“1973 in video games” enters the record as overview of video gaming-related events during the year of 1973. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what video, games and overview can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“1973 in video games” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, video, games and overview provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2666152. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1973.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1973 in video games”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1973 in video games primary sources, 1973 in video games archive and video research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1973 in video games”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1973 in video games” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.