Defender

Defender is an arcade video game published by Williams Electronics in 1980. The game is a shooting game with two-dimensional (2D) graphics and is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams. Defender was Jarvis' first video game project and was inspired by Space Invaders and Asteroids. Williams planned to showcase the game at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) trade show, but development delays kept the team working on the game until the show began. Defender was a commercial success, becoming the company's best-selling arcade game with over 55,000 copies sold. Critics' praise focused on the game's audiovisual elements and gameplay. It is often referred to as one of Jarvis' best contributions to the video game industry and one of the most difficult video games to play. Defender was ported to numerous platforms, inspired the development of other games and was followed by sequels and many imitations.