Computer Space was the first very arcade game, designed in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney as Syzygey Engineering (before they changed the company name to "Atari"). It's based on PDP-1 Spacewar! and is a clear precursor to Asteroids, but the thing I find most distinctive about it is that incredible, sexy, swoopy cabinet design!

Only 1,500 or so units were made, so my chances of owning (or having space for) a full cabinet are fairly low, but a little desktop Computer Space is the next best thing!

This project comes together with a 3D printed case and bezel, OLED display, and Feather M4 running Arduino code as a demo/attract loop.

Learn more history here at Computer Space Fan and here at the Dot Eaters.  This project was inspired by the full-sized 3D printed cabinet build here.

Game code was partially derived from this PDP-1 port (which you can play in-browser) -- the original game used no code, just TTL logic, so direct "emulation" isn't possible, with the exception of FPGA simulation of the entire Computer Space brain box.

Parts