June of 1980, the height of the Cold War – the consciousness of the American public remains on its recent victories in civil liberties and the consequences of these victories, as well as on the conclusion of the Vietnam five years later and the expanding purview of technology in the daily lives of the people – however, in the back of its mind, as has been there for the past thirty-five years, there is the looming threat of nuclear destruction from the Soviet Union. Much of the media of the past quarter-century has been centered around the concept of nuclear warfare and the growing destructive power of technology and human vice. In addition to this, technology is beginning to expand more and more into the realms of entertainment, and arcade games have reached their golden era. No two things in a system are independent of each other – thus, the looming subject of nuclear war finally finds its way into the circuit boards of the arcades – the game <i>Missile Command</i> is released.

Atari’s <i>Missile Command</i> should be preserved because it is representative of early video games, and also because it is a reminder of the horrors of the Cold War and the ability of human beings to self-annihilate.

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It was among the first video games ever created in the early decades of comparatively small, powerful computers. In the game, the player is defending six cities from a never-ending onslaught of different projectiles coming from overhead, firing missiles into the air that destroy the oncoming projectiles with explosions. There is no final goal to the game other than getting the high score – it continues until the player is annihilated. The first games were played on a coin-operated arcade machine, but later versions could be played on consoles, handheld devices or home computers. (ArcadeHistory)

<i>Missile Command</i> was created at the height of the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The United States had entered into a period of rapid technological advancement, and the advent of nuclear weaponry 35 years earlier had encouraged an uneasy stalemate between the two superpowers, both of which were vying to protect their interests and expand their spheres of influence. (Arnold &amp; Wiener, xxxii)

With the creation of the first commercial video game 8 years earlier, Atari was riding the height of the second wave of video game creation, in which arcade games and consoles were at the height of their popularity. (Cohen) The popular conception of the era was heavily focused on the expansion of computer technology into daily life, as well as the looming concept that humankind now had the technology available to utterly destroy itself and its surroundings – movies such as Star Wars and Terminator, as well as the literature of Isaak Asimov years earlier, are examples of these memes in American culture.

The games of this era were unusual in that they were very limited in their scope, especially graphically but also with regards to the systematic concept of the games themselves. The computing capability of machines at the time was very limited, and programming was a practice still in its early years. This meant that programming video games was as much a practice in keeping things simple as it was a practice in pushing the limits – even with the limited scope of the game, the programmers had to be careful with what went into the program and what was stricken from it. This is as true of Missile Command as it is of any other game that was its contemporary.

Games of the time were colorful, simple affairs that were largely directed toward young audiences who would spend evenings at the local arcade competing for high scores. Arcade games allowed for the creators to test unique controls, as with <i>Missile Command</i>’s track-ball(ArcadeHistory), where other games had joysticks or steering wheels or whatever else made sense – this freedom to change the control scheme is a special feature that is largely specific to arcade games.

Missile Command was one of a very small group of games at the time that touched on the subject matter of mutually-assured destruction and nuclear warfare, even though movies and literature were largely focused on these subjects. The game initially was intended to contain the name of various American cities on the West coast, but these were removed in order to make any audience feel as if they were defending their own hometown (ArcadeHistory) – in this, the game attempts to capitalize on the fear of the destruction of nuclear warfare, something that other games, largely directed toward children, were not likely to broach.

Another unique aspect of the game was its clear expression of a complex narrative without dialogue – while other games had abstract or simple narratives and therefore had no need of text, <i>Missile Command</i> managed to tap into subjects that were on the mind of many at the time already, thus building a narrative of the world surrounding the player rather than relying solely on the mechanics within the game’s computer to convey these aspects of the game. The game was therefore built upon the player’s own conception of the Cold War rather than the imagination of the creator.

In its most fundamental message, <i>Missile Command</i> could be compared with the 1964 movie <i>Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb</i>, a satirical film in which a U.S. Air Force Brigadier General goes mad and decides to order his bombing squadron to bomb Russia, and powers from both the East and West attempt to thwart him before he unleashes nuclear war upon the world. (IMDb) The core of the movie and the game are very similar – each is an entertaining piece on the horrifying subject of nuclear total annihilation. In each, the power – i.e. the player and the representatives of the world powers – cannot do anything to stop the action that initiated the war, and is stuck dealing with the horrifying consequences of its beginning. In each, the final message is clear – the hubris of mankind is such that it will eventually destroy itself.

It is said that the creators of the game had nightmares of nuclear annihilation during their time building it. Designer David Theurer has said "It was pretty scary. During the project and for 6 months after the project, I'd wake up in a cold sweat because I'd have these dreams where I'd see the missile streak coming in and I'd see the impact. I would be up on top of a mountain and I'd see the missiles coming in, and I'd know it would be about 30 seconds until the blast hit and fried me to a crisp." This was echoed by Steve Calfee, saying "Everybody I know who really got into the game had nightmares about nuclear war." (ArcadeHistory)

Despite these fearful visions, the game achieved a great deal of popularity. Approximately 20,000 arcade units were produced, and cameos of the game exist in the 1991 movie Terminator 2 and other movies of the era, and the explosion and “The End” screen from the game is referenced in the music video for Judas Priest’s 1984 song “Freewheel Burning”. (ArcadeHistory)

The game is still significant in the mind of gaming culture in the US as a relic of the era, along with other games like <i>Pac-Man</i>, <i>Space Invaders</i> and <i>Frogger</i>. While the Cold War is over, it is still fresh in the minds of the generations that existed in its time and much of modern Western culture continues to react to the motifs and ideas that were popular at the time. In addition to this, in 2011 there was a pitch to create a Missile Command movie, which has not yet been put onto screens. (Ashcraft) It could be argued that this is part of a larger trend of revisiting the 1980’s, as many of the people who were raised at the time are still alive, and younger generations are interested in stories of the Cold War and its effect on modern life. This may also be part of a trend to revisit “retro gaming” – many players feel that modern games are too focused on money, and have returned to previous eras of gaming which are seen as being more original and pure of this motivation.

The game is a frightful reminder of an era that has largely not ended, and the precept that, as time presses onward, the Human Race becomes more and more capable of utterly annihilating itself. It gives a perspective to that person who knows its history – the first atomic bombs were dropped on cities in 1945, and the sheer power that they released was resonating in the minds of people around the world 35 years later in 1980, and even today, inching ever-closer to a century following the use of the most devastating type of single weapon to ever be unleashed upon the world. That message will resonate for as long as humankind possesses the ability to unleash utter destruction on itself or any other entity – the possibility of mutually-assured destruction is unfathomably devastating, and there should be nobody who is allowed to forget that fact.

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<p align="center"><b><span style="text-decoration: underline">Works Cited</span></b></p>

<ol>
	<li>Arnold, James R., and Roberta Wiener. <i>Cold War: The Essential Reference Guide</i>. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2012. eBook.</li>
</ol>
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An encyclopedia of references about the Cold War; Useful for pertinent cultural information regarding the late 1970’s and the year 1980

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<ol>
	<li>Ashcraft, Brian. "Missile Command Movie Ready To Blast Off." <i>Kotaku</i>. N.p., 1 Dec 2011. Web. Web. 26 Nov 2013.</li>
</ol>
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An article by a pop culture and technology blog on the announcement of plans to create a <i>Missile Command</i> movie

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<ol>
	<li>Cohen, D.S. "The History of Classic Video Games - The Second Generation." <i>About.Com</i>. N.p., 2013. Web. Web. 26 Nov 2013.</li>
</ol>
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Part of a series on the history of video games; Useful in obtaining information about video game technology and the other video games of those years

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<ol>
	<li>"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." <i>IMDb</i> n.pag. <i>IMDb</i>. Web. 26 Nov 2013.</li>
</ol>
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An article about the movie <i>Dr. Strangelove</i>; provided pertinent information regarding its plot for comparison to the game.

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<ol>
	<li>"Missile Command." <i>ArcadeHistory</i>. N.p., 25 May 2013. Web. Web. 26 Nov 2013.</li>
</ol>
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An article about Missile Command from a video game conservatory; Provided information regarding the game’s systems as well as some trivia related to its creation.

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<ol>
	<li>Theurer, David, and Rich Adam. "Atari Missile Command Design Document." <i>Atarigames.com</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov 2013. &lt;http://www.atarigames.com/pdffiles/missileproposal.pdf</li>
</ol>
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The original memo that was sent from David Theurer to the executive offices at Atari; helped me to confirm some of the statements made about the early development of the game

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<ol>
	<li>Fiero, Gloria K. <i>The Humanistic Tradition</i>. 6th ed. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011. eBook.</li>
</ol>
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Class Textbook; Helped for references to the technological advances being made in and before 1980