1976 in video games

The most successful and lasting of these competitors was Coleco Industries who managed to outsell all their competition with their Telstar line of consoles.

Computer games continued to be shared via timesharing networks on mainframe systems at institutions and universities through this period.

Adventure was distributed via the ARPANET which allowed its influence to reach not only locations across the United States but into Europe through the nascent Internet.

The PLATO network also featured advances in interactive experiences, including sophisticated role-playing games both single and multiplayer.

Many of these were adaptations of circulating BASIC games like Star Trek (1971) and others were made for specific computer addons – usually graphics boards.

[2] The software market for early microcomputers was largely based on trading rather than purchasing programs – which prompted Bill Gates to pen his famous An Open Letter to Hobbyists.

[8] RePlay magazine's Route and Arcade Survey was published in October 1976, including a chart of most popular games on location over the last several months.

The lists compiled by RePlay were based on polling operators regarding their opinions of games receiving the most attention in their locations.