---
title: Breakout
tags:
- ball and paddle
- breakout
years:
- '1976'
params:
  specs:
  - label: year of release
    value: '1976'
  - label: companies
    value: Atari
  - label: type
    value: game
  - label: media
    value: arcade cabinet
  - label: systems
    value: Arcade
  - label: number of players
    value: 1 - 2 players (alternate)
  - label: staff
    value: Steve Bristow (conception), Nolan Bushnell, Steve Jobs
  screenshots:
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: arcade cabinet
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: detail
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: right side
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  machines:
  - /museum/misc-arcade-video-games
  company: /companies/misc
  oc_id: 314
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230322131820/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=314
    date: '2023-03-22'
---

Breakout was a real breakthrough in videogame industry (easy). Despite the fact the people were starting to get bored of ball & paddle games which were here since 1972 (with Pong), Breakout renewed the genre with a new concept: a wall to destroy!

Nolan Bushnell, Atari's founder, wanted to turn Pong into a single player game.

Of course the game generated a vast legacy including the famous Arkanoid.