Defender (video game)

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Defender is a horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Williams Electronics for arcades in 1981. Set on a mountainous planet, the player pilots a space ship to defeat waves invading aliens that vary in appearance and behavior. While attacking enemies, the player must protect and rescue astronauts on the surface from aliens. A pinball developer at the time, Williams aimed to expand into video games and selected Eugene Jarvis to lead development. The development team initially focused on designing the game's arcade hardware, aiming to portray Williams as a technologically advanced developer. When creating early prototypes, Jarvis drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. He progressively added offensive and defensive action to the game design, which culminated in gameplay that was more complex and challenging than contemporary video games. Defender debuted at trade shows in late 1980 before releasing to arcades in March 1981. Williams licensed it to...

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