THE SPACE INVADERS arcade game was released in 1979 by Japanese developer Taito. Due to the low power of the computing chips, each time an ‘invader’ was destroyed, the game got faster. That’s because the processor was having to throw fewer pixels on the screen.
An increase in speed as the player progresses is a trait common to many video games, to the point where it became expected as it challenges the player’s skills. But it was never designed that way; it wasn’t a feature, it was a byproduct of slow processors.
