Arcade Blogger:

As Atari’s best-selling arcade game of all time, Asteroids was literally a game changer. Released in December 1979, it was responsible for catapulting Atari into mainstream public consciousness. This was the game that single-handedly broke the stranglehold that Space Invaders had on the video game world.

Although created by Atari developer Ed Logg (whose credits include Super Breakout, Video Pinball, Asteroids, Centipede, Millipede, Xybots, Gauntlet, Space Lords and Steel Talons) its lineage is rather interesting.

Between Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Defender, I lost a significant portion of my childhood cash to video arcades. And I loved it. Thanks to Rob Griffiths for the link.