. ▁The ▁ 1 9 8 0 ▁At ari ▁V CS ▁version ▁quad ru ple d ▁sales ▁of ▁the ▁V CS , ▁thereby ▁becoming ▁the ▁first ▁k iller ▁app ▁for ▁video ▁game ▁cons oles . ▁More ▁broad ly , ▁the ▁pixel ated ▁enemy ▁al ien ▁has ▁become ▁a ▁pop ▁culture ▁icon , ▁often ▁representing ▁video ▁games ▁as ▁a ▁whole . ▁ ▁Design er ▁N ish ik ado ▁drew ▁insp iration ▁from ▁games ▁like ▁ 1 9 7 6 ' s ▁ball - b oun cing ▁game ▁Break out ▁and ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 5 ▁shoot er ▁game ▁Gun ▁Fight , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁science ▁fiction ▁narr atives ▁such ▁as ▁The ▁War ▁of ▁the ▁World s , ▁Space ▁Batt les hip ▁Yam ato , ▁and ▁Star ▁Wars . ▁To ▁complete ▁development ▁of ▁the ▁game , ▁he ▁had ▁to ▁design ▁custom ▁hardware ▁and ▁development ▁tools . ▁ ▁Game play ▁ ▁Space ▁Inv aders ▁is ▁a ▁fixed ▁shoot er ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁player ▁controls ▁a ▁las er ▁can non ▁by ▁moving ▁it ▁hor izont ally ▁across ▁the ▁bottom ▁of ▁the ▁screen ▁and ▁firing ▁at ▁desc ending ▁al iens . ▁The ▁aim ▁is ▁to ▁defeat ▁five ▁rows ▁of ▁eleven ▁al iens — although ▁some ▁versions ▁feature ▁different ▁numbers — that ▁move ▁hor izont ally ▁back ▁and ▁forth ▁across ▁the ▁screen ▁as ▁they ▁advance ▁toward ▁the ▁bottom ▁of ▁the ▁screen . ▁The ▁player ' s ▁las er ▁can non ▁is ▁partially ▁protected ▁by ▁several ▁station ary ▁defense ▁b unk ers — the ▁number ▁also ▁var ies ▁by