Beating Richie Knucklez: The making of a Space Invaders world champion

Tomohiro Nishikado's video game Space Invaders remains the first and last concept for all other "shoot'em up" video games; the core concept being a single person fighting off a multitude of artificially intelligent enemies. Created in no less than a year, its exquisite attention to imagery and sound, as well as easily understood game play, has offered timeless appeal. What was an amusement of lazy pleasure has since been deemed a work of art, joining the permanent collections of both MoMA and The Smithsonian. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, Jon Tannahill of Brisbane – born 17 years after the game was released – holds the Space Invaders world record. The former world record of 184,870 points was set by Richie Knucklez of New Jersey, USA, who held the position from 2009 to 2018.