Top 10 arcade games of all time

2. Space Invaders
Shaun Nichols: The late 1970s saw the video game move from an experimental idea into a mainstream product, and the most successful games became cultural icons.

Space Invaders was one of the first arcade games to gain widespread fame, and its legacy has lingered for more than 30 years. It became the main selling point for two different platforms, the arcade and the Atari 2600.

Originally developed in Japan for games vendor Taito, the game was so far ahead of its time that creator Tomohiro Nishikado had to fabricate much of the hardware for the game himself. The end product was worth the extra effort, however, as the game became so popular in Japan that it was said to have caused a temporary shortage of coins in circulation.

It also had a major impact on the gaming industry in the western world. To bring the game to the US, Taito contracted with a small branch company of pinball machine giant Bally Games known as Midway. The runaway success of Space Invaders helped establish Midway as the arcade giant that would later release titles such as Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam.

Iain Thomson: We thought long and hard about the ordering for the top two on the list but in the end Space Invaders had to come second, although just by a whisker.

For youngsters raised on modern video games Space Invaders looks incredibly clunky and the gameplay almost moronic. I mean, if you're invading a new planet would you get in geometric rows and advance as slowly as possible? That kind of battle strategy lost Britain the United States.

But for a long while Space Invaders was the arcade game. In arcades and pubs across the world you could hear the pop hiss of gameplay as millions of people hid behind fragile bunkers and fought off wave after wave of stupid alien invasion forces. It remains an iconic game and one instantly recognisable to people of a certain age.

1. Pac-Man
Iain Thomson: It's an old joke but if Pac-Man had been so addictive we'd have spent the 1990s running around darkened rooms gobbling pills and listening to repetitive music. Perish the thought.

Pac-Man really made the arcade game popular. It was a beguiling mix of reaction time and planning. If you could be bothered to remember the routes you could sail through the opening games by following a set course, but the game went on and on. Too many people spent too much of their lives trying to understand Pac-Man.

That said, you can't underestimate the power of the game. It appealed to everyone by being non-threatening, highly skilled yet very easy to learn. Personally I prefer the raw destruction of Space Invaders but Pac-Man's spot cannot be denied.

Shaun Nichols: I'm not sure you could come up with a computing platform which hasn't seen some version of Pac-Man developed for it. That simple yellow semi-circle is arguably the most recognised video game character on the planet, and is recognised on the same level as the likes of Coca-Cola and Nike.

The basic premise of the game leaves you to wonder just what drugs were circulating among game developers at the time. A giant floating yellow head that eats little white pellets and tries to avoid a pack of fruit-phobic ghosts? Timothy Leary would be proud.

Like the other early classics, Pac-Man is a relatively simple game that is ridiculously addictive. While the gameplay may be simple, succeeding at it requires reflexes, timing and co-ordination that can be very difficult to replicate. Even the most experienced players have trouble mastering the game.

The simplicity of the game combined with the difficulty of playing it well has led Pac-Man to three decades of success. Next month Pac-Man will turn 30 years old, and if you want to celebrate that anniversary chances are you can still find the game somewhere in town.