Centipede (video game)

Centipede
North American arcade flyer
DeveloperAtari, Inc.
Publishers
DesignersDona Bailey
Ed Logg
Programmer
Dona Bailey
Ed Logg
  • Atari 8-bit
    Dave Getreu
SeriesCentipede
Platform
Release
August 1981
  • Arcade
    • NA: August 1981
    • EU: 1981
    • JP: March 1983
    Atari 8-bit
    • 1982
    5200
    • February 1983
    2600
    • March 1983
    C64, ColecoVision, TI-99/4A
    • November 1983
    Intellivision
    • December 1983
    IBM PC
    • July 1984
    7800
    • May 15, 1986
    Game Boy
    • NA: December 1992
    • EU: 1992
    Game Boy Color
    Game.com
GenreFixed shooter
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Centipede is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades. Designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg, it was one of the most commercially successful games from the golden age of arcade video games, and one of the first widely played by women and girls. The primary objective is to shoot all the segments of a centipede that winds down the playing field.

Centipede was ported to Atari's own 2600, 5200, 7800, and 8-bit computers. Under the Atarisoft label, the game was sold for the Apple II, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, VIC-20, IBM PC (as a self-booting disk), Intellivision, and TI-99/4A. Superior Software published the port for the BBC Micro. Versions for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color were also produced, as well as a version for the short-lived Game.com. Other developers released more than 25 Centipede clones for home computers. It was followed by the arcade sequel Millipede in 1982. In 1998, a 3D remake for Windows, Mac, PlayStation, and Dreamcast was published by Hasbro Interactive.