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Computer Space is touted as the first ever, coin-operated video arcade machine to be commercially sold. Created by Ted Dabny and Nolan Bushnell -- original Atari founders, its gameplay consisted of maneuvering a rocket ship to avoid enemy fire from flying saucers (while firing off missiles to destroy them), using a thruster and rotational buttons -- this type of game would later be known as a multi-directional shooter. If you're score was higher than the computers after each 90-second session, you were rewarded with another round of play.
just adding on some information, the game was a re-make of "spacewar" a game engineered on the PDP-1 computer by MIT. there was a two-player cabinet, one estimate said only 1500 2-player cabinets were made. There is only one white computer space machine, and (I believe) it is in some big computer museum, can't remember what it is called. it can also be seen in the background of a certain scene in the movies jaws and soylent green
If you want to get into all the details of the origins of computer space and more origins of video games, I found an interesting website a while back, on the main page click "game history"
http://www.computerspacefan.com (//http)
Have you guys ever seen the documentry by Iain Lee called Thumb Candy?
There is a lot about the early years in that, he actually speaks to the old Atari guys. Well worth watching.