Sun Electronics releases the arcade video game Funky Fish in the United States. A mixture of side-scrolling shooting action (a la Defender) and cute characters, Funky Fish does not enjoy widespread popularity, but is licensed to be ported to home video game consoles. 
Mattel Electronics releases the Snafu cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system.
Mattel Electronics releases the Space Armada cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system.
Mattel Electronics releases the Astrosmash cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system.
Beating Atari’s home adaptation of Pac-Man to the punch by nearly half a year, Magnavox introduces K.C. Munchkin for the Odyssey². Within three weeks, after widespread documented occurrences of dealers describing the game as “just like Pac-Man” (despite specific instructions from Magnavox not to do so), Atari sues Magnavox for violating copyright law.
Exidy’s colorful coin-op video game Mouse Trap arrives in arcades, challenging players to not only keep up with the action on screen, but to tap the right color-coded door button on the control panel at the right time, allowing the mouse to escape from hungry cats. In a very short time, Mouse Trap is deemed worthy of song on Buckner & Garcia’s upcoming album Pac-Man Fever.
Sega/Gremlin releases the vector graphics arcade game Eliminator, in which one or two players team up (or go against each other) while trying to fire a shot down a narrow opening in a large, round, mobile space station with dangerous armament which is definitely not the Death Star. The two-player version is available as an upgright cabinet; a four-player cocktail table version is also made available.
Midway releases the arcade video game Bosconian, licensed from Namco, the Japanese developers behind Pac-Man and Galaga.
Arcade game maker Universal presents its entry in the industry-wide rush to get “a game like Pac-Man” into locations everywhere, the maze chase Ladybug. This is the first game from Universal to utilize the unique “spell EXTRA” method of awarding players extra “lives”, which practically becomes a Universal trademark in later games.
Better known for making jukeboxes and speakers, Rock-Ola continues trying to make inroads into the video game industry by releasing Fantasy in the United States. The arcade game, originated in Japan by SNK, is one of the very first coin-op games to allow players to insert additional coins to continue from the location of their previous game’s end within a set amount of time. With several screens requiring players to develop completely different strategies on the fly, Fantasy doesn’t gain much of a following; many arcade operators gut and convert their Fantasy machines into other games. (This is your webmaster’s all-time favorite arcade game.)
Atari releases the home version of the arcade hit Defender as a cartridge for the Atari VCS home video game system. Though the game undergoes major alterations to fit within the VCS’ memory, Defender sells well. It includes the first issue of a tie-in comic book, Atari Force, created by DC Comics (a subsidiary of Warner Communications, just like Atari).
Midway releases the arcade video game Kick, a whimsical game which is later updated to include a “guest starring” appearance by Pac-Man (to which Midway also holds the North American license).
Mattel Electronics releases the Star Strike cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system.
Sega releases the arcade game Tac/Scan in American arcades. The vector graphics coin-op switches rapidly between a traditional overhead view and a first-person view several times during each game, including a sequence in which players are asked to navigate a dizzying warp tunnel.