A musician heard game music as music — and released the first record to prove it.
Xevious opened in arcades in early 1983, its score composed by Yuriko Keino. The next year, Haruomi Hosono — keyboardist of Yellow Magic Orchestra, the group that had introduced electronic music to global audiences — produced an album called Video Game Music, featuring Keino's Xevious themes alongside other Namco arcade scores. It was 1984. The album is considered the first commercially released video game soundtrack. Hosono didn't frame it as novelty. He heard it as music, released it as music, and let it stand. The Famicom port of Xevious appeared that same year. The game had arrived in living rooms. Its music had already arrived at the record store.
— inspired by Haruomi Hosono
About this game
Xevious reached Japanese arcades early in 1983. About two weeks later, its designer, Masanobu Endo, heard that someone had already reached the highest score the machine could display. He says: "I was honestly a little scared by how good that player was." The player was Yasuhiro Ohori, still in high school as Endo remembers it. Endo received a six-hour video of the run from him, and the two watched it together. Endo told him it was amazing and, by his own account, didn't have much to say past that. Ohori asked if he could write about the game. Namco had no objection, and he published a guide to reaching ten million points. Ohori later became president of Matrix Software.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Xevious's commercial success was enormous enough to fund Namco's new headquarters, nicknamed 'the Xevious Building' by industry insiders. The game demonstrated to Japanese electronics companies that Famicom software could be a serious business. Namco, along with Hudson Soft, was among the first wave of third-party developers, and the Famicom's openness to licensed third parties — modeled on an approach unlike Atari's restrictive policies — was partly validated by Xevious's performance.
Tricks & Tales
The ship's targeting sight was built to flash when it passed over a ground enemy, as a signal to fire. Then Endo asked himself: what if it flashed over ground that looked empty? That question became the Sol, a hidden ground enemy that appears only when you bomb the right spot. Namco was not pleased. A shooter was supposed to let players blow off stress, and Endo had added an enemy nobody could see. The Special Flag, which gives an extra life, came from New Rally X. Endo loved that game and felt Pac-Man had buried it, so he put the flag in to get more people to notice it. Endo had joined Namco in 1981 with no programming experience. A senior colleague built the game's basic "bones," and Endo fleshed them out, learning to program on the job. The enemy names came from a language Endo and that colleague made up for the game. When management said the names were too hard to read, his boss told him: "This is going to be a hit. No matter what they tell you, have confidence and believe in yourself." The names stayed.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Famicom and NES are the same hardware family but use physically incompatible cartridge formats — Famicom carts have a 60-pin connector and a narrower shell, while NES carts use a 72-pin connector with a wider housing. You cannot insert a Famicom cartridge into a North American NES slot without an adapter, and vice versa. The Famicom itself has no lockout chip, so any Famicom cartridge from Japan will run on a Famicom console regardless of origin. If you are buying a Japanese Famicom cart to play on a NES, you will need a 60-to-72-pin physical adapter; if you own a Famicom, Japanese-market software is your native format and no workarounds are needed.
Maintenance Tips
The gold-plated edge connectors on Famicom and NES cartridges pick up skin oils and oxidation over decades — a gentle wipe with a cotton swab dampened in 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol, stroking along the length of the pins rather than across them, is the accepted standard. Let the alcohol fully evaporate before reinserting. The old habit of blowing into a cartridge is folklore: the moisture in breath causes slow corrosion of the contacts over time, and any improvement you felt came from the act of re-seating the cart, not from the breath itself. Nintendo eventually updated its own troubleshooting guidance to say explicitly: do not blow into your Game Paks.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Xevious copies regularly.
Will this Japanese Famicom cartridge work on a North American Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)?
No, not without an adapter. The Famicom uses a 60-pin edge connector while the NES uses a 72-pin connector with a physically different form factor — the two are incompatible at the cartridge slot level. Third-party adapters exist that bridge the pin difference and allow Famicom cartridges to run in a NES. On a Japanese Famicom, NES cartridges face the same incompatibility in reverse. To play Japanese Famicom software, you need a Japanese Famicom, a Famicom-compatible clone console, or a NES fitted with an appropriate adapter.
How should I clean a Famicom cartridge to ensure reliable play?
Apply 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol to a cotton swab and gently wipe the gold-plated PCB edge contacts on the base of the cartridge. Never blow into the cartridge — breath moisture accelerates contact corrosion over time. If cleaning is needed inside, Famicom cartridges use 3.8mm security game bit screws (not standard Phillips); a security bit screwdriver is required to open the shell without damage. Note that most Famicom boot failures originate in the 60-pin console slot rather than the cartridge itself — cleaning the console slot contacts separately with a contact cleaning tool is often the more effective fix.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Xevious
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Famicom cartridge with a 60-pin connector; a North American NES uses a 72-pin slot, so it will not fit directly.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See the unit we have →Unexpected Discoveries
Games you weren't looking for — but might be glad you found.
Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Xevious sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
Share your memory ↑From the Museum's Screening Room
Xevious — Max Explains