Missile Command (1980)

A Missile Command upright on display at the Rupriikki Media Museum in Finland, its white side painted with rising missiles and a red targeting sun. Atari's 1980 game, designed and programmed by Dave Theurer, swapped the joystick for an optical trackball flanked by three fire buttons, one for each missile base. Rolling the ball to sweep the crosshair across the sky is fast and physical, and a worn, sticky trackball is the first thing to check on any machine you are thinking of buying.