Welcome back to IGN's History of Awesome - a year-long look back at all the coolest and most influential games, movies, TV shows, comic books, toys, and tech that have shaped pop culture, and shaped the lives of an entire generation. Up this week is- the year that Star Wars' runaway success was truly felt in the world of film, and the concept of a true "console game" experience finally took shape.

Risky films likeandwere released to critical acclaim and massive box-office success, ensuring plenty more big-budget sci-fi epics would be released in the years to come.

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Games likeandmade millions in arcades, further cementing the thriving arcade culture. But it was the release of Adventure for the Atari 2600 that truly changed the course of video games. It was the first open-world game focused on adventure and exploration, and one of the first games designed for something other than gobbling up quarters. In effect, it started the diverging path arcade games and console games would remain on for decades.

1979 as also a turning point for Marvel's Iron Man, thanks to the publication of his character-defining Demon in a Bottle story. Learn about all of this, and more:

1979 By the Numbers

Kramer vs. Kramer $106,260,000 The Amityville Horror $86,432,520 Rocky II $85,182,160 Apocalypse Now $83,471,511 Star Trek: The Motion Picture $82,258,456 Alien $80,931,801 10 $74,865,517 The Jerk $73,691,419 Moonraker $70,308,099 The Muppet Movie $65,200,000

Source: Box Office Mojo

Knack #1: My Sharona Donna Summer #2: Bad Girls Chic #3: Le Freak Rod Stewart #4: Do Ya Think I'm Sexy Peaches and Herb #5: Reunited Gloria Gaynor #6: I Will Survive Donna Summer #7 Hot Stuff Village People #8 Y.M.C.A. Anita Ward #9 Ring My Bell Robert John #10 Sad Eyes

Source: Billboard

#1: The Dukes of Hazzard #2: The Facts of Life #3: Hart to Hart #4: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #5: Knots Landing #6: Prisoner #7 Minder #8 Trapper John, M.D. #9 Benson #10 You Can't Do That on Television

#1: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #2: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain #3: The Dead Zone #4: The Neverending Story #5: Flowers in the Attic #6: Skeleton Crew #7: The Long Walk #8: Kane and Abel #9: If on a winter's night a traveler #10: Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Brain

Source: IMDB

Source: Goodreads

Females Males #1: Jennifer #1: Michael #2: Melissa #2: Christopher #3: Amanda #3: Jason #4: Jessica #4: David #5: Amy #5: James

Source: Social Security Administration

What Mattered to You

History of Awesome is IGN's 38-part trip down memory lane - each week we're covering a new year's most important, influential, or just-plain-awesome movies, games, TV shows, comics, and more.1979 was epic, but things are only going to get more awesome from here. Be sure to check back next week for an in-depth look at 1980, including deep dives into Pac-Man, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman II, and more.