As the video game industry prospered in Japan during the 1970s with the release of Taito's Space Invaders, Namco turned its attention towards making its own video games.[11][24] While its licensed Atari games were still profitable, sales were decreasing and the quality of the hardware used began deteriorating.[3][11] Per the recommendation of company engineer Shigekazu Ishimura, the company retrofitted its Ōta manufacturing facility into a small game division and purchased old stock computers from NEC for employees to study.[25] Namco released Gee Bee, its first original game, in October 1978.[25] Designed by new hire Toru Iwatani, it is a video pinball game that incorporates elements from Breakout and similar "block breaker" clones.[2] Gee Bee fell short of the company's sales expectations and was unable to compete with games such as Space Invaders.