The player’s spaceship in Namco’s 1979 arcade game Galaxian is called the Galaxip.
Galaxian is a fixed-screen shooting game in which the Galaxip fires upward at formations of alien enemies. Unlike the mostly stationary attackers in Space Invaders, Galaxian’s enemies can break formation and dive toward the player. This made enemy movement more varied and helped establish a model for later Namco shooters.
The Galaxip is a small fighter positioned at the bottom of the screen. Players must manage incoming attacks while clearing the alien formation and avoiding collisions. The ship’s name is easy to confuse with Galaga, the title of Galaxian’s 1981 sequel.
Galaxian is historically important for its use of colorful sprites and animated attack patterns. Its sequel retained the basic shooting structure but introduced additional mechanics, including the tractor beam that can capture the player’s ship.