A '''killer application''' (commonly shortened to '''killer app'''), in the jargon of technologists, has been used to refer to any [[computer program]] that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as [[computer hardware]], [[video game console|gaming console]], [[software]], or an [[operating system]]. A killer app can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs.

==Examples==
{{ :dokumenter:visicalc.png?X200|VisiCalc betragtes som den første "killerapplikation"}} 

One of the first examples of a killer application is generally agreed to be the ''[[VisiCalc]]'' [[spreadsheet]] on the [[Apple II]] platform.<ref>D.J. Power,
   ''[http://www.dssresources.com/history/sshistory.html A Brief History of Spreadsheets]'',
   DSSResources.COM, v3.6, 8 August 2004</ref>
The machine was purchased in the thousands by finance workers (in particular, [[Bond (finance)|bond traders]]) on the strength of this program.<ref name="cacASU">
   "Killer Applications" (overview), Partha Dasgupta,
   [[Arizona State University]] in Tempe, AZ, May 2002, webpage:
   [http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/2002/07-01-killer-app.htm ASU-killer-app].</ref>
The next example is another spreadsheet, ''[[Lotus 1-2-3]]''. Sales of [[International Business Machines|IBM]]'s [[Personal computer|PC]] had been slow until 1-2-3 was made public, and then increased rapidly a few months after ''Lotus 1-2-3'''s initial release.

A killer app can provide an important [[niche market]] for a non-mainstream platform. [[Aldus]] ''[[Adobe PageMaker|PageMaker]]'' and [[Adobe Systems|Adobe]] ''[[PostScript]]'' gave the [[graphic design]] and [[desktop publishing]] niche to the [[Apple Macintosh]] in the late 1980s,{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} a niche it retains to this day, despite the fact that [[IBM PC compatible|PC]]s running [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] or [[Linux]] have been capable of running versions of some of the same applications since the early 1990s.

The term has also been applied to [[Video game|computer and video games]] that cause consumers to buy a particular [[video game console]] or gaming hardware. An example of a killer application is ''[[Star Raiders]]'', released in 1979 on cartridge for the [[Atari 8-bit]] computer. Another "killer app",  ''[[Space Invaders]]'', was released in 1980 and quadrupled sales of then three year old [[Atari 2600]] platform. The VCS became a sell-out over Christmas. ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game) |Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' was also hailed a killer app for the [[Sega Genesis]]. The [[Game Boy line|Game Boy]] saw ''[[Tetris (Game Boy)|Tetris]]'', and the [[Nintendo 64]] saw much success with the releases of ''[[GoldenEye 007]]'', ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]''. The original [[Playstation]] revitalized the RPG genre with ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. ''[[Grand Theft Auto 3]]'' was a killer app for the [[PlayStation 2]]. The [[XBox]] saw the groundbreaking [[first-person shooter]] ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''
==See also==
* [[Launch title]]
* [[List of best-selling video games]]

==References==
{{reflist}}