This Week in Gaming History: Happy Birthday Tetris!
Monday, 10th June 2013Posted in History
Tags: gaming history, history of gaming, tetris, tetris videos
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Hard to believe, but Tetris just turned 29 years old. The addictive block puzzle game that spawned more clones than a Chinese DVD shop first appeared in Russia on June 6, 1984.
Upon coming to American shores years later, the game became an instant hit on personal computers and later the video arcade. It also became the basis of a lawsuit, as both Atari and Nintendo demanded they had the rights and both wanted to produce console versions of the game.
Nintendo won the suit as Tetris helped the GameBoy dominate the early handheld console market and the NES version went on to sell millions and become a key point in the 1990 Nintendo World Championships.
Take a look at this music video tribute to the early days of this still-popular puzzle classic as we prepare to celebrate it’s big 30th anniversary in 2014!
This Week in Gaming History – Early Console Wars
Tuesday, 28th May 2013Posted in Gaming History
Tags: advertisement, advertisement wars, atari, coleco vision, commercial, console, game, gaming, gaming history, old console wars, video
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
It’s clear that the video game market is prime for a console war like we haven’t seen in quite some time. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are about to go deep into the trenches as the Wii U, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One do retail battle. Especially fun to watch already is the PS4 and Xbox One war of words, which has already escalated into print ads where Sony takes direct swipes at their rivals new consoles.
Of course, this isn’t new. For almost as long as there have been consoles there’s been advertising wars involving them. Perhaps the most famous is Sega’s aggressive punch-to-the-gut “Genesis Does” campaign against the then-dominant Nintendo, which was when a company would show gameplay from a rival system compared to their own system explaining and showing exactly what their system did better than the competition. A commercial that you may or may not remember is a Coleco Vision ad saying that if you bought a Coleco Vision, you would get $150 in vacation savings certificates, good for any vacation package! This straight forward, almost brutal way of advertising was how the console ad wars all started.
This week, we take a look back at some of the earliest… sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t… but they were all fun to watch then and still fun to watch now.
As we prepare for more of them, take a look back.
This Week in Gaming History: The Early Days of Video Game Product Placement
Monday, 6th May 2013Posted in Gaming History
Tags: gaming history, history of gaming, history of video game product placements, product placement video games
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A common complaint about video games these days is product placement. From sports games to first-person shooters, fans and gamers seem to take offense to the idea of paid branding appearing within their favorite form of entertainment.
Thing is, product placement has existed within video games almost since the beginning. The idea that video games could help deliver a brand message to potential customers has appealed to companies for decades.
In this week’s This Week in Gaming History video, we take a look back at some of the earliest examples of product placement in video gaming, even including beer, cigarettes and a brand of athletic shoe that would later become banned in schools due to gang violence.
Also worth note is an early appearance by Mountain Dew, the super-sugary soda that is a staple in video game sponsorship and product placement to this very day.
Check back every Monday for another look through video game history. I mean it.
This Week in Gaming History: Golgo 13 Gets a Game, Pac-Man Goes Portable, and Frogger Leaps into Arcades
Monday, 25th March 2013Posted in Gaming History
Tags: frogger, gaming history, golgo 13, midway, Pac Man, portable
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Forget about those XBox 720 rumors and PAX East headlines. It’s time to learn what this week holds in the history of the gaming industry.
On March 26, 1988, the first Golgo 13 video game was released for Japan’s Nintendo Famicom. Based on a popular manga series, the game later made it’s way to the United States with the subtitle of “Top Secret Episode” and gained a cult following of it’s own. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Golgo 13 Gets a Game, Pac-Man Goes Portable, and Frogger Leaps into Arcades” »
This Week in Gaming History: Play It Loud with Scramble, Goonies & A Lawsuit?
Monday, 18th March 2013Posted in Week In Gaming News
Tags: gaming history, goonies, historical data, lawsuit, video games facts
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Still hung over from drinking so much on a holiday you only know for beer and the color green? Too bad… it’s time for this week’s history lesson. Open your books and pay attention.
On March 17, 1981, Konami introduced Scramble, the first game in what most of ya know as the Gradius series. A challenging space shooter, Scramble was licensed to Stern Electronics for arcade distribution in the United States, where it proved to be one of the top earning arcade games of 1981.
On March 18, 1982 a judge ruled in favor of Atari in a legal battle with Magnavox, makers of the rival Odyssey 2 game console. The dispute dealt with Magnavox’s K.C. Munchkin, a maze and eating game that Atari felt was too close to Pac-Man. Given the product Atari produced with the rights to Pac-Man, one must wonder if they spent less time on the lawsuit and more time on the game….
Magnavox later released an altered version of the game.
March 18, 1982 saw the Japanese release of The Goonies II for the Famicom. U.S. fans were later confused as to why they didn’t get the first Goonies game for the NES. It was released in America only in arcades.
March 20, 1995 saw Nintendo totally misunderstand us, coloring the GameBoy cases instead of the screen. The commercial introducing the various colors was part of the infamous Play It Loud ad campaign where Nintendo tried to act really edgy and cool.
That’s it for now… check back every Monday for more video gaming history lessons as many big anniversaries come near.
This Week in Gaming History: XBox revealed, Resident Evil movie, two arcade classics
Monday, 11th March 2013Posted in History
Tags: facts, gaming history, historical, news
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Ok, class. No spring break when it comes to video game history, so sit down and prepare to learn. It’s time for another weekly dose of video game history.
On March 10, 2000, Microsoft stunned the industry by announcing the XBox at the Game Developers Conference. An enthusiastic Bill Gates was, at the time, seemingly the only one excited about the new console brand.
March 12, 1982 marks the date for Robotron: 2084, the granddaddy of dual-stick shooters. Creator Eugene Jarvis was frustrated at the controls of Stern’s arcade hit Berzerk, so he wanted the ability to run one direction while firing in another. After breaking his hand this scheme was simplified into using two joysticks, a control scheme popular in many games today. Jarvis was also behind the later Smash TV, which borrowed heavily from abandoned concepts originally dreamed up for Robotron.
On March 15, 2002 the first Resident Evil film was released. Despite mixed critical reviews, the film went on to gross $102,441,078 and seemingly spawn sequels in similar numbers.
On March 16, 1982 Sega unleashed Zaxxon, one of the top earning games of the year. The game earned a lot of popularity due to a television commercial campaign and a unique isometric viewpoint that was a radical new concept in gaming at the time. The title created some industry controversy, however, when Sega refused to release the game for a convertible game system they’d been marketing hard to arcade operators leading up to the game. Those who wanted this hit game in their arcades were expected to pay the full purchase price for a dedicated machine at the cost of $2,500-$3,000 each, plus freight.
Mark it down… every Monday you need to report to class here and learn more gaming history. It will count considerably toward your final grade.
This Week in Gaming History: Food Fighting, Mario RPG, Conker’s Terrible Freakin Day
Monday, 4th March 2013Posted in History
Tags: facts, gaming history, mario history, news
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Some of the most interesting video games ever came out in March. The three in this week’s history lesson are just the tip of the iceberg.
March 4, 1983 saw the birth of Food Fight. Published by Atari and developed by General Computer Corp (GCC… also known as the folks who created Ms. Pac-Man), Food Fight featured a character named Charlie Chuck, who seemingly pissed off several chefs that must not have been very good anyway, as they keep their ingredients on the floor. Anyhoo, Charlie just wants to eat the ice cream cone on the other side of the room, but the chefs aren’t having it.
March 5, 2001 saw the highly rated and highly controversial Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Developed for Nintendo by Rare, Conker is a party squirrel that likes to drink all night and have some fun. The shock value in the game, especially coming from Nintendo, is still talked about to this very day. A television commercial for the title seemed to push the envelope a bit too much as well, being pulled from a number of television networks. Naturally, it was considered perfectly okay for the history video this week.
March 9, 1996 saw the first release of Square and Nintendo’s Super Mario RPG. The Japanese hit later came to U.S. shores and proved popular, yet never had a direct sequel.
Just getting warmed up for the month of March… in coming weeks looks for anniversaries of some of the most challenging arcade hits ever and a number of iconic console hits. Check back each Monday.
This Week in Gaming History – Peggle addicts, Atari’s Pac-Man sucks, Joysticks film jiggles into theatres
Monday, 25th February 2013Posted in History
Tags: atari, gaming history, history of gaming, joysticks, Pac Man
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A weird mixed back of video game history for this week’s lesson. Seems the end of February is a rather uneventful period in the past of video gaming, yet some notable stuff was still brought along.
On February 27, 2007, Peggle first hit PC. On the surface, the game seems to be a puzzle game geared toward a little girl who dreams of being a Disney Princess® or something…but the game turns out to be damn addicting, as gamers on other platforms later learned the hard way.
One of the most infamous ports in video game history, the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, hit store shelves in March 1982. An agreement made in the late 1970s between Namco and Atari gave Atari the home rights to Namco’s arcade titles. At the time, Namco had no arcade titles… but when Pac-Man smashed into arcades in 1980 it gave Atari a potential gold mine. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History – Peggle addicts, Atari’s Pac-Man sucks, Joysticks film jiggles into theatres” »
This Week in Gaming History: Smokin’ guns, The Duke and the epitome of Final Fantasy
Monday, 28th January 2013Posted in History
Tags: final fantasy, gaming facts, gaming history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
In your seats. In your seats please. SIT DOWN.
Here’s this week’s video game history lesson. Not many titles, but some of them are quite big ones.
Japan gained Gun.Smoke for the Famicom on January 27, 1988. A hardly-realistic wild west shoot-em-up, but fun for a bit nonetheless. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Smokin’ guns, The Duke and the epitome of Final Fantasy” »
This Week in Gaming History: Little Hockey People, Resident Evil Zombies, and Tales of Ducks
Monday, 21st January 2013Posted in History
Tags: gaming history, history, video game history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
More history lessons to be served as we roll through January. Open your books and let’s roll.
Nintendo’s Ice Hockey hit in Japan on January 21, 1988, bringing the concept of little cute fighting hockey people to the United States later that year.
January 21, 1998 saw Resident Evil 2 blast it’s way onto home consoles, leaving a lasting impact that continues to be felt today. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Little Hockey People, Resident Evil Zombies, and Tales of Ducks” »
This Week in Gaming History: Mizzzz Pac-Man Hits The Scene, Black Marbles Brings The Hate & Super Contra
Monday, 7th January 2013Posted in Gaming History
Tags: gaming history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Rested up from the holidays? Good… crack open those books… it’s back to learnin’ your video game history.
On January 6, 1990, the Famicom version of the Adventures of Lolo was released. Initially thought to see a silly looking game in the United States, the challenge of the game gained it a cult following, spawning many sequels as well.
Ms. Pac-Man was released on January 8, 1982. Originally a Pac-Man hack cooked up by MIT students under the name “Crazy Otto”, Ms. Pac-Man would be officially released by Bally Midway and go on to become the best selling arcade game in U.S. history with over 119,000 units sold. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Mizzzz Pac-Man Hits The Scene, Black Marbles Brings The Hate & Super Contra” »
This Week in Gaming: G4 wraps, Angry Birds films, FOX gets an expert and Wayons kid still not a man
Thursday, 13th December 2012Posted in Week In Gaming News
Tags: damon wayans, gaming history, gaming news
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
If only…
Just because the holiday shopping lines are an hour long doesn’t mean video gaming newsstops. Here’s the latest look at our wonderful week in the industry and culture of gaming.
Angry Birds movie on the way
The latest in the brand’s effort to take over the world, Rovio confirmed this week that an Angry Birds movie is in the works, due out in Summer 2016. No word was released as to how or why it will take over three years to make a film based on a 99 cent app or who will pay ten times the price of said app to watch a movie based on it. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming: G4 wraps, Angry Birds films, FOX gets an expert and Wayons kid still not a man” »
This Week in Gaming History: Crappy Holidays Edition
Monday, 3rd December 2012Posted in Gaming History
Tags: facts, gaming history, news, video game history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
The month of December marks the launches of some great games… and some totally terrible ones. Really terrible ones. Just bad. Awful. Wanna see?
How about December 5, 1986 release Transformers: Mystery of Convoy on the Nintendo Famicom? You lead a tiny Ultra Magnus on a side-scrolling adventure where he battles bored boss enemies and hardly identifiable characters from the Transformers universe. Luckily, for North America, this game stayed in the east. Trust me when I say that’s a good thing.
We weren’t so lucky with Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Crappy Holidays Edition” »
This Week in Gaming History: Double Dragon movie, plastic guitars, Halo 2 and DK takes it harshly
Monday, 5th November 2012Posted in Gaming History
Tags: Donkey Kong, Double Dragon, gaming history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
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It will be a November to remember for this feature, as each week will be full of historical reflection on some of history’s greatest games… and biggest turkeys.
This week is just that.
On November 2, 1994 the world was treated to a Double Dragon movie, despite the fact that the original arcade game was already 7 years old at the time… and that the movie had nothing to really do with it… and it sucked.
The plastic instrument industry saw a huge shot in the arm starting with Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Double Dragon movie, plastic guitars, Halo 2 and DK takes it harshly” »
This Week in Gaming History: Double dose of Mario, Metal Gear gets Solid & Atari goes FPS
Monday, 22nd October 2012Posted in Week In Gaming News
Tags: atari, battlezone, gaming history, Mario, Metal Gear Solid
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
A mixed bag of video gaming history this week. Open your books to page 1021 and face to the front of the class now.
On October 21, 1992, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins hit Japan, spawning a decent Super Mario game on the GameBoy and introducing the world to the ultra-annoying Wario, a character that is sort of an evil post-meth addiction version of Mario.
Six years later, on October 21, 1998 the incredibly popular Metal Gear Solid hit North American shelves. The intense game didn’t require much training according to the commercial. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Double dose of Mario, Metal Gear gets Solid & Atari goes FPS” »
This Week in Gaming History: Atari, Sega, and The Most Important Week Ever?!?
Monday, 15th October 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming News, History, News
Tags: atari, first computer game, gaming history, history of gaming, sega cd, sonic and knuckles, tennis for two
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
Putting together this week’s This Week in Gaming History was fun, but almost too easy, as some of the biggest events in industry history can be tied to this week.
If you are a gamer, you owe this week’s rundown a serious look.
On October 14, 1977, the Atari Video Computer System was released. Known later as the Atari 2600, this console ruled the industry for a number of years and popularized the concept of interchangeable cartridges. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Atari, Sega, and The Most Important Week Ever?!?” »
This Week in Gaming History: Q*bert Gets Nosy, Nintendo Almost Dies & A Winner Is You
Monday, 8th October 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming History, News
Tags: gaming historical facts, gaming history, history of gaming, nintendo, qbert
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
There is an old school feel in the air with this week’s edition of This Week in Gaming History, which combines some iconic games with some historic ones.
October 7, 1982 saw the debut of Q*bert, the iconic orange arcade jumper. Some 30 years after becoming a giant arcade smash, Q*bert is set to appear in the upcoming film Wreck-It Ralph.
Nintendo of America almost ceased to be due to Radar Scope, released on October 8, 1980. A fairly popular game in Japan, Radar Scope proved to be a royal turkey in North America, forcing NoA into bankruptcy. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Q*bert Gets Nosy, Nintendo Almost Dies & A Winner Is You” »
This Week in Gaming History: Activision Founded, 3DO Sticker Shock, Game Gear and Tempest Go Color
Monday, 1st October 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Gaming History
Tags: 3do, Activision, gaming history, history of video games, industry
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
Here we are once again, looking back on the past of the video gaming world. This week marks the anniversary dates for some of the most successful items in the history of gaming, along with one major turkey.
On October 1, 1979 a little software company named Activision was founded. A number of successful Atari programmers, fed up with Atari’s refusal to provide them credit and additional money if one of their games did well, formed this first-ever third party publisher.
The company did incredibly well for itself right off the bat, paving the way for every other third party publisher afterward. The brand name is still a top publisher today and has a market cap of $12.5 billion. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Activision Founded, 3DO Sticker Shock, Game Gear and Tempest Go Color” »
This Week in Gaming History: SuperCade Time, Ghosts N Goblins, Abe and a Clown
Monday, 17th September 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming History, News
Tags: facts, gaming history, gaming news, week
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Time once again to look back on what this week means in the history of video gaming. Think you know this stuff? Read on.
On September 17, 1983, the Saturday SuperCade show debuted Saturday mornings on CBS. This video game based cartoon series contained shorts based on some of the hottest games of the day, including Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Frogger, Q*bert and Pitfall! The second season added Kangaroo and Space Ace to the mix as well. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: SuperCade Time, Ghosts N Goblins, Abe and a Clown” »
This Week in Gaming History: Metal Gear Gets Solid, We Do the Mario and Jack Black Falls in a Pit
Monday, 3rd September 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming History
Tags: do the mario, gaming history, gaming news, jack black pitfall commercial, japan, mario cartoon, Metal Gear Solid
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A wide mix of anniversaries in the vast history of video gaming this week. Let’s open your textbooks to September 2-8, please.
On September 3, 1998, Metal Gear Solid was released in Japan, taking the already classic Konami franchise to a whole new level that is still running today.
Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Metal Gear Gets Solid, We Do the Mario and Jack Black Falls in a Pit” »
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