You can find a lot of dedicated video game historians on Twitter, and in 280 characters or less, they always manage to unearth some amazing artifacts. Bite-Sized Game History aims to collect some of the best stuff I find on the social media platform.
Most games won’t keep track of your High Score anymore, but the desire to climb the local leaderboard was once a huge draw to arcade players the world over.
This edition of Bite-Sized Game History looks back at one of those competitors and their complete mastery of Space Invaders, as well as the sinister shenanigans that were almost included in The Sims, and Shigeru Miyamoto’s influence on the original SimCity.
More often than not, games will go through drastic revisions before they’re made available to consumers. Adventure, Dr. Mario, and Smash TV were three such games. See how they changed before (and after) release in a new edition of Bite-Sized Game History.
The development process to create a video game can vary wildly from game to game. Sometimes, a character that’s first envisioned on paper can make their way into a game virtually unchanged. But more often than not, games will go through drastic revisions before they’re made available to consumers.
Adventure, Dr. Mario, and Smash TV were three such games. See how they changed before (and after) release in a new edition of Bite-Sized Game History.
In this edition of Bite-Sized Game History, we look back at the first time Stan Lee brought his “carnival barker” enthusiasm to video games, as well as a pair of auctions for some very unique artifacts.
With a pocketful of catchphrases, and hiding behind a giant pair of sunglasses, Stan Lee began to resemble a real-life superhero more and more in his later years. Lee’s bombastic speaking style and boundless energy gave his many cameos a zippiness well into his 90s, and it felt like he would always be with us.
Sadly, Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 95.
Along with Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby, Stan Lee redefined the very idea of what a “superhero” was, and their work caused ripples throughout all of pop culture. In this edition of Bite-Sized Game History, we look back at the first time Stan Lee brought his “carnival barker” enthusiasm to video games, as well as a pair of auctions for some very unique artifacts.
Using data from The NPD Group’s vast archive, Mat Piscatella recently shared some historical data on the best-selling video games from the 1990s to today.
Tracking the weekend box office results has become something of a spectator sport for moviegoers of all stripes since the lists were introduced in the early 1980s. Arguing about the financial merits of Star Wars, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Titanic, and Avatar became just as important as discussing each film’s critical reception.
You won’t find this sort of organized ranking of moneymakers in the video game industry, but the closest analogue would have to be the monthly Best-Seller Lists published by The NPD Group. However, the proprietary nature of this report means that the picture will always be incomplete.
Using data from the analyst firm’s vast archive, Mat Piscatella recently tried to pull back the curtain a little bit by sharing the list of best-selling games on several legacy consoles (the Saturn, the original PlayStation, the Nintendo 64, the Game Boy Color, and the Dreamcast) and a nearly defunct handheld (the Vita). He also examined the best-selling games through September 2018 on two modern consoles (the PS4 and Xbox One) and published a list of the top-selling titles for each year from 1995 to 2017.
It’s a very interesting collection of information, and the lists provide our best window yet into what games were considered popular in the United States in the 1990s and into today.
Have you ever wondered how the Nintendo 64’s Analog Stick works? Or what Rez looked like before its wireframe aesthetic was added in? And just what were game developers working on in the early days before Atari?
Have you ever wondered how the Nintendo 64’s Analog Stick works? Or what Rez looked like before its wireframe aesthetic was added in? And just what were game developers working on in the early days before Atari?
Have no fear, we’re able to answer all three of those questions in this edition of Best-Sized Game History…
This time on Bite-Sized Game History… Pong takes flight, Mother 3’s hype train leaves the station, and Nintendo’s battle with ROM hosting sites is yet another blow to game preservation.
There are a lot of great video game historians on Twitter, and they manage to unearth some amazing artifacts in 280 characters or less. Video Game Canon’s newest column, Bite-Sized Game History, will aim to collect some of the best stuff I find in my timeline.
This time on Best-Sized Game History… Pong takes flight, Mother 3‘s hype train leaves the station, and Nintendo’s battle with ROM hosting sites is yet another blow to game preservation.
