Tag Archives: Video game history

Before Aero the Acro-Bat saves a single circus performer, the game asks him to jump through a hoop. Then another. Then to find the exit that those hoops have opened, while clowns, spikes, and a timer make his first day at work feel like a hostile audition. He can fly a little, drill through enemies, and throw stars. He cannot simply run to the right and call it a level. That is… Read more

The first thing Dragon’s Lair asked you to do was watch. That was strange for an arcade game in 1983. Most machines made their case with a few seconds of sprites racing across a screen. This one had a knight charging through a castle drawn by professional animators. People gathered behind the player to see what came next. Then the player died. Dirk the Daring’s death could be quick, elaborate, and expensive.… Read more

In 1991, Philips put a disc player beneath the television and asked families to buy a piece of the future. It played music. It could show pictures, video, and encyclopedias. It even played games. The machine looked as if it belonged in a hi-fi cabinet, and its pointing controller seemed perfectly happy with a menu. Then someone asked it to be a Nintendo rival. The first American CD-i player cost $899, according… Read more

Acclaim Entertainment became one of the loudest and most successful publishers of the 1990s, riding Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Turok, wrestling games, comic licenses and aggressive marketing to enormous visibility. This is the complete story of how Acclaim rose from a small Long Island publisher to a gaming powerhouse — and how overexpansion, costly licenses, bad bets and financial trouble brought it crashing down. Read more

You are in first place when the rider to your left swings a chain. You lean away, drift toward the yellow line, and see the sedan coming over the hill a second too late. The bike skids down the road without you. Your racer gets up and runs after it while everyone else disappears into the distance. In Road Rash, losing can be funnier than winning, provided you have the nerve to… Read more

The shop has a Panasonic machine that looks like it belongs beside a serious stereo, not under a child's television. Road Rash has filmed actors and real rock music. The Need for Speed lets you inspect exotic cars before you race them. The screen suggests the next generation has arrived early. Then the clerk tells you the price: about $699 on the street. That number became the 3DO's entire reputation. It also… Read more

Flight simulator. CD-ROM spectacle. First-person shooter. Fighting game. Desktop adventure. In the 1990s, nobody seemed entirely sure what a Star Wars game was supposed to be. That was half the fun. There was a wonderful period when asking “What kind of game is Star Wars?” did not produce a sensible answer. It produced another question. Which year? In 1993, Star Wars became a demanding space-combat simulator that expected players to manage shields,… Read more

The Architects and the First War Few stories are as beloved, as strange, and as fiercely protected as that of Star Control. It’s a tale that begins with two brilliant, complementary minds, explodes into one of the most revered sci-fi epics of all time, and culminates three decades later in a landmark legal battle settled, bizarrely, by a shared love of bees. This is the story of Star Control and its magnum… Read more

How Two Dudes, a Dream, and a Roguelike Built a Funkadelic Classic In 1991, the video game console war was defined by one thing: attitude. The Sega Genesis, with its "Blast Processing" and edgy mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, was in a head-to-head brawl with Nintendo. The landscape was dominated by lightning-fast platformers, brutal brawlers, and arcade-perfect shoot 'em ups. And then... there was ToeJam & Earl. It was a game that wasn't… Read more

Rip and Tear: The Definitive History of the Original DOOM On December 10, 1993, a file named DOOM1_0.ZIP was uploaded to an FTP server at the University of Wisconsin. There was no multi-million dollar marketing campaign, no flashy Super Bowl commercial, and no coordinated launch event. There was only a 2.39 MB compressed file, unleashed onto the nascent internet and the sprawling network of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). What happened next wasn't… Read more

When Capcom prepared to bring the blue bomber from Japan to the American market, the character went through one of the most famous name changes in gaming history. In Japan he was known as Rockman, a name tied to the playful music pun with his sister Roll, as in Rock and Roll. Yet when he arrived in the United States he was suddenly Mega Man. For decades the official explanation has always… Read more

When players first explore Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on the NES, they eventually come across Dracula’s grave. What might look like a simple detail is actually a hidden historical reference that ties one of gaming’s most iconic villains back to real history. The inscription on the grave reads “1431–76,” which are the exact birth and death years of Vlad Tepes, better known as Vlad the Impaler. Vlad Tepes ruled Wallachia during the… Read more

The PlayStation 1 was more than just a console. For many of us who grew up in the late 90s, it was the beginning of a brand new chapter in gaming history. Sony’s first entry into the home console market brought cinematic storytelling, massive 3D environments, and unforgettable soundtracks that felt light years ahead of what we had known before. With Nintendo and Sega still dominating the industry, Sony arrived and carved… Read more

Atari Crosses the Line In the early 1980s the video game market was booming and the Atari 2600 sat in living rooms everywhere. In 1982 a small publisher called Mystique released Custer’s Revenge for the Atari 2600, pitching it as an adults only title. The premise was crude and simple, and it immediately drew attention for all the wrong reasons. Players guided a caricatured General Custer across a screen while dodging arrows… Read more

Few games are as universally recognizable as Tetris. With its falling blocks, catchy music, and addictive gameplay loop, it has become one of the most iconic puzzle games ever created. But its origins are just as fascinating as the game itself. Tetris was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, a computer scientist working at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Inspired by his love of puzzles and simple shapes, he designed… Read more

When gamers think of the PlayStation era, one title stands above the rest. Final Fantasy VII was a landmark release that defined a generation, blending cinematic storytelling, massive environments, and unforgettable characters. But what many people forget is that this legendary RPG was almost a Nintendo 64 game. In the mid 1990s, Square had been a long time Nintendo partner, releasing every mainline Final Fantasy title on Nintendo hardware. Naturally, they began… Read more

How a Bug Created Grand Theft Auto Today, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most recognizable franchises in gaming history. Known for its open worlds, crime filled stories, and freedom to cause absolute chaos, it has defined generations of players. But what if I told you the entire series only exists because of a programming mistake? Back in the mid 1990s, developer DMA Design (later renamed Rockstar North) was working on… Read more

When Mortal Kombat hit arcades in 1992, it shocked the world with its brutal fighting, over the top violence, and those unforgettable Fatalities. It was the game every kid wanted to play and the game every parent wanted to ban. So when the time came to bring it home to consoles, Nintendo and Sega faced a tough decision on how much of the blood would make it into living rooms. On the… Read more

Before Resident Evil, There Was Sweet Home When you think of survival horror, chances are your mind jumps straight to Resident Evil. Released in 1996 on the PlayStation, it defined the genre with its tense atmosphere, limited resources, and unforgettable scares. But what many fans do not know is that Resident Evil owes its existence to a little-known NES game from Japan called Sweet Home. Released in 1989, Sweet Home was based… Read more

Lara Croft’s Iconic Look Was No Accident When Tomb Raider launched in 1996, Lara Croft quickly became one of the most recognizable characters in gaming. But while a popular myth claims her famous proportions came from a “programming mistake,” the truth is a little different. Lara’s design was carefully planned by Core Design artist Toby Gard. He originally envisioned her as a tough, adventurous woman inspired by comic book heroines like Tank… Read more

The Accidental Horror of Silent Hill’s Fog When players think of Silent Hill, the first image that often comes to mind is its thick, suffocating fog. It is one of the most haunting visuals in all of gaming, setting the tone for fear, dread, and the unknown. But here is the twist: that fog was never meant to be scary at all. The original Silent Hill was released on the PlayStation in… Read more

When Street Fighter II first hit arcades in the early 1990s, it changed fighting games forever. The roster of colorful warriors, each with their own style and special moves, became instant legends. But one character almost missed out on a now-iconic attack. Chun-Li, the first female fighter in the Street Fighter series, was introduced without a projectile move. While she had incredible speed and powerful kicks, her lack of a fireball made… Read more