Today we will be looking at not just one game, but a series of games created by Nintendo during the 80s, known as the Game & Watch series. Read on after the jump.
Tag Archives: 1970s
Why Games Appreciation?
A Simple Question for a Simple Mind
Back in August of 2011 when I wrote my first Games Appreciation article I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought it would be a cinch to write about the games that held a special place in video game history. Well, in 2011-2012 I began intently reading up on the history of games so that I could one day call myself a Video Game Historian–and during my research I found out that some games were overrated, some were sorely underrated, others still were completely forgotten. It became quite clear that my task was about to become a lot more involved. Here’s a sample of what 1982 had to offer.
2nd Generation Video Game Notes
This list doesn’t include every game from the 2nd generation, unfortunately–I lost the original files. But here’s what I have.
To skip to the next article, click here.
Japanese Video Game Industry: A Brief History 日本のビデオゲーム業界の短い歴史
This is my semester project for Japanese 301. The first video is the finished product in Japanese, the second video contains an English dub, and the third is my rough draft, complete with grammar errors. Enjoy!
Runners-Up of 1981
For this year we’ll do a brief overview of the Vectrex console, and take a look at an interesting first entry of a long-running CRPG series.
Runners-up of 1980
The last year of the decade saw a wide variety of influential and noteworthy games. These are their stories.
A Gaming Decade in Review: 1970s
Wow, is it already the end of the decade? It seems like such a short time that I have been covering the games of the 1970s, although a contributing factor may have been me covering only a few games from the whole decade. Well, at any rate we can take a look back now and see what has led us to this point. As we welcome the 1980s let’s appreciate the triumphs and (it is hoped) learn from the failures that came to pass.
Centipede
Original version: Centipede, released in 1980 for arcade
Refinement has always been as central an aspect to video gaming as innovation. As soon as a brilliant idea comes to the medium, it is edited and polished at such a dizzying pace that cinema seems downright sluggish. Devil May Cry (2001) introduced a semi-fixed camera that was refined by God of War (2005). Stardust (1993) used pre-rendered 3D sprite graphics that were refined by Donkey Kong Country (1994) and perfected by Vectorman (1995). Back in 1980, Dona Bailey was inspired by Space Invaders which created the “shoot ’em up” genre in 1978. Let’s look at her addition to the genre after the jump.
Tempest and Tempest 2000
Original version for game 1: Tempest, released in 1980 for arcadeOriginal version for game 2: Tempest 2000, released in 1994 for Atari Jaguar
No, I’m not thinking of the play by Shakespeare, or the painting by Giogiorne, though both were quite good. I’m talking about the arcade game by Atari. Fresh off their success of Asteroids, Atari once again called upon the sexy power of vectors to make their next space-shooty game. In light of Asteroids’ marked success and the countless clones it inspired, just what makes this unassuming twitch game so special? I mean, aside from the awesomely angular cabinet? Let’s take a look. (Seriously, look at that thing. Atari was not messing around when they chiseled those edges and corners!)
Missile Command
Original version: Missile Command, released in 1980 for arcade
If you were alive during the cold war you must remember the fear and uncertainty that came with wondering how long the arms race between the US and USSR would last. Missile Command was inspired by this very fear and puts you, the player, in charge of millions of lives.
