Gaming by Numbers Trivia Quiz

The PlayStation 2 game 'World War Zero' was a 2004 re-release of 'Iron Storm', an unmemorable first-person shooter originally released for Windows in 2002. The plot takes the form of an alternate history where World War I had never come to an end and fighting continued into the 1960s. Beyond this plot device the game itself is largely underwhelming and many better war-themed first-person shooters are available to while away the hours.

Formula One (F1), like many sports, has muscled its way in to the world of video games. Formula One was however very early to the party, with an Atari arcade game 'F-1' released as early as 1976. Many decades later and the releases kept on coming, including a nod to F1's arcade beginnings with the release of the 2002 PlayStation game 'Formula One Arcade'.

The very successful 'Call of Duty' franchise, affectionately referred to as "CoD", had its beginnings in 2003 with gameplay affording different perspectives of WWII. In 2007, the first named instalment was released - 'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'. 'CoD4' ushered in a new era for the franchise by unshackling itself from the WWII theme and allowing players to experience "modern warfare".

'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' was released in 2011 for a long list of platforms including Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4. 'Skyrim', a fantasy game set in Tamriel (there are dragons, naturally!), was a huge success and picked up award after award. 'Skyrim' remained popular well into the 2020s with the release of 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition' in 2021 a testament to its longevity.

In the run up to the millennium, the first-person shooter genre was becoming more and more popular and it is no surprise that the 'James Bond' franchise got in on the action with releases such as 'Goldeneye 007' for Nintendo 64. 'Goldeneye 007', which is largely faithful to the film 'Goldeneye', is looked back on as a success particularly with respect to game design.

The enduring 'Final Fantasy' franchise is known for its use of roman numerals in game titles and a large number of releases ('Final Fantasy XVI' was released in 2023). In 2000, the ninth entry was released in which the franchise returned to its medieval roots.

Shall I pretend that I have played this game? Would you really believe me if I said that I had? Well, I definitely have not despite enjoying the odd track from 50 Cent. Apparently, '50 Cent: Bulletproof' is all about revenge. Do I need to say more? Okay, Eminem, Dr. Dre and DJ Whoo Kid lend their voices to this piece of art. Moving on...

'Super Mario 64', a classic! The concept is culturally engrained with a plumber navigating a platform world to rescue Princess Peach from the menacing Bowser. The game was a boon for the Nintendo 64 console and significant in the development of platform games. Dan Hauser, co-founder of Rockstar Games (makers of 'Grand Theft Auto'), references the influence of 'Super Mario 64' on the video game world in an interview with the 'New York Times', "Anyone who makes 3-D games who says they've not borrowed something from 'Mario' or 'Zelda' is lying - from the games on Nintendo 64, not necessarily the ones from today".

You cannot have an Olympics, summer or winter, without a video game being released to capitalise on the hard work of the athletes! 'Sydney 2000' allows gamers to pretend that they are a participant at, well, Sydney 2000! If button mashing is your thing, then this game might just be for you. You know you want to be a gold medallist in skeet shooting.

Twelve years on from 'Sydney 2000' and games about the Olympics were still being churned out. More events were made available in 'London 2012' than were present in previous games (the quirky keirin makes an appearance) but skeet shooting is a mainstay. You know you want to retain your gold medal in the skeet. Go on, you've got this!