Don't You Remember? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dig Dug

"Dig Dug" was originally released in 1982 by the Japanese company Namco and released outside of Japan by Atari. In the original the character was called Dig Dug but later incarnations revealed his name to be Taizou Hori or Taizo Hori. It is written in Japanese as Hori Taizo, which is a pun on the phrase "Horitai zo" and means "I want to dig". Taizo Hori is the father of Susumu Hori, the main character in the "Mr. Driller" series. "Mr. Driller" started out as "Dig Dug 3" but then developed into its own series and has been released on PlayStation, Dreamcast, WonderSwan, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, DS, WiiWare, Xbox Live, Windows, and iOS. Pookas also appeared in other Namco games, including the "Pac-Man World" series.

Answer: Missile Command

"Missile Command" was first released as an arcade game in 1980 by Atari in North America and Sega in Europe. The basic concept of the game was a player had to protect six cities from incoming missiles, much like President Reagan envisioned with the Strategic Defense Initiative announced three years later in 1983. Interestingly, the game ends with a screen that says 'The End' not the traditional 'Game Over'. Many have taken this as a reference to the fact that if nuclear war did come it would be the end of humanity.

In the episode of "Chuck" named "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer", Chuck must score 2,000,000 points to reach a kill screen and unlock a weapons satellite access code hidden by its programmer. Chuck does this by realizing the pattern is the same as the pattern to the music from Rush's 1981 hit "Tom Sawyer". The kill screen does not really exist in the game and the arcade machine could only display six digits in the score, not the seven needed to display 2,000,000.

The award-winning documentary "High Score" followed Bill Carlton as he attempted to beat the game's high score set back in 1982 by Victor Ali. Ali score over 80,000,000 points in 56 hours of continual play. Carlton failed to beat the score in the documentary.

Answer: Centipede

"Centipede" was an arcade game originally released in 1981 by Atari. It was designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey. Bailey was one of the few female programmers in the industry at the time and "Centipede" was one of the few arcade games to have a large female fan base. The game involved shooting the Centipede as it came down the screen towards the player's shooter. It was named "Centipede" because it featured 100 levels of play. Centi- means 100. The game is used extensively in teaching game theory. Game theory is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers" according to Roger B. Myerson in his book "Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict" (1991). Game theory can be applied to the fields of business, economics, biology, politics, computer science and logic, and philosophy. Buckner & Garcia released the song "Ode to a Centipede" as a song on their 1982 concept album "Pac-Man Fever".

In the movie "Never Say Never Again", Kim Basinger played Domino and Sean Connery played James Bond. Domino was playing "Centipede" at a charity function when Bond was trying to make contact with her. In "Funny People" Adam Sandler' character and Seth Rogan's character are playing "Centipede" while waiting to see the doctor. In the movie "Going the Distance", Drew Barrymore's character holds the high score on the game in the bar where Justin Long's character is trying to beat it. He assumes it was posted by a guy only to learn it was Barrymore.

Although the game and Rebbie Jackson's song share the same title, the song is not about the game. The song was a Top Five hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number four. It also reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album of the same name was certified Gold.

Answer: Q*bert

Another name for a cotton swab is a Q-tip, which looks very much like the game "Q*bert". "Q*bert" was released in 1982 by Gottlieb and became the third most merchandised arcade game behind only "Pac-Man" and "Donkey Kong". Its likeness appeared on coloring books, board games, wind-up toys, stuffed animals and many other items. The cartoon was set in Q*burg with Q*bert being a high school student. It featured many puns using the letter Q added to words.

It is a puzzle game in which the player must solve a series of pyramid puzzles to advance. Early on the game became known for the fact that Doris Self set a Guinness World Record for being the oldest competitive female gamer when she set the high score in 1984 at the age of 58. Her record was surpassed and she spent the rest of her life trying to get the title back until she passed away in 2006. Since its release as an arcade game, it has been ported to many different platforms, some successfully others less so. Sequels and knock-offs also followed.

Answer: Space Invaders

"Space Invaders" initial success as an arcade game led to the golden age of arcade games as companies saw the profit potential. "Guinness World Records" has since designated it as the top arcade game as of 2008 because of its technical, creative, and cultural impact. (Source: "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008") The 'killer app' designation of the game came when it was released on the Atari 2600 home video game console. The Atari 2600 was initially released in 1977 but had limited success until the release of "Space Invaders" on the platform. A 'killer app' is any software program that becomes such an essential part of a larger technology that it increases the value of that technology. Early examples in computing would be the programs "WordStar" and "Lotus 1-2-3" from the same time period as "Space Invaders". Since then, "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Pokémon Red and Blue" would be considered examples of 'killer apps' as they revived fading gaming platforms, Sega Genesis and Game Boy respectively.

The Pretenders' debut album that featured the song "Space Invaders" was a Number One album in the UK and reached number nine in the States.

Answer: Frogger

"Frogger" was released as an arcade game in 1981 by Sega/Gremlin and developed initially by Konami. The object of the game was to get the frog across either a river or a street without getting killed. As with most arcade games it was ported to many different platforms after its initial success as an arcade game. It has had at least 24 sequels over the years. Buckner & Garcia released the song "Froggy's Lament" as a song on their 1982 concept album "Pac-Man Fever". The song also pays tribute to the character Froggy the Gremlin from the 1950s children's TV show "Andy's Gang".

The "Seinfeld" episode was entitled "The Frogger" and was episode 19 of season 9 first airing on April 23, 1998. In the episode George rigs a battery up to the game so it won't lose power and erase his high score and then tries to move it across a busy street. The sound effects used as he does this are the same sound effects as are in the game that were timed to coincide with his movements. He manages to get across the street but can't lift the game up on the curb on the other side. As he struggles to lift it a Freightliner semi comes and smashes the game to pieces as George dives out of the way. The sound effect for Frogger getting squashed plays after this happens.

George's fictional high score was 860,630 and in September 2005 Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard offered $1,000 to anyone who could break this score in real life before the end of the year. No one succeeded but on Dec. 22, 2009 Pat Laffaye did set a world record high score for the game of 896,980 points according to Twin Galaxies.

Answer: Pac-Man

Pac-Man" was released in 1980 by Namco in Japan and licensed to Midway in North America. Although it struggled initially in Japan, it caught on quickly in the US and raked in $1 billion in quarters in the first year alone according to two sources. The original game featured a maze wherein the player had to eat all of the dots while avoiding the ghosts. After its initial success it was ported to many different gaming platforms and continues to evolve. The "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008" has awarded "Pac-Man" and its sequels, of which there are at least 30 official games, eight different world records, including "Most Successful Coin-Operated Game". One of the most successful sequels "Ms. Pac-Man" actually began as an illegal hack of "Pac-Man" by Midway but was soon adopted by Namco as an official title because of its success. The game became one of the most successful arcade games in the US at the time and helped broaden "Pac-Man's" already large female fan base. The other games in the Smithsonian along with "Pac-Man" are "Pong" and "Dragon's Lair". "Pac_Man" was also a merchandising giant along with "Q*bert" and "Donkey Kong".

Buckner & Garcia's album was "Pac-Man Fever" and the title song was released as a single in 1981, reaching number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. The song was a huge success, selling 1 million copies by the time it peaked on the charts. The title of the album was a play on Ted Nugent's album "Cat Scratch Fever" from 1977. It was a concept album featuring songs about the different video games popular at the time. Here is a list of the songs:
"Pac-Man Fever" (Pac-Man)
"Froggy's Lament" (Frogger)
"Ode to a Centipede" (Centipede)
"Do the Donkey Kong" (Donkey Kong)
"Hyperspace" (Asteroids)
"The Defender" (Defender)
"Mousetrap" (Mouse Trap)
"Goin' Berzerk" (Berzerk)

Answer: Donkey Kong

"Donkey Kong" was first released as an arcade game in 1981 by Nintendo. The game featured Donkey Kong, a gorilla with a bad attitude, Mario the hero and the person the player maneuvers through the game, and Pauline, the heroine kidnapped by Donkey Kong. Mario must climb up the levels to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong. The game was one of the first to tell a story throughout the game. The game spawned several sequels as well as launching Mario, one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. It was ported to many different gaming platforms. "Donkey Kong" joined "Pac-Man" and Q*bert" as the three biggest merchandised games coming out of the golden age of arcade games.

In Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., Universal maintained that "Donkey Kong" was a trademark infringement of "King Kong". At first they merely threatened legal action and many of the companies that licensed the game caved in and paid royalties to Universal. But Nintendo stuck to its guns and would not back down. It was clearly a case of David vs. Goliath and as was the case in the Biblical story, David used Goliath's weapon against him. In the lawsuit Universal tried to maintain exclusive rights to "King Kong" but in an earlier lawsuit, Universal City Studios, Inc. v. RKO General Inc., et al., Universal had successfully argued that "King Kong" was in the public domain. They won that case and since they knew their claims were not legally binding against Nintendo, the judge decided against Universal. David had once again slain Goliath. Nintendo then countersued Universal and won that case too with Universal having to pay penalties. Both cases were appealed by Universal and both cases were lost on appeal. The case was extremely important to video game companies because it showed these small startup companies could take on entertainment giants and win.

Answer: Berzerk

"Berzerk" was released as an arcade game in 1980 by Stern Electronics. Fred Saberhagen's series for which the game was named was "Berserker" and the English word 'berserk' traces its lineage back to Sir Walter Scott who used it as a name for Norse warriors. "Berzerk" was a shooter game in which the player had to navigate through a maze, killing robots and avoiding Evil Otto. It was one of the early games to use speech synthesis because the robots talked. Buckner and Garcia included the song "Goin' Berzerk" on their concept album "Pac-Man Fever" in 1981 as a tribute to the game. The game was ported to many different platforms after its initial success as an arcade game.

The two deaths attributed to the game occurred in 1981 and 1982. In January of 1981, Jeff Daley had a massive heart attack and died shortly after scoring 16,660 points. The score itself is ominous for containing 666 in it but the death was disputed by the owner of the arcade. He maintained Jeff died before the game finished and as a result of being obese and running up the stairs to play the game. The other death occurred in October of 1982 when Peter Burkowski died after writing his initials in the Top Ten on the video game twice in a span of 15 minutes. The coroner concluded that Burkowski had a weakened heart from an incident at least two weeks prior to playing the game and that any excitement might have triggered the death. It was just coincidence that it happened to be a video game. These deaths led Evil Otto to being named one of the greatest video game villains of all time because he caused deaths of real-life players.

Answer: Defender

"Defender" was released as an arcade game in 1980 by Williams Electronics. Jarvis had been a pinball designer before being tasked with developing an arcade video game. The game featured many unique components in its game play, including the ability to fly in either direction, a playing area bigger than the screen encompassed, side-scrolling, enemies to destroy, and humans to rescue and protect. The game was not considered to be anything special by the industry at the time but proved to be far more successful than other highly touted games released at the same time. Buckner and Garcia included the song "The Defender" on their concept album "Pac-Man Fever" in 1981 as a tribute to the game. After its initial arcade success, it was ported to many different gaming platforms and several sequels followed.

The game was the company's bestselling arcade game and allowed Jarvis to set up his own company to further explore new games. His next game, "Robotron: 2084" was developed by this new company and released by Williams Electronics. It was another critical and commercial success. As part of the "Celebrate the Century" series of US Postage Stamps, "Defender" was featured on one stamp with two children playing the game. The TV series from which Jarvis got the name for the game was "The Defenders" that aired from 1961 to 1965. He thought having the player defending the humans would justify the violence in the game.