Pioneers of the Old Arcade and Video Games Quiz

Answer: Nintendo

Nintendo Koppai was founded in Kyoto in 1889. The history of hanafunda allegedly goes way back to the Spanish missionaries who probably introduced the game. Each card represents a different season or flower. Nintendo directors visited the US Playing Card Company in the fifties and realized the limitations to the playing card business.

They decided to diversify. One of the projects that did not work was a 'love hotel' where strangers in the night could exchange glances briefly. Those of you who have seen Mahjong tiles will see the similarity in motif.

Answer: Atari

When Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney were founding their famous game company they first chose "syzygy" an astronomical term but they found it had been used by a hippie candle company in California so after thinking of some terms from the traditional game of 'Go' they chose "Atari" when a stone or stones are in danger of being taken by an opponent.

Answer: The milk carton containing the quarters (25 cent coins) was jamming the mechanism.

The history of how 'PONG' was developed is a story of its own, but, the problem with the pub owner complaining about the jammed machine after lines of players tried it out and the milk carton holding the coins being the culprit is my favorite!
The subsequent development and change of license and companies was quite intricate. 'PONG' was revolutionary in the mid seventies because people would sit around playing it on their TV sets until they burned out! The TV and the player both!

Answer: William Higinbotham

Although there has been some understandable controversy over who did what, William Higinbotham is generally credited with the creation of the game. The difference with 'Tennis for Two' was that it was a top down viewpoint. Higinbotham was a witness of the first atom bomb detonation and came to the lab from the Manhattan project.

He did not license this project through his employer, the US federal government as he did for twenty other patents or so. He sometimes lamented the fact that he would be known for a game rather than his work at the non proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Answer: "Pac-Man" caught on immediately and beat "Space Invaders" out of the water.

Actually when it was first released in 1979, "Space Invaders' was incredibly popular and it took a while to catch on. "Jr Pac-Man" got his own game of course! Why not strike while the iron is hot after all? Because "Pac-Man" did not involve shooting, it had a broader appeal to both genders.

Answer: Highway Crossing Frog

Yes, the popularity might have suffered with any of those other choices; fortunately they chose 'Frogger'. Some additional trivia I came across was this incredible story. Apparently conservative religious commentator Jerry Falwell objected to the image of the frog being splattered on the pavement if he got squashed as he looked like a crucified person.

Answer: Space Invaders

"Space Invaders" crescendo was very popular because the more aliens you zapped the faster they'd come at you which made it more exciting than other games. You could also play a lot longer for your coin which was an added thrill. This game gave rise to an art form in which a French artist known as 'Invader' went around and did mosaics of video games in cities around the world like the Papal city of Avignon in the South of France or Perth in Western Australia.

Answer: Jumpman

Mario was renamed and his appearance was chosen so that he could be animated easily. He is one of the most recognizable characters around the world. At first he was a carpenter but for technical constraints he became a plumber in later games.

Answer: A cat named Mikado

As you fans will know, the Teddy Roosevelt character was later used as "Dr. Eggman" but certainly not catchy enough to battle Mario in terms of popularity and icon power!
The armadillo was used later as "Mighty the Armadillo'. When the hedgehog was adopted, his tentative name was "Mr. Needlemouse" during the development phase. Sonic has inspired lots of spin-offs, merchandise, and characters but perhaps the most popular well known are his girlfriend 'Amy Rose", his sister "Sonia the Hedgehog', and his brother 'Manic". Another bit of trivia for you, the television series "Sonic Underground" chose a popular actor for the voice of Sonic, who is it? Jaleel White, the actor who played Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters'.

Answer: No

Serious university work has taken this question seriously, (see John Brzustowski in 1988) only to conclude that because of S and Z tetrominoes, a player might receive a bunch of S tetrominoes creating a hole to fill, then a series of Zs and therefore eventually accumulate holes to fill and thus, reach the top and lose. This is if the RNG or Random Number Generator is theoretically perfect and the pieces are generated at random. However, practically speaking, an RNG is not used but something a bit different so, you might wish to make sure you can play in the bathroom and stock up on staple foods! Some more "Tetris" trivia for you, the Russian folksong used on the Game Boy version has become very well-known and is entitled "Korobeiniki" or the peddlers. It's the song of traveling peddlers from 1861.
Another trivia nugget is the scene from "The Simpsons" when Homer loads his family into the vehicle to the Russian tune and converts his family into the shapes including his wife's hair, saying 'This is what all those hours of playing 'Tetris' were for.'