Home video games turn 45 this week. That’s right, on August 31, 1966, Ralph Baer originated the idea of playing a video game on a television. An electrical engineer and employee of defense contractor Sanders Associates, Inc., Ralph had toyed with the idea of using a television to play some sort of game before, but, now, the thoughts crystallized into a definite concept.
As Ralph records in his memoir, Videogames in the Beginning:
During a business trip for Sanders to New York […]
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Standing Up for Sidekicks: An Appeal to Heroes
Holy relationship crisis! Batman, is Robin your sidekick or your partner? Think you can get away with calling him just a chum? Empty words for a guy who’s always had your back. Heroes fighting for justice and peace should defend a new cause: equal rights for so-called sidekicks.
As Batman looms over the National Museum of Play’s American Comic Book Heroes exhibit here at The Strong, I can’t help but think of poor Robin—surely you’ve noticed that he wears no pants? […]
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Saluting the Statue of Liberty
As anticipation builds for the royal newlyweds’ first official North American tour, I’m reminded yet again of how beautiful Kate Middleton (er, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) looked. With billions of eyes on her as she towed a nearly nine-foot train across Westminster Abbey, she embodied poise and grace, winning many admirers at home and overseas. Such was the reception of a gowned and bejeweled Frenchwoman introduced to the United States 125 years ago, “a mighty woman with a torch,” as […]
With a Song in my Heart: A Brief History of American Sheet Music; or, How to Search The Strong’s Database
As I write this, Katy Perry’s “E.T.” featuring Kanye West ranks as the number one pop song. Country’s top pick is “Heart Like Mine” by Miranda Lambert, while R&B’s current number one is “Sure Thing” by Miguel. Although the star performers get all the attention, hit songs could never happen without the session musicians and backup singers who fill out the sound behind the star. With so many categories and types of music today, how do performers teach songs to […]
The Buzz Surrounding Mobile Gaming Apps
Farmville
As a video game researcher, I love talking about all sorts of games with all kinds of gamers. Obviously my job at ICHEG affords me many such opportunities to do so. Yet, I often talk gaming with acquaintances who don’t consider themselves gamers. There’s actually a lot of gaming buzz among them—and it isn’t just about playing Zynga’s Farmville on Facebook.
Here is what they are talking about: mobile gaming apps. While games for mobile devices certainly aren’t new, the touch […]
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Final Fantasy Video Game Concert Series
Recently, my husband and I made our way through the crowded hallways of the Sony Center in Toronto to hear Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. As we took our seats in the mezzanine, musicians on the stage below tuned instruments and briefly practiced music. I sat back in my seat and watched the crowd stream in—women in evening gowns, men in suits, teenage girls in elaborate Gothic Lolita dresses, and others in full video-game-character cosplay outfits. My crowd-watching ceased […]
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More Video Game Museums in Europe
Following the blog I wrote recently on video game preservation in Europe, readers sent me emails about a couple of other museums there. One is at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which currently has a temporary exhibit on the history of video games. The other is the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games in Moscow. Let us know about your experiences with these or any other video game museums.
Taking Video Games Outdoors
As legendary game designers David Crane, Steven Cartright, and Garry Kitchen spoke at the recent Classic Gaming Expo, I couldn’t help but reminisce about some of my favorite Activision titles from the early 80s. As the first third-party developer in the video game industry, Activision released fascinating titles, such as Barnstorming, Keystone Kapers, and Kaboom!, for the Atari VCS. Crane’s classic platformer Pitfall! came to dominate my play experiences—both on the screen and off.
Pitfall image from GameFAQs
Our building efforts began […]
Top 25 Video Game Villains 3: Is Your Favorite Listed?
This edition of our video game villain countdown will take us more than halfway through our list and will, I hope, bring back some wonderful memories for you.
Dracula from Gamexeon
#15: Dracula: Evil is seductive.
You’ve heard of this guy, right? Prince of Darkness, Vlad the Impaler, put Transylvania on the map, probably inspired the Count from Sesame Street, etc. This notoriety alone makes him worth mentioning, but the Dracula of the Castlevania series is memorable because he proved to be one […]
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