Fun Facts about Full Sized Arcade Games

Full sized arcade games are more than just a part of gaming history, they are a cultural phenomenon that have touched almost every part of the world. Video games became quite popular in the 1980s; however, their invention actually dates much earlier. Here are some fun facts about classic games that you might not have known before: 

• Tennis for Two was the first multi-user video game invented.
  This game was created by William Higinbotham, a nuclear physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in 1958. The game could be played by two people on a computer with an oscilloscope monitor and two controllers.

• Programming for video games made a drastic shift in the 1960s.
  Charles Bacheller programmed a basketball simulation game and Jacob Bergmann invented a baseball simulation game. Thanks to increased knowledge of BASIC computer language, these games became possible.

• One of the first arcade games was called Computer Space.
  Contrary to popular belief, Pong was not the first arcade game created. In 1971, Computer Space became available as a commercial coin-op machine. While it did not become as widely influential as Pong, it still occupies an important “first” for the industry.

• Pong was one of the first sport-inspired arcade games for sale.
  Released in November of 1972, Pong was not the first arcade game created. However, it was the first sports game as it simulated a table tennis match. This spawned tons of commercial success and inspired many video games to come. 

• Atari was founded on a $500 investment.
  Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created their start-up with a $500 combined budget. This happened in 1972 and, from then on, they began growing a multi-billion-dollar video game company. 

• Nolen Bushnell founded Chuck E. Cheese.
  That’s right, the same Nolen Bushnell that helped create Atari was the guy that founded the kid’s friendly arcade and pizza joint known as Chuck E. Cheese. 

• Before Super Mario Bros., there was Donkey Kong.
  Mario and Luigi, two of the most famous video game characters, did not exist until after Nintendo released Donkey Kong, one of the most popular full sized arcade games of the time. In the game, Mario was just known as Jump Man and, instead of Princess Peach, there was a distressed damsel named Pauline. Luigi wasn’t introduced until Mario Brothers hit the scene.

• Donkey Kong’s name in Japanese is synonymous to Stupid Gorilla.
  If you ever wondered why the gorilla character is called Donkey Kong, then you can look to Shigeru Miyamoto. The creator of Donkey Kong and Mario named the character this because “Kong” means gorilla (as in King Kong) and “Donkey” means stupid, goofy, and stubborn. 

• Turbo changed the world of racing video games in 1981.
  Racing games are one of the most classic genres of video games and would not be the same without the creation of Turbo. This game improved graphics and playability with rear-view racer formatting, 3rd-person playing perspective, landscape environments, and different skies for different times of day. 

• The original Legend of Zelda game allowed players to build their own dungeons.
  In 1986, when Japan released Legend of Zelda, they allowed users to design and build their own dungeons. However, they changed this idea to have pre-made maps that were both fun and challenging.

• Super Mario Brothers 2 was based on Doki-Doki Panic.
  American gamers who got ahold of Super Mario Brothers 2 were actually playing an adaptation of a Japanese game because the original Super Mario Brothers 2 game was too challenging. The game included fantastical characters like Phanto, Shyguy, and Birdo. 

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