Tag Archives: 1988 in gaming history

Community Post: A Big Red Shadow

Combined images from Flickr User: JD Hancock
Combined images from Flickr User: JD Hancock

We all know and love Mario, he is arguably the most popular video game character of all time and appeals to adults and children alike. But while Mario enjoys our adulation, his lanky green brother takes a side role. Why is it that Luigi has always been ‘Mario’s brother’ or ‘player 2’? Why is he confined to his brother’s shadow?

Well first of all we can point to the fact that Luigi is (put simply) just another Mario model. When the lead designer Miyamoto was designing ‘Jumpman’ who later became Mario, the colour palette swap from red to green birthed the early version of Luigi. Thus Luigi is a similair but not quite the full article copy of Mario, a second rate edition of Mario. Continue reading Community Post: A Big Red Shadow

Today in Gaming History: 11/1/13

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1988: Electronic Arts releases John Madden Football 
Did you know that the ever-popular Madden series of football games got its start as a computer game? I had no idea until history informed me that yes! The original John Madden Football was released 25 years ago for DOS, the Apple II, and the Commodore 64. (Cross “platform” nonetheless!) The game was co-designed by sportscaster John Madden and players could choose to either coach a team they created or play as the football players.

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Today in Gaming History: 10/27/2013

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1988: Phantasy Star celebrates 25th anniversary
As far as RPGs go, Phantasy Star was among those that set the stage for future games of the genre.  It’s also fondly rememeber by some as being among the best games for the Sega Master System. In the game, players traversed a planetary system called Algol that was under the thumb of a belevolent-turned-malevolent ruler named King Lassic. They took on the role of Alis, a member of the rebellion forces, who was joined by a drew of characters, and fought over the course of several different worlds to eventually face the evil Lassic. Phantasy Star set itself apart from other similar games of the time with its story-driven play and female protagonist.

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Today in Gaming History: 10/10/2013

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1988: DMA Design (later Rockstar North) established
Twenty-five years ago, under the shadow of the vast, expanding video games industry of the late 1990s, a small studio called DMA Design was created in Scotland. With a couple praised though not well-known games, Menace and Blood Money, of its belt, the company dove off the development cliff with its 1991 hit Lemmings. (Get it? Cliff, lemmings?…cause they…oh forget it.) This popular puzzler sold millions and made DMA a household name. And Lemmings spawned numerous sequels that were created by DMA, and some one-offs that weren’t.

Continue reading Today in Gaming History: 10/10/2013