Questions tagged [gaming-history]
Questions about the history of games, conventions, customs, traditions and gaming terms, and how they have developed over time.
89
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First game with resolution choice
What was the first game to offer a choice of screen resolutions? I'm mostly interested in DOS (which is where I expect the answer will be) but also curious if any other platform (e.g. Mac or Amiga) ...
- 459
3
votes
0
answers
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What was the first puzzle game with "undo reset"?
Some modern puzzle games (Stephen's Sausage Roll, Patrick's Parabox, A Monster's Expedition) let you "undo a reset": if you reset the puzzle and then press "undo", it will set the ...
- 139
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1
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What is the first FPS game to use different ammo types for the same gun?
I was wondering, which was the first first-person shooter game to use different ammo types for the same gun? E.g., the shotgun in Turok 2 (1998) can use normal shotgun shells and explosive ones...
- 217
4
votes
1
answer
195
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What is the first game to introduce limited-time tiered reward passes?
Progression passes! Battle passes! Depending on who you ask, they are a cool goal for players to work towards and get neat rewards, a means to ensure players only play one live service game at a time, ...
- 503
9
votes
1
answer
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What was the first game to intentionally use letterboxing to indicate a cutscene?
A widespread convention or trope in games is the use of black bars at the top and bottom of the screen during a cutscene or cinematic. I assume this is a stylistic choice, and/or a UX choice to ...
- 199
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1
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182
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What was the first action RPG with rogue-like elements?
What was the first action RPG game to also have roguelike elements like procedurally generated dungeons, permanent death (aka permadeath), etc.?
Note: By "action RPG" I mean Diablo-style ...
anon
33
votes
6
answers
11k
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What was the first game to show toilets?
And by "toilets" I mean the actual thing you sit on, not just "restrooms".
Not trying to be weird, I just remember I first saw them in Fallout 3 (2008) and suddenly realized those ...
- 465
4
votes
2
answers
362
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What was the first commercial game to include a save feature that wasn't dependent on a battery backup?
What was the first commercial game on general release to include a feature that allowed you to save a game to persistent storage, and come back to it later, which wasn't dependent on any form of ...
- 689
2
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0
answers
116
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What was the first game to include a crafting system for non-critical in game items?
What was the first video game that allowed you to collect components or materials that had no intrinsic use by themselves, and then combine them into useful in game items such as weapons or food?
I'm ...
- 689
22
votes
2
answers
4k
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What was the first rhythm game?
A cursory look at the English Wikipedia says it was PaRappa the Rapper (1996), but I find it hard to believe that no-one thought to turn performing music into a game during the 16-bit era. The SNES ...
- 481
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3
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What was the first video game console controller with ANALOG trigger buttons?
I want to emphasize the word "ANALOG" so that you understand that i am not referring to digital trigger buttons
I want to know what was the first controller with analog trigger buttons, not ...
- 59
0
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1
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995
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What video games have been written only with C (not C++) language or/and Assembly language? [closed]
I am looking for video games that only contain Assembly language or/and C (not C++) language in their source code.
The best example of this that I can think of right now is RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999),...
- 59
1
vote
1
answer
484
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What was the first video game to employ hidden balancing mechanics?
I'm currently researching the evolution of game balance in video games, and I'm particularly interested in the "hidden" mechanics that developers employ to maintain a fair and engaging ...
- 289
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1
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What was the first video game to have a soundtrack performed by an actual orchestra?
Sources seem to vary on which video game was the first to use an actual orchestra to perform its soundtrack. Some sources say that it was Heart of Darkness.
Heart of Darkness marked another change in ...
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0
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Who did what for the original "Shadowgate" on Macintosh and NES?
I am trying to determine who were actually involved in making the classic "Shadowgate" game for the Macintosh, and its NES port.
On MobyGames, I read:
Staff: David Feldman, David Marsh, ...
- 613
5
votes
1
answer
456
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What was the first game to have a built-in "quicksave" feature?
Quicksave (according to Wikipedia, and my own experience) is a feature that allows the player to save their game state with a single keystroke, instead of (say) going through a lot of complicated ...
- 317
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4
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Why would Majora's Mask have needed the Expansion Pak for the "time mechanics"?
I watched this video and was annoyed by what he said here:
Why would the base Nintendo 64 not be able to keep a minimal number of true/false flags in its memory, as is ...
- 113
4
votes
2
answers
801
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Which games use a neural network to influence game play? [closed]
Creatures was a video game released in 1996 (or 1997, depending on the region) that contained a real, working neural network. It used the neural network to influence game play, by affecting the way ...
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1
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322
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Is 'Sierra Online' somehow related to 'Valve Studios'?
Is there any connection between the two developer studios: 'Sierra Online' and 'Valve Studios'?
- 331
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1
answer
454
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Sphere Grid/Skill Tree history?
In games like Diablo, a character class had a fixed tree.
In Final Fantasy X, every node on the Sphere Grid may be accessed by every character.
This fundamental idea then has been used in Path Of ...
- 449
14
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2
answers
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When was the game mechanic of online invasion of single player mode first introduced?
It seems to me that more and more games in the last few years feature an invasion mode for their campaigns, in which another player (usually in a hostile role) enters the single player campaign mode ...
- 289
11
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1
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Was "SD Art of Fighting" ever released?
Electronic Gaming Monthly #45 and Super Play #21 both announced "SD Art of Fighting" as an upcoming Super Famicom game. Was it ever released under another name, or did it get canceled?
- 361
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0
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What is the origin of "s-tier" in video games? [duplicate]
It occurred to me the other day that I don't remember ever hearing the term "s-tier" (meaning the best in a tier list, far better than anyone else - the highest tier) before Super Smash Bros ...
4
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1
answer
208
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How many games did Romero and Carmack create before Doom?
Both Romero and Carmack created many games and sold them to computer magazines in the 80s as their initial foray making games.
I think I remember a line in Master of Doom that they had both created 80-...
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4
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Which was the first game to use multiple Rock Paper Scissors mechanics?
There are many games that use a tactical or elemental Rock Paper Scissors mechanic. Some of them try to make things more interesting by modifying the mechanic, such as by changing the number of ...
- 405
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1
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What console game has been released with the highest number of optical discs?
Nowadays, games being released in 1 or 2 discs is considered normal (for example, RDR2 for PS4/Xbox One in 2 50GB Blu-ray discs and GTA V for the Xbox 360 was 2 9.5GB DVDs), but I remember that around ...
- 10.2k
9
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1
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635
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What's the earliest known use of the term "farming"?
The first time I saw the term farming in a videogame context was bonewall farming / "bonefarming" in Diablo 2. It makes sense in this case since you "plant" a bonewall then "...
- 191
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1
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752
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What was the first FPS game with strafing?
What was the first FPS game that introduced strafing?
As far as I remember it was there in Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, which were my first encounter with PC games.
user44534
25
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3
answers
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What is the record word size for a gaming system?
Related: What does 8-bit / 16-bit actually refer to?
I remember the "bit wars" of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Genesis/Mega Drive and the PC Engine/Turbografx-16 were heavily marketed ...
- 1,438
43
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9
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What's the longest speedrun world record?
Various classics have been speed run in surprisingly short amounts of time, for example Mario in under 5 minutes and Ultimate Doom in about 20 minutes and many others (Zelda, MineSweeper).
I learned ...
- 665
4
votes
2
answers
837
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What was the first ever FPS with secondary fire?
What was the first ever first person shooter to feature a secondary fire mode? I can think of a couple of 1997 examples (Outlaws, Blood) but I wouldn't be surprised if it had been done a year or two ...
- 459
2
votes
1
answer
240
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What are the oldest electronic (electric?) arcade games?
Up until now I was more than sure that the history of electronic or electric arcade games (played be teenagers in "game saloons") were around early seventies / late sixties of twentieth ...
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1
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First ever game to alternate platforming or run-and-gun stages with scrolling shoot em up stages
Title pretty much covers it. I think the predecessor to Cybernator is the earliest I know (1990) but I wouldn't be surprised if there are earlier examples. I suspect the inspiration may have come from ...
- 459
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3
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Is there a standardized rating system for game difficulty?
I was recently reading about the various game content rating systems in place in various areas of the world. When describing the PEGI system, Wikipedia observes, "The age rating does not indicate ...
- 1,438
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votes
1
answer
245
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Is Avenging Spirit the first game that features a possession gameplay mechanic?
I was recently playing an old arcade game named Avenging Spirit that has a main character that is kind of similar to Nintendo's Kirby. It features a "possession" game mechanic, where the ...
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1
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What is "Horse and Pony II", created by the Battlefield devs (Refraction Games)?
Refraction Games were a company who famously developed "Codename Eagle", the precursor to modern Battlefield games. Shortly after its release, the developers were bought by DICE and went on ...
35
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1
answer
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How was it calculated that Dream cheated on his Minecraft v1.16 glitchless speedrun?
The speedrunner Dream has recently been accused of cheating in his Minecraft Java v1.16 glitchless speedrun.
How did the Minecraft Java speedrunning mods calculate if Dream cheated?
user273012
0
votes
2
answers
222
views
What examples of games break the fourth wall and direct the player to read the manual? [closed]
There are video games that break the fourth wall and talk directly to the gamer. The best example was always the TV show "Hugo" where you control the character with your telephone. He would ...
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1
answer
406
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Was return to castle wolfenstein ever released in Germany or Austria?
In countries were any type of Nazi imagery is outright banned how did a game like Return to castle Wolvenstein ever see a release?
- 225
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votes
2
answers
669
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What was the first game to have a livestream mode to try to avoid legal issues?
Cyberpunk 2077 has an option to remove copyrighted music to (try to) avoid legal issues when live streaming:
Was Cyberpunk 2077 the first game to have a livestream mode to try to avoid legal issues?
- 1,591
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10
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Are there any non-fiction games? [closed]
There are fiction books like Harry Potter, and non-fiction books (like a Biology textbook for example), but I think all of the games I've ever played were fiction.
So are there any non-fiction games?
- 239
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First platformer enemy to stun players by jumping?
In platformer games, there’s a fairly common trope/mechanic of an unusually heavy enemy that, when they land after jumping, stuns the player if they are on the ground. Examples include Sledge Brothers ...
- 31
6
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1
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908
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What games were released for the PS2 in China during the Console Ban? (if any)
This Kotaku article from 2013 mentions that:
The PS2 didn't make its original launch date. Instead, Sony waited till 2004 to launch the PS2 in China. Even then, there were issues with game releases, ...
- 10.2k
8
votes
1
answer
157
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What's the first game to feature sacrificing at altars as a general game mechanic?
In NetHack you can sacrifice sufficiently fresh corpses at altars for various benefits. Are there any earlier games where such sacrifices are a general game mechanic? Going by the TV Tropes page on ...
- 209
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2
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What game came up with the Heart metaphor for health?
I'd like to know what game came up with hearts for showing the player's character's health.
It's very common today in many games, but how did this come to be?
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1
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1k
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Was SSI's isometric RPG "M" ever released?
Saw this waaaay back in the day in a FASA/SSI ad booklet that came in my Mechwarrior 2 box:
Transcription:
What is M?
THE MOST VISUALLY STUNNING, TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, INTRICATE AND COMPELLING ...
- 641
59
votes
1
answer
16k
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How did Minecraft's Java/Bedrock split come to pass?
It's been a very long time since I've last touched Minecraft. Recently my interest was sparked again and to my surprise I've learned that now there are 2 dominant Minecraft versions: Java and Bedrock. ...
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votes
1
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440
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Who was the first boss who had multiple HP bars?
It is commonplace in current video games that bosses, most likely final bosses, have multiple HP bars so that depleting one fully reveals another underneath, usually a different color, or sometimes ...
- 149
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votes
1
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145
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Have videogames advanced technology? [closed]
I was reading about the PS5 and the new Xbox and it felt like game consoles improve themselves by using existing (high end) technology. This made me wonder if any new (at the time of creation) ...
- 135
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4
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Why didn't the arcade machines keep on "scaling" as the years went by?
Growing up in the early to mid 1990s, visiting various arcades was truly fascinating. At home, the SNES already felt amazingly futuristic, and its games endlessly fascinated and impressed me. Yet, ...
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