Wonder of gaming goes back to its roots
By Josh Margowski
IV Leader Staff
With all the new video games flying at the consumer today, it is easy to forget the classic 8-bit graphics that made the video gaming industry what it is today.
These games are often lost to the sands of time, save for a few. But what has happened to the survivors? Where did they go? Let’s take one of the most popular titles for example: Super Mario Brothers.
A pixilated plumber and his brother off on a wacky adventure trying to save a princess from the evil King Koopa (a.k.a. Bowser for the later gamers) and his minions. What a game! But what has become of the franchise? It has become the backbone of the Nintendo Corp. with over a dozen titles including the plumbers and friends.
These survivors have generated a multi-million industry, from Sonic the Hedgehog and Metroid to the Final Fantasy series which has created two movies and a series with the best selling game in the world. These and other games may be the bottom of the pyramid but they were the start of the great wonder we have today.
Word of the Week Pwn (pown)v : To completely or utterly defeat an opponent. To open an undeniably large can of hurt on a defenseless other. Pwn's origin may stem from the Blizzard Entertainment’s RTS game Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. During multi-player games, when one player conquers another, the typo 'Player_1' pwns 'Player_2' appeared.
Character Spotlight Pongy: This is the name I am using to refer to the ball in pong. Pongy was born in 1958 with his debut in the game Tennis for Two. After some hard times Pongy transferred over to Atari and the famous Pong game was created. Success, wealth, pixels, Pongy had it all. That was until the Nintendo Entertainment System was launched. Colors and more than one pixel working in conjunction did its damage to Pongy’s ever unchanging style. It was all downhill from there. A life of hard partying the franchise Pong was going down and taking Pongy with it, but a savior was there for Pongy at the very end. And that savior is cameos. Appearing in numerous games as an easter egg or an extra to kill time. Pongy was back in business and at this rate will stay in business for many years to come.