Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Universal Studios sued Nintendo in 1982 over Donkey Kong, claiming it infringed on their copyright for King Kong, but Nintendo's lawyer discovered that Universal had previously proven King Kong was in the public domain.
Universal Studios sued Nintendo in 1982 over Donkey Kong, claiming it infringed on their copyright for King Kong, but Nintendo's lawyer discovered that…
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In The Sims 2, stargazing can make a male Sim pregnant.
In The Sims 2, stargazing can make a male Sim pregnant. An adult male using the expensive Farstar e3 telescope can be abducted and return expecting an alien…
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Nintendo's future president helped untangle Pokémon's code.
Nintendo's future president helped untangle Pokémon's code. Satoru Iwata analyzed the Game Boy games, helped with localization and Nintendo 64 battle code,…
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Chess has a rule for a pawn trying to slip past.
Chess has a rule for a pawn trying to slip past. A pawn's two-square first move could let it bypass an enemy pawn that would have attacked it after a…
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Some wartime Monopoly boards hid real escape supplies.
Some wartime Monopoly boards hid real escape supplies. British escape planners worked with the game's manufacturer to conceal maps and other aids in boards…
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Capcom released a special controller for Resident Evil 4 that was literally shaped like a blood-splattered chainsaw, complete with a pull-cord that you had to yank to turn the device on.
Capcom released a special controller for Resident Evil 4 that was literally shaped like a blood-splattered chainsaw, complete with a pull-cord that you had to…
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Venezuelan citizens famously resorted to farming and selling World of Warcraft gold in 2017 because the digital fantasy currency was actually worth significantly more than their…
Venezuelan citizens famously resorted to farming and selling World of Warcraft gold in 2017 because the digital fantasy currency was actually worth…
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Skyrim’s stolen sweetroll joke goes back to Arena.
Skyrim’s stolen sweetroll joke goes back to Arena. The 1994 game asked how your character would respond to bullies taking a sweetroll. Later Elder Scrolls…
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Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. began without Nintendo's famous fighters. Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata built a prototype called Dragon King: The Fighting Game. Sakurai…
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Pong began as an engineering exercise.
Pong began as an engineering exercise. Nolan Bushnell gave Al Alcorn a simple electronic table-tennis assignment to learn the hardware. Alcorn built the game…
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Overwatch was salvaged from the smoking wreckage of a massive, canceled multiplayer project called Titan, which Blizzard Entertainment spent seven entire years and millions of dollars developing.
Overwatch was salvaged from the smoking wreckage of a massive, canceled multiplayer project called Titan, which Blizzard Entertainment spent seven entire…
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Uno began as Merle Robbins's take on Crazy Eights.
Uno began as Merle Robbins's take on Crazy Eights. Robbins developed the game in 1971, turning the familiar match-and-discard card-game idea into a dedicated…
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Mew slipped into Pokémon through 300 bytes of leftover space.
Mew slipped into Pokémon through 300 bytes of leftover space. Developer Shigeki Morimoto recalled adding the creature after debugging features were removed…
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Jenga turns someone else's safe move into your problem.
Jenga turns someone else's safe move into your problem. Each removed block changes how the tower carries its weight, while the player adds that block to the…
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Pong's first test machine filled up with too many coins.
Pong's first test machine filled up with too many coins. Allan Alcorn built the arcade prototype, and its placement in a local bar revealed demand strong…
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Windows Solitaire turned mouse practice into something people wanted to do.
Windows Solitaire turned mouse practice into something people wanted to do. Dealing and moving cards gave users repeated practice at clicking and dragging in…
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Candy Land was designed in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott, a retired schoolteacher who was actively recovering from polio in a San Diego hospital ward.
Candy Land was designed in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott, a retired schoolteacher who was actively recovering from polio in a San Diego hospital ward. Since play…
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Early Pokémon were imagined as helpers, not just fighters.
Early Pokémon were imagined as helpers, not just fighters. Ken Sugimori named Rhydon among the earliest designs, when the concept included creatures helping…
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Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D geometry, but once he scrambled it for the…
Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D geometry, but once he…
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Sonic's shoes owe something to Michael Jackson and Santa.
Sonic's shoes owe something to Michael Jackson and Santa. Designer Naoto Ohshima cited the cover of Bad as an inspiration and described the red-and-white…
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Minecraft's first public version took shape in six days.
Minecraft's first public version took shape in six days. Markus Persson built the early version released in May 2009 in less than a week; the enormous game it…
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Gunpei Yokoi invented the cross-shaped directional pad in 1982 for a Donkey Kong handheld game because a traditional joystick was simply too clunky to fit in your pocket.
Gunpei Yokoi invented the cross-shaped directional pad in 1982 for a Donkey Kong handheld game because a traditional joystick was simply too clunky to fit in…
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One Game Boy spent 196 days in space with Tetris.
One Game Boy spent 196 days in space with Tetris. Cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov took the handheld to Mir in 1993. It later appeared at auction with its…
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Xbox's red lights became a billion-dollar repair problem.
Xbox's red lights became a billion-dollar repair problem. Microsoft extended warranties after widespread Xbox 360 failures and put the cost at about $1.15…
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