Coins are pieces of hard
material used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They
are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint
in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a
government. Coins are usually metal or alloy metal, or sometimes made of
synthetic materials. They are usually disc shaped. Coins made of
valuable metal are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other
coins are used as money in everyday transactions, circulating alongside
banknotes: these coins are usually worth less than banknotes: usually
the highest value coin in circulation (i.e. excluding bullion coins) is
worth less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the
face value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the
value of the metal they contain, for example due to inflation. If the
difference becomes significant, the issuing authority may decide to
withdraw these coins from circulation, or the general public may decide
to melt the coins down or hoard them (see Gresham's law). Exceptions to
the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for
some bullion coins made of silver or gold (and, rarely, other metals,
such as platinum or palladium), intended for collectors or investors in
precious metals. Examples of modern gold collector/investor coins
include the British sovereign minted by the United Kingdom, the American
Gold Eagle minted by the United States, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
minted by Canada, and the Krugerrand, minted by South Africa. The
American Gold Eagle has a face value of US$50, and the Canadian Gold
Maple Leaf coins also have nominal (purely symbolic) face values (e.g.
C$50 for 1 oz.); but the Krugerrand does not. Historically, a great
quantity of coinage metals (including alloys) and other materials (e.g.
porcelain) have been used to produce coins for circulation, collection,
and metal investment: bullion coins often serve as more convenient
stores of assured metal quantity and purity than other bullion.[1]
Today, the term coin can also be used in reference to digital currencies
which are not issued by a state. As of 2013, examples include BitCoin
and LiteCoin, among others. As coins have long been used as money, in
some languages the same word is used for "coin" and "currency". Numismatics Claudius II coin (colourised).png Currency Coins · Banknotes · Forgery Community currencies Company scrip · Coal scrip · LETS · Time dollars Fictional currencies History Ancient currencies Greek · Roman · China · India Byzantine Medieval currencies Modern currencies Africa · The Americas · Europe · Asia · Oceania Production Mint · Designers · Coining · Milling · Hammering · Cast Exonumia Credit cards · Medals · Tokens · Cheques Notaphily Banknotes Scripophily Stocks · Bonds The
first coins were developed independently in Iron Age Anatolia and
Archaic Greece, India & China around 600-700 BC. Coins spread
rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, throughout Greece and Persia,
and further to the Balkans.[2] Standardized Roman currency was used
throughout the Roman Empire. Important Roman gold and silver coins were
continued into the Middle Ages (see Gold dinar, Solidus, Aureus,
Denarius). Ancient and early medieval coins in theory had the value of
their metal content, although there have been many instances throughout
history of the metal content of coins being debased, so that the
inferior coins were worth less in metal than their face value. Fiat
money first arose in medieval China, with the jiaozi paper money. Early
paper money was introduced in Europe in the later Middle Ages, but some
coins continued to have the value of the gold or silver they contained
throughout the Early Modern period. The penny was mint (coin)ed as a
silver coin until the 17th century. The first copper pennies were minted
in the United States in the 1790s.[3][citation needed] Silver content
was reduced in many coins in the 19th century (use of billon), and the
first coins made entirely of base metal (e.g. nickel, cupronickel,
aluminium bronze), representing values higher than the value of their
metal, were minted in the mid 19th century. Bronze Age
predecessors Super Mario Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Super Mario (disambiguation). Super Mario Logo since 2011 Genre(s) Platform Developer(s) Nintendo EAD (1985–2015) Nintendo EPD (2016–present) Publisher(s) Nintendo Creator(s) Shigeru Miyamoto Artist(s) Yoichi Kotabe Shigehisa Nakaue Composer(s) Koji Kondo Mahito Yokota Platform(s) Game & WatchNESFamicom Disk SystemArcadeGame BoySuper NESNintendo 64Game Boy ColorGame Boy AdvanceGameCubeNintendo DSWiiNintendo 3DSWii UiOSAndroidNintendo Switch First release Super Mario Bros. September 13, 1985 Latest release Super Mario Bros. Wonder October 20, 2023 Spin-offs Luigi Yoshi Wario Mario Kart Mario Party Paper Mario Mario & Luigi Super Mario[a] (also known as Super Mario Bros.[b] and Mario[c]) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console. However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms.[1] There are more than 20 games in the series. The Super Mario games are set primarily in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, typically with Mario as the player character. He is usually joined by his brother, Luigi, and often by other members of the Mario cast. As platform games, they involve the player character running and jumping across platforms and atop enemies in themed levels. The games have simple plots, typically with Mario and Luigi rescuing the kidnapped Princess Peach from the primary antagonist, Bowser. The first game in the series, Super Mario Bros., released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, established the series' core gameplay concepts and elements. These include a multitude of power-ups and items that give the character special powers such as fireball-throwing and size-changing.[2] The Super Mario series is part of the greater Mario franchise, which includes other video game genres and media such as film, television, printed media, and merchandise. More than 380 million copies of Super Mario games have been sold worldwide, making it the fifth-bestselling video game series, behind the larger Mario franchise, the puzzle series Tetris, the Pokémon video games, and first-person shooter series Call of Duty.[3] Gameplay This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Super Mario" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The objective of the game is to progress through levels by defeating enemies, collecting items and solving puzzles without dying. Power-up use is integral to the series. The series has installments featuring both two and three-dimensional gameplay. In the 2D games, the player character (usually Mario) jumps on platforms and enemies while avoiding their attacks and moving to the right of the scrolling screen. 2D Super Mario game levels have single-exit objectives, which must be reached within a time limit and lead to the next sequential level. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the overworld, a map of nonlinear levels that branches according to the player's choice.[4] Super Mario World introduced levels with multiple exits. 3D installments in the series have had two subgenres: open world exploration based games and more linear 3D games with a predetermined path.[5] Levels in the open world games, 64, Sunshine and Odyssey, allow the player to freely explore multiple enclosed environments in 360-degree movement. As the game progresses, more environments become accessible.[6] The linear 3D games, Galaxy, Galaxy 2, 3D Land and 3D World, feature more fixed camera angles and a predetermined path to a single goal. Playable characters The series often features the option to play as characters other than Mario, usually Luigi. Earlier games have offered an alternating multiplayer mode in which the second player controls Luigi on their turn. Luigi is often only playable by player one in a second, more challenging iteration of the base game, such as in The Lost Levels, Galaxy 2, New Super Luigi U and the special worlds in 3D Land; these feature lower gravity and reduced friction for Luigi. Later games allow four player simultaneous play. Playable characters other than Mario and Luigi have included Toads, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Rosalina, Miis, Toadette, Nabbit, Daisy, and Bowser Jr. Characters are sometimes differentiated by special abilities. Super Mario Maker includes costumes that depict many more characters (Super Mario Maker 2 includes only a Link costume). Power-ups and transformations Super Mushroom, as depicted in New Super Mario Bros. U – UGO described it as "the quintessential power-up".[7] Mushroom power-ups appear in almost every Super Mario game. The most iconic of these is the Super Mushroom.[7][8] The Super Mushroom increases the character's size, turning them into a "Super" variant, and allows them to break certain blocks. When hit by an enemy, the character reverts to their smaller size instead of losing a life.[7] When the character is in their "Super" form, most blocks that would contain a Super Mushroom instead offer a more powerful power-up such as the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom is similar in appearance to the Amanita muscaria, with an ivory stalk below a most commonly red and white (originally red and orange) spotted cap. Created by chance, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that beta tests of Super Mario Bros. proved Mario too tall, so the development team implemented mushrooms to grow and shrink Mario.[9] Different variants of mushroom power-ups appear in the series. For example, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels introduces the Poison Mushroom, which causes damage when collected; and New Super Mario Bros. introduces the Mini Mushroom, which shrinks the character to miniature size; and the Mega Mushroom, grows the character into a towering, invulnerable giant who destroys enemies and the environment by running through them.[10] Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces suits to the Super Mario series, many of which are based on animals or Mario enemies. The Raccoon Suit (provisioned by a Super Leaf) and the Tanooki Suit each provide the character with a tail that enables flight. In addition, the Tanooki Suit lets the character spontaneously change into an invincible statue for about five seconds. Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a Hammer Bros. suit, which allows Mario and Luigi to throw hammers as projectiles to defeat enemies at a distance. Other suits in later games in the series include the Frog Suit, Penguin Suit, Cat Suit, Boomerang Suit, and Bee Suit. Projectiles The flower power-ups let the player character shoot projectiles. The Fire Flower, introduced in Super Mario Bros., transforms the character into a Fire variant who can throw bouncing fireballs at enemies. Galaxy is the first 3D Super Mario game to have the Fire Flower. In Land and Maker 2, the Superball is a bouncing ball obtained from a Super Flower, which the character can use to defeat enemies and collect coins. The Ice Flower transforms the character into an Ice variant who can shoot balls of ice as projectiles similar to those of the Fire Flower; they freeze enemies in blocks of ice that can be used as platforms or thrown as projectiles, as seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U.[11] In Galaxy, the Ice Flower turns Mario or Luigi into ice and lets him walk on lava or water for a limited time by freezing the surface. Lastly, New Super Mario Bros. 2's Gold Flower lets Mario or Luigi turn bricks into coins and earn bonus coins for defeating enemies. Koopa Shells serve as a major projectile in the series, featuring since the original game. The character can throw them to defeat enemies, collect coins, and activate the functions of blocks. Power-ups are available for Yoshi to breathe fire in World, Yoshi's Island, and 64 DS, breathe freezing air and spit seeds in Yoshi's Island, spit out enemies in the World games, and spit juice in Sunshine. Other power-ups let the character throw bombs, boomerangs, and baseballs and shoot cannonballs. In Odyssey, Mario can possess characters, some of which can launch various projectiles. Flying shoot 'em up gameplay also appears in the series. Mario pilots the armed Sky Pop biplane and Marine Pop submarine in Land. The Koopa Clown Car, aircraft of Bowser and the Koopalings, can sometimes shoot fireballs in Maker. Ridable animals and vehicles Apart from automated objects in levels that may transport the player character, certain ridable animals and vehicles have appeared that the player controls. Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi has appeared as a mount to the player character in several Super Mario games since Super Mario World. In Yoshi's Island and 64 DS, instead of the player character merely riding on Yoshi's back, Yoshi is the player character. Yoshis generally have abilities including eating enemies, flying, and breathing fire. Miyamoto had originally wished for Mario to be able to ride a dinosaur in Super Mario Bros., but this wasn't possible due to the technical restraints of the system.[citation needed] Poochi is a dog featuring in Yoshi's Island who Yoshi can ride. Plesiosaurs Dorrie and Plessie can be ridden by the player characters in 64 and 3D World respectively,[12][13] with Plessie serving a larger role in Bowser's Fury.[14] Various vehicles that the player character can control have also appeared. These include a magic carpet in 2, flying clouds in several 2D games, submarines in Land and Yoshi's Island, an airplane in Land, a helicopter, train, and mole tank in Yoshi's Island, cars in Yoshi's Island and Maker 2, and the Koopa Clown Car aircraft in the Maker games. Blocks Most items in the Super Mario series appear from item blocks when hit, which originated in Super Mario Bros. and have persisted throughout the series, where the character hits a block to receive either coins or power-ups. Variations include those that are invisible until hit, advice dispensers, produce another block, move, frozen, contingent on a switch, bouncy, etc. The propeller block lets the character spin up into the air and slowly descend, and the Gold Block generates coins through running. A single block is the unit of measurement in the design of Super Mario levels. Extra lives Player characters can gain extra lives in most of the games. The 1-Up mushroom was introduced in Super Mario Bros., with the term 1-up subsequently being used generically in other video game series to refer to extra lives. In the monochromatic Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2, instead of a differently colored mushroom, the 1-Up is shown as a heart. Super Mario World introduced the 3-Up Moon. 1-Ups can also be earned through collecting a certain number of coins or playing minigames. Invincibility Invincibility is an effect first appearing in the three Super Mario Bros. games, where it is granted by a "Starman",[15][16][17] an anthropomorphized, flashing star. The star has also been named the "Super Star" in the two Super Mario World games as well as the New Super Mario Bros. games[18][19] and the "Rainbow Star" in the two Super Mario Galaxy games. Picking up the star makes the character temporarily invincible, able to resist any harm. Use of the item is accompanied by a distinctive music track that appears consistently across most of the games. The player character flickers a variety of colors – and in some games, moves with increased speed and enhanced jumping ability – while under the Star's influence. While invincible, the character defeats any enemy upon contact with it. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the star gives the normally immobile baby Mario the ability to run as well as become invincible. In Super Mario 64 and 64 DS, invincibility is provided when the character becomes metal or intangible. The Mega Mushroom provides temporary invincibility with the addition of giant size and environment destruction (see Power-ups and transformations). Collectibles Super Mario level design traditionally incorporates many distributed coins as puzzles, rewards, and guidance through the level. Coins are often found floating in the air in groups. Most Super Mario games award the player an extra life once a certain amount of gold coins are collected, commonly 50 or 100. Several coin variants exist, such as silver coins, dragon coins, star coins, and more. In 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and Galaxy 2, coins replenish health (and air, when the character is underwater). In 64 and Sunshine, collecting 100 coins in a level results in a Power Star or Shine Sprite respectively. There are also stages in that game reward a Power Star for collecting eight red coins in a level, worth two normal coins each. In 64, a blue coin is worth five normal coins. In Sunshine, blue coins act as a side quest when brought to the Delfino Bank and for every ten blue coins deposited, Mario will earn a Shine Sprite. In the Galaxy series, after finishing each game once, stages unlock where Mario or Luigi can collect 100 purple coins to earn a Power Star. In Galaxy 2, they can also be used to feed some hungry "Luma" characters that can turn into either an item or another planet. The games often feature other tokens found in levels to progress in the overworld, most frequently with the visual motif of a star. They are typically situated in locations that are not readily found or reached, or awarded for completing stunts, or objectives given by NPCs. They include the Power Stars in Super Mario 64 and the Super Mario Galaxy games, Shine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine and Bowser's Fury, Star Coins in the New Super Mario Bros. series and Super Mario 3D Land, Green Stars in the Galaxy games and Super Mario 3D World, and Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey. In Super Mario Land 2, there are six Golden Coin tokens that must be collected to finish the game. Warp Pipes and Warp Cannons See also: Warp (video games) The Warp Pipe is a common method of transportation used in many of the Mario series games. Warp Pipes are most often green but also appear in other colors (early games included silver pipes, newer games have introduced red, green, blue and yellow pipes), and have many uses in the series. Warp Pipes can also contain enemies, usually Piranha Plants, and sometimes launch the player into the air (most commonly seen in the New Super Mario Bros. series). In early Mario games such as Super Mario Bros., special, well-hidden areas known as Warp Zones contain pipes that allow players to skip several worlds (handfuls of levels) at once.[20] In the New Super Mario Bros. series, pipe-shaped Warp Cannons work similarly to the Warp Zones of the earlier games and are unlocked by finding secret exits in levels. Cannons appear in most of the 3D games in the series starting with Super Mario 64. The character uses the cannon by jumping into the barrel, aiming themself and being fired at a distant target. This allows the character to progress through a level or reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Minigames Many games in the series feature minigames supplemental to the platforming gameplay, usually offering the chance to win extra lives or power-ups. Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3D World feature slot machines. Super Mario Bros. 3 and the New Super Mario Bros. games contain Toad Houses that host skill- and luck-based activities such as shell games. The Land games feature end-of-level minigames for acquiring extra lives. The Battle Mode in the All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Advance series of remakes all feature versions of Mario Bros. as a minigame. Yoshi's Island enables a minigame when certain conditions are met when completing a level. 64 DS contains over 30 minigames that can be accessed independently of the original mode of play. 3D World contains Luigi Bros., a version of Mario Bros. with two Luigis, and the Switch version of 3D World includes Bowser's Fury, a 3D platformer of smaller size in one enclosed environment.[citation needed] Music Much of the original Super Mario Bros. music and sound effects have become iconic to the series and incorporated into modern games. The original Super Mario Bros. theme, composed by Koji Kondo, has become one of the most well known video game themes around the world.[21] Super Mario Galaxy, released in 2007, became the first game in the Super Mario series to feature orchestrated music,[22] which would return in its sequel and other subsequent games such as Super Mario 3D World.[23] Development Release timeline 1985 Super Mario Bros. 1986 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels 1987 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 1989 Super Mario Land 1990 Super Mario World 1991 1992 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 1993 1994 1995 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 1996 Super Mario 64 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Super Mario Sunshine 2003 2004 2005 2006 New Super Mario Bros. 2007 Super Mario Galaxy 2008 2009 New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2010 Super Mario Galaxy 2 2011 Super Mario 3D Land 2012 New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U 2013 Super Mario 3D World 2014 2015 Super Mario Maker 2016 Super Mario Run 2017 Super Mario Odyssey 2018 2019 Super Mario Maker 2 2020 2021 Bowser's Fury 2022 2023 Super Mario Bros. Wonder 1985–1995: 2D origins Super Mario Bros., released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, was the first game in the series and the first 2D side-scrolling platform game to feature Mario. An image of the three integral staff who worked on the game: director Takashi Tezuka, producer Shigeru Miyamoto, and composer Koji Kondo. Super Mario Bros. designer Takashi Tezuka, director Shigeru Miyamoto, and composer Koji Kondo, pictured in 2015 Super Mario Bros., the first side-scrolling 2D platform game to feature Mario, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. It was derived through collaboration by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka as a successor to the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros., which starred two characters: Mario, the titular character that first appeared in Donkey Kong as the original player character and its sequel where he was a final boss, and Luigi, who first appeared in Mario Bros.[24] Super Mario Bros. established many core Mario elements, such as Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Bowser, Peach, and its three power-ups: the Super Mushroom, increasing the character's size and providing an extra hit point, Fire Flower, allowing the character to throw fireballs as weapons, and Super Star, granting temporary invincibility. The "Super" in the title came from the integration of the Super Mushroom into the game.[25] The brothers Mario and Luigi must rescue Princess Toadstool/Peach from Bowser/King Koopa in the Mushroom Kingdom. The game consists of eight worlds of four levels each, totaling 32 levels altogether. Though the worlds differ in themes, the fourth level is always a fortress or castle that ends with a fight against Bowser (or one of his minions disguised as him).[26] Super Mario Bros. is one of the best-selling video games of all time.[27] Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) is the first sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. It uses the Super Mario Bros. engine, with additions such as weather, character movements, and more complex levels, altogether yielding a much higher difficulty. The game follows the same style of level progression as Super Mario Bros., with eight initial worlds of four levels each. At that time, this sequel was not released outside Japan since Nintendo of America did not want the Super Mario series to be known to players outside Japan for frustrating difficulty. It remained inaccessible to a steadily broadening market of American video game players, becoming stylistically outdated by the time the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 could be eventually delivered to America.[28] The game later debuted outside Japan in 1993 as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in the compilation game Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). In Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan), Mario and his companions seek to defeat the evil frog Wart in the Subcon dreamland. Based on a discarded prototype,[29] the game was instead originally released as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic in Japan, and was ultimately converted into a Mario game for the rest of the world as Super Mario Bros. 2, before being released in Japan as Super Mario USA as part of Super Mario All-Stars. One of the game's most defining aspects is the four player characters: not only Mario, but Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad are available for single-player gameplay, each with defined character movements: Luigi jumps higher, the Princess can hover in the air for a short amount of time, and Toad is the fastest. Characters here also can pluck items from the ground to throw at enemies. This is also the first Super Mario game to use a life meter, which allows the characters to be hit up to four times before dying.[28] Super Mario Bros. 3 is divided into eight themed worlds, each with 6–10 levels and several bonus stages displayed as locations on a mapped overworld. These locations are not necessarily in a linear order, and the player is occasionally permitted to skip levels or play the game out of order. Completed levels cannot be replayed. The penultimate boss stage in each world is a side-scrolling level atop an airship ("Doom Ship") with a fight against one of Bowser's seven Koopalings. The game introduced a diverse array of new power-ups, including flight as Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi or the level-long P-Wing allowing flight through a whole level. Bowser is again the final boss. Super Mario Land is the first handheld Super Mario game apart from the Game & Watch conversion of Super Mario Bros., and was released for the Game Boy in 1989. Like the Super Mario Bros. games, it is a sidescrolling platformer. Mario sets out to save Princess Daisy from the spaceman Tatanga. Items include the Super Mushroom, Super Flower,[30] which allows Mario to shoot projectiles, Super Star, and hearts, which give Mario an extra life. The game consists of twelve levels split across four worlds. Reaching the higher of two exits at each level's end activates a minigame where the player can try to get extra lives. Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the bestselling game of the system. Super Mario World was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and consists of nine worlds displayed via a world map. It is a direct successor to the Super Mario Bros. games, bearing the subtitle Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan. Unlike Super Mario Bros. 3, however, where each world map is separate, the world map here covers the whole game. Some of the levels have hidden alternate exits leading to different areas. New abilities include a spin jump and the rideable Yoshi, who can eat enemies and either swallow or spit them out. Power-ups include the new Cape Feather, which lets Mario and Luigi fly with a cape, and the P-balloon, which inflates the player character to allow him to float. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was released for the Game Boy in 1992. It introduces Mario's rival, Wario, who took over Mario's castle during the events of Super Mario Land and forces Mario to collect the six golden coins to reenter and reclaim his castle. While its predecessor is similar to the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land 2 has more in common with Super Mario World, featuring a world map and the ability to move back to the left within levels. There are 32 levels, divided into several themed worlds that each have their own boss. Three power-ups return: the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Super Star. The game also introduces the Carrot power-up, which gives Mario large rabbit ears that let him glide when falling for a limited time. Its story was continued in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, which retroactively became the first of a spin-off series, Wario Land. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was released for the SNES in 1995. To reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by Kamek, the player controls Yoshi as the primary character through 48 levels while carrying Baby Mario. Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items. In a style new to the series, the game has a hand-drawn aesthetic. The game introduces his signature abilities to flutter jump and produce eggs from swallowed enemies. Yoshi's Island received "instant" and "universal acclaim", according to IGN and review aggregator Metacritic, and sold over four million copies. Yoshi's signature characteristics established in Yoshi's Island would carry throughout a series of cameos, spin-offs, and sequels. Sources have debated on whether Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where the player primarily controls a Yoshi carrying Baby Mario, should count as a Super Mario game,[31][32][33] with some sources considering it strictly a Yoshi game. Miyamoto responded affirmatively when asked if Yoshi's Island is a Super Mario game, with Tezuka later adding: "When that game debuted, I wanted people to understand that Yoshi was part of the Mario world, and that be conveyed whether through title or gameplay. To me, it's part of the Mario series, but today's Yoshi games? They've changed from those origins, so I think it's okay to think of Yoshi living in his own universe. You can think of it separately from Mario's world."[34] 1996–2005: Introduction of 3D and open-ended exploration Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 (pictured) is the first 3D and open world entry. In the early 1990s, director and producer Shigeru Miyamoto had conceived a 3D Mario design during development of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Star Fox (1993). He considered using the Super FX chip to develop a SNES game, Super Mario FX, with gameplay based on "an entire world in miniature, like miniature trains".[35] He eventually reformulated the idea for the Nintendo 64, not for its substantially greater power, but because its controller has more buttons for gameplay.[36][37] Super Mario 64 was developed over approximately three years, with one year spent on the design concept and approximately two years on production.[35] Production began on September 7, 1994, and concluded on May 20, 1996.[38] Super Mario 64 is the first 3D and open world game in the series, and a launch game for the Nintendo 64 home console. Each level is an enclosed environment where the player is free to explore in all directions without time limits. The player collects Power Stars from the paintings in Peach's castle to unlock later courses and areas.[39] The Nintendo 64's analog stick makes an extensive repertoire of precise movements in all directions possible. The game introduced moves such as punching, triple jumping, and using a Wing Cap to fly. It is the first Super Mario series game to feature Charles Martinet's voice acting for Mario. Mario must once again save Princess Peach from Bowser. The game's power-ups differ from previous games, now being three different hats with temporary powers: the Wing Cap, allowing Mario to fly; the Metal Cap, turning him into metal; and the Vanish Cap, allowing him to walk through obstacles. Super Mario 64 is considered seminal to 3D video games.[40][41][42] A remake of the game called Super Mario 64 DS was released for Nintendo DS in 2004 and 2005, adding Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario as playable characters, new abilities, new objectives, multiplayer, and minigames. Super Mario Sunshine is the second 3D Super Mario game. It was released in 2002 for the GameCube. In it, Mario and Peach travel to Isle Delfino for a vacation when a Mario doppelgänger, going by the name of Shadow Mario, appears and vandalizes the entire island. Mario is sentenced to clean the island with a water-squirting accessory called F.L.U.D.D. Super Mario Sunshine shares many similar gameplay elements with its predecessor Super Mario 64, yet introduces moves, like spinning while jumping, and several other actions through the use of F.L.U.D.D. The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from the hub, Delfino Plaza. Mario collects Shine Sprites by completing tasks in the levels, which in return unlock levels in Delfino Plaza by way of abilities and plot-related events.[43] Sunshine introduces the last of Bowser's eight children, Bowser Jr., as an antagonist. Yoshi also appears again for Mario to ride in certain sections. 2006–2016: 2D revival and path-focused 3D games This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Super Mario" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) New Super Mario Bros. series logo After no original 2D game releases in the series since 1995, New Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo DS in 2006. In it, Mario and Luigi set out to save Princess Peach from Bowser Jr. The gameplay is 2D, but most of the characters and objects are 3D on two-dimensional backgrounds, resulting in a 2.5D effect. The game uses an overworld map similar to those of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Some levels have multiple exits. The classic power-ups (Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Super Star) return alongside the Mega Mushroom, Blue Shell, and Mini Mushroom. Miyamoto explained that when he was developing Super Mario 64 with Yoshiaki Koizumi, they realized that the title would be more directed towards the "core gamer", rather than the casual, "pick-up-and-go" gamer.[44] After Sunshine, their focus shifted to more accessible, casual games, leading them to develop Super Mario Galaxy with more progression-oriented paths. Galaxy was launched in 2007 for the Wii. It is set in outer space, where Mario or Luigi travel between "galaxies" to collect Power Stars, earned by completing quests or defeating enemies. It introduced motion controls to the series. Each galaxy contains a number of planets and other space objects for the player to explore. The game's physics system gives each celestial object its own gravitational force, which lets the character circumnavigate rounded or irregular planetoids by walking sideways or upside down. The character is usually able to jump from one independent object and fall towards another close object. Though the main gameplay and physics are in 3D, there are several points in the game where the character's movements are restricted into a 2D axis. Several new power-ups appear following the new game mechanics. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) features 4-player co-op and new power-ups: the Propeller Mushroom, the Ice Flower, and the Penguin Suit. All characters can ride Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2, released on May 23, 2010, was initially developed as an expansion pack to Galaxy, but was eventually developed into its own game. It retains the basic premise of its predecessor and includes its items and power-ups besides the Ice Flower and Red Star. New power-ups include the Cloud Flower, which allows Mario or Luigi to create platforms in mid-air and the Rock Mushroom, which turns the character into a rolling boulder. The character can also ride Yoshi. The game was released to widespread critical acclaim, getting better reviews than its predecessor. Super Mario 3D Land was released for the Nintendo 3DS in November and December 2011. It was the first attempt to translate the gameplay of the 2D games into a 3D environment, and simplify the control scheme of the 3D games through including more linear levels. It is the first original 3D Super Mario game on a handheld console, since all previous handheld games were either 2D or a port of a previous game. It also brought back several older gameplay features, including the Super Leaf power-up last seen in Super Mario Bros. 3. New Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in July and August 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. The player, as Mario or Luigi, tries to save Princess Peach from Bowser and the Koopalings, with the game's secondary goal to collect one million coins. Several gameplay elements were introduced to help achieve this goal, such as the Gold Flower, a rarer variant of the Fire Flower that turns items into coins.[45][46] New Super Mario Bros. U, the Wii U follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was released in November 2012. It introduces both a Flying Squirrel suit that lets the characters glide through the air, and asymmetric gameplay that allows the player holding the GamePad to influence the environment. In June 2013, New Super Luigi U was released as a downloadable content (DLC) package for the game, featuring shorter, but more difficult levels, starring Luigi as the main protagonist instead of his brother. Subsequently, it was released as a standalone retail game on August 25 in North America.[47] The Nintendo Switch port New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe includes both the main game and New Super Luigi U, and new playable characters Nabbit and Toadette.[48] Super Mario 3D World, the sequel to 3D Land, was released for the Wii U on November 22, 2013, in North America, and used the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor.[49] Co-operative multiplayer is available for up to four players. The game introduced the ability to turn the characters into cats able to attack and scale walls to reach new areas, and to create clones of the characters. Like Super Mario Bros. 2, it features Princess Peach and Toad as playable characters in addition to Mario and Luigi. Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy is also unlocked later in the game. Miyamoto said that "even though that's a 3D game, it's a little more accessible to everybody." Super Mario Maker series logo Super Mario Maker is a creation tool released for the Wii U in September 2015[50] which allows players to create their own levels based on the gameplay and style of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, as well as to share their creations online. Based on existing games, several gameplay mechanics were introduced for the game, with existing ones also available to be used together in new ways. A Nintendo 3DS version of the game called Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, was released in December 2016. It features a few new pre-installed levels, but no online level sharing. Super Mario Maker 2 is a new version of Super Mario Maker with many new items, themes, and enemies, a world-builder, as well as online multiplayer. The game was released on June 28, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch. Super Mario Run is a side-scrolling and auto-scrolling video game released in December 2016 on the iOS platform, then in March 2017 on Android. It is the first official Super Mario game developed for mobile devices. As such, it features simplified controls that allow it to be played with only one hand. In this game, the character runs automatically, with the player controlling the jumping action to avoid hazards. This is achieved by touching the tactile screens these devices are built with. The longer the player touches the jump button, the higher the character jumps. This game also includes a "Toad Rally" mode, similar to the "VS Boo" mode of Super Mario Bros Deluxe, in which players have to complete a level faster than a computer-controlled Toad. Success in this mode earns the player access to in-game money to spend on customizing the Mushroom Kingdom map, using mechanics similar to FarmVille. This is the first Super Mario game that Princess Daisy is playable in and the first to feature a music track with vocals.[51][52][53] 2017–2021: Return to open-ended exploration After having fallen out of favor by the mid-2000s, open-world "collectathon" 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 had become less common.[54] For example, the 3D adventure game Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008) explicitly mocked the perceived tedium of collecting large quantities of tokens.[55] By the mid-2010s, however, 3D platformers were aiming to replicate such experiences, including Yooka-Laylee and A Hat in Time. Super Mario Odyssey is a return to the open-world "sandbox" 3D style of gameplay,[56][57][58] with "more open-ended exploration like in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine."[59] It was released in October 2017 for Nintendo Switch.[60] Bowser's Fury is part of the 2021 re-release of Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Switch. It implements 3D open-world "free-roaming" gameplay in a similar fashion to Odyssey, from which it includes many elements.[61][62] 2023: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2D sidescrolling Super Mario game announced on June 21, 2023 and released on October 20 of the same year. Playable characters include Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Nabbit and Toadette. New power-ups include a fruit that transforms the player into an elephant[63] and a flower that allows the player to create bubbles that capture enemies.[63] When touching a Wonder Flower, the player character experiences strange effects that involve the character and the world being altered.[64][65] It is the first game to feature Kevin Afghani as the new voice of Mario and Luigi, following the announcement of previous actor Charles Martinet's departure from the roles in August 2023.[66] Remakes and remasters Game System Year Original game(s) Original release year(s) Super Mario All-Stars (+ Super Mario World) Super NES 1993/1994 Super Mario Bros. 1985 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels 1986 Super Mario Bros. 2 1988 Super Mario Bros. 3 1988 Super Mario World[d] 1990 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe Game Boy Color 1999 Super Mario Bros. 1985 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels 1986 Super Mario Advance Game Boy Advance 2001/2002 Super Mario Bros. 2 1988 Mario Bros. 1983 Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Game Boy Advance 2001 Super Mario World 1990 Mario Bros. 1983 Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Game Boy Advance 2002 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 1995 Mario Bros. 1983 Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Boy Advance 2003/2004 Super Mario Bros. 3 1988 Mario Bros. 1983 Super Mario 64 DS Nintendo DS 2004/2005 Super Mario 64 1996 New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Nintendo Switch 2019 New Super Mario Bros. U 2012 New Super Luigi U 2013 Super Mario 3D All-Stars Nintendo Switch 2020 Super Mario 64 1996 Super Mario Sunshine 2002 Super Mario Galaxy 2007 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Nintendo Switch 2021 Super Mario 3D World 2013 Reception Sales and aggregate review scores As of December 31, 2021. Game Year Units sold (in millions) GameRankings Metacritic (out of 100) Super Mario Bros. 1985 NES: 40.23[67] GBC: 10.55[68] GBA: – NES: 86%[69] GBC: 92%[70] GBA: 80%[71] NES: – GBC: – GBA: 84[72] Super Mario Bros. 2 1988 NES: 7.46[68] GBA: 5.57[73] NES: 81%[74] GBA: 82%[75] NES: – GBA: 84[76] Super Mario Bros. 3 1988 NES: 17.28[68] GBA: 5.43[73] NES: 97%[77] GBA: 92%[78] NES: – GBA: 94[79] Super Mario Land 1989 18.14[68] 77%[80] – Super Mario World 1990 SNES: 20.61[81] GBA: 5.69[68] SNES: 94%[82] GBA: 92%[83] SNES: – GBA: 92[84] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 1992 11.18[68] 79%[85] – Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 1990 SNES: – GBA: – SNES: – GBA: – SNES: – GBA: – Super Mario All-Stars 1993 10.55[68] 90%[86] – Super Mario 64 1996 N64: 11.91[87] DS: 11.06[88] N64: 96%[89] DS: 86%[90] N64: 94[91] DS: 85[92] Super Mario Sunshine 2002 6.28[68] 91%[93] 92[94] New Super Mario Bros. 2006 30.80[88] 89%[95] 89[96] Super Mario Galaxy 2007 12.80[97] 97%[98] 97[99] New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2009 30.32[97] 88%[100] 87[101] Super Mario Galaxy 2 2010 7.41[68] 97%[102] 97[103] Super Mario 3D Land 2011 12.84[104] 90%[105] 90[106] New Super Mario Bros. 2 2012 13.39[104] 78%[107] 78[108] New Super Mario Bros. U 2012 Wii U: 5.81[109] Switch: 12.72[110] Wii U: 84%[111] Switch: 81%[112] Wii U: 84[113] Switch: 81[114] Super Mario 3D World 2013 Wii U: 5.88[109] Switch: 8.85[110] Wii U: 92%[115] Switch: – Wii U: 93[116] Switch: 89[117] Super Mario Maker 2015 Wii U: 4.02[109] 3DS: 2.01[118] Wii U: 89%[119] 3DS: 72%[120] Wii U: 88[121] 3DS: 73[122] Super Mario Run 2016 – – 76[123] Super Mario Odyssey 2017 23.02[124] 97%[125] 97[126] Super Mario Maker 2 2019 7.15[127] – 88[128] Super Mario 3D All-Stars 2020 9.01[127] – 82[129] The Super Mario series has seen tremendous critical acclaim from both critics and audiences. The series was ranked as the best game franchise by IGN in 2006.[130] In 1996 Next Generation ranked the series as number 5 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time",[e] additionally ranking Super Mario 64 at number 1 although stating the rule that series of games be confined to a single entry.[131] In 1999, Next Generation listed the Mario series as number 3 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that, "The depth of the game design was never matched in 2D and has yet to be equaled by a 3D action performer. The gameplay is simply genius – Shigeru Miyamoto wrote the book on platformers."[132] Electronic Gaming Monthly attributed the series' excellence to the developers' tireless creativity and innovation, pointing out that "Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series changed very little in its four installments on the Genesis. The Mario series has changed significantly with each new game."[133] The original Super Mario Bros. was awarded the top spot on Electronic Gaming Monthly's greatest 200 games of their time list[134] and IGN's top 100 games of all-time list twice (in 2005 and 2007).[135] Super Mario Bros. popularized side-scrolling video games and provided the basic concept and mechanics that persisted throughout the rest of the series. Super Mario Bros. sold 40.24 million copies, making it the bestselling video game of the whole series.[136] Various other video games of the series were ranked as the best within the series.[137][138][82] Games included are Super Mario Bros. 3,[139] Super Mario World[140] and Super Mario 64 to name a few.[141][142] Before Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Galaxy has been for 10 years the best-ranked game on GameRankings.[143][98] Sales Super Mario is one of the best-selling video game franchises, having sold more than 380 million units worldwide as of 2021.[144] The first seven Super Mario games (including the first three Super Mario Bros. titles, the first two Super Mario Land titles, and Super Mario World) had sold 100 million units by March 1993.[145] Games in the Super Mario series have had consistently strong sales, ranking among the best-selling video games of all time. Super Mario Bros. sold more than 50 million units worldwide sold across multiple platforms by 1996.[146] The original NES version sold 40.23 million units and is the best-selling NES game, with its two sequels, Super Mario Bros. 3 (18 million copies) and Super Mario Bros. 2 (10 million copies), ranking in second and third place respectively.[87] Super Mario World is the best-selling game for the SNES console, selling 20 million copies. Super Mario World is also the seventh bestselling game of all time. Super Mario 64 sold the most copies for the Nintendo 64 (11 million), whereas Super Mario Sunshine is the second bestselling game (5.5 million) on the GameCube (second to Super Smash Bros. Melee). Super Mario Galaxy has sold 12.80 million units as of March 2020, which was the bestselling 3D game in the series until 2019, and is the ninth bestselling game for the Wii.[97] Its sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2 has 7.41 million units sold, placing in twelfth. Super Mario 3D World was the second bestselling game on the Wii U and along with its more popular Switch port has sold over 14 million copies combined making it the 2nd bestselling 3D Mario game.[147][68] Super Mario Odyssey has 26.95 million units sold as of September 2023, making it the bestselling 3D game in the series to date, and among the best-selling games for the Nintendo Switch.[124] New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold 30.32 million copies worldwide, the fourth bestselling game on the Wii, as well as one of the bestselling video games of all time.[97] The Super Mario series also sold well on handheld consoles. Super Mario Land has sold 18.14 million copies, and is the fourth bestselling game for the Game Boy. Its sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, sold 11.18 million copies, placing sixth.[148] New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS sold 30.80 million units, making it the bestselling game for the console, and the bestselling portable entry. For all console and handheld games that have not been bundled with a console, Super Mario Bros. 3 is the fourth bestselling game, whereas New Super Mario Bros. is fifth, Super Mario Land is eleventh, and Super Mario 64 is eighteenth. In the United Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. is the most famous video game brand, recognized by 91% of the UK adult population as of 2021.[149] Legacy [icon] This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023) See also Luigi's Mansion series: A spin-off of the series. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: A spin-off of the series. Donkey Kong Country series: Similar platform series. Super Princess Peach: A spin-off Nintendo platform game that role reverses the characters that are commonly used in the concept of the series. Wario Land series: A spin-off platform sub-series. 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TechRadar. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020. "Reviews and News Articles". GameRankings. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2011. Byrd, Matthew (August 3, 2021). "Where Grand Theft Auto Ranks on the List of Best Selling Video Game Franchises". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021. "Nintendo sells 100-millionth 'Mario' game". United Press International (UPI). June 2, 1993. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2021. "The History of Mario: A look in Mario's roots may help gamers see Nintendo's famous mascot within a bigger framework". IGN. September 30, 1996. Archived from the original on March 11, 2002. Retrieved February 22, 2021. Nintendo's first U.S. home videogame console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in 1985 with Mario starring in Super Mario Bros. The legendary title has gone on to sell more than 50 million units worldwide. "IR Information : Financial Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Wii U Software". Nintendo Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2022. O'Malley, James (September 11, 2015). "30 Best-Selling Super Mario Games of All Time on the Plumber's 30th Birthday". Gizmodo. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2017. "The Most Famous Video Games in the UK (Q3 2021)". YouGov. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021. External links Super Mario at Wikipedia's sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Official website vte Super Mario series Main games 2D Super Mario Bros.The Lost LevelsSuper Mario Bros. 2Super Mario Bros. 3LandWorldLand 2: 6 Golden CoinsWorld 2: Yoshi's IslandNewNew Super Mario Bros. WiiNew Super Mario Bros. 2New Super Mario Bros. 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(1989) King Koopa's Kool KartoonsThe Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)Super Mario World (1991) Other media Theme music"Our princess is in another castle!"Adventures (1992–93)Year of Luigi35th AnniversaryLego Super MarioUnofficial media vte Mario Nintendo Game series Main Super MarioMario KartMario Party By genre Educational gamesPuzzle games Mario vs. Donkey KongRole-playing games Paper MarioMario & LuigiSports games racing games Connected series Donkey KongLuigiWarioYoshi Other games LCD games Mario's Cement FactoryMario Bros.PinballMario PaintMario ClashMario ArtistMario Pinball LandSuper Princess PeachCaptain Toad: Treasure Tracker Cancelled games Super Mario's Wacky WorldsSuper Mario 128 Universe Characters MarioLuigiPrincess PeachPrincess DaisyBowserDonkey KongPaulineWarioWaluigiRosalinaToadYoshiBirdoGenoPaper Mario characters VivianBobbyRabbid Peach Other GoombaKoopa TroopaPiranha PlantWorld 1-1Minus WorldRainbow RoadBlue shell Other media Film 1986 anime film1993 live-action film2023 computer-animated film Television Saturday SupercadeThe Super Mario Bros. 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GenerationsWarsWiiXenoblade Chronicles Category Portals: Video games flag Japan icon Speculative fiction icon 1980s icon 1990s icon 2010s Categories: Super MarioNintendo franchisesVideo games about size changeVideo game franchises introduced in 1985Video game franchisesVideo games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto Video game Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Computer game) "Video Games" redirects here. For other uses, see Video Games (disambiguation). "Computer game" redirects here. For games played on personal computers, see PC game. For other uses, see Computer game (disambiguation). Two children playing Pong on a television set. First-generation Pong console at the Computerspielemuseum Berlin Video games Platforms Arcade video game Console game Game console Home console Handheld console Electronic game Audio game Electronic handheld Online game Browser game Social-network game Mobile game PC game Linux Mac Virtual reality game Genres Action Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform Shooter Survival Battle royale Action-adventure Stealth Adventure Interactive fiction Interactive movie Visual novel Gacha Horror Survival horror Licensed Masocore Massively multiplayer online Role-playing Action role-playing Tactical role-playing Sci-fi Simulation Construction and management Life simulation Sports Vehicle Strategy 4X Auto battler Multiplayer online battle arena Real-time strategy Real-time tactics Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Cozy game Lists Arcade games highest-grossing Best-selling games franchises Longest-running franchises Most-played mobile games Games considered the best Game of the Year soundtracks Negative reception Cancelled games Development Game AI Game design Video game design Interaction Programming Art Graphics Music vte A video game[a] or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, most commonly shown in a video format on a television set, computer monitor, flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices, or a virtual reality headset. Most modern video games are audiovisual, with audio complement delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback (e.g., haptic technology that provides tactile sensations). Some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for in-game chatting and livestreaming. Video games are typically categorized according to their hardware platform, which traditionally includes arcade video games, console games, and computer (PC) games; the latter also encompasses LAN games, online games, and browser games. More recently, the video game industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers), virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote cloud gaming. Video games are also classified into a wide range of genres based on their style of gameplay and target audience. The first video game prototypes in the 1950s and 1960s were simple extensions of electronic games using video-like output from large, room-sized mainframe computers. The first consumer video game was the arcade video game Computer Space in 1971. In 1972 came the iconic hit game Pong and the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey. The industry grew quickly during the "golden age" of arcade video games from the late 1970s to early 1980s but suffered from the crash of the North American video game market in 1983 due to loss of publishing control and saturation of the market. Following the crash, the industry matured, was dominated by Japanese companies such as Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, and established practices and methods around the development and distribution of video games to prevent a similar crash in the future, many of which continue to be followed. In the 2000s, the core industry centered on "AAA" games, leaving little room for riskier experimental games. Coupled with the availability of the Internet and digital distribution, this gave room for independent video game development (or "indie games") to gain prominence into the 2010s. Since then, the commercial importance of the video game industry has been increasing. The emerging Asian markets and proliferation of smartphone games in particular are altering player demographics towards casual gaming and increasing monetization by incorporating games as a service. Today, video game development requires numerous interdisciplinary skills, vision, teamwork, and liaisons between different parties, including developers, publishers, distributors, retailers, hardware manufacturers, and other marketers, to successfully bring a game to its consumers. As of 2020, the global video game market had estimated annual revenues of US$159 billion across hardware, software, and services, which is three times the size of the global music industry and four times that of the film industry in 2019,[1] making it a formidable heavyweight across the modern entertainment industry. The video game market is also a major influence behind the electronics industry, where personal computer component, console, and peripheral sales, as well as consumer demands for better game performance, have been powerful driving factors for hardware design and innovation. Origins Main articles: History of video games and Early history of video games Further information: History of arcade video games Tennis for Two (1958), an early analog computer game that used an oscilloscope for a display Early video games use interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947—a "cathode-ray tube amusement device" was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U.S. Patent 2455992.[2] Inspired by radar display technology, it consists of an analog device allowing a user to control the parabolic arc of a dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which are paper drawings fixed to the screen.[3] Other early examples include Christopher Strachey's draughts game, the Nimrod computer at the 1951 Festival of Britain; OXO, a tic-tac-toe computer game by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC in 1952; Tennis for Two, an electronic interactive game engineered by William Higinbotham in 1958; and Spacewar!, written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen's on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961. Each game has different means of display: NIMROD has a panel of lights to play the game of Nim,[4] OXO has a graphical display to play tic-tac-toe,[5] Tennis for Two has an oscilloscope to display a side view of a tennis court,[3] and Spacewar! has the DEC PDP-1's vector display to have two spaceships battle each other.[6] Ralph H. Baer in 2009 Nolan Bushnell giving a speech at the Game Developers Conference in 2011 Nolan Bushnell in 2013 These preliminary inventions paved the way for the origins of video games today. Ralph H. Baer, while working at Sanders Associates in 1966, devised a control system to play a rudimentary game of table tennis on a television screen. With the company's approval, Baer built the prototype "Brown Box". Sanders patented Baer's inventions and licensed them to Magnavox, which commercialized it as the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972.[3][7] Separately, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, inspired by seeing Spacewar! running at Stanford University, devised a similar version running in a smaller coin-operated arcade cabinet using a less expensive computer. This was released as Computer Space, the first arcade video game, in 1971.[8] Bushnell and Dabney went on to form Atari, Inc., and with Allan Alcorn, created their second arcade game in 1972, the hit ping pong-style Pong, which was directly inspired by the table tennis game on the Odyssey. Sanders and Magnavox sued Atari for infringement of Baer's patents, but Atari settled out of court, paying for perpetual rights to the patents. Following their agreement, Atari made a home version of Pong, which was released by Christmas 1975.[3] The success of the Odyssey and Pong, both as an arcade game and home machine, launched the video game industry.[9][10] Both Baer and Bushnell have been titled "Father of Video Games" for their contributions.[11][12] Terminology The term "video game" was developed to distinguish this class of electronic games that were played on some type of video display rather than on a teletype printer, audio speaker or similar device.[13] This also distinguished from many handheld electronic games like Merlin which commonly used LED lights for indicators but did not use these in combination for imaging purposes.[14] "Computer game" may also be used as a descriptor, as all these types of games essentially require the use of a computer processor, and in some cases, it is used interchangeably with "video game".[15] Particularly in the United Kingdom and Western Europe, this is common due to the historic relevance of domestically produced microcomputers. Other terms used include digital game, for example by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.[16] However, the term "computer game" can also be used to more specifically refer to games played primarily on personal computers or other type of flexible hardware systems (also known as a PC game), as a way distinguish them from console games, arcade games or mobile games.[14][13] Other terms such as "television game" or "telegame" had been used in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly for the home gaming consoles that rely on connection to a television set.[17] In Japan, where consoles like the Odyssey were first imported and then made within the country by the large television manufacturers such as Toshiba and Sharp Corporation, such games are known as "TV games", or TV geemu or terebi geemu.[18] "Electronic game" may also be used to refer to video games, but this also incorporates devices like early handheld electronic games that lack any video output.[15] and the term "TV game" is still commonly used into the 21st century.[18][19] The first appearance of the term "video game" emerged around 1973. The Oxford English Dictionary cited a 10 November 1973 BusinessWeek article as the first printed use of the term.[20] Though Bushnell believed the term came from a vending magazine review of Computer Space in 1971,[21] a review of the major vending magazines Vending Times and Cashbox showed that the term came much earlier, appearing first around March 1973 in these magazines in mass usage including by the arcade game manufacturers. As analyzed by video game historian Keith Smith, the sudden appearance suggested that the term had been proposed and readily adopted by those involved. This appeared to trace to Ed Adlum, who ran Cashbox's coin-operated section until 1972 and then later founded RePlay Magazine, covering the coin-op amusement field, in 1975. In a September 1982 issue of RePlay, Adlum is credited with first naming these games as "video games": "RePlay's Eddie Adlum worked at 'Cash Box' when 'TV games' first came out. The personalities in those days were Bushnell, his sales manager Pat Karns and a handful of other 'TV game' manufacturers like Henry Leyser and the McEwan brothers. It seemed awkward to call their products 'TV games', so borrowing a word from Billboard's description of movie jukeboxes, Adlum started to refer to this new breed of amusement machine as 'video games.' The phrase stuck."[citation needed] Adlum explained in 1985 that up until the early 1970s, amusement arcades typically had non-video arcade games such as pinball machines and electro-mechanical games. With the arrival of video games in arcades during the early 1970s, there was initially some confusion in the arcade industry over what term should be used to describe the new games. He "wrestled with descriptions of this type of game," alternating between "TV game" and "television game" but "finally woke up one day" and said, "what the hell... video game!"[22] For many years, the traveling Videotopia exhibit served as the closest representation of such a vital resource. In addition to collecting home video game consoles, the Electronics Conservancy organization set out to locate and restore 400 antique arcade cabinets after realizing that the majority of these games had been destroyed and feared the loss of their historical significance.[23] Video games have significantly began to be seen in the real-world as a purpose to present history in a way of understanding the methodology and terms that are being compared. Researchers have looked at how historical representations affect how the public perceives the past, and digital humanists encourage historians to use video games as primary materials.[24] Video games, considering their past and age, have over time progressed as what a video game really means. Whether played through a monitor, TV, or a hand-held device, there are many ways that video games are being displayed for users to enjoy. People have drawn comparisons between flow-state-engaged video gamers and pupils in conventional school settings. In traditional, teacher-led classrooms, students have little say in what they learn, are passive consumers of the information selected by teachers, are required to follow the pace and skill level of the group (group teaching), and receive brief, imprecise, normative feedback on their work.[25] Video games, as they continue to develop into better graphic definition and genre's, create new terminology when something unknown tends to become known. Yearly, consoles are being created to compete against other brands with similar functioning features that tends to lead the consumer into which they'd like to purchase. Now, companies have moved towards games only the specific console can play to grasp the consumer into purchasing their product compared to when video games first began, there was little to no variety. In 1989, a console war begun with Nintendo, one of the biggest in gaming was up against target, Sega with their brand new Master System which, failed to compete, allowing the Nintendo Emulator System to be one of the most consumed product in the world.[26] More technology continued to be created, as the computer began to be used in people's houses for more than just office and daily use. Games began being implemented into computers and have progressively grown since then with coded robots to play against you. Early games like tic-tac-toe, solitaire, and Tennis for Two were great ways to bring new gaming to another system rather than one specifically meant for gaming.[27] Definition While many games readily fall into a clear, well-understood definition of video games, new genres and innovations in game development have raised the question of what are the essential factors of a video game that separate the medium from other forms of entertainment. The introduction of interactive films in the 1980s with games like Dragon's Lair, featured games with full motion video played off a form of media but only limited user interaction.[28] This had required a means to distinguish these games from more traditional board games that happen to also use external media, such as the Clue VCR Mystery Game which required players to watch VCR clips between turns. To distinguish between these two, video games are considered to require some interactivity that affects the visual display.[14] Most video games tend to feature some type of victory or winning conditions, such as a scoring mechanism or a final boss fight. The introduction of walking simulators (adventure games that allow for exploration but lack any objectives) like Gone Home, and empathy games (video games that tend to focus on emotion) like That Dragon, Cancer brought the idea of games that did not have any such type of winning condition and raising the question of whether these were actually games.[29] These are still commonly justified as video games as they provide a game world that the player can interact with by some means.[30] The lack of any industry definition for a video game by 2021 was an issue during the case Epic Games v. Apple which dealt with video games offered on Apple's iOS App Store. Among concerns raised were games like Fortnite Creative and Roblox which created metaverses of interactive experiences, and whether the larger game and the individual experiences themselves were games or not in relation to fees that Apple charged for the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, recognizing that there was yet an industry standard definition for a video game, established for her ruling that "At a bare minimum, videogames appear to require some level of interactivity or involvement between the player and the medium" compared to passive entertainment like film, music, and television, and "videogames are also generally graphically rendered or animated, as opposed to being recorded live or via motion capture as in films or television".[31] Rogers still concluded that what is a video game "appears highly eclectic and diverse".[31] Video game terminology See also: Glossary of video game terms Freedoom, a clone of the first-person shooter Doom. Common elements include a heads-up display along the bottom that includes the player's remaining health and ammunition. The gameplay experience varies radically between video games, but many common elements exist. Most games will launch into a title screen and give the player a chance to review options such as the number of players before starting a game. Most games are divided into levels which the player must work the avatar through, scoring points, collecting power-ups to boost the avatar's innate attributes, all while either using special attacks to defeat enemies or moves to avoid them. This information is relayed to the player through a type of on-screen user interface such as a heads-up display atop the rendering of the game itself. Taking damage will deplete their avatar's health, and if that falls to zero or if the avatar otherwise falls into an impossible-to-escape location, the player will lose one of their lives. Should they lose all their lives without gaining an extra life or "1-UP", then the player will reach the "game over" screen. Many levels as well as the game's finale end with a type of boss character the player must defeat to continue on. In some games, intermediate points between levels will offer save points where the player can create a saved game on storage media to restart the game should they lose all their lives or need to stop the game and restart at a later time. These also may be in the form of a passage that can be written down and reentered at the title screen.[citation needed] Product flaws include software bugs which can manifest as glitches which may be exploited by the player; this is often the foundation of speedrunning a video game. These bugs, along with cheat codes, Easter eggs, and other hidden secrets that were intentionally added to the game can also be exploited.[32][33][34][35] On some consoles, cheat cartridges allow players to execute these cheat codes, and user-developed trainers allow similar bypassing for computer software games. Both of which might make the game easier, give the player additional power-ups, or change the appearance of the game.[33] Components Arcade video game machines at the Sugoi arcade game hall in Malmi, Helsinki, Finland To distinguish from electronic games, a video game is generally considered to require a platform, the hardware which contains computing elements, to process player interaction from some type of input device and displays the results to a video output display.[36] Platform This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Video game" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Various gaming consoles at the Computer Games Museum in Berlin Video games require a platform, a specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware and associated software, to operate.[37] The term system is also commonly used. These platforms may include multiple brandsheld by platform holders, such as Nintendo or Sony, seeking to gain larger market shares.[38][39][40][41][42] Games are typically designed to be played on one or a limited number of platforms, and exclusivity to a platform or brand is used by platform holders as a competitive edge in the video game market.[43] However, games may be developed for alternative platforms than intended, which are described as ports or conversions. These also may be remasters - where most of the original game's source code is reused and art assets, models, and game levels are updated for modern systems – and remakes, where in addition to asset improvements, significant reworking of the original game and possibly from scratch is performed.[44] The list below is not exhaustive and excludes other electronic devices capable of playing video games such as PDAs and graphing calculators. PC games PC games involve a player interacting with a personal computer (PC) connected to a video monitor.[45] Personal computers are not dedicated game platforms, so there may be differences running the same game on different hardware. Also, the openness allows some features to developers like reduced software cost,[46] increased flexibility, increased innovation, emulation, creation of modifications or mods, open hosting for online gaming (in which a person plays a video game with people who are in a different household) and others. A gaming computer is a PC or laptop intended specifically for gaming, typically using high-performance, high-cost components. In additional to personal computer gaming, there also exist games that work on mainframe computers and other similarly shared systems, with users logging in remotely to use the computer. Home console The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling video game console, with over 155 million units sold.[47] A console game is played on a home console, a specialized electronic device that connects to a common television set or composite video monitor. Home consoles are specifically designed to play games using a dedicated hardware environment, giving developers a concrete hardware target for development and assurances of what features will be available, simplifying development compared to PC game development. Usually consoles only run games developed for it, or games from other platform made by the same company, but never games developed by its direct competitor, even if the same game is available on different platforms. It often comes with a specific game controller. Major console platforms include Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. Handheld console A handheld game console is a small, self-contained electronic device that is portable and can be held in a user's hands. It features the console, a small screen, speakers and buttons, joystick or other game controllers in a single unit. Like consoles, handhelds are dedicated platforms, and share almost the same characteristics. Handheld hardware usually is less powerful than PC or console hardware. Some handheld games from the late 1970s and early 1980s could only play one game. In the 1990s and 2000s, a number of handheld games used cartridges, which enabled them to be used to play many different games. The handheld console has waned in the 2010s as mobile device gaming has become a more dominant factor. Arcade video game A police-themed arcade game in which players use a light gun An arcade video game generally refers to a game played on an even more specialized type of electronic device that is typically designed to play only one game and is encased in a special, large coin-operated cabinet which has one built-in console, controllers (joystick, buttons, etc.), a CRT screen, and audio amplifier and speakers. Arcade games often have brightly painted logos and images relating to the theme of the game. While most arcade games are housed in a vertical cabinet, which the user typically stands in front of to play, some arcade games use a tabletop approach, in which the display screen is housed in a table-style cabinet with a see-through table top. With table-top games, the users typically sit to play. In the 1990s and 2000s, some arcade games offered players a choice of multiple games. In the 1980s, video arcades were businesses in which game players could use a number of arcade video games. In the 2010s, there are far fewer video arcades, but some movie theaters and family entertainment centers still have them. Browser game A browser game takes advantages of standardizations of technologies for the functionality of web browsers across multiple devices providing a cross-platform environment. These games may be identified based on the website that they appear, such as with Miniclip games. Others are named based on the programming platform used to develop them, such as Java and Flash games. Mobile game With the introduction of smartphones and tablet computers standardized on the iOS and Android operating systems, mobile gaming has become a significant platform. These games may use unique features of mobile devices that are not necessary present on other platforms, such as accelerometers, global positing information and camera devices to support augmented reality gameplay. Cloud gaming Cloud gaming requires a minimal hardware device, such as a basic computer, console, laptop, mobile phone or even a dedicated hardware device connected to a display with good Internet connectivity that connects to hardware systems by the cloud gaming provider. The game is computed and rendered on the remote hardware, using a number of predictive methods to reduce the network latency between player input and output on their display device. For example, the Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Now platforms use dedicated custom server blade hardware in cloud computing centers. Virtual reality Players using the PlayStation VR headsets in 2017 Virtual reality (VR) games generally require players to use a special head-mounted unit that provides stereoscopic screens and motion tracking to immerse a player within virtual environment that responds to their head movements. Some VR systems include control units for the player's hands as to provide a direct way to interact with the virtual world. VR systems generally require a separate computer, console, or other processing device that couples with the head-mounted unit. Emulation An emulator enables games from a console or otherwise different system to be run in a type of virtual machine on a modern system, simulating the hardware of the original and allows old games to be played. While emulators themselves have been found to be legal in United States case law, the act of obtaining the game software that one does not already own may violate copyrights. However, there are some official releases of emulated software from game manufacturers, such as Nintendo with its Virtual Console or Nintendo Switch Online offerings. Backward compatibility Backward compatibility is similar in nature to emulation in that older games can be played on newer platforms, but typically directly though hardware and build-in software within the platform. The PlayStation 2 popularized the trend of having the capability of playing past generation games from the PlayStation 1 simply by inserting the original game media into the newer console, while Nintendo's Wii could play GameCube titles as well in the same manner.[48][49][50] Game media An unlabeled game cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System Early arcade games, home consoles, and handheld games were dedicated hardware units with the game's logic built into the electronic componentry of the hardware. Since then, most video game platforms are considered programmable, having means to read and play multiple games distributed on different types of media or formats. Physical formats include ROM cartridges, magnetic storage including magnetic-tape data storage and floppy discs, optical media formats including CD-ROM and DVDs, and flash memory cards. Furthermore digital distribution over the Internet or other communication methods as well as cloud gaming alleviate the need for any physical media. In some cases, the media serves as the direct read-only memory for the game, or it may be the form of installation media that is used to write the main assets to the player's platform's local storage for faster loading periods and later updates. Games can be extended with new content and software patches through either expansion packs which are typically available as physical media, or as downloadable content nominally available via digital distribution. These can be offered freely or can be used to monetize a game following its initial release. Several games offer players the ability to create user-generated content to share with others to play. Other games, mostly those on personal computers, can be extended with user-created modifications or mods that alter or add onto the game; these often are unofficial and were developed by players from reverse engineering of the game, but other games provide official support for modding the game.[51] Input device Main article: Game controller A North American Super NES game controller from the early 1990s Video game can use several types of input devices to translate human actions to a game. Most common are the use of game controllers like gamepads and joysticks for most consoles, and as accessories for personal computer systems along keyboard and mouse controls. Common controls on the most recent controllers include face buttons, shoulder triggers, analog sticks, and directional pads ("d-pads"). Consoles typically include standard controllers which are shipped or bundled with the console itself, while peripheral controllers are available as a separate purchase from the console manufacturer or third-party vendors.[52] Similar control sets are built into handheld consoles and onto arcade cabinets. Newer technology improvements have incorporated additional technology into the controller or the game platform, such as touchscreens and motion detection sensors that give more options for how the player interacts with the game. Specialized controllers may be used for certain genres of games, including racing wheels, light guns and dance pads. Digital cameras and motion detection can capture movements of the player as input into the game, which can, in some cases, effectively eliminate the control, and on other systems such as virtual reality, are used to enhance immersion into the game. Display and output Main article: Video game graphics Handheld units, like the Game Boy, include built-in output screens and sound speakers. By definition, all video games are intended to output graphics to an external video display, such as cathode-ray tube televisions, newer liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions and built-in screens, projectors or computer monitors, depending on the type of platform the game is played on. Features such as color depth, refresh rate, frame rate, and screen resolution are a combination of the limitations of the game platform and display device and the program efficiency of the game itself. The game's output can range from fixed displays using LED or LCD elements, text-based games, two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics, and augmented reality displays. The game's graphics are often accompanied by sound produced by internal speakers on the game platform or external speakers attached to the platform, as directed by the game's programming. This often will include sound effects tied to the player's actions to provide audio feedback, as well as background music for the game. Some platforms support additional feedback mechanics to the player that a game can take advantage of. This is most commonly haptic technology built into the game controller, such as causing the controller to shake in the player's hands to simulate a shaking earthquake occurring in game. Classifications Video games are frequently classified by a number of factors related to how one plays them. Genre Main article: Video game genre See also: Gameplay Dustforce is representative of the platform game genre as its gameplay involves jumping between platforms. A video game, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres. However, unlike film or television which use visual or narrative elements, video games are generally categorized into genres based on their gameplay interaction, since this is the primary means which one interacts with a video game.[53][54][55] The narrative setting does not impact gameplay; a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or in outer space.[56][57] An exception is the horror game genre, used for games that are based on narrative elements of horror fiction, the supernatural, and psychological horror.[58] Genre names are normally self-describing in terms of the type of gameplay, such as action game, role playing game, or shoot 'em up, though some genres have derivations from influential works that have defined that genre, such as roguelikes from Rogue,[59] Grand Theft Auto clones from Grand Theft Auto III,[60] and battle royale games from the film Battle Royale.[61] The names may shift over time as players, developers and the media come up with new terms; for example, first-person shooters were originally called "Doom clones" based on the 1993 game.[62] A hierarchy of game genres exist, with top-level genres like "shooter game" and "action game" that broadly capture the game's main gameplay style, and several subgenres of specific implementation, such as within the shooter game first-person shooter and third-person shooter. Some cross-genre types also exist that fall until multiple top-level genres such as action-adventure game. Mode A LAN party at the 2004 DreamHack with hundreds of players A video game's mode describes how many players can use the game at the same type. This is primarily distinguished by single-player video games and multiplayer video games. Within the latter category, multiplayer games can be played in a variety of ways, including locally at the same device, on separate devices connected through a local network such as LAN parties, or online via separate Internet connections. Most multiplayer games are based on competitive gameplay, but many offer cooperative and team-based options as well as asymmetric gameplay. Online games use server structures that can also enable massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) to support hundreds of players at the same time. A small number of video games are zero-player games, in which the player has very limited interaction with the game itself. These are most commonly simulation games where the player may establish a starting state and then let the game proceed on its own, watching the results as a passive observer, such as with many computerized simulations of Conway's Game of Life.[63] Types Most video games are intended for entertainment purposes.[36] Different game types include: Core games Core or hard-core games refer to the typical perception of video games, developed for entertainment purposes. These games typically require a fair amount of time to learn and master, in contrast to casual games, and thus are most appealing to gamers rather than a broader audience. Most of the AAA video game industry is based around the delivery of core games.[64] Casual games In contrast to core games, casual games are designed for ease of accessibility, simple to understand gameplay and quick to grasp rule sets, and aimed at mass market audience. They frequently support the ability to jump in and out of play on demand, such as during commuting or lunch breaks. Numerous browser and mobile games fall into the casual game area, and casual games often are from genres with low intensity game elements such as match three, hidden object, time management, and puzzle games.[65] Causal games frequently use social-network game mechanics, where players can enlist the help of friends on their social media networks for extra turns or moves each day.[66] Popular casual games include Tetris and Candy Crush Saga. More recent, starting in the late 2010s, are hyper-casual games which use even more simplistic rules for short but infinitely replayable games, such as Flappy Bird.[67] Educational games Education software has been used in homes and classrooms to help teach children and students, and video games have been similarly adapted for these reasons, all designed to provide a form of interactivity and entertainment tied to game design elements. There are a variety of differences in their designs and how they educate the user. These are broadly split between edutainment games that tend to focus on the entertainment value and rote learning but are unlikely to engage in critical thinking, and educational video games that are geared towards problem solving through motivation and positive reinforcement while downplaying the entertainment value.[68] Examples of educational games include The Oregon Trail and the Carmen Sandiego series. Further, games not initially developed for educational purposes have found their way into the classroom after release, such as that feature open worlds or virtual sandboxes like Minecraft,[69] or offer critical thinking skills through puzzle video games like SpaceChem.[70] Serious games Microsoft Flight Simulator is an example of a simulation game. Further extending from educational games, serious games are those where the entertainment factor may be augmented, overshadowed, or even eliminated by other purposes for the game. Game design is used to reinforce the non-entertainment purpose of the game, such as using video game technology for the game's interactive world, or gamification for reinforcement training. Educational games are a form of serious games, but other types of games include fitness games that incorporate significant physical exercise to help keep the player fit (such as Wii Fit), simulator games that resemble flight simulators to pilot aircraft (such as Microsoft Flight Simulator), advergames that are built around the advertising of a product (such as Pepsiman), and newsgames aimed at conveying a specific advocacy message (such as NarcoGuerra).[71][72] Art games Although video games have been considered an art form on their own, games may be developed to try to purposely communicate a story or message, using the medium as a work of art. These art or arthouse games are designed to generate emotion and empathy from the player by challenging societal norms and offering critique through the interactivity of the video game medium. They may not have any type of win condition and are designed to let the player explore through the game world and scenarios. Most art games are indie games in nature, designed based on personal experiences or stories through a single developer or small team. Examples of art games include Passage, Flower, and That Dragon, Cancer.[73][74][75] Content rating Main article: Video game content rating system A typical ESRB rating label, listing the rating and specific content descriptors for Rabbids Go Home Video games can be subject to national and international content rating requirements. Like with film content ratings, video game ratings typing identify the target age group that the national or regional ratings board believes is appropriate for the player, ranging from all-ages, to a teenager-or-older, to mature, to the infrequent adult-only games. Most content review is based on the level of violence, both in the type of violence and how graphic it may be represented, and sexual content, but other themes such as drug and alcohol use and gambling that can influence children may also be identified. A primary identifier based on a minimum age is used by nearly all systems, along with additional descriptors to identify specific content that players and parents should be aware of. The regulations vary from country to country but generally are voluntary systems upheld by vendor practices, with penalty and fines issued by the ratings body on the video game publisher for misuse of the ratings. Among the major content rating systems include: Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) that oversees games released in the United States. ESRB ratings are voluntary and rated along a E (Everyone), E10+ (Everyone 10 and older), T (Teen), M (Mature), and AO (Adults Only). Attempts to mandate video games ratings in the U.S. subsequently led to the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association in 2011 which ruled video games were a protected form of art, a key victory for the video game industry.[76] Pan European Game Information (PEGI) covering the United Kingdom, most of the European Union and other European countries, replacing previous national-based systems. The PEGI system uses content rated based on minimum recommended ages, which include 3+, 8+, 12+, 16+, and 18+. Australian Classification Board (ACB) oversees the ratings of games and other works in Australia, using ratings of G (General), PG (Parental Guidance), M (Mature), MA15+ (Mature Accompanied), R18+ (Restricted), and X (Restricted for pornographic material). ACB can also deny to give a rating to game (RC – Refused Classification). The ACB's ratings are enforceable by law, and importantly, games cannot be imported or purchased digitally in Australia if they have failed to gain a rating or were given the RC rating, leading to a number of notable banned games. Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO) rates games for Japan. Their ratings include A (all ages), B (12 and older), C (15 and over), D (17 and over), and Z (18 and over). Additionally, the major content system provides have worked to create the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a means to streamline and align the content ratings system between different region, so that a publisher would only need to complete the content ratings review for one provider, and use the IARC transition to affirm the content rating for all other regions. Certain nations have even more restrictive rules related to political or ideological content. Within Germany, until 2018, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (Entertainment Software Self-Regulation) would refuse to classify, and thus allow sale, of any game depicting Nazi imagery, and thus often requiring developers to replace such imagery with fictional ones. This ruling was relaxed in 2018 to allow for such imagery for "social adequacy" purposes that applied to other works of art.[77] China's video game segment is mostly isolated from the rest of the world due to the government's censorship, and all games published there must adhere to strict government review, disallowing content such as smearing the image of the Chinese Communist Party. Foreign games published in China often require modification by developers and publishers to meet these requirements.[78] Development Main article: Video game development See also: Video game industry practices Developers use various tools to create video games. Here an editor is fine-tuning the virtual camera system. Video game development and authorship, much like any other form of entertainment, is frequently a cross-disciplinary field. Video game developers, as employees within this industry are commonly referred, primarily include programmers and graphic designers. Over the years this has expanded to include almost every type of skill that one might see prevalent in the creation of any movie or television program, including sound designers, musicians, and other technicians; as well as skills that are specific to video games, such as the game designer. All of these are managed by producers. In the early days of the industry, it was more common for a single person to manage all of the roles needed to create a video game. As platforms have become more complex and powerful in the type of material they can present, larger teams have been needed to generate all of the art, programming, cinematography, and more. This is not to say that the age of the "one-man shop" is gone, as this is still sometimes found in the casual gaming and handheld markets,[79] where smaller games are prevalent due to technical limitations such as limited RAM or lack of dedicated 3D graphics rendering capabilities on the target platform (e.g., some PDAs).[80] Video games are programmed like any other piece of computer software. Prior to the mid-1970s, arcade and home consoles were programmed by assembling discrete electro-mechanical components on circuit boards, which limited games to relatively simple logic. By 1975, low-cost microprocessors were available at volume to be used for video game hardware, which allowed game developers to program more detailed games, widening the scope of what was possible.[81][82] Ongoing improvements in computer hardware technology has expanded what has become possible to create in video games, coupled with convergence of common hardware between console, computer, and arcade platforms to simplify the development process.[83] Today, game developers have a number of commercial and open source tools available for use to make games, often which are across multiple platforms to support portability, or may still opt to create their own for more specialized features and direct control of the game. Today, many games are built around a game engine that handles the bulk of the game's logic, gameplay, and rendering. These engines can be augmented with specialized engines for specific features, such as a physics engine that simulates the physics of objects in real-time. A variety of middleware exists to help developers to access other features, such as for playback of videos within games, network-oriented code for games that communicate via online services, matchmaking for online games, and similar features. These features can be used from a developers' programming language of choice, or they may opt to also use game development kits that minimize the amount of direct programming they have to do but can also limit the amount of customization they can add into a game. Like all software, video games usually undergo quality testing before release to assure there are no bugs or glitches in the product, though frequently developers will release patches and updates. With the growth of the size of development teams in the industry, the problem of cost has increased. Development studios need the best talent, while publishers reduce costs to maintain profitability on their investment. Typically, a video game console development team ranges from 5 to 50 people, and some exceed 100. In May 2009, Assassin's Creed II was reported to have a development staff of 450.[84] The growth of team size combined with greater pressure to get completed projects into the market to begin recouping production costs has led to a greater occurrence of missed deadlines, rushed games and the release of unfinished products.[85] While amateur and hobbyist game programming had existed since the late 1970s with the introduction of home computers, a newer trend since the mid-2000s is indie game development. Indie games are made by small teams outside any direct publisher control, their games being smaller in scope than those from the larger "AAA" game studios, and are often experiment in gameplay and art style. Indie game development are aided by larger availability of digital distribution, including the newer mobile gaming marker, and readily-available and low-cost development tools for these platforms.[86] Game theory and studies This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Main article: Game studies Although departments of computer science have been studying the technical aspects of video games for years, theories that examine games as an artistic medium are a relatively recent development in the humanities. The two most visible schools in this emerging field are ludology and narratology. Narrativists approach video games in the context of what Janet Murray calls "Cyberdrama". That is to say, their major concern is with video games as a storytelling medium, one that arises out of interactive fiction. Murray puts video games in the context of the Holodeck, a fictional piece of technology from Star Trek, arguing for the video game as a medium in which the player is allowed to become another person, and to act out in another world.[87] This image of video games received early widespread popular support, and forms the basis of films such as Tron, eXistenZ and The Last Starfighter. Ludologists break sharply and radically from this idea. They argue that a video game is first and foremost a game, which must be understood in terms of its rules, interface, and the concept of play that it deploys. Espen J. Aarseth argues that, although games certainly have plots, characters, and aspects of traditional narratives, these aspects are incidental to gameplay. For example, Aarseth is critical of the widespread attention that narrativists have given to the heroine of the game Tomb Raider, saying that "the dimensions of Lara Croft's body, already analyzed to death by film theorists, are irrelevant to me as a player, because a different-looking body would not make me play differently... When I play, I don't even see her body, but see through it and past it."[88] Simply put, ludologists reject traditional theories of art because they claim that the artistic and socially relevant qualities of a video game are primarily determined by the underlying set of rules, demands, and expectations imposed on the player. While many games rely on emergent principles, video games commonly present simulated story worlds where emergent behavior occurs within the context of the game. The term "emergent narrative" has been used to describe how, in a simulated environment, storyline can be created simply by "what happens to the player."[89] However, emergent behavior is not limited to sophisticated games. In general, any place where event-driven instructions occur for AI in a game, emergent behavior will exist. For instance, take a racing game in which cars are programmed to avoid crashing, and they encounter an obstacle in the track: the cars might then maneuver to avoid the obstacle causing the cars behind them to slow or maneuver to accommodate the cars in front of them and the obstacle. The programmer never wrote code to specifically create a traffic jam, yet one now exists in the game. Intellectual property for video games Main articles: Intellectual property protection of video games and Video game clone Most commonly, video games are protected by copyright, though both patents and trademarks have been used as well. Though local copyright regulations vary to the degree of protection, video games qualify as copyrighted visual-audio works, and enjoy cross-country protection under the Berne Convention.[90] This typically only applies to the underlying code, as well as to the artistic aspects of the game such as its writing, art assets, and music. Gameplay itself is generally not considered copyrightable; in the United States among other countries, video games are considered to fall into the idea–expression distinction in that it is how the game is presented and expressed to the player that can be copyrighted, but not the underlying principles of the game.[91] Because gameplay is normally ineligible for copyright, gameplay ideas in popular games are often replicated and built upon in other games. At times, this repurposing of gameplay can be seen as beneficial and a fundamental part of how the industry has grown by building on the ideas of others.[92][93] For example Doom (1993) and Grand Theft Auto III (2001) introduced gameplay that created popular new game genres, the first-person shooter and the Grand Theft Auto clone, respectively, in the few years after their release.[94][95] However, at times and more frequently at the onset of the industry, developers would intentionally create video game clones of successful games and game hardware with few changes, which led to the flooded arcade and dedicated home console market around 1978.[92][96][93] Cloning is also a major issue with countries that do not have strong intellectual property protection laws, such as within China. The lax oversight by China's government and the difficulty for foreign companies to take Chinese entities to court had enabled China to support a large grey market of cloned hardware and software systems.[97] The industry remains challenged to distinguish between creating new games based on refinements of past successful games to create a new type of gameplay, and intentionally creating a clone of a game that may simply swap out art assets.[98] Industry Main article: Video game industry E3 was one of the typical trade show events of the video game industry. History The early history of the video game industry, following the first game hardware releases and through 1983, had little structure. Video games quickly took off during the golden age of arcade video games from the late 1970s to early 1980s, but the newfound industry was mainly composed of game developers with little business experience. This led to numerous companies forming simply to create clones of popular games to try to capitalize on the market.[99] Due to loss of publishing control and oversaturation of the market, the North American home video game market crashed in 1983, dropping from revenues of around $3 billion in 1983 to $100 million by 1985. Many of the North American companies created in the prior years closed down. Japan's growing game industry was briefly shocked by this crash but had sufficient longevity to withstand the short-term effects, and Nintendo helped to revitalize the industry with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985.[99] Along with it, Nintendo established a number of core industrial practices to prevent unlicensed game development and control game distribution on their platform, methods that continue to be used by console manufacturers today.[99] The industry remained more conservative following the 1983 crash, forming around the concept of publisher-developer dichotomies, and by the 2000s, leading to the industry centralizing around low-risk, triple-A games and studios with large development budgets of at least $10 million or more.[100] The advent of the Internet brought digital distribution as a viable means to distribute games, and contributed to the growth of more riskier, experimental independent game development as an alternative to triple-A games in the late 2000s and which has continued to grow as a significant portion of the video game industry.[101][86] Industry roles Video games have a large network effect that draw on many different sectors that tie into the larger video game industry. While video game developers are a significant portion of the industry, other key participants in the market include:[102] Publishers: Companies generally that oversee bringing the game from the developer to market. This often includes performing the marketing, public relations, and advertising of the game. Publishers frequently pay the developers ahead of time to make their games and will be involved in critical decisions about the direction of the game's progress, and then pay the developers additional royalties or bonuses based on sales performances. Other smaller, boutique publishers may simply offer to perform the publishing of a game for a small fee and a portion of the sales, and otherwise leave the developer with the creative freedom to proceed. A range of other publisher-developer relationships exist between these points. Distributors: Publishers often are able to produce their own game media and take the role of distributor, but there are also third-party distributors that can mass-produce game media and distribute to retailers. Digital storefronts like Steam and the iOS App Store also serve as distributors and retailers in the digital space. Retailers: Physical storefronts, which include large online retailers, department and electronic stores, and specialty video game stores, sell games, consoles, and other accessories to consumers. This has also including a trade-in market in certain regions, allowing players to turn in used games for partial refunds or credit towards other games. However, with the uprising of digital marketplaces and e-commerce revolution, retailers have been performing worse than in the past. Hardware manufacturers: The video game console manufacturers produce console hardware, often through a value chain system that include numerous component suppliers and contract manufacturer that assemble the consoles. Further, these console manufacturers typically require a license to develop for their platform and may control the production of some games, such as Nintendo does with the use of game cartridges for its systems. In exchange, the manufacturers may help promote games for their system and may seek console exclusivity for certain games. For games on personal computers, a number of manufacturers are devoted to high-performance "gaming computer" hardware, particularly in the graphics card area; several of the same companies overlap with component supplies for consoles. A range of third-party manufacturers also exist to provide equipment and gear for consoles post-sale, such as additional controllers for console or carrying cases and gear for handheld devices. Journalism: While journalism around video games used to be primarily print-based, and focused more on post-release reviews and gameplay strategy, the Internet has brought a more proactive press that use web journalism, covering games in the months prior to release as well as beyond, helping to build excitement for games ahead of release. Influencers: With the rising importance of social media, video game companies have found that the opinions of influencers using streaming media to play through their games has had a significant impact on game sales, and have turned to use influencers alongside traditional journalism as a means to build up attention to their game before release. Esports: Esports is a major function of several multiplayer games with numerous professional leagues established since the 2000s, with large viewership numbers, particularly out of southeast Asia since the 2010s. Trade and advocacy groups: Trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association were established to provide a common voice for the industry in response to governmental and other advocacy concerns. They frequently set up the major trade events and conventions for the industry such as E3. Gamers: Proactive hobbyists who are players and consumers of video games. While their representation in the industry is primarily seen through game sales, many companies follow gamers' comments on social media or on user reviews and engage with them to work to improve their products in addition to other feedback from other parts of the industry. Demographics of the larger player community also impact parts of the market; while once dominated by younger men, the market shifted in the mid-2010s towards women and older players who generally preferred mobile and causal games, leading to further growth in those sectors.[103] Major regional markets See also: Video game industry § International practices The industry itself grew out from both the United States and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s before having a larger worldwide contribution. Today, the video game industry is predominantly led by major companies in North America (primarily the United States and Canada), Europe, and southeast Asia including Japan, South Korea, and China. Hardware production remains an area dominated by Asian companies either directly involved in hardware design or part of the production process, but digital distribution and indie game development of the late 2000s has allowed game developers to flourish nearly anywhere and diversify the field.[104] Game sales See also: List of best-selling video games and Golden age of arcade video games A retail display in Switzerland with a large selection of games for platforms popular in the early 2000s According to the market research firm Newzoo, the global video game industry drew estimated revenues of over $159 billion in 2020. Mobile games accounted for the bulk of this, with a 48% share of the market, followed by console games at 28% and personal computer games at 23%.[1] Sales of different types of games vary widely between countries due to local preferences. Japanese consumers tend to purchase much more handheld games than console games and especially PC games, with a strong preference for games catering to local tastes.[105][106] Another key difference is that, though having declined in the West, arcade games remain an important sector of the Japanese gaming industry.[107] In South Korea, computer games are generally preferred over console games, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games. Computer games are also popular in China.[108] Effects on society Culture Main articles: Video game culture and Gamer The Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2012 Video game culture is a worldwide new media subculture formed around video games and game playing. As computer and video games have increased in popularity over time, they have had a significant influence on popular culture. Video game culture has also evolved over time hand in hand with internet culture as well as the increasing popularity of mobile games. Many people who play video games identify as gamers, which can mean anything from someone who enjoys games to someone who is passionate about it. As video games become more social with multiplayer and online capability, gamers find themselves in growing social networks. Gaming can both be entertainment as well as competition, as a new trend known as electronic sports is becoming more widely accepted. In the 2010s, video games and discussions of video game trends and topics can be seen in social media, politics, television, film and music. The COVID-19 pandemic during 2020–2021 gave further visibility to video games as a pastime to enjoy with friends and family online as a means of social distancing.[109][110] Main article: Video games as an art form Since the mid-2000s there has been debate whether video games qualify as art, primarily as the form's interactivity interfered with the artistic intent of the work and that they are designed for commercial appeal. A significant debate on the matter came after film critic Roger Ebert published an essay "Video Games can never be art",[111] which challenged the industry to prove him and other critics wrong.[112] The view that video games were an art form was cemented in 2011 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that video games were a protected form of speech with artistic merit.[113] Since then, video game developers have come to use the form more for artistic expression, including the development of art games,[114] and the cultural heritage of video games as works of arts, beyond their technical capabilities, have been part of major museum exhibits, including The Art of Video Games at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and toured at other museums from 2012 to 2016. Main articles: Film adaptation § Video game adaptation, and Hollywood and the video game industry Video games will inspire sequels and other video games within the same franchise, but also have influenced works outside of the video game medium. Numerous television shows (both animated and live-action), films, comics and novels have been created based on existing video game franchises. Because video games are an interactive medium there has been trouble in converting them to these passive forms of media, and typically such works have been critically panned or treated as children's media. For example, until 2019, no video game film had ever been received a "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the releases of Detective Pikachu (2019) and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), both receiving "Fresh" ratings, shows signs of the film industry having found an approach to adapt video games for the large screen.[115][116] That said, some early video game-based films have been highly successful at the box office, such as 1995's Mortal Kombat and 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.[117] More recently since the 2000s, there has also become a larger appreciation of video game music, which ranges from chiptunes composed for limited sound-output devices on early computers and consoles, to fully-scored compositions for most modern games. Such music has frequently served as a platform for covers and remixes, and concerts featuring video game soundtracks performed by bands or orchestras, such as Video Games Live, have also become popular.[117] Video games also frequently incorporate licensed music, particularly in the area of rhythm games, furthering the depth of which video games and music can work together.[117] Further, video games can serve as a virtual environment under full control of a producer to create new works. With the capability to render 3D actors and settings in real-time, a new type of work machinima (short for "machine cinema") grew out from using video game engines to craft narratives.[118] As video game engines gain higher fidelity, they have also become part of the tools used in more traditional filmmaking. Unreal Engine has been used as a backbone by Industrial Light & Magic for their StageCraft technology for shows like The Mandalorian.[119] Separately, video games are also frequently used as part of the promotion and marketing for other media, such as for films, anime, and comics. However, these licensed games in the 1990s and 2000s often had a reputation for poor quality, developed without any input from the intellectual property rights owners, and several of them are considered among lists of games with notably negative reception, such as Superman 64. More recently, with these licensed games being developed by triple-A studios or through studios directly connected to the licensed property owner, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of these games, with an early trendsetting example of Batman: Arkham Asylum.[120] Beneficial uses This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Main articles: Video games in education and Video game behavioral effects Besides their entertainment value, appropriately-designed video games have been seen to provide value in education across several ages and comprehension levels. Learning principles found in video games have been identified as possible techniques with which to reform the U.S. education system.[121] It has been noticed that gamers adopt an attitude while playing that is of such high concentration, they do not realize they are learning, and that if the same attitude could be adopted at school, education would enjoy significant benefits.[122][dubious – discuss] Students are found to be "learning by doing" while playing video games while fostering creative thinking.[123] Video games are also believed to be beneficial to the mind and body. It has been shown that action video game players have better hand–eye coordination and visuo-motor skills, such as their resistance to distraction, their sensitivity to information in the peripheral vision and their ability to count briefly presented objects, than nonplayers.[124] Researchers found that such enhanced abilities could be acquired by training with action games, involving challenges that switch attention between different locations, but not with games requiring concentration on single objects.[citation needed] A 2018 systematic review found evidence that video gaming training had positive effects on cognitive and emotional skills in the adult population, especially with young adults.[125] A 2019 systematic review also added support for the claim that video games are beneficial to the brain, although the beneficial effects of video gaming on the brain differed by video games types.[126] How can video games boost your mental health? – Max Birk (Eindhoven University of Technology) Organisers of video gaming events, such as the organisers of the D-Lux video game festival in Dumfries, Scotland, have emphasised the positive aspects video games can have on mental health. Organisers, mental health workers and mental health nurses at the event emphasised the relationships and friendships that can be built around video games and how playing games can help people learn about others as a precursor to discussing the person's mental health.[127] A study in 2020 from Oxford University also suggested that playing video games can be a benefit to a person's mental health. The report of 3,274 gamers, all over the age of 18, focused on the games Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and used actual play-time data. The report found that those that played more games tended to report greater "wellbeing".[128][129] Also in 2020, computer science professor Regan Mandryk of the University of Saskatchewan said her research also showed that video games can have health benefits such as reducing stress and improving mental health. The university's research studied all age groups – "from pre-literate children through to older adults living in long term care homes" – with a main focus on 18 to 55-year-olds.[130] A study of gamers attitudes towards gaming which was reported about in 2018 found that millennials use video games as a key strategy for coping with stress. In the study of 1,000 gamers, 55% said that it "helps them to unwind and relieve stress ... and half said they see the value in gaming as a method of escapism to help them deal with daily work pressures".[131] Controversies This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Video game" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Main article: Video game controversies See also: Digital media use and mental health § Autism The compulsion loop for video games is believed to trigger dopamine release that can encourage addictive behavior. Video games have caused controversy since the 1970s.[132] Parents and children's advocates regularly raise concerns that violent video games can influence young players into performing those violent acts in real life, and events such as the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 in which some claimed the perpetrators specifically alluded to using video games to plot out their attack, raised further fears.[citation needed] Medical experts and mental health professionals have also raised concerned that video games may be addictive, and the World Health Organization has included "gaming disorder" in the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases. Other health experts, including the American Psychiatric Association, have stated that there is insufficient evidence that video games can create violent tendencies or lead to addictive behavior,[133] though agree that video games typically use a compulsion loop in their core design that can create dopamine that can help reinforce the desire to continue to play through that compulsion loop and potentially lead into violent or addictive behavior.[134][135][136] Even with case law establishing that video games qualify as a protected art form, there has been pressure on the video game industry to keep their products in check to avoid over-excessive violence particularly for games aimed at younger children. The potential addictive behavior around games, coupled with increased used of post-sale monetization of video games, has also raised concern among parents, advocates, and government officials about gambling tendencies that may come from video games, such as controversy around the use of loot boxes in many high-profile games. Numerous other controversies around video games and its industry have arisen over the years, among the more notable incidents include the 1993 United States Congressional hearings on violent games like Mortal Kombat which lead to the formation of the ESRB ratings system, numerous legal actions taken by attorney Jack Thompson over violent games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Manhunt from 2003 to 2007, the outrage over the "No Russian" level from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 which allowed the player to shoot a number of innocent non-player characters at an airport, and the Gamergate harassment campaign in 2014 that highlighted misogyny from a portion of the player demographic. The industry as a whole has also dealt with issues related to gender, racial, and LGBTQ+ discrimination and mischaracterization of these minority groups in video games. A further issue in the industry is related to working conditions, as development studios and publishers frequently use "crunch time", required extended working hours, in the weeks and months ahead of a game's release to assure on-time delivery. Collecting and preservation Main articles: Video game collecting and Video game preservation See also: List of video game museums Players of video games often maintain collections of games. More recently there has been interest in retrogaming, focusing on games from the first decades. Games in retail packaging in good shape have become collectors items for the early days of the industry, with some rare publications having gone for over US$100,000 as of 2020. Separately, there is also concern about the preservation of video games, as both game media and the hardware to play them degrade over time. Further, many of the game developers and publishers from the first decades no longer exist, so records of their games have disappeared. Archivists and preservations have worked within the scope of copyright law to save these games as part of the cultural history of the industry. There are many video game museums around the world, including the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas,[137] which serves as the largest museum wholly dedicated to the display and preservation of the industry's most important artifacts.[138] Europe hosts video game museums such as the Computer Games Museum in Berlin[139] and the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.[140][141] The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in Oakland, California is a dedicated video game museum focusing on playable exhibits of console and computer games.[142] The Video Game Museum of Rome is also dedicated to preserving video games and their history.[143] The International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong in Rochester, New York contains one of the largest collections of electronic games and game-related historical materials in the world, including a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) exhibit which allows guests to play their way through the history of video games.[144][145][146] The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC has three video games on permanent display: Pac-Man, Dragon's Lair, and Pong.[147] The Museum of Modern Art has added a total of 20 video games and one video game console to its permanent Architecture and Design Collection since 2012.[148][149] In 2012, the Smithsonian American Art Museum ran an exhibition on "The Art of Video Games".[150] However, the reviews of the exhibit were mixed, including questioning whether video games belong in an art museum.[151][152] See also Video games portal Lists of video games List of accessories to video games by system Outline of video games Notes "Videogame" may also be used, though this is less frequent. 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The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the Billion-Dollar Battle to Shape Modern Gaming by Steven L. Kent, Crown, 2021, ISBN 1984825437 External links Library resources about Video game Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Video games bibliography by the French video game research association Ludoscience The Virtual Museum of Computing (VMoC) (archived 10 October 2014) Video games vte Video game concepts Glossary of video game terms Attributes Health Life Experience point Magic Critical hit Characters Boss Bot Non-player character Player character Mechanics Item Power-up HUD Warp Fast travel Fog of war Invisible wall Cutscene Paper doll Loading screen Replay value Saved game Scripted sequence Password Line of sight Stats Permadeath Status effect Turns, rounds and time-keeping systems Collision detection Quick time event Random encounter Tank controls Dialogue tree Quest Game over Scenery Destructible environment Instance dungeon Level Mini-map Open world Persistent world Procedural generation Overworld Movement techniques Rocket jumping Strafing Trickjump Modes Player type Single-player Multiplayer Competitive gameplay Esports Speedrunning Gameplay type Capture the flag Cooperative Deathmatch Last man standing Player versus environment Survival vte Video game genres List of video game genres Action Platformer Endless runner Platform fighter Shooter Arena First-person Hero Light gun Shoot 'em up Bullet hell Rail Twin-stick Tactical Third-person Survival Battle royale Survival horror Other Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform fighter Maze Pac-Man clone Snake Stealth Action-adventure Grand Theft Auto clone Metroidvania Adventure Escape room Graphic adventure Interactive fiction Interactive film Visual novel Walking sim Digital tabletop Deck-building Roguelike deck-building Digital collectible card Puzzle Hidden object Sokoban Tile-matching Role-playing ARPG Looter shooter Soulslike Other Dungeon crawl Monster-taming Roguelike Roguelike deck-building Tactical role-playing Simulation Life Dating Farming God Social Virtual pet CMS Business City-building Government Sports Fishing Racing Kart racing Sim racing Vehicle Flight simulation Combat Lunar Lander Space Submarine simulator Train simulator Vehicular combat Other Falling-sand Immersive sim Strategy 4X Auto battler MOBA Real-time strategy Time management Real-time tactics Tactical role-playing Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Artillery Wargame Grand strategy Other genres Cozy Fitness Horror Survival horror Incremental Music Rhythm Non-game Party Photography Programming Typing Related concepts Themes Advergame Bishōjo Christian Comedy Educational Girls Licensed Otome Sexual Eroge Nonviolent Personalized Sci-fi Serious Art Player modes Multiplayer Co-op PVP Single-player Production AAA Indie Doujin soft Fan game Technology Arcade Console Geolocation-based Mobile Online Browser Cloud MMO MMOFPS MMORPG MMORTS Social network PC Linux Mac Virtual reality Design Casual Hypercasual Emergent gameplay FMV Gacha Kaizo Masocore Nonlinear gameplay Open world Sandbox Side-scrolling Twitch gameplay Vertically scrolling Other Minigame Toys-to-life Video game clone Video game modding vte History of video games vte Chronology of video games Early history 1947–1972 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Near future vte Video game history by platform By platform Early mainframe games History of arcade video games Golden age Timeline History of video game consoles Crash of 1983 Console war History of mobile games By console generation First (1972–1980) Second (1976–1992) Third (1983–2003) Fourth (1987–2003) Fifth (1993–2005) Sixth (1998–2013) Seventh (2005–2017) Eighth (2012–) Ninth (2020–) vte Video game genres List of video game genres Action Platformer Endless runner Platform fighter Shooter Arena First-person Hero Light gun Shoot 'em up Bullet hell Rail Twin-stick Tactical Third-person Survival Battle royale Survival horror Other Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform fighter Maze Pac-Man clone Snake Stealth Action-adventure Grand Theft Auto clone Metroidvania Adventure Escape room Graphic adventure Interactive fiction Interactive film Visual novel Walking sim Digital tabletop Deck-building Roguelike deck-building Digital collectible card Puzzle Hidden object Sokoban Tile-matching Role-playing ARPG Looter shooter Soulslike Other Dungeon crawl Monster-taming Roguelike Roguelike deck-building Tactical role-playing Simulation Life Dating Farming God Social Virtual pet CMS Business City-building Government Sports Fishing Racing Kart racing Sim racing Vehicle Flight simulation Combat Lunar Lander Space Submarine simulator Train simulator Vehicular combat Other Falling-sand Immersive sim Strategy 4X Auto battler MOBA Real-time strategy Time management Real-time tactics Tactical role-playing Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Artillery Wargame Grand strategy Other genres Cozy Fitness Horror Survival horror Incremental Music Rhythm Non-game Party Photography Programming Typing Related concepts Themes Advergame Bishōjo Christian Comedy Educational Girls Licensed Otome Sexual Eroge Nonviolent Personalized Sci-fi Serious Art Player modes Multiplayer Co-op PVP Single-player Production AAA Indie Doujin soft Fan game Technology Arcade Console Geolocation-based Mobile Online Browser Cloud MMO MMOFPS MMORPG MMORTS Social network PC Linux Mac Virtual reality Design Casual Hypercasual Emergent gameplay FMV Gacha Kaizo Masocore Nonlinear gameplay Open world Sandbox Side-scrolling Twitch gameplay Vertically scrolling Other Minigame Toys-to-life Video game clone Video game modding vte Video games by country Africa Ghana Kenya Nigeria South Africa Americas Latin America (* Brazil * Colombia) Canada United States Asia Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Japan South Korea Malaysia Philippines Russia Thailand Turkey Europe Belgium Czech Republic Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Oceania Australia New Zealand vte Game genres Chance Guessing Party Redemption Role-playing Skill Sport Strategy Street Tabletop Video List of game genres Portals: Video games icon Technology diagram Systems science Journalism icon Business Video game at Wikipedia's sister projects: Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Textbooks from Wikibooks Data from Wikidata Authority control databases: National Edit this at Wikidata Germany Israel United States Czech Republic 2 Korea 2 Categories: Video gamesGames and sports introduced in 1947Digital media List of video games considered the best Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Video games Platforms Genres Lists Development vte This is a list of video games that multiple video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from different publications, as chosen by their editorial staffs. List 19701975198019851990199520002005201020152020 Year Game Genre Publisher Original platform(s)[a] Ref. 1971 The Oregon Trail Strategy MECC HP 2100 [A] 1972 Pong Sports Atari, Inc. Arcade [B] 1977 Combat Top-down shooter Atari, Inc. Atari 2600 [C] Zork Adventure Infocom PDP-10 [D] 1978 Space Invaders Shoot 'em up Taito Arcade [E] 1979 Asteroids Shoot 'em up Atari, Inc. Arcade [F] 1980 Adventure Action-adventure Atari, Inc. Atari 2600 [G] Battlezone Vehicle simulation Atari, Inc. Arcade [H] Missile Command Shoot 'em up Atari, Inc. Arcade [I] Pac-Man Maze Namco Arcade [J] 1981 Centipede Shoot 'em up Atari, Inc. Arcade [K] Defender Shoot 'em up Williams Electronics Arcade [L] Donkey Kong Platform Nintendo Arcade [M] Frogger Action Konami, Sega Arcade [N] Galaga Shoot 'em up Namco Arcade [O] Tempest Shoot 'em up Atari, Inc. Arcade [P] Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Role-playing Sir-Tech Apple II [Q] 1982 Joust Action Williams Electronics Arcade [R] Ms. Pac-Man Maze Midway Arcade [S] Pitfall! Platform Activision Atari 2600 [T] Robotron: 2084 Top-down shooter Williams Electronics Arcade [U] 1983 Archon: The Light and the Dark Strategy Electronic Arts Atari 8-bit family [V] Lode Runner Platform Broderbund Apple II [W] M.U.L.E. Business simulation Electronic Arts Atari 8-bit family [X] Star Wars Rail shooter Atari, Inc. Arcade [Y] 1984 Elite Space flight simulator Acornsoft BBC Micro [Z] Marble Madness Action Atari Games Arcade [AA] 1985 Gauntlet Hack and slash Atari Games Arcade [AB] Ghosts 'n Goblins Platform Capcom Arcade [AC] Super Mario Bros. Platform Nintendo NES [AD] Tetris Puzzle Elorg Electronika 60 [AE] Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar Role-playing Origin Systems Apple II [AF] 1986 Arkanoid Block breaker Taito Arcade [AG] Bubble Bobble Platform Taito Arcade [AH] The Legend of Zelda Action-adventure Nintendo NES [AI] Out Run Racing Sega Arcade [AJ] 1987 Contra Run and gun Konami Arcade [AK] Double Dragon Beat 'em up Technos Japan Arcade [AL] Dungeon Master Role-playing FTL Games Atari ST [AM] Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Sports Nintendo NES [AN] R-Type Shoot 'em up Irem Arcade [AO] Sid Meier's Pirates! Action-adventure MicroProse Commodore 64 [AP] 1988 Mega Man 2 Platform Capcom NES [AQ] Ninja Gaiden Platform Tecmo NES [AR] Super Mario Bros. 3 Platform Nintendo NES [AS] 1989 Final Fight Beat 'em up Capcom Arcade [AT] Populous God game Electronic Arts Amiga [AU] Prince of Persia Platform Broderbund Apple II [AV] SimCity City-building Maxis Amiga, Mac [AW] 1990 The Secret of Monkey Island Adventure LucasArts PC [AX] Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe Sports Image Works Amiga, Atari ST [AY] Super Mario World Platform Nintendo Super NES [AZ] Wing Commander Space flight simulator Origin Systems PC [BA] 1991 Another World Platform Delphine Software Amiga, Atari ST [BB] Civilization Turn-based strategy MicroProse PC [BC] Final Fantasy IV Role-playing Square Super NES [BD] The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Action-adventure Nintendo Super NES [BE] Lemmings Puzzle Psygnosis Amiga [BF] Micro Machines Racing Camerica NES [BG] Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Adventure LucasArts PC [BH] Sonic the Hedgehog Platform Sega Sega Genesis [BI] Street Fighter II Fighting Capcom Arcade [BJ] Super Castlevania IV Platform Konami Super NES [BK] 1992 Alone in the Dark Survival horror Infogrames PC [BL] Contra III: The Alien Wars Run and gun Konami Super NES [BM] Dune II Real-time strategy Virgin Games PC [BN] Flashback Platform U.S. Gold Amiga [BO] Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Adventure LucasArts PC [BP] Mortal Kombat Fighting Midway Arcade [BQ] Sensible Soccer Sports Renegade Software Amiga, Atari ST [BR] Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Platform Sega Sega Genesis [BS] Star Control II Action-adventure Accolade PC [BT] Streets of Rage 2 Beat 'em up Sega Sega Genesis [BU] Super Mario Kart Kart racing Nintendo Super NES [BV] Ultima VII: The Black Gate Role-playing Origin Systems PC [BW] Virtua Racing Racing Sega Arcade [BX] Wolfenstein 3D First-person shooter Apogee Software PC [BY] 1993 Day of the Tentacle Adventure LucasArts PC [BZ] Doom First-person shooter id Software PC [CA] Gunstar Heroes Run and gun Sega Sega Genesis [CB] The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Action-adventure Nintendo Game Boy [CC] Mega Man X Platform Capcom Super NES [CD] Mortal Kombat II Fighting Midway Arcade [CE] Myst Adventure Broderbund Mac [CF] NBA Jam Sports Midway Arcade [CG] Phantasy Star IV Role-playing Sega Sega Genesis [CH] Ridge Racer Racing Namco Arcade [CI] Sam & Max Hit the Road Adventure LucasArts PC [CJ] Secret of Mana Action role-playing Square Super NES [CK] Samurai Shodown Fighting SNK Arcade [CL] SimCity 2000 City-building Maxis Mac [CM] Star Fox Rail shooter Nintendo Super NES [CN] Syndicate Real-time tactics Electronic Arts Amiga, PC [CO] 1994 Daytona USA Racing Sega Arcade [CP] Donkey Kong Country Platform Nintendo Super NES [CQ] Doom II First-person shooter GT Interactive PC [CR] EarthBound Role-playing Nintendo Super NES [CS] Final Fantasy VI Role-playing Square Super NES [CT] Sega Rally Championship Racing Sega Arcade [CU] Sensible World of Soccer Sports Renegade Software Amiga [CV] Star Wars: TIE Fighter Space flight simulator LucasArts PC [CW] Super Metroid Action-adventure Nintendo Super NES [CX] Tempest 2000 Shoot 'em up Atari Corporation Atari Jaguar [CY] Theme Park Business simulation Electronic Arts Amiga, PC [CZ] Virtua Fighter 2 Fighting Sega Arcade [DA] X-COM: UFO Defense Turn-based strategy MicroProse PC [DB] 1995 Chrono Trigger Role-playing Square Super NES [DC] Command & Conquer Real-time strategy Virgin Interactive PC [DD] MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat Vehicle simulation Activision PC [DE] Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Real-time strategy Blizzard Entertainment PC [DF] Wipeout Racing Psygnosis PC, PlayStation [DG] Worms Artillery Ocean Software Amiga [DH] Yoshi's Island Platform Nintendo Super NES [DI] 1996 Civilization II Turn-based strategy MicroProse PC [DJ] Command & Conquer: Red Alert Real-time strategy Virgin Interactive PC [DK] Duke Nukem 3D First-person shooter GT Interactive PC [DL] Mario Kart 64 Kart racing Nintendo Nintendo 64 [DM] Nights into Dreams Action Sega Saturn [DN] PaRappa the Rapper Rhythm Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation [DO] Pokémon Red and Blue Role-playing Nintendo Game Boy [DP] Quake First-person shooter GT Interactive PC [DQ] Resident Evil Survival horror Capcom PlayStation [DR] Super Mario 64 Platform Nintendo Nintendo 64 [DS] Tomb Raider Action-adventure Eidos Interactive Saturn, PC, PlayStation [DT] Wave Race 64 Racing Nintendo Nintendo 64 [DU] Wipeout 2097 Racing Psygnosis PlayStation [DV] 1997 Age of Empires Real-time strategy Microsoft PC [DW] Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Action-adventure Konami PlayStation [DX] Diablo Action role-playing Blizzard Entertainment PC [DY] Fallout Role-playing Interplay Entertainment PC [DZ] Final Fantasy Tactics Tactical role-playing Square PlayStation [EA] Final Fantasy VII Role-playing Square PlayStation [EB] GoldenEye 007 First-person shooter Nintendo Nintendo 64 [EC] Gran Turismo Racing Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation [ED] Grand Theft Auto Action-adventure BMG Interactive PC [EE] Quake II First-person shooter Activision PC [EF] Star Fox 64 Rail shooter Nintendo Nintendo 64 [EG] Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II First-person shooter LucasArts PC [EH] Tekken 3 Fighting Namco Arcade [EI] Total Annihilation Real-time strategy Cavedog Entertainment PC, Mac [EJ] Ultima Online MMORPG Electronic Arts PC, Linux [EK] 1998 Baldur's Gate Role-playing Black Isle Studios PC [EL] Crash Bandicoot: Warped Platform Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation [EM] Dance Dance Revolution Rhythm Konami Arcade [EN] Fallout 2 Role-playing Interplay Entertainment PC [EO] Grim Fandango Adventure LucasArts PC [EP] Half-Life First-person shooter Sierra Studios PC [EQ] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Action-adventure Nintendo Nintendo 64 [ER] Metal Gear Solid Stealth Konami PlayStation [ES] Panzer Dragoon Saga Role-playing Sega Saturn [ET] Resident Evil 2 Survival horror Capcom PlayStation [EU] Soulcalibur Fighting Namco Arcade [EV] StarCraft Real-time strategy Blizzard Entertainment PC [EW] Suikoden II Role-playing Konami PlayStation [EX] Thief: The Dark Project Stealth Eidos Interactive PC [EY] 1999 Age of Empires II Real-time strategy Microsoft PC [EZ] EverQuest MMORPG Sony Online Entertainment PC [FA] Homeworld Real-time strategy Sierra Studios PC [FB] Planescape: Torment Role-playing Interplay Entertainment PC [FC] Pokémon Gold and Silver Role-playing Nintendo Game Boy Color [FD] Quake III: Arena First-person shooter Activision PC [FE] Shenmue Action-adventure Sega Dreamcast [FF] Silent Hill Survival horror Konami PlayStation [FG] System Shock 2 Action role-playing Electronic Arts PC [FH] Unreal Tournament First-person shooter GT Interactive PC [FI] 2000 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Role-playing Black Isle Studios PC [FJ] Counter-Strike First-person shooter Valve PC [FK] Deus Ex Action role-playing Eidos Interactive PC [FL] Diablo II Action role-playing Blizzard Entertainment PC [FM] Jet Set Radio Action Sega Dreamcast [FN] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Action-adventure Nintendo Nintendo 64 [FO] Perfect Dark First-person shooter Rare Nintendo 64 [FP] Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Fighting Capcom Arcade [FQ] The Sims Life simulation Electronic Arts PC [FR] Thief II: The Metal Age Stealth Eidos Interactive PC [FS] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Sports Activision PlayStation [FT] Vagrant Story Action role-playing Square PlayStation [FU] 2001 Advance Wars Turn-based strategy Nintendo Game Boy Advance [FV] Animal Crossing Life simulation Nintendo GameCube [FW] Devil May Cry Action-adventure Capcom PS2 [FX] Final Fantasy X Role-playing Square PS2 [FY] Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec Racing Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [FZ] Grand Theft Auto III Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS2 [GA] Halo: Combat Evolved First-person shooter Microsoft Game Studios Xbox [GB] Ico Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [GC] Ikaruga Shoot 'em up Treasure Arcade [GD] Max Payne Third-person shooter Gathering of Developers PC [GE] Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Stealth Konami PS2 [GF] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Adventure Capcom Game Boy Advance [GG] Rez Rail shooter Sega Dreamcast, PS2 [GH] Silent Hill 2 Survival horror Konami PS2 [GI] Super Smash Bros. Melee Fighting Nintendo GameCube [GJ] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Sports Activision PlayStation, PS2 [GK] 2002 Battlefield 1942 First-person shooter Electronic Arts PC [GL] The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Action role-playing Bethesda Softworks PC [GM] Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem Survival horror Nintendo GameCube [GN] Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS2 [GO] Kingdom Hearts Action role-playing Square PS2 [GP] The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Action-adventure Nintendo GameCube [GQ] Metroid Prime Action-adventure Nintendo GameCube [GR] Soulcalibur II Fighting Namco Arcade [GS] Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Stealth Ubisoft Xbox [GT] Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Real-time strategy Blizzard Entertainment PC, Mac [GU] 2003 Beyond Good & Evil Action-adventure Ubisoft PS2 [GV] F-Zero GX Racing Nintendo GameCube [GW] Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Third-person shooter Rockstar Games PC [GX] Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Action-adventure Ubisoft GameCube, PS2, Xbox [GY] Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Role-playing LucasArts Xbox [GZ] WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! Action Nintendo Game Boy Advance [HA] 2004 Burnout 3: Takedown Racing Electronic Arts PS2, Xbox [HB] The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Stealth Vivendi Universal Games Xbox [HC] Dragon Quest VIII Role-playing Square Enix PS2 [HD] Gran Turismo 4 Racing Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [HE] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS2 [HF] Half-Life 2 First-person shooter Valve PC [HG] Halo 2 First-person shooter Microsoft Game Studios Xbox [HH] Katamari Damacy Action Namco PS2 [HI] Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Stealth Konami PS2 [HJ] Rome: Total War Strategy Activision PC [HK] The Sims 2 Life simulation Electronic Arts PC [HL] World of Warcraft MMORPG Blizzard Entertainment PC, Mac [HM] 2005 Call of Duty 2 First-person shooter Activision PC [HN] Civilization IV Turn-based strategy 2K Games PC [HO] Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Action-adventure Capcom PS2 [HP] God of War Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [HQ] Guitar Hero Rhythm RedOctane PS2 [HR] Psychonauts Platform Majesco PC, Xbox [HS] Resident Evil 4 Survival horror Capcom GameCube [HT] Shadow of the Colossus Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [HU] Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Stealth Ubisoft GameCube, PC, PS2, Xbox [HV] 2006 Company of Heroes Real-time strategy THQ PC [HW] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Action role-playing 2K Games, Bethesda Softworks PC, Xbox 360 [HX] Gears of War Third-person shooter Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [HY] Hitman: Blood Money Stealth Eidos Interactive PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 [HZ] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Action-adventure Nintendo GameCube, Wii [IA] Ōkami Action-adventure Capcom PS2 [IB] Wii Sports Sports Nintendo Wii [IC] 2007 BioShock First-person shooter 2K Games PC, Xbox 360 [ID] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare First-person shooter Activision PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [IE] God of War II Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS2 [IF] Halo 3 First-person shooter Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [IG] Mass Effect Action role-playing Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [IH] Peggle Puzzle PopCap Games PC [II] Portal Puzzle-platformer Valve PC, Xbox 360 [IJ] Rock Band Rhythm MTV Games PS3, Xbox 360 [IK] Super Mario Galaxy Platform Nintendo Wii [IL] Team Fortress 2 First-person shooter Valve PC, Xbox 360 [IM] The World Ends with You Action role-playing Square Enix Nintendo DS [IN] 2008 Braid Puzzle-platformer Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [IO] Burnout Paradise Racing Electronic Arts PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [IP] Dead Space Survival horror Electronic Arts PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [IQ] Fable II Action role-playing Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [IR] Fallout 3 Action role-playing Bethesda Softworks PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [IS] Gears of War 2 Third-person shooter Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [IT] Grand Theft Auto IV Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS3, Xbox 360 [IU] Left 4 Dead First-person shooter Valve PC, Xbox 360 [IV] LittleBigPlanet Platform Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [IW] Persona 4 Role-playing Atlus PS2 [IX] Rock Band 2 Rhythm MTV Games Xbox 360 [IY] Spelunky Platform Derek Yu PC [IZ] Street Fighter IV Fighting Capcom Arcade [JA] Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fighting Nintendo Wii [JB] Valkyria Chronicles Tactical role-playing Sega PS3 [JC] 2009 Angry Birds Puzzle Rovio Entertainment Maemo, iOS [JD] Assassin's Creed II Action-adventure Ubisoft PS3, Xbox 360 [JE] Batman: Arkham Asylum Action-adventure Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. PS3, Xbox 360 [JF] Bayonetta Action-adventure Sega PS3, Xbox 360 [JG] Borderlands Action role-playing 2K Games PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [JH] Demon's Souls Action role-playing Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [JI] Dragon Age: Origins Role-playing Electronic Arts PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [JJ] League of Legends MOBA Riot Games PC [JK] Left 4 Dead 2 First-person shooter Valve PC, Xbox 360 [JL] Plants vs. Zombies Tower defense PopCap Games PC, Mac [JM] Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [JN] 2010 Civilization V Turn-based strategy 2K Games PC [JO] God of War III Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [JP] Heavy Rain Adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [JQ] Limbo Puzzle-platformer Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 [JR] Mass Effect 2 Action role-playing Electronic Arts PC, Xbox 360 [JS] Red Dead Redemption Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS3, Xbox 360 [JT] Rock Band 3 Rhythm MTV Games Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii [JU] StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Real-time strategy Blizzard Entertainment PC, Mac [JV] Super Mario Galaxy 2 Platform Nintendo Wii [JW] Super Meat Boy Platform Team Meat Xbox 360 [JX] Xenoblade Chronicles Action role-playing Nintendo Wii [JY] 2011 Batman: Arkham City Action-adventure Warner Bros. PS3, Xbox 360 [JZ] Dark Souls Action role-playing Namco Bandai PS3, Xbox 360 [KA] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Action role-playing Bethesda Softworks PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KB] Minecraft Sandbox Mojang PC, Mac, Linux [KC] Portal 2 Puzzle-platformer Valve PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KD] 2012 Borderlands 2 Action role-playing 2K Games PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KE] Dishonored Stealth Bethesda Softworks PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KF] Far Cry 3 First-person shooter Ubisoft PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KG] Fire Emblem Awakening Tactical role-playing Nintendo Nintendo 3DS [KH] Hotline Miami Top-down shooter Devolver Digital PC [KI] Journey Adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [KJ] The Walking Dead Adventure Telltale Games PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KK] XCOM: Enemy Unknown Turn-based strategy 2K Games PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KL] 2013 BioShock Infinite First-person shooter 2K Games PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [KM] Dota 2 MOBA Valve PC [KN] Grand Theft Auto V Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS3, Xbox 360 [KO] The Last of Us Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 [KP] Papers, Please Puzzle 3909 LLC PC, Mac [KQ] 2014 Alien: Isolation Survival horror Sega PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One [KR] Destiny First-person shooter Activision PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One [KS] Hearthstone Digital collectible card Blizzard Entertainment PC, Mac [KT] Mario Kart 8 Kart racing Nintendo Wii U [KU] Shovel Knight Platform Yacht Club Games Nintendo 3DS, PC, Wii U [KV] 2015 Bloodborne Action role-playing Sony Computer Entertainment PS4 [KW] Rocket League Sports Psyonix PC, PS4 [KX] Undertale Role-playing Toby Fox PC, Mac [KY] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Action role-playing CD Projekt PC, PS4, Xbox One [KZ] 2016 Dishonored 2 Stealth Bethesda Softworks PC, PS4, Xbox One [LA] Inside Puzzle-platformer Playdead Xbox One, PC [LB] Overwatch First-person shooter Blizzard Entertainment PC, PS4, Xbox One [LC] Persona 5 Role-playing Atlus PS3, PS4 [LD] Stardew Valley Farm life simulation Chucklefish PC [LE] Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Action-adventure Sony Computer Entertainment PS4 [LF] 2017 Fortnite Third-person shooter Epic Games PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One [LG] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Action-adventure Nintendo Nintendo Switch, Wii U [LH] Super Mario Odyssey Platform Nintendo Nintendo Switch [LI] 2018 God of War Action-adventure Sony Interactive Entertainment PS4 [LJ] Red Dead Redemption 2 Action-adventure Rockstar Games PS4, Xbox One [LK] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighting Nintendo Nintendo Switch [LL] 2019 Disco Elysium Role-playing ZA/UM PC [LM] 2020 Hades Action role-playing Supergiant Games PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch [LN] 2022 Elden Ring Action role-playing Bandai Namco PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S [LO] Publications The reference numbers in the notes section show which of the 51 selected publications list the game. 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die – 2013[2] The Age – 2005[70] Collider – 2020[25] Digital Trends – 2023[52] Digitally Downloaded – 2016[36] Electric Playground Network – 2013[72] Edge – 2000,[39] 2009,[59] 2015,[91] 2017[48] Electronic Fun with Computers & Games - 1984[43] Empire – 2009[63] Entertainment Weekly – 2003[40] Esquire – 2018,[75] 2020[76] FHM – 2010[34] Flux – 1995[10] G4 – 2012[16] GamesMaster - 1994,[9] 1996[42] Gamecenter - 2000[12] Game Informer – 2009,[20] 2018[24] Game On! From Pong to Oblivion – 2006[15] GameSpot – 2000,[13] 2007[1] GameSpy – 2001[27] Gamereactor – 2011,[71] 2017,[73] 2022[77] GamesRadar+ – 2011,[56] 2012,[57] 2013,[83] 2014,[84] 2015,[58] 2021[38] GamesTM – 2010,[31] 2015,[35] 2018[5] Gameswelt – 2012,[17] 2016[81] GamingBolt – 2013,[18] 2022,[89] 2023,[88] 2024[90] GQ – 2013,[49] 2023[68] The Greatest Games – 1985[26] Hardcore Gaming 101 – 2015,[55] 2020[61] Hyper – 1995,[11] 1997,[62] 1999[46] IGN – 2003,[41] 2005,[60] 2007,[32] 2015,[28] 2018,[6] 2019,[53] 2021[54] The Independent – 1999[85] The Irish Times – 2013[33] Jeuxvideo.com – 2011,[64] 2017[67] Mashable – 2020[87] Next Generation – 1996,[21] 1999[22] Parade - 2023[50] Polygon – 2017[7] Popular Mechanics – 2014,[29] 2019[8] Power Unlimited – 2015[37] PPE – 2021[86] Screen Rant - 2024[69] Slant Magazine – 2014,[65] 2018,[44] 2020[45] Stuff – 2008,[19] 2014,[66] 2017[74] Super GamePower - 2001[82] Sydney Morning Herald – 2002[14] The Times - 2023[51] Time – 2012,[4] 2016[3] Total Games Network - 1999[47] USA Today / Sports Illustrated - 2022,[78] 2023,[79] 2024[80] TheWrap – 2017[30] Yahoo! – 2005[23] See also List of video game soundtracks considered the best List of video games notable for negative reception List of Game of the Year awards List of best-selling video games Notes The reference numbers show which publications include the game. "PC" includes Microsoft's line of MS-DOS and Windows operating systems The Oregon Trail: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Pong: [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][4][2][3][23][7][24][5][25] Combat: [10][11][12][2][7][24] Zork: [26][12][27][14][20][28][29][4][3][2][30][7][24][8] Space Invaders: [26][10][11][12][14][15][16][31][32][33][29][23][4][21][34][3][2][35][36][7][24][5][37][25][38] Asteroids: [10][11][12][39][15][16][20][21][22][40][4][2][23][7][24][8] Adventure: [10][11][41][20][4][7][24] Battlezone: [42][40][41][4][2][7] Missile Command: [43][26][10][12][40][23][2][7][24][44][45] Pac-Man: [26][10][11][46][47][12][39][13][14][15][1][18][19][20][33][31][23][17][4][2][34][35][36][48][24][49][25][38][50][51][52] Centipede: [43][26][10][21][40][4][2][24] Defender: [26][9][10][11][42][21][46][47][22][12][39][40][1][2][4][23][7][24] Donkey Kong: [26][10][12][40][16][17][18][31][29][23][4][21][34][35][3][2][28][7][24][5][6][49][8][53][54] Frogger: [26][40][23][4][2][7][24] Galaga: [10][46][39][40][20][41][4][3][2][28][7][24][5][6][44][45] Tempest: [10][21][40][4][2][29] Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord: [43][26][27][4][36][24][7] Joust: [10][40][55][21][4][2][7] Ms. Pac-Man: [43][26][40][16][18][20][56][57][41][32][29][58][21][3][2][28][7][6][8][53][45][54] Pitfall!: [43][10][12][40][16][18][41][1][17][4][34][24][49][8] Robotron: 2084: [26][10][42][47][39][40][59][20][24][31][5][21][22][2][7] Archon: The Light and the Dark: [43][26][41][60][1][32][17][2][7] Lode Runner: [26][11][1][20][24][4][2][61] M.U.L.E.: [26][12][27][40][1][4][2][7] Star Wars: [10][21][22][12][41][60][32][16][2][7] Elite: [9][42][62][46][47][39][13][14][15][19][63][31][2][23][35][21][34][22][7][5] Marble Madness: [10][11][39][13][1][20][21][2][7][24] Gauntlet: [10][11][42][12][63][40][34][16][31][41][29][20][7][2][36][24][8] Ghosts 'n Goblins: [62][46][41][64][16][2][29][49] Super Mario Bros.: [10][12][15][16][33][18][20][41][60][32][64][65][4][3][2][66][28][67][7][24][5][6][53][25][54][68][69] Tetris: [9][10][11][42][46][12][39][13][27][14][70][15][59][63][40][16][20][31][56][71][64][57][17] [33][41][60][32][1][19][29][65][23][58][4][21][34][22][3][2][72][35][73][67][74][36] [7][75][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][76][45][25][38][54][77][78][79][50][51][52][68][69][80] Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar: [12][27][40][4][7][24] Arkanoid: [47][20][34][2][7][24][5] Bubble Bobble: [42][47][39][31][56][55][19][2][23][24][5] The Legend of Zelda: [10][12][27][16][20][32][1][64][4][3][2][28][67][7][24][6] Out Run: [16][21][47][39][15][19][4][2][23][49] Contra: [40][16][18][20][41][32][1][4][28][73][24][6][53][25] Double Dragon: [11][1][63][16][18][20][23][36][7][24][5][8] Dungeon Master: [42][13][19][63][2][29][67][8] Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!: [40][16][20][41][32][1][71][29][23][4][72][28][55][73][7][24][8][80] R-Type: [11][39][40][19][34][31][2][21][23][49][35] Sid Meier's Pirates!: [41][60][32][19][64][17][2][55][28][81] Mega Man 2: [82][16][20][56][71][57][83][84][32][1][29][58][35][28][36][73][67][72][7][24][5][44][49][8][45][78][79] Ninja Gaiden: [20][16][55][7][24][37][44][45] Super Mario Bros. 3: [42][70][16][18][20][60][32][1][19][59][56][64][57][83] [29][58][2][34][28][36][73][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][8][53][45][38][54][78][52][68][80] Final Fight: [46][85][82][20][71][2][49] Populous: [22][23][2][67][5][7] Prince of Persia: [9][10][40][18][55][41][32][60][4][2][36][7] SimCity: [9][11][12][13][27][14][40][19][20][41][1][23][2][5][7][45][38][51] The Secret of Monkey Island: [9][85][39][59][63][64][57][83][84][66][33][34][58][2][18][74][28][81][75][5][7][49][79][68] Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe: [9][11][39][13][63][23][19][34][2][5] Super Mario World: [9][42][47][39][13][82][63][20][31][41][32][1][19][59][64][71][29][65][23][2][84] [58][34][35][28][81][48][73][74][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][76][45][54][77][79][50][68][69] Wing Commander: [10][42][12][27][14][40][4][7] Another World: [9][10][63][31][64][55][67][2][5][7][86] Civilization: [11][46][27][14][1][19][63][20][17][4][2][33][64] Final Fantasy IV: [82][41][60][32][1][20][64][2] The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: [9][42][39][27][82][59][63][40][16][18][20][31][41][60][32][19][56][71][64][81][2][72][57][83][84][29][65] [23][58][34][35][28][48][73][74][7][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][45][38][54][77][68][80] Lemmings: [9][21][62][46][39][13][14][19][59][63][40][34][20][31][71][2][35][55][23][67][5][7][49] Micro Machines: [9][21][23][19][17][2][37] Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge: [9][42][40][19][31][64][71][2][35][55][28][23][81][67][7][6][53][54] Sonic the Hedgehog: [10][42][85][47][12][39][82][19][63][40][16][20][31] [64][71][17][2][72][41][60][32][29][36][4][34][35][74][7][24][5][49][8] Street Fighter II: [9][10][42][46][85][47][39][13][27][82][14][15][63][40][16][17][18][20][41][60][32] [1][19][71][29][65][23][4][72][21][34][22][66][28][36][67][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][76][45][25][38][54][77][50][68][69][80] Super Castlevania IV: [42][23][63][20][17][2][81][7] Alone in the Dark: [9][13][41][60][32][19][63][17][2][7] Contra III: The Alien Wars: [9][39][71][56][57][2][81][5][7][49] Dune II: [11][42][13][41][60][32][4][64][2][7] Flashback: [9][10][11][42][19][17][2][67][7] Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: [11][13][2][37][36][81][7] Mortal Kombat: [10][42][85][16][4][3][2][34][7][49][25][80] Sensible Soccer: [9][11][85][39][63][17][7] Sonic the Hedgehog 2: [18][20][23][83][84][58][73][67][2][7][24][37][25][52] Star Control II: [22][27][14][41][60][1][55] Streets of Rage 2: [11][19][55][7][5][44][45][78][79] Super Mario Kart: [9][11][42][85][47][39][70][19][63][16][20][31][33][41][60][32][1][56][71][64][29][23][21] [34][22][3][2][72][35][81][67][66][74][7][24][5][44][37][49][8][45][25][38][68] Ultima VII: The Black Gate: [42][41][60][32][2][55][7][24] Virtua Racing: [9][10][11][42][21][23][2][7] Wolfenstein 3D: [9][10][11][16][18][20][41][32][3][7][24] Day of the Tentacle: [42][63][56][57][16][58][20][31][64][2][55][60][32][1][36][81][7][24][5][37][8] Doom: [9][10][42][62][46][85][12][13][27][82][14][63][40][18][20][31][17][41][60][32][1][19][66][64][71][29][23][3][2][72][35] [73][67][74][36][55][7][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][45][25][38][54][77][51][52][68][69] Gunstar Heroes: [9][41][60][20][2][55][7][5] The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: [9][20][32][64][2][34][55][7][24][78] Mega Man X: [20][18][55][37][81][7][24] Mortal Kombat II: [9][11][42][40][1][20][71][29][23][7][37][8] Myst: [9][10][11][12][14][64][16][29][65][4][3][2][73][67][7][24][8][45] NBA Jam: [9][10][11][39][16][74][41][19][29][17][4][2][23][7][24][5][8][25] Phantasy Star IV: [32][71][65][55][7][24][44][45] Ridge Racer: [42][23][15][20][71][2][24] Sam & Max Hit the Road: [9][11][46][70][34][41][60][32][59][64][2][21][22][7] Secret of Mana: [9][10][11][39][40][18][31][56] [17][57][83][84][41][60][32][64][2][29][58][35][81][73][67][7][24][8] Samurai Shodown: [9][10][11][40][20][7] SimCity 2000: [42][39][70][63][34][31][71][57][60][32][41][28][21][29][4][3][2][35][36][30][73][7][24][6][49][8][53][54] Star Fox: [9][11][20][41][32][19][31][17][72][35][37] Syndicate: [9][11][42][21][39][60][32][31][64][71][2][35] Daytona USA: [11][42][62][39][82][59][63][40][23][21][7] Donkey Kong Country: [10][11][42][63][56][71][64][57][29][65][34][67][72][7][24][8] Doom II: [39][70][16][59][20][24][56][57][2][7] EarthBound: [18][20][56][57][65][58][28][36][48][73][55][7][24][5][6][44][37][53][45][54][79][52] Final Fantasy VI: [10][27][59][20][41][60][32][56][64][57][83][84][29][65][58][81][3][2][28][36] [55][73][7][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][45][54][77][52][68] Sega Rally Championship: [42][21][62][22][39][19][34][71][56][57][83][2] Sensible World of Soccer: [42][47][23][1][34][31][19][74][2][35] Star Wars: TIE Fighter: [42][70][63][16][18][71][2][41][60][32][1][29][21][34][22][36][55][30][7][6] Super Metroid: [9][10][39][27][82][14][59][63][40][16][20][31][56][57][17][83][84][41][60][32][19][64] [71][2][72][29][65][23][58][34][35][28][81][48][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][45][38][54][77][79][68][69] Tempest 2000: [9][42][47][39][23][20][2][7] Theme Park: [9][11][85][1][34][2] Virtua Fighter 2: [42][21][12][39][41][19][7] X-COM: UFO Defense: [11][42][12][27][14][40][1][18][59][20][71][55][41][60][32][28][21][22][2][29][6][37][49][53] Chrono Trigger: [82][63][40][16][18][59][20][41][60][32][1][56][71][64][57][83][84][29][65][58] [4][2][35][28][36][81][73][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][45][87][25][54][77][79][52][68] Command & Conquer: [42][21][62][27][14][15][63][19][20][17][2][7] MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat: [21][40][41][60][32][28][1][19][2] Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness: [42][12][27][14][1][18][20][41][32][28][21][2][7][6] Wipeout: [42][39][74][23][34][7][31][19][17][2][35][87] Worms: [42][85][47][19][34][31][2][35][5] Yoshi's Island: [42][18][59][20][31][56][57][83][84][41][60][32][65][58][2][35][28][36][55][7][24][6][44][53][45][54] Civilization II: [42][85][12][39][27][70][40][15][16][18][41][60][32][29][67][74][2][7][8] Command & Conquer: Red Alert: [40][34][20][31][71][2][41][60][32][35][7][37][5][77] Duke Nukem 3D: [42][21][12][13][27][14][40][34][64][71][17][67][2][24][37] Mario Kart 64: [62][40][17][2][18][36][81][7] Nights into Dreams...: [21][62][85][39][32][31][71][2][55][7][77] PaRappa the Rapper: [22][70][31][71][2][35][7] Pokémon Red and Blue:[39][16][59][20][71][41][32][17][29][65][23][34][81][3][28][36][73][74][7][24][5][6][8][53][76][25][51][68][69][80] Quake: [62][85][12][27][1][63][34][33][18][21][4][3][2][7][49] Resident Evil: [42][39][13][63][40][16][31][32][23][4][21][33][35][67][2][7][24][5][25] Super Mario 64: [62][85][39][27][14][70][15][59][63][40][16][18][20][31][41][60][32][19][56][71][64][57][29][65] [23][58][4][21][34][3][2][72][35][28][36][81][48][74][67][7][75][24][5][6][44][8][53][45][25][38][54][77][78][79][52][68][80] Tomb Raider: [62][85][47][39][82][14][70][15][19][63][40][20][31][56][71][64][17][57][2][72][35][23][81][74][7][24][5][49][8][25][86][77] Wave Race 64: [85][22][39][40][41][60][32][23][17][2][72] Wipeout 2097: [21][85][14][70][1][63][2][5][77] Age of Empires: [85][27][20][17][18][2][7] Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: [39][27][82][40][59][16][18][20][31][41][60][32][1][56][71][64][57][83][84][29][65] [58][2][72][35][28][36][73][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][45][38][54][77][78][79][68] Diablo: [62][46][12][13][27][14][1][23][19][20][67][2][7][24] Fallout: [18][20][60][32][1][67][2][7][24][5] Final Fantasy Tactics: [39][20][56][57][83][84][32][1][58][4][2][28][36][55][7][24][5][6][44][45] Final Fantasy VII: [85][39][82][14][70][15][63][40][16][18][59][20][31][60][32][1] [19][64][71][17][29][65][23][4][2][34][35][81][3][28][73][74][7][67][75][24][5][6][44][49][8][53][45][38][54][86][77][78][79][68][69] GoldenEye 007: [46][85][47][39][13][27][14][70][15][63][40][16][20][31][41][60][32][19][64][71][17][66] [29][65][23][34][22][3][2][72][35][36][81][73][67][74][7][75][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][45][25][54][77][78][79][68][69][80] Gran Turismo: [46][85][47][39][13][82][14][1][63][40][20][71][2][35][22][7][37][77] Grand Theft Auto: [85][39][13][18][2][37] Quake II: [39][27][40][59][20][60][32][22][23][2] Star Fox 64: [39][59][16][18][20][71][2][83][84][29][65][34][7][44][8][45][80] Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II: [40][20][64][2][83][84][18][22][55] Tekken 3: [85][47][39][58][33][2][18][55][29][73][7][24][37][8] Total Annihilation: [85][22][39][13][27][1][32][2][55] Ultima Online: [39][27][4][23][16][2][7][24][5] Baldur's Gate: [46][13][27][14][41][64][36][81][37] Crash Bandicoot: Warped: [85][13][40][20][24][72][55][73] Dance Dance Revolution: [40][15][65][23][2][7][24] Fallout 2: [56][71][57][83][84][28][55][81][67][7][6][44][49][8][53][45][54] Grim Fandango: [12][13][70][63][18][60][32][1][56][71][64][57][83][84][29][65][58][4][2][55][73][67][7][24][6][44][49][8][45] Half-Life: [46][85][12][39][13][27][14][15][63][40][16][18][41][60][32][1][56][71][64][23][81][73][7][67][2][36][24][6][44][37][53][54][77][68] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: [85][39][27][82][14][70][15][63][16][18][59][20][31][41][60][32][1][19][71][64][29] [66][65][23][34][3][2][35][28][48][67][74][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][76][45][25][54][77][78][79][52][68][69][80] Metal Gear Solid: [46][85][47][39][13][27][82][14][70][15][63][40][17][16][33][18][20][31][56][57] [2][72][41][60][32][29][23][58][4][35][28][81][67][36][74][7][75][24][5][6][37][8][53][25][38][54][86][78][79][68][69] Panzer Dragoon Saga: [40][16][41][60][32][64][2][22][55][24] Resident Evil 2: [47][12][82][63][18][49][71][29][20][41][28][2][73][7][8][77] Soulcalibur:[39][13][40][56][72][71][18][20][41][60][65][23][7][24][6][53] StarCraft: [47][39][27][14][59][63][16][18][20][31][41][60][32][64][71][17][2][29][4][34][35][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][8][53][45][54][77] Suikoden II: [28][6][53][24][57][36][55][7][78][79] Thief: The Dark Project: [27][14][34][1][17][18][20][4][2][72][67][7][24][5][68] Age of Empires II: [27][14][70][63][71][40][55][60][67][2][66][73][74][7][24][77][78][79][68] EverQuest: [13][27][14][40][1][20][4][2][23][7] Homeworld: [13][63][40][20][55][41][60][2][72][7][24][37] Planescape: Torment: [27][59][63][18][20][83][84][55][32][1][81][67][2][7][24][5][44][45] Pokémon Gold and Silver:[20][65][36][67][7][37][68] Quake III: Arena: [19][56][71][57][16][58][81][67][2][7][24][5][77] Shenmue: [19][63][56][71][64][17][65][23][34][67][2][35][7][37][5][49][68] Silent Hill: [63][55][65][4][2][7] System Shock 2: [27][32][1][71][17][29][58][4][28][55][67][2][7][24][5][6][53][54] Unreal Tournament: [16][63][64][71][17][72][58][67][7] Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn: [27][16][18][20][71][60][1][55][23][67][2][24][6][53][77] Counter-Strike: [27][14][70][63][56][57][17][83][66][16][18][20][41][60][1][58][4][34][81][3][30][73][67][7][24][5][6][37][53][54] Deus Ex: [27][14][70][59][63][40][20][31][56][71][64][57][17][23][72][66][58][4][35][81][67][74][55][7][24][5][6][37][49][53][78][79][68] Diablo II: [63][40][16][18][20][31][56][71][17][57][83][84][23][58][4][3][81][73][2][72][35][55][67][7][24][5][6][37][49][8][53][54][77][52] Jet Set Radio: [19][65][34][31][2][72][55][7][44][45] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: [59][20][32][65][2][36][81][48][55][7][24][5][6][44][37][45][87][68] Perfect Dark: [32][34][2][72][55][28][88] Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes: [20][2][65][7][24][5][78] The Sims: [15][1][19][63][40][34][16][17][20][74][36][4][3][2][23][7][6][53][25][68][80] Thief II: The Metal Age: [41][60][32][59][63][64][71][2][28][55][58][6][37][53][54][78][79] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: [70][20][41][60][32][28][67][2][72][74][75][5][7][37][53][25][54][79][88][52][68] Vagrant Story: [20][64][2][65][35][7] Advance Wars: [31][41][60][32][59][56][71][64][2][72][57][83][84][58][34][28][48][24][5][49] Animal Crossing: [70][40][4][2][36][7][24][5][44][45] Devil May Cry: [40][63][20][71][2][72][7] Final Fantasy X: [20][41][60][2][56][57][83][84][29][36][65][58][7][24][68] Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec: [41][60][32][19][56][57][29][3][2][28][74][7][24][8][89][88] Grand Theft Auto III: [40][15][16][20][41][60][32][1][23][71][3][2][72][35][33][7][24][5][44][25][77][68][80] Halo: Combat Evolved: [14][15][63][40][16][31][41][60][32][19][71][17][2][72][65] [23][34][35][3][67][74][7][24][5][6][49][8][53][38][54][77][50][51][68] Ico: [70][15][59][63][16][20][60][32][19][56][71][64][57][17][72][65][58][4][28][48][73][74][7][24][5][44][37][45][68] Ikaruga: [57][58][20][55][67][2][35][7][49][45] Max Payne: [40][17][58][20][65][73][67][2][35][81][7][44][37][45] Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: [19][63][20][32][64][2][65][7][24][6][89][50][88][90] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: [20][2][65][58][5][7][78][79] Rez: [15][59][57][91][48][31][56][2][65][4][7][37][5][49][68] Silent Hill 2: [63][40][16][18][59][20][32][56][71][64][57][17][83][84] [2][29][65][58][35][28][73][67][74][7][24][5][6][44][49][8][53][45][54][86][77][89][78][79][88][52][68][69] Super Smash Bros. Melee: [16][20][41][56][57][29][65][2][58][28][36][73][67][74][55][7][24][6][44][8][45][78][79] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3: [14][15][71][56][57][83][84][58][73][7][24][80] Battlefield 1942: [40][41][60][15][32][20][17][2][28][81][7][75][24][6][53] The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: [20][64][67][36][81][55][2][7][24][5][37][78][68] Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem: [63][20][72][2][65][36][5] Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: [70][59][20][2][65][28][81][73][74][7][24][6][37][75][49][53][87] Kingdom Hearts: [20][56][16][7][2][37][36][73][8] The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: [70][18][59][20][56][64][57][83][84][65][2][23][58][28][48][67][7][5][6][44][45][68] Metroid Prime: [70][63][18][20][31][71][41][60][32][65][2][72][83][84] [58][4][35][28][36][81][48][67][74][55][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][53][45][87][54][77][50][88][52][68] Soulcalibur II: [15][31][57][29][36][55][67][2][7][8] Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: [40][34][64][4][2][72] Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos: [20][24][5][56][57][17][83][84][2][36][81][73][67][7][78] Beyond Good & Evil: [20][31][56][64][57][67][2][72][35][36][65][73][44][37][45] F-Zero GX: [15][59][64][56][57][2][58][91][48][5] Max Payne 2: [55][30][71][2][83][84][7][77][78][79] Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: [70][16][18][59][20][31][56] [57][83][84][60][32][2][72][29][36][65][58][35][81][48][73][7][24][5][49][8] Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: [18][32][23][56][71][57][17][83][84] [58][81][73][67][2][72][35][36][7][24][5][6][37][8][53][54][77][50][68] WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!: [15][59][91][31][23][7][2][24][44][45] Burnout 3: Takedown: [55][20][31][56][17][72][60][32][35][28][74][7][24][5][6][53][54][89][88] The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay: [20][71][2][30][24][5][7][77] Dragon Quest VIII: [64][56][57][83][84][2][65][24][7] Gran Turismo 4: [70][23][15][34][31][64] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: [70][59][56][57][18][20][31][30][67][2][7][24][6][44][37][53][45][54][86][51] Half-Life 2: [70][59][63][20][31][56][71][57][83][84][60][32][19][33][29] [65][58][4][2][72][34][35][81][3][66][74][55][30][73][7][24][5][6][44][49][8][53][45][38][54][77][89][79][88][52][68][90] Halo 2: [70][20][2][28][7][37][73][24][6][53][25][54] Katamari Damacy: [56][57][4][2][65][58][91][48][7][24][5][44][45][25] Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: [59][56][71][64][57][83][84][29][65][58][35][28][55][81][73][67][2][7][24][5][6][37][49][8][53][45][54][77][52][68] Rome: Total War: [70][63][71][60][32][19][2][55][37][5] The Sims 2: [70][59][2][58][24][5][37][68] World of Warcraft: [70][15][16][31][32][19][59][56][71][64][17][57][83][84] [29][23][58][3][2][72][35][81][73][67][7][24][5][6][37][49][8][53][76][87][25][54][78][79][52][68][69][80] Call of Duty 2: [15][20][2][18][3][73][7] Civilization IV: [59][91][48][20][56][55][28][3][2][7][24][5][6][49][53][54][78][79] Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening: [18][31][65][2][35][28][73][7][24][5][37][78][79] God of War: [19][63][56][71][2][72][57][18][59][20][60][32][29][7][24][37] Guitar Hero: [15][19][63][16][20][34][17][3][4][2][7][24] Psychonauts: [56][57][83][84][2][16][65][55][7][44][49][45] Resident Evil 4: [70][15][63][16][18][59][20][31][60][32][19][56][71][64][57][83][84][29][65][58] [34][81][3][2][72][35][28][48][73][67][74][55][7][24][5][6][44][37][49][8][53][45][38][54][77][78][79][50][52][68][69] Shadow of the Colossus: [63][16][18][59][20][31][32][56][64][17][2][72][57][83][84][29][65][58][4][34][35][28] [36][81][48][73][55][67][7][24][5][6][44][49][8][53][45][38][54][89][78][79][52][68] Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory: [70][18][59][20][2][55][5][7][37][53][54][89][78][79][88] Company of Heroes: [59][63][71][2][72][55][24][5][7] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: [15][59][63][56][64][71][2][34][18][20][31][4][73][5][7][24][68] Gears of War: [63][71][2][72][18][34][4][20][35][81][5][7][88] Hitman: Blood Money: [58][2][55][73][67][7][44][37][5] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: [59][63][20][34][56][57][2][73] Ōkami: [19][63][20][31][56][32][64][57][83][84][65][58][4][2][34][35][81][48][73][55][67][5][44][49][45][68] Wii Sports: [19][34][16][4][2][72][29][73][7][24][8][76][78][79][50][52] BioShock: [19][59][63][56][71][57][83][84][16][18][31][29][65][58][4][34][3][2][72][35][81][73] [67][74][7][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][45][38][54][77][79][51][68][69] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: [19][16][59][20][31][56][71][17][57][83][84][29][65] [4][67][2][72][35][73][74][7][24][5][6][37][49][8][53][38][54][78][79][52][68] God of War II: [18][31][20][64][2][34][35][81][67][7] Halo 3: [59][56][57][2][33][48][91][63][16][65][7][44][45][77][89][52][68][69] Mass Effect: [19][20][64][2][28][6][53][7][68] Peggle: [59][20][33][2][7][24][5] Portal: [59][63][16][20][31][56][64][57][83][84][66][65][58][4] [2][72][34][35][73][7][75][24][5][6][44][37][53][45][38][54][79][68] Rock Band: [4][2][33][28][36][7][49][5][6][53][25] Super Mario Galaxy: [19][59][63][34][20][56][71][2][72][35][28][73][7][5][6][37][68] Team Fortress 2: [59][34][2][56][57][83][84][58][20][28][29][7][24][5][6][49] The World Ends with You: [2][65][55][24][5][7] Braid: [59][56][71][57][83][84][91][16][58][18][20][29][3][4][2][65][7][24][5][44][49][45] Burnout Paradise: [59][57][83][2][30][7][37][49] Dead Space: [17][16][29][65][58][4][2][81][48][73][67][7][24][8] Fable II: [59][2][58][7][24][5][53][54][68] Fallout 3: [59][16][31][29][65][58][34][3][2][72][66][35][81][73][74][55][7][24][5][6][37][77][78][79][68] Gears of War 2: [59][31][2][33][56][57][83][84][81][73][24][49] Grand Theft Auto IV: [59][31][56][71][64][57][83][29][65][58][2][81][7][24][5][68] Left 4 Dead: [59][63][16][20][58][2][35][7][24][5] LittleBigPlanet: [59][63][34][31][20][2][72][35][7] Persona 4: [83][84][29][58][4][2][28][36][48][73][55][7][24][5][6][37][8][38] Rock Band 2: [59][20][31][56][71][2][35][24][7] Spelunky: [2][91][35][48][28][58][7][24][5][6][44][37][53][45][68] Street Fighter IV: [59][16][56][71][2][57][83][84][33][58][91][48][7] Super Smash Bros. Brawl: [59][63][31][2][83][84][35][7] Valkyria Chronicles: [55][7][31][2][64][36][73][24] Angry Birds: [16][4][3][72][33][24][7] Assassin's Creed II: [56][57][83][2][16][18][29][67][7][24][5][8] Batman: Arkham Asylum: [58][18][20][56][71][64][2][72][28][7][24][5][44][45][25][38][52] Bayonetta: [31][56][83][84][65][35][44][24][5][49][2][72][45] Borderlands: [20][2][72][73][7][5] Demon's Souls: [64][4][2][91][48][5][7] Dragon Age: Origins: [64][18][83][84][2][36][81][24][7][78][79][68] League of Legends: [57][83][84][91][48][28][24][5][6][7][53][54][78][79][69] Left 4 Dead 2: [56][57][83][84][2][29][91][7][67][44][49][8][53][45][54][52][68] Plants vs. Zombies: [58][17][2][33][7][24] Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: [31][56][71][17][2][72][57][83][84][33][29][65][58][35][67][74][30][36][81][73] [7][24][5][6][37][49][8][53][38][54][78][79][51][88][52][68][90] Civilization V: [57][72][83][84][58][81][7][37][51][52][68] God of War III: [16][65][73][67][24][5] Heavy Rain: [31][17][2][33][29][58][35][36][73][5] Limbo: [17][2][72][57][83][84][91][33][29][58][48][73][7][24][37] Mass Effect 2: [31][56][71][57][83][84][33][29][65][58][35][81][67][66][74][2][36][73][7][24][5][6] [44][37][49][8][53][45][38][54][86][77][89][78][79][50][88][52][68][80][90] Red Dead Redemption: [56][64][57][17][83][84][33][29][65][58][3][2][72][66][35][81][74][55][30][73][67][7][24][5][44][6][37][49][53][45][54][51] Rock Band 3: [72][91][48][16][58][29][65][44][45] StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty: [56][64][57][83][84][3][58][91][48][7][24][78][79] Super Mario Galaxy 2: [57][83][84][58][2][28][48][74][55][7][24][44][49][45][88] Super Meat Boy: [57][83][84][91][35][81][48][55][29][7][24][5][49][87] Xenoblade Chronicles: [91][58][55][81][48][73][44][45][78][79] Batman: Arkham City: [57][17][83][84][16][18][29][65][35][81][67][7][75][24][6][37][49][8][53][61][54][89][88] Dark Souls: [29][2][83][84][58][35][28][48][73][67][7][24][6][44][37][49][8][53][45][38][54][78][79][52][68][90][69] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: [57][83][84][2][72][33] [29][58][35][81][73][67][74][7][24][6][49][8][53][38][54][89][78][79][51][52][68][90][69] Minecraft: [56][64][57][83][84][33][16][29][58][35][28][91][3][2][72] [67][74][36][48][7][24][5][6][49][8][53][76][38][54][78][79][50][51][52][68][69] Portal 2: [71][57][18][33][29][65][58][3][2][81][67][74][55][30][7][24][5][6][44][49][8][76][45][54][89][52][68] Borderlands 2: [49][33][35][81][24][53][54] Dishonored: [18][33][91][48][67][2][72][7][24][44][49][53][45] Far Cry 3: [2][18][66][84][24][5][88] Fire Emblem Awakening: [29][84][58][91][7][24][8][79][52] Hotline Miami: [66][55][58][29][65][35][5][44][45][2][78][79] Journey: [2][57][83][84][66][33][29][65][58][35][28][36][48][73][7][24][5][6][44][49][8][53][45][38][54][77][78][79][51][88][68] The Walking Dead: [83][84][18][2][72][29][65][58][28][36][81][73][7][24][5][44] XCOM: Enemy Unknown: [2][83][84][91][81][48][24][5][7][79] BioShock Infinite: [2][33][73][24][5][44][49][68] Dota 2: [91][48][3][28][7][24][6][8][53][54] Grand Theft Auto V: [84][66][65][58][28][91][35][81][48][73][67][74][7][6][24][5][44][8][53][76][45][38][54][77][89][78][79][50][88][52][68][80][90] The Last of Us: [72][33][29][65][66][84][58][35][73][67][74][36][55][81][7][24][5][6][44][37][8][53][76][45][25][38][54][86][89][77][50][52][68][90][69] Papers, Please: [91][36][7][24][5][78][52] Alien: Isolation: [58][35][5][24][61][78][79][90] Destiny: [58][91][48][7][24][49][87][68] Hearthstone: [91][58][35][48][73][7][24][51] Mario Kart 8: [91][48][7][75][53][54][52][69] Shovel Knight: [55][81][7][24][5][76][79] Bloodborne: [91][35][81][48][55][74][67][7][24][5][6][49][8][53][38][54][86][89][78][79][68][90] Rocket League: [81][73][7][24][5][78][79] Undertale: [81][7][24][6][53][8][61][54][89][78][79][68] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: [91][35][81][48][74][55][30][7][73][67][24][5][6][44][49][53][45][87][38][54][86][77][89][78][79][50][88][52][68][80][90] Dishonored 2: [7][5][38][54][78][79][68] Inside: [48][73][74][7][24][5][6][44][53][38][54][68] Overwatch: [48][7][24][6][49][8][53][76][54] Persona 5: [24][6][53][54][89][78][79][68][69] Stardew Valley: [7][24][5][8][87][38][78][79][52][68][69] Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: [81][48][73][67][24][44][50] Fortnite: [49][53][8][38][54][78][79][52][68][80] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: [48][67][74][75][24][5][6][44][8][53][76][45][61][38][54][89][78][79][50][88][52][68][69][80] Super Mario Odyssey: [24][5][6][44][8][61][45][89][51][68][90] God of War: [8][53][45][86][38][54][89][77][78][79][68][69] Red Dead Redemption 2: [8][53][87][86][38][54][89][77][78][79][68][80][90][69] Super Smash Bros. 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