I, Videogame Level 2

1)    1) What kind of company was Nintendo before it made videogames and videogame consoles?

It was a toy company that produced everything from plastic toys, to playing cards apparently.

2) What videogame system did it sell before it made its FAMICOM (known in USA as Nintendo Entertainment System)?

The Magnavox Odyssey, one of the first videogame consoles in history.

3) Shigeru Miyamoto was not a programmer - what skill set did he bring to the industry?

He brought the skills of an artist and an aspiring storyteller.

4) How did the limits of the technology affect the way Mario could be shown?

 Miyamoto-san had to try and design a character that would fit on a small screen, with a really big nose, a mustache, a bright red hat with matching overalls that would allow the player to see Mario easily.

5) Why did US retailers think there was no future in home videogame consoles at the time just prior to the NES release in the USA?

US retailers felt and thought this because of the Great Videogame Crash a few years earlier.

6) What was assumed to be the the 'next big thing' by electronics manufacturers?

Games for personal computers and personal computers in general.

7) What did Legend of Zelda bring to gaming that was new?

It brought a deep story, a timeless form of it, the great added concept of exploration, as well as emotion.

8) How did the conservative values of the 1980s (Reagan & Thatcher etc) affect the culture of videogames?

It was now accepted to go out and buy videogames and videogame consoles.

9) How were the PC games published by Mystery House like King's Quest different from console games?

It was more about story, exploration, puzzles, and using your head more.

10) How did Sega's 16 big Megadrive (Genesis in America) system change home console gaming?

It brought not only more processing power that was double the NES, it also housed a plethora of more mature games, i.e. Sonic the Hedgehog.

11) How did "Leisure Suit Larry" differ from most genre based games of the period?

It was based off of modern/present day reality, with realistic characters, and even the main character, Larry Laford almost never got a break, though he was a loveable loser.

12) How is this aspect reflected in many games of today?

Many games of today are all more; realistic, more mature and real world concepts were explored in such games like Final Fantasy VII and Grand Theft Auto III.

13) What is 'motion capture'?

It’s the process of putting tracking points that’re tracked by a computer on a special suit, putting it on an actor or stunt performer, they act out what they’re requested, and the computer tracks, captures, and records these normal human actions and movements even just breathing, into code for a computer to understand and to be put into the form of a game.

14) What is the 'uncanny valley'?

It is the repulsive response that us humans have to a robot’s near and/or almost human-like, uncanny looks and appearances.

I, Videogame Level 1

1) Videogames emerged from the culture of the "Cold War" - what does Henry Jenkins from MIT compare the period to in terms of a famous board game?

He states that the Cold War was almost exactly like a global simulation of the famous board game, Battleship.

2) a) Who was the inventor of the first Video game according to the documentary?

William Higginbotham.

b) What was the name of the game?

Tennis for Two.

3) Steve Russell is credited with the first true computer-based videogame (in terms of its use with the 1961 PDP1 mainframe computer) with SPACEWAR! - what popular science fiction book series also influenced him?

“Doc” Smith’s Lensman series.

4) What innovation did Steve Russell's SPACEWAR! introduce in terms of input hardware?

Steve Russell introduced the joystick.

5) a) In the anti-war and counterculture period of the 1960s and 1970s, what new home entertainment system let consumers finally control what was being seen on the home television?

The Magnavox Odyssey.

b) b) Who was its inventor/developer?

Ralph Baer.

6) PONG emerged out of the counterculture spirit of the early 1970s - its natural home was what type of entertainment setting?

Bars, restaurants, and coffee shops.

7) Who does Nolan Bushnell say were generally best at playing the game?

He still says that women are better at playing games than men.

8) "Space Invaders" emerged in the late 1970s as the first game from Japan.
How did the TAITO production team intensify the emotion of the game using the four-note in-game music theme?

They sped up the tempo of those four notes as the ‘invaders’ would get closer and closer to you, the player to instill a sense and feeling of panic.  And it worked.

9) Steve Moulder reflects that the first arcade games tended to result in the player's defeat. This he argues in turn reflected the view held by many designers during that time that war itself is defeatist.

Has this view changed since that time? Do today's latest games still convey this sense? Why? Why not? (use your own words)

It is a very hard question to answer in that I think games do still convey that sense that war is defeatist, because war has not changed much and some even home console and handheld games are still resulting in millions if not billions of player’s defeats even as we speak worldwide.

10) Have you ever played any of the games shown in this the first episode of "I, Videogame"? What was your memory of playing it? Where were you, when was it?

TETRIS was the game.  I would play this game on the first generation Nintendo Game Boy non-stop on the bus rides to and from elementary school back in NYC in the late 90’s…before Pokémon came to the US.