Portal:Video games

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A video game 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. This feedback mostly commonly is shown on a video display device, such as a TV set, monitor, touchscreen, or virtual reality headset. Some computer games do not always depend on a graphics display, for example text adventure games and computer chess can be played through teletype printers. Video games are often augmented with audio feedback delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes with other types of feedback, including haptic technology.

Video games are defined based on their platform, which include arcade video games, console games, and personal computer (PC) games. More recently, the industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through smartphones and tablet computers, virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote cloud gaming. Video games are classified into a wide range of genres based on their type of gameplay and purpose. (Full article...)

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  The Ur-Quan are a fictional race of predatory alien caterpillars in the Star Control series of video games, created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. Introduced in 1990, the Ur-Quan are the primary antagonist of the first game, leading a galactic empire that seeks to enslave Earth. They reprise their role in Star Control II, which expands on their history as former slaves who since vowed to fiercely defend themselves. During the game, the Ur-Quan enter into a civil war over their ideology, giving Earth an opportunity to defeat them. In Star Control 3, which was developed by a different team, the Ur-Quan ally with Earth against a different antagonist and their role is scaled back. They appear once again in The Ur-Quan Masters, the 2002 open source remake of Star Control II.
  
  Reiche and Ford developed the Ur-Quan based on the concepts for unique spaceships in Star Control; their insectoid appearance was inspired by a National Geographic photo of a caterpillar. Their role in Star Control II has earned acclaim among the best game villains in history, praised for their menacing persona, as well as their surprising depth and humanity. The Ur-Quan have also influenced other game studios, inspiring concepts in games such as Mass Effect and Stellaris. (Full article...)
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  Final Fantasy X-2 is a 2003 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation 2. Unlike most Final Fantasy games, which use self-contained stories and characters, X-2 continues the story of Final Fantasy X (2001). The story follows Yuna as she searches for Tidus, the main character of the previous game, while trying to prevent political conflicts in Spira from escalating to war.
  
  Final Fantasy X-2 was the first game in the series to feature just three player characters and an all-female main cast. The battle system incorporates Final Fantasy character classes—one of the series' signature gameplay concepts—and is one of the few entries to have multiple endings. The soundtrack was created by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi in lieu of long-time Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. (Full article...)
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  Radical Dreamers is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the Chrono series, acting as a side story to the 1995 game Chrono Trigger. A version of the game is included with Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, which was released worldwide on April 7, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
  
  The game centers around an infiltration carried out by the titular thief gang led by Kid; aided by Serge and Magil, she seeks an artifact called the Frozen Flame and revenge on its keeper Lord Lynx. Players navigate the mansion's environments and impact the story's progression through text choices. Chrono Trigger writer Masato Kato both directed and wrote the main scenario. Due to his attitude at the time, the plot and tone were considerably darker than Chrono Trigger, though the additional scenarists wrote alternate scenarios with comedic tones. The music was scored by Yasunori Mitsuda, who had worked on Chrono Trigger. Production was completed in three months, and Kato was left unsatisfied with its quality. (Full article...)
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  Myst V: End of Ages is a 2005 adventure video game, the fifth installment in the Myst series. The game was developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft, and released for Macintosh and Windows PC platforms in September 2005. As in previous games in the series, End of Ages's gameplay consists of navigating worlds known as "Ages" via the use of special books and items which act as portals.
  
  In a departure from previous titles in the Myst series, End of Ages replaces pre-rendered environments with worlds rendered in real-time 3D graphics, allowing players to freely navigate the Ages. The faces of actors were digitally mapped onto three-dimensional character models to preserve realism. The game also includes multiple methods of navigation and an in-game camera. (Full article...)
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  Paper Mario is a video game series and part of the Mario franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems and produced by Nintendo. It combines elements from the role-playing, action-adventure, and puzzle genres. Players control a paper cutout version of Mario, sometimes with allies, on a quest to defeat the antagonist, primarily Bowser. The series consists of six games and one spin-off; the first, Paper Mario (2000), was released for the Nintendo 64, and the most recent, Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020), for the Nintendo Switch.
  
  The original Paper Mario began as a sequel to Super Mario RPG (1996), developed by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Changes in development resulted in the game becoming a standalone game. Although the early games in the series were well-received, Kensuke Tanabe wanted each one to have different genre and core gameplay elements. This led the series to slowly move genres from role-playing to action-adventure, though some role-playing elements are still present later in the series. (Full article...)
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  Logo since 1976

  
  Sega Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California, and London. Its division for the development of both arcade games and home video games, Sega Games, has existed in its current state since 2020; from 2015 to that point, the two had made up separate entities known as Sega Games and Sega Interactive Co., Ltd. Sega is a subsidiary of Sega Group Corporation, a part of Sega Sammy Holdings. From 1983 until 2001, Sega also developed video game consoles.
  
  Sega was founded by American businessmen Martin Bromley and Richard Stewart as Nihon Goraku Bussan on June 3, 1960; shortly after, the company acquired the assets of its predecessor, Service Games of Japan. Five years later, the company became known as Sega Enterprises, Ltd., after acquiring Rosen Enterprises, an importer of coin-operated games. Sega developed its first coin-operated game, Periscope, in 1966. Sega was sold to Gulf and Western Industries in 1969. Following a downturn in the arcade business in the early 1980s, Sega began to develop video game consoles, starting with the SG-1000 and Master System but struggled against competitors such as the Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1984, Sega executives David Rosen and Hayao Nakayama led a management buyout with backing from CSK Corporation. (Full article...)
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  The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II is a 2006 real-time strategy video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. Being second part of the Middle-Earth strategy game, it is based on the fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and its live-action film series adaptation. It is the sequel to Electronic Arts' 2004 title The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth. Along with the standard edition, a Collector's Edition of the game was released, containing bonus material and a documentary about the game's development.
  
  The story for The Battle for Middle-earth II is divided into Good and Evil Campaigns. The Good Campaign focuses on Glorfindel, an Elf who is alerted to a planned attack on the Elven sanctuary of Rivendell. With help from the Dwarves and other Good forces, the Elves attempt to eliminate Sauron and his army to restore peace in Middle-earth. In the Evil Campaign, Sauron sends the Mouth of Sauron and the Nazgûl to muster wild Goblins. With his army, Sauron moves forward with his plan to destroy the remaining Good forces in the North. The Windows version of the game was released in March 2006 and the Xbox 360 version was released in July 2006. (Full article...)
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  Wii Sports is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The 1.0 (pre-release) version of the game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and the 1.1 version was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month. Nintendo then changed to selling the 1.1 version in North America a couple months later. It was included as a pack-in game with the console in all territories except Japan, making it the first sports game included with the launch of a Nintendo system since Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy in 1995. Wii Sports is available on its own as part of the Nintendo Selects collection of games.
  
  The game is a collection of five sports simulations, designed to demonstrate the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote. The five sports included are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. Players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real-life sports, such as swinging a tennis racket. The rules for each game are simplified to make them more accessible to new players. The game also features training and fitness modes that monitor players' progress in the sports. (Full article...)
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  Ninja Gaiden, released in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden (Japanese: 忍者龍剣伝, literally "Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword") and as Shadow Warriors in Europe, is a hack-and-slash platform game. Tecmo developed and published it for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Its development and release coincided with the beat 'em up arcade version of the same name. It was released in December 1988 in Japan, in March 1989 in North America, and in August 1991 in Europe. It has been ported to several other platforms, including the PC Engine, the Super NES, and mobile phones.
  
  The story follows a ninja named Ryu Hayabusa as he journeys to America to avenge his murdered father. There, he learns that a person named "the Jaquio" plans to take control of the world by unleashing an ancient demon through the power contained in two statues. Featuring side-scrolling platform gameplay similar to Castlevania, players control Ryu through six "Acts" that comprise 20 levels; they encounter enemies that must be dispatched with Ryu's katana and other secondary weapons. (Full article...)
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  Journey is an indie adventure game co-developed by Thatgamecompany and Santa Monica Studio, published by Sony Computer Entertainment, and directed by Jenova Chen. It was released for the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network in March 2012 and ported to PlayStation 4 in July 2015. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows in June 2019 and iOS in August 2019.
  
  In Journey, the player controls a robed figure in a vast desert, traveling towards a mountain in the distance. Other players on the same journey can be discovered, and two players can meet and assist each other, but they cannot communicate via speech or text and cannot see each other's names until after the game's credits. The only form of communication between the two is a musical chime, which transforms dull pieces of cloth found throughout the levels into vibrant red, affecting the game world and allowing the player to progress through the levels. The developers sought to evoke in the player a sense of smallness and wonder and to forge an emotional connection between them and the anonymous players they meet along the way. The music, composed by Austin Wintory, dynamically responds to the player's actions, building a single theme to represent the game's emotional arc throughout the story. (Full article...)

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Mattel's Intellivision video game console was released in 1979.

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| discuss 4 articles Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate

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  Halo: Spartan Strike is a twin-stick shooter video game set in the military science fiction Halo universe. The successor to Halo: Spartan Assault, the game was developed by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games. It was released for iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone on April 16, 2015. During gameplay, players assume the role of human supersoldiers known as Spartans in a series of war games simulating historical events. Players use new weapons, armor abilities, and vehicles in a campaign mode of 30 missions.
  
  The developers incorporated feedback from Spartan Assault to improve Spartan Strike, improving the controls and mission variety. Originally slated for a late 2014 release, the technical problems with Halo: The Master Chief Collection pushed the release into 2015. Spartan Strike received mixed reviews on release. The game was generally considered an improvement over its predecessor, although its lack of multiplayer features was criticized. (Full article...)
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  Drakengard 2, known in Japan as Drag-On Dragoon 2: love red, ambivalence black, is an action role-playing video game developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix in Japan and Ubisoft in all other territories exclusively for the PlayStation 2. It is the second entry in the Drakengard series, set after the events of the original Drakengard: the story revolves around Nowe, a boy raised by the dragon Legna, fighting against a tyrannical faction of knights, encountering characters from the previous game and becoming entangled in the fate of the world.
  
  Like the original, Drakengard 2 combines on-foot hack and slash with aerial combat stages and RPG game mechanics. The previous game's producer, writer and character designer returned to their respective roles. The game was designed as a more mainstream game in light of the previous game's dark aesthetic and story. The game sold 206,000 copies by the end of 2005. Western reviews praised the story, but gave mixed opinions about the graphics and widely criticized the gameplay. A spin-off from the series, Nier, was released in 2010, while a third entry in the series, Drakengard 3, was released in December 2013 in Japan and May 2014 in North America and Europe. (Full article...)
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  Sonic Shuffle is a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed party game developed and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 2000. The game plays like a board game much in the same vein as Nintendo's Mario Party series, with up to four players moving their characters across a game board filled with a variety of spaces which can trigger different events. Some spaces will launch minigames that pit the players against each other in short competitive events.
  
  Sega contracted Hudson Soft, the developers of Mario Party, to assist with development. For the game's graphics, they used the same cel shading technique used in their earlier game Jet Set Radio (2000). An online multiplayer mode was planned, but it was pulled so the game could launch in time for the 2000 holiday season. Although critics praised the graphics, the game's excessive load times and poorly explained, overly complex minigames were found to be significantly detrimental to the overall experience. Critics classified Sonic Shuffle as an inferior clone of Mario Party. (Full article...)
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  Tank is an arcade game developed by Kee Games, a subsidiary of Atari, and released in November 1974. It was the only original title not based on an existing Atari property developed by Kee Games, which was founded to sell clones of Atari games to distributors as a fake competitor prior to the merger of the two companies. In the game, two players drive tanks through a maze viewed from above while attempting to shoot each other and avoid mines, represented by X marks, in a central minefield. Each player controls their tank with a pair of joysticks, moving them forwards and back to drive, reverse, and steer, and firing shells with a button to attempt to destroy the other tank. The destruction of a tank from a mine or shell earns the opposing player a point, and tanks reappear after being destroyed. The winner is the player with more points when time runs out, with each game typically one or two minutes long.
  
  Tank was designed by Steve Bristow, who had previously worked with the founders of Atari on Computer Space, the first arcade video game, and was developed by Lyle Rains. It was created as part of Bristow's vision to move the company away from only producing copies of Atari's games into also developing original titles. The game's cabinet was designed by Peter Takaichi. In September 1974, Atari announced a merger with Kee, which went into effect a month after the release of the game. The game was commercially successful, selling over 10,000 units and buoying Atari's then-troubled finances. It led to a cocktail cabinet release of the game and to four sequels: Tank II (1974), Tank III (1975), Tank 8 (1976), and Ultra Tank (1978). A dedicated console version of Tank II was announced in 1977 but cancelled later that year; the joysticks for the game, however, became the standard joystick controllers for the Atari 2600 (1977). Variations on the game were included in the Atari 2600 game Combat, as well as in the Coleco Telstar game Telstar Combat!, both in 1977. (Full article...)
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  Theme Hospital is a business simulation game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows compatible PCs in which players design and operate a privately owned hospital with the goal of curing patients of fictitious comical ailments. The game is the thematic successor to Theme Park, also produced by Bullfrog, and the second instalment in their Theme series, and part of their Designer Series. The game is noted for its humour, and contains numerous references to pop culture.
  
  Peter Molyneux and James Leach came up with the idea of creating a Theme game based on a hospital, but Molyneux was not directly involved in development due to his work on Dungeon Keeper. Designers originally planned to include four distinct gameplay modes corresponding to historical time periods, but this was dropped due to time pressures on the team. Multiplayer support with up to four players was added in a patch. The game received a generally positive reception, with reviewers praising the graphics and humour in particular. Theme Hospital was a commercial success, selling over 4 million copies worldwide, and was ported to the PlayStation in 1998. A Sega Saturn version was in development, but cancelled. The game was re-released on GOG.com in 2012 and Origin in 2015, and the PlayStation version was released on the PlayStation Network in Europe in 2008, Japan in 2009, and North America in 2010. Revival attempts have been made with the development of open-source remakes such as CorsixTH. (Full article...)
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  The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (commonly shortened to Captain Spirit) is a free graphic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It was released in June 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One as an introduction to Life Is Strange 2. The plot follows Chris Eriksen, a young boy who creates the superhero alter ego Captain Spirit to deal with the loss of his mother. The game received generally favourable reviews, praising the narrative, main character, and script, but criticising the game mechanics and aspects of the writing. (Full article...)
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  Agar.io is a massively multiplayer online action game created by Brazilian developer Matheus Valadares. Players control one or more circular cells in a map representing a Petri dish. The goal is to gain as much mass as possible by eating agar and cells smaller than the player's cell while avoiding larger ones which can eat the player's cells. Each player starts with one cell, but players can split a cell into two once it reaches a sufficient mass, allowing them to control multiple cells. The name comes from the substance agar, used to culture bacteria.
  
  The game was released to positive critical reception; critics particularly praised its simplicity, competition, and mechanics, while criticism targeted its repetitive gameplay. Largely due to word of mouth on social networks, it was a quick success, becoming one of the most popular browser and mobile games in its first year. A Steam version was announced on 3 May 2015 but was never released, while the mobile version of Agar.io for iOS and Android was released on 24 July 2015 by Miniclip. Agar.io has inspired similar web games called ".io games", including games with a similar objective but different characters, and games that incorporate elements of other genres like shooter games. (Full article...)
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  Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a 2012 visual novel adventure game developed by Spike Chunsoft. It is the second game in the Danganronpa franchise following Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010). It was first released in Japan for PlayStation Portable in July 2012, and a port for PlayStation Vita was released in Japan in October 2013. NIS America released the game worldwide in September 2014; a port for PC was released in April 2016 and a bundle for PlayStation 4 called Danganronpa 1-2 Reload, also containing the first Danganronpa game, was released in March 2017. An enhanced version with the subtitle Anniversary Edition was released for Android and iOS in August 2020, for Nintendo Switch in November 2021, and for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in May 2022.
  
  Development of the game started as Kazutaka Kodaka was writing the light novel prequel Danganronpa Zero and added hints about a sequel to the novel following their approval. Kodaka aimed to develop a unique plot to give players more mysterious elements in a group of islands, inspired by the television series Lost. The protagonist Hajime Hinata is part of a group of high-school students who are trapped on a tropical island by their high school's headmaster Monokuma, a sentient stuffed bear, along with Monomi, a sentient stuffed rabbit. Similar to the first game, to leave the island, students must kill one of their peers and not be caught in the subsequent investigation and trial. (Full article...)
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  Tec Toy S.A., trading as Tectoy since late 2007, is a Brazilian toy and electronics company headquartered in São Paulo. It is best known for producing, publishing, and distributing Sega consoles and video games in Brazil. The company was founded by Daniel Dazcal, Leo Kryss, and Abe Kryss in 1987 because Dazcal saw an opportunity to develop a market for electronic toys and video games, product categories that competitors did not sell in Brazil at the time. The company stock is traded on the Bovespa.
  
  Soon after its founding, Tectoy completed a licensing agreement with Sega allowing it to market a laser gun game based on the Japanese anime Zillion, which sold more units in Brazil than in Japan. Tectoy would later bring the Master System and Mega Drive to the region, as well as Sega's later video game consoles and the Sega Meganet service. Other products developed by Tectoy include educational toys such as the Pense Bem, karaoke machines, and original Master System and Mega Drive games released exclusively in Brazil, such as Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau and Portuguese translations and alternate versions of video games. Over its history, Tectoy has diversified to include more electronic products, such as DVD and Blu-ray players and the Zeebo console. While successful at times, the company has also undergone debt restructuring in 2000 and actions to consolidate its two public stock offerings into one. (Full article...)
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  "Hikari" (Japanese: 光, "light") is a song recorded by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada for their fourth studio and third Japanese language album, Deep River (2002). It premiered on March 20, 2002, as the third single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production and arrangement was handled by Utada, their father Teruzane Utada, and long-time collaborator Miyake Akira. The single, and a remix by Russell McNamara (under the alias PlanitB), was used as the official Japanese theme song for the 2002 action role-playing video game Kingdom Hearts, and appeared on its original soundtrack respectively. Musically, "Hikari" is a pop folk song. Lyrically, it is about mysteries in life and human activities.
  
  Upon its release, the track garnered positive reviews from music critics. Many critics highlighted the track as one of Utada's best singles, and commended their vocal abilities and songwriting. It was also successful in Japan, peaking at number one both on the Oricon Singles Chart and Tokyo Broadcasting System's (TBS) Count Down TV singles chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for physical shipments of 800,000 units. An accompanying music video was shot by their then-husband, Kazuaki Kiriya; it features Utada washing dishes and drinking water. It was performed on some of her concert tours, including the Utada United and Wild Life tour. (Full article...)

Did you know -

• ... that Ace of Aces was one of Accolade's best-selling Commodore 64 video games in 1987?
• ... that the name of Tekken character Lars Alexandersson was proposed to the development staff by an unknown woman from the Swedish embassy in Japan?
• ... that Ubisoft Annecy consulted professional skiers and extreme sports experts when creating Steep?"
• ... that the anti-hero of the Wii video game No More Heroes, Travis Touchdown, was named to "sound cool to a Japanese audience"?
• ... that players can fire teddy bears strapped to sticks of dynamite in Sunset Overdrive?

This month in gaming history

• August 1976: Fairchild Semiconductor released the Fairchild Channel F, the first programmable ROM cartridge video game system.
• August 1989: Nintendo released the Game Boy handheld game console in North America.
• August 1995: Square USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Square Company, Ltd., was established in Los Angeles, California.
• 1986-08-06: Nintendo released Metroid for the Famicom Disk System.
• 2003-08-14: Microsoft announced ATI as the developer of the graphics processing unit for their new console, the Xbox 360.
• 1996-08-31: Sega released NiGHTS into Dreams... for the Sega Saturn.

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