The first time we met Mario, he appeared in the game Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was Nintendo’s first big hit in North America. Back when the game was released, Mario was known as Jumpman, 35 years on there have been many huge games focused on Mario.

Donkey Kong was one of the earliest and the best examples of the platform game genre. Donkey Kong was also one of the first games to have a story to it. The story in the game was that Donkey Kong had kidnapped Lady and taken her to a construction site. It was Jumpman’s job to climb up the different platforms in the construction site and save her.

Donkey Kong was originally released as an arcade machine which was one of the best-selling arcade machines of all time. The game was later released onto Nintendo’s first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

Since Donkey Kong was released, the success has helped the game to become a massive pop-culture icon. The game even inspired a phrase, “It’s on like Donkey Kong” which has been commonly used by millions of people over the years.

Donkey Kong is the ninth highest-grossing video game of all time making over $1.5 billion without inflation which is equivalent to almost $4.5 billion as of 2016.

Donkey Kong made a huge impact for Nintendo as it gave them the character that would give them their biggest selling franchise, Mario. Donkey Kong is not only a big game in Nintendo’s history, it changed video gaming forever.

The post 1981 – Our First Glimpse of Mario first appeared on Get2Gaming.

In 1979 we saw the release of Asteroids which joined a list of games that were the major hits of the golden age of arcade games. Asteroids was a shooter game and had a space theme much like Space Invaders, which was released a year before Asteroids.

Although it was similar to Space Invaders, Asteroids was also very different as you had to cover yourself from every angle and there was a lot more movement involved. In the game, the player controls a spaceship that is in an asteroid field with the occasional flying saucer flying past. The player needs to shoot and destroy the asteroids and flying saucers without colliding with them. The more asteroids the player destroyed, the more points the player got.

The competitiveness of the game and always wanting to get your name up on the high-score leader board meant people spent lots of money on the game to keep playing and trying to beat their former high-score and of course beating their friends’ scores.

The total money spent on the game meant that Asteroids is in the top 10 of highest-grossing arcade games of all time. Asteroids had already made a revenue of $800 million by 1991 and selling 100,000 machines in the process.

In 2010, John McAllister broke the Asteroids world record with a flabbergasting high-score of 41,338,740 in a 58-hour livestream. Whether that score is ever beaten remains to be seen.

The post 1979 – Asteroids Debuts first appeared on Get2Gaming.

80’s gaming – Pac-Man

Gaming in the 1980’s brought us some iconic games in the form of Donkey Kong, Tetris and, of course, the Super Mario Bros! To kick start this awesome decade of gaming was the ghost-munching Pac-Man. Released in 1980 by game develop Namco, the idea of the game was to control Pac-Man through a maze, eating Pac-docs whilst also, when giving the chance, eat the enemies. Due to its popularity, game developers Namco decided to release a Mrs. Pac-Man version only two years later.

Being among the most famous arcade games of all time, Pac-Man is surely one of the most recognized gaming figures in history.

The post Gaming Through The Years – 1980 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Invading arcades around the world – Space Invaders

Created by Tomohiro and produced by Japanese electronic game manufacturer Taito Corp, 1978 saw Space Invaders hit arcades in Japan before making its way around the world.  Rumour even has it that due to its popularity in Japan, the ever-lasting arcade game led to a coin shortage and promoted an increase in production of the 100-yen coin. In 1980 Atari adapted a version for its Atari 2600 console, helping fuel the popularity of home gaming that we see today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=437Ld_rKM2s

Space Invaders arguably paved the way the successful shooting genre that has produced so many popular games over the years, so simple but so effective.

The post Gaming Through The Years – 1978 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

An arcade legend is born: Pong

One of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity was released in November 1972 in the form of Pong. Originally produced by Atari, Pong started off as an arcade game before Atari released Home Pong in 1975, for the public to play the game in the comfort of their living rooms, essentially becoming one of the first video game consoles that connected to a television, whilst also being the first commercially sold video game.

This iconic arcade game will forever stay in gaming history!

The post Gaming Through The Years – 1972 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

For good or for bad we must all admit the internet has had a profound effect on our lives and continues to create and generate debate on all things from kitten fails to space flight.

Along with this debate comes an inexhaustible amount of ideas that spread with the right level of uniqueness like wild fire. A collective consciousness is really beginning to form, as more and more are connect to the vast expanse that is online to the point where it would seem even your very best ideas are either already on the horizon, in the process of being thought about, discussed or created. Some of the best stories or creations always seem to come from an amalgamation of two or more very different ideas that when collided make the ultimate statement that we can all understand with a simple picture.

Here is just one of those ideas….

Waiting in the departure lounge in an airport can be somewhat of a drag, your tan is topped up and you are beginning to hear the whispers of your work colleagues in the back of your mind, along with not ever quite being bothered to swap out what is left for your holiday budget for your national currency as it would bring you just a little bit too close for comfort with reality. Luckily some clever clogs at the British Red Cross sensed a gap in the market that would not only be a cheap and effective way of raising awareness, but also allow you to stave off the thoughts of home for just that little bit longer.

The charity arcade idea is simple, allowing you to play retro games whilst waiting for your flight, with the leftovers in your wallet. Leaving you with a number of feelings inclusive of I’m a good person and I may want to miss my flight just to try and beat that top score! Let’s hope these are rolled out worldwide. They look as stunning in the promo shots as the idea itself! #IWOOT

The post Achievement unlocked: The British Red Cross fly into gaming first appeared on Get2Gaming.

NOW OPEN!

A Pac-Man themed restaurant, named ‘Level 257’, has opened in Chicago at the Woodfield Mall

A Pac-Man themed restaurant has now opened in Woodfield Mall, Chicago, and is a wonderful 40,000 square feet. The restaurant, Level 257, is only currently open for some though! “Beta testers” are being let in to book reservations and sample the cuisine and entertainment before the grand opening to the public, which will happen later this year.

With seating for 180 people, Level 257 not only serves food! It includes a ping-pong table, bowling alley and, of course, Pac-Man video games to play. Amongst an array of other delights; one being the themed cocktails, yay! These include such names as ‘1 Up’, ‘Midway’ and ‘Game Over’.

The venue name, Level 257, derives from a reference to the game’s killscreen, which appears on the 256th board. All in all, this glorious restaurant promises to offer a “fun dining” experience for all! 

To book a reservation, you can mosey on over to Level 257’s Official Facebook page HERE!

The post Now Open – A Pac-Man Restaurant! first appeared on Get2Gaming.

WATCH!

Tekken 7 opening movie

Everyone loves a bit of old Tekken, even though there have been mixed reviews about the latest character Lucky Chloe, and yesterday the cinematic opening for the upcoming full arcade release of Tekken 7 was finally revealed!

The video features core Tekken characters Kazuya Mishima and Heihachi Mishima having it out superior to a fiery volcano. Kazumi Mishima (pictured above), also appears in the video and will be making her debut in Tekken 7! Several new characters will be making their series debut in Tekken 7. These will include Shaheen, Lucky Chloe, Katarina and Claudio.

Tekken 7 was announced last year. The game, which is powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 4, will be released for Japanese arcades this year. Plans for the game arriving on consoles have yet to be announced.

Game director and series executive producer, Katsuhiro Harada, was quoted as saying that “with Unreal Engine 4, we can rapidly achieve visual quality expected on next-gen platforms and go beyond it. Not only is Unreal Engine 4 powerful and easy to use, it allows us to immediately bring Tekken 7 to any platform we desire.”

You can watch the opening sequence for Tekken 7 HERE, on our ‘Exciting Game Trailers’ playlist on YouTube.

The post Watch – Tekken 7 Opening Movie first appeared on Get2Gaming.