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videogame history

@vghistory.bsky.social

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a meditation on videogame (w/ occasional technology and web) history. donate to my ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/moshboy/ also find me on mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@moshboy nfaq: https://pastebin.com/vUmrYKx6

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 55m

a very happy boy, arms raised, legs apart (probably jumping), one hand holding a keyboard, the other holding a mouse, fluid coming out of his sparkling eyes, wearing a t-shirt that reads 'i've done it!!
behind him are illustrations of fake 'congratulations', 'you've won' and 'you saved the world' video game screens.

15 50

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 3h

shadowrun, print ad, imagery (2007) archive.org/details/game...

a bald human head with 10 eyes in the back of it, glancing in various directions. super creepy nightmare fuel.
text to the right: in any other game, this might actually help you.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 27

tempest 2000, print ad, imagery, jaguar (1994) archive.org/details/vide...

an in game screenshot of the game tempest from the haguar is shown in the middle of the imagery. surrounding the in game screenshot is the repeated thick white caps text font: 'them' (again and again and again) and then one 'you' in red (all with various arrows pointing towards enemies and you on the screenshot).

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 29

super monkey ball, print ad, excerpt, gamecube (2002) archive.org/details/game...

super monkey ball title font with each letter inside a sphere or ball. below, a cute disembodied monkey's head with a tuft of brown monkey hair on top and big ears. below: let's roll.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 29

illustration, blip, magazine (1983) archive.org/details/blip...

pac-man, red top, blue pants, huge brown shoes (clown size) and ms pac-man, red bow tie on top of head, red lipstick, light brown trenchcoat, holding hands. maze and dots in the background.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 30

the sims, magazine screenshot, pc (2000) archive.org/details/PCGA...

a person has pissed their pants and is thinking about the toilet while standing near a pinball machine and some computers on desks.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 14

pipe dream, print ad (1991) archive.org/details/vgce...

a dude climbing between a maze of pipes, attempting to attach one pipe that is lose, however he is very high up and at the risk of falling (could possibly be in the process of slipping with the shocked look on his face).
quote:
"...it's just as addicting as tetris." -nintendo power may/june 1990
more text (all in caps):
get ready for a mind-wrenching experience.
pipe dream.
what if you had a whole warehouse full of plumbing parts
coming at you! and you had to build a huge pipeline out of them? what if there was a big puddle of slimy green stuff called flooz? and it was running through the pipes right behind you? well, that's the whole idea behind pipe dream. it has basic, expert,
and two-player modes. it has 256 levels to get into. and you get bonus rounds every four levels. you already know what nintendo power magazine says about it but there's only one way to see how intense
pipe dream really is. go down to your nes/game boy dealer and see for yourself
more text underneath an in game screenshot:
it takes about five seconds
to get the idea. it can take a
lifetime to get good at it.
really good.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 5

total carnage, screenshot, snes (1993) www.mobygames.com/game/15506/t...

almost top down view of a bare chested buff soldier, wearing a green head band, carrying a large blue weapon with an orange tip. red barrels are scattered about and there is a grey concrete structure not far away.
overlaid white caps text on screen:
you are the weasel man! you shall absorb total pain!

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 23

magazine screenshot (1988) archive.org/details/Happ...

deluxe paint II screen with an example image of the word 'profits' in shades of blue font with slight black shadowing and a reddy orangey yellowy jagged stock line veering but generally on the up. background is a one hundred dollar bill. ui around the edge of the image (right hand side and menus at the top).

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Apr 23

winter consumer electronics show, wrestler king kong bundy promoting vendex headstart line of computers, las vegas (1988) archive.org/details/Happ...

thicc king king bundy in his wrestling attire, bald, leaning on a vendex headstart pc, its screen turned on. this photo has been signed by the man himself to a staff member of the magazine, happy computer.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 21h

tom, commodore 64 / vic-20 (1984) www.mobygames.com/game/67709/t...

$tom, wearing ragged clothes, green top is standing in a maze looking up at a huge green spider in fear.\, who looks to be approaching. don't be tom.$

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 23h

robocop, magazine screenshot, toned-down recreation of a scene from the movie complete w/ replicated billboard, amiga (1989) archive.org/details/Comm...

a man holds a woman in a dress hostage beneath a huge billboard of a bridge leading into city of skyscrapers. billboard text:
delta city
the future has a silver lining

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 1d

evil dead: hail to the king, screenshots, pc (2001) www.mobygames.com/game/3473/ev...

ash, protagonist, in a 3d room (slanted view, most of room shown), facing off against a (very) long necked, long legged, demon.

ash, protagonist, in a 3d room (different angle, side on), facing off against a (very) long necked, long legged, demon.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 1d

cheats unlimited, uk hotline, print ad, imagery (2003) archive.org/details/ops-...

slender blonde woman, a top covering only her ample breasts with 'cheats unlimited' printed on it, black miniskirt, black boots, one hand raised behind her head, the other holding an uzi.
her speech bubble says: call me 24/7. i've got what you need!

4 6 47

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 14

atari jaguar, print ad, excerpt (1994) archive.org/details/Vide...

black background, red bloody claw marks, two piercing jaguar eyes up the top.
white caps text font that slowly gets bigger:
64 exploding bits of raw power.
16.7 million brain burning colors.
and 3-d graphics real enough to make you blow chunks.
you've been warned.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 13

magazine screenshot (1991) archive.org/details/fami...

old man with cane opens up a chest and finds a set of chompers in there (within a maze?). other old men with canes are graphically displayed on the right hand side of the screen, wearing different colours.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 12

mario paint, magazine screenshot, snes, ação games, magazine (1992) archive.org/details/acao...

someone has drawn krusty the clown in mario paint, green side hair, red nose, purple bowtie, grinning, no clown makeup so regular skin tone.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 12

concept illustration, imagining what a super nintendo might look like, months before august release in north america, famicom tsūshin, magazine (april, 1991) archive.org/details/fami...

black and white illustration shows a 'super nes' that has a black strip on the right, ports at the front, also on the right, a pop-up cartridge slot on top on the left and also power and reset buttons. a controller is attached that has square corners and diagonal bits down the bottom.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 11

faceball 2000, print ad screenshot & caption, game boy (1992) archive.org/details/vide...

gameboy screenshot, first person, 3d maze, with floating happy faces, one looks like a ball, one has a round bottom but looks flatter on top, one looks more like a square but isn't smiling (straight mouth).
caption reads: watch out! they only look happy!

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · Jul 11

banjo-tooie, screenshot, n64 (2000) www.mobygames.com/game/3993/ba...

banjo the bear is close to a floating ghost corpse on a path on a mostly green 3d landscape
the ghost corpse is saying: taking an interest in my corpse...

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 7d

xbox odyssey tour, us (november, 2001) 'two 53-foot semi's pull into your town, setting up a humongous inflated dome. you enter the dome to the sound of cool tunes cranking. you see 52 game stations, a dj stand, overhead video screens for game play, and a vip lounge.' web.archive.org/web/20011102...