VGC | John – Page 32 – Video Game Canon

Super Mario’s Namesake, Mario Segale, Has Died: How A Chance Meeting Changed Nintendo

Mario Segale died last week at the age of 84, but the Seattle real estate developer and philanthropist is probably best-remembered among gamers as the namesake for Super Mario, Nintendo’s world-famous mascot.

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Library of Congress Has Ruled Libraries and Museums Can Break DRM to Preserve Older Games

The US Copyright Office and the Library of Congress have ruled that museums and libraries may now disable digital rights management (DRM) software when attempting to preserve video games available for defunct platforms.

The rule is officially known as the “Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies,” and a very quick summary is available at Polygon:

This week the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office revised its list of specific exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, also known as the DMCA. Their guidance reaffirms the rights of software preservationists to circumvent digital rights management (DRM) software, in some cases expanding their ability to revive older games. It also opens the door, legally speaking, to do-it-yourselfers and electronics repair outlets to break DRM in pursuit of fixing hardware.

A more thorough analysis of the ruling, specifically detailing how it’ll effect preservationists looking to bring back early versions of MMOs like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, is available at Motherboard:

Today’s news should be good for archivists and museums, who’ve long struggled with the best way to preserve video games such as Everquest or World of Warcraft. Multiplayer games like these require both software that players run on their computers locally, and software running on a company’s server—software that is much harder for historians to get their hands on and run. And when they do manage to get an independent server running, big game companies like Blizzard have taken legal action against people running unauthorized servers.

This is a great day for anyone interested in the history of games, and for all the historians and librarians working to preserve the classics for the next generation.

Mashable Launches “Games To Play Before You Die” Podcast

The staff at Mashable will be exploring some of the greatest games of all time in a brand new podcast known as “Games To Play Before You Die.“

The staff at Mashable will be exploring some of the greatest games of all time in a brand new podcast known as “Games To Play Before You Die“:

Which video games were so far ahead of their time, so much pure fun, that they stand apart? Since we love games we decided to answer this question once and for all in a new podcast series simply named “Games to Play Before You Die.”

Our host Jordan Minor, Senior Editor at Geek.com, breaks down the video games you MUST play before you kick the bucket (or get carpal tunnel). With the help of rotating experts and Mashable Editors, each episode dives into the development and launch of a video game that has impacted our host and guests personally as well as the industry.

Hosted by Geek.com’s Jordan Minor, the first episode of “Games To Play Before You Die” is all about Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2. More specifically, the panel discusses, “How is Sonic 2 the only good Sonic game?”

Future episodes of “Games To Play Before You Die” should appear every week (or so), and I’m very interested to see where the series goes from here.

UPDATE (10/29/22): “Games To Play Before You Die” appears to be no more, but you can still watch the video versions of each episode on Mashable’s YouTube channel.

In the end, nine titles were part of the final tally of games featured on the podcast. Here they are for posterity…

Mashable – Games To Play Before You Die

Assassin’s Creed II
Diablo III
Kingdom Hearts III
Myst
Pokemon Blue/Red/Yellow
Red Dead Redemption
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Smash Bros.
Tetris

“The Game Console” Explores the Grisly Innards of 86 Different Consoles in November 2018

No Starch Press has announced that they’re publishing The Game Console: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox, a new book that depicts the “grisly innards” of all your favorite consoles, on November 6th.

Authored by Evan Amos, and featuring an extensive collection of full-color photos and notes about 86 different consoles, The Game Console might just be the most complete catalog of console hardware ever published:

The Game Console is a tour through the evolution of video game hardware, with gorgeous full-color photos of 86 consoles and their grisly innards. You’ll start your journey with legendary consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Commodore 64. The visual nostalgia trip continues with systems from the 1990s and 2000s, ending with modern consoles like the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.

Throughout the book, you’ll also discover many consoles you never knew existed, and get a rare peek at the hardware inside some of history’s most iconic video game systems.

You can find a few preview images from The Game Console at No Starch’s official website, and they certainly do look grisly (and also amazing).

Bite-Sized Game History: The N64’s Analog Stick, Rez’s Prototype, and Early Video Games from 1968

Have you ever wondered how the Nintendo 64’s Analog Stick works? Or what Rez looked like before its wireframe aesthetic was added in? And just what were game developers working on in the early days before Atari?

Have you ever wondered how the Nintendo 64’s Analog Stick works? Or what Rez looked like before its wireframe aesthetic was added in? And just what were game developers working on in the early days before Atari?

Have no fear, we’re able to answer all three of those questions in this edition of Best-Sized Game History…

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Speedruner Completes Nearly Perfect Run of Super Mario Bros. in 4 Minutes and 55.96 Seconds

The speedrunners competing to complete a perfect run in Super Mario Bros. got a little closer this week when KosmicD12 set a new world record of four minutes and 55.96 seconds on Monday.

Thanks to pixel-perfect platforming and a series of glitches (including running through the wall to find the Warp Zone in World 1-2), this “Any Percentage” run is nearly identical to the “Tool Assisted Run” of four minutes and 54.03 seconds.

In a “Tool Assisted Run,” a computer calculates the optimal path through the game using all known glitches, so to see an actual human person nearly match it is rather astounding.

KosmicD12 was rather tongue-tied after his record-setting feat, but he did manage to croak out, “I don’t know what to say.”

A nearly perfect run definitely speaks for itself, so I’m not sure anything else needs to be said. Though I guess congratulations are definitely in order.

The Untold Stories Behind Doom’s Cheat Codes, Splatoon’s Canceled Predecessor, and Creating an E3 Press Conference

Start your weekend off right by diving into a trio of videos highlighting some of the lesser-known stories behind the creation of Doom, Splatoon, and Ubisoft’s annual E3 extravaganza.

Start your weekend off right by diving into a trio of videos highlighting some of the lesser-known stories behind the creation of Doom, Splatoon, and Ubisoft’s annual E3 extravaganza.

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Bite-Sized Game History: Pong on a Plane, The Mother 3 Times, and the Importance of Emulation

This time on Bite-Sized Game History… Pong takes flight, Mother 3’s hype train leaves the station, and Nintendo’s battle with ROM hosting sites is yet another blow to game preservation.

There are a lot of great video game historians on Twitter, and they manage to unearth some amazing artifacts in 280 characters or less. Video Game Canon’s newest column, Bite-Sized Game History, will aim to collect some of the best stuff I find in my timeline.

This time on Best-Sized Game History… Pong takes flight, Mother 3‘s hype train leaves the station, and Nintendo’s battle with ROM hosting sites is yet another blow to game preservation.

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Listology 2.0: What Does the Video Game Canon Look Like Using Only Modern Best Games Lists Published After 2010?

Tetris earned the top spot in the first version of the Video Game Canon, and easily repeated in the Version 2.0 update I put together earlier this year. But what happens if you limited the formula to just Best Games lists that have been published this decade?

Not much, it turns out.

No other game was able to knock Alexy Pajitnov’s puzzle masterpiece off the top of the heap, though Valve’s Half-Life 2 (#2) came very close. The remainder of the Top 10 also looks fairly familiar, with Resident Evil 4 at #3, Super Mario 64 at #4, BioShock at #5, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past at #6, Super Metroid at #7, The Last of Us at #8, World of Warcraft at #9, and Grand Theft Auto V at #10.

However, using only the 27 Best Games lists that were published between 2010 and 2017 does produce a few interesting swings. Some games moved up (like Portal from #19 to #11), while others slid down (Street Fighter II went from #16 to #28).

Other games made bigger leaps, which might lead to some massive changes to the Video Game Canon’s Top 100 in future updates. For example, Nintendo’s EarthBound may have launched to a rocky reception in the mid 90s, but critics in the 2010s are coming around on it as it moved to #62 (it was #119 on the regular Video Game Canon) Likewise, Myst had a strong showing, and landed at #87 versus #137 on the regular ranking.

See where the rest of the 1,041 games from Version 2.0 of the Video Game Canon landed after the break.

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Slant Magazine Updates Their List of “The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time” for 2018

Slant Magazine recently updated their list of “The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time” and named Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask as their #1 game. The oft-ignored sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has been undergoing a bit of a reevaluation in recent years, and it’s selection by Slant is the first time it’s earned the top spot on a “Best Games” list.

In addition to old favorites, the editors at Slant gave four games their first exposure on a “Best Games” list… Platinum’s Nier: Automata (#7), Bracket’s Three Fourths Home (#73), Croteam’s The Talos Principle (#82), and Ninja Theory’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (#94).

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey have been on a perfect streak since their release in 2017, and Slate kept it alive by slotting Link’s latest adventure at #39 and Mario’s Cappy-tivating quest at #31.

Slant Magazine’s “The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time” will be added to the Video Game Canon in a future update.