Technology

Video games trivia | 100 did you know facts about famous series (part 5)

Video games have become a part of pop culture. With many titles gaining worldwide recognition and a rapid fanbase.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about these video game franchises.

Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by Mojang Studios
It was created by Markus “Notch” Persson in the Java programming language
It was released as a public alpha for personal computers in 2009
The game was officially released in November 2011
With Jens Bergensten taking over development around then
Minecraft has since been ported to various platforms
It became the best-selling video game of all time
With 200 million copies sold across all platforms
126 million monthly active users as of 2020
In Minecraft, players explore a blocky, procedurally-generated 3D world with infinite terrain, and may discover and extract raw materials, craft tools and items, and build structures or earthworks
Depending on game mode, players can fight computer-controlled “mobs”, as well as cooperate with or compete against other players in the same world
Game modes include a survival mode, in which players must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, and a creative mode, where players have unlimited resources
Players can modify the game to create new gameplay mechanics, items, and assets
Minecraft has been critically acclaimed
It has won several awards
It has being cited as one of the greatest and most influential video games of all time
Minecraft has been being inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in June 2020
Social media, parodies, adaptations, merchandise, and the annual MineCon conventions played large roles in popularizing the game
It has also been used in educational environments, especially in the realm of computing systems, as virtual computers and hardware devices have been built in it
In 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion
A number of spin-off games have also been produced
These are Minecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Dungeons, and Minecraft Earth
Mortal Kombat is an American media franchise
The series is centered on a series of video games
The video games were originally developed by Midway Games in 1992
The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
The idea fell through and a fantasy-themed fighting game was created instead
Nonetheless paying homage to Jean-Claude Van Domme with nut-cracking movie star character Johnny Cage, whose initials and personal style echo Van Damme’s
Mortal Kombat was the first ever fighting game to introduce a secret fighter, reached if the player fulfilled a set of requirements
The original game has spawned many sequels and spin-offs consisting of several action-adventure games
As well as a comic book series and a card game
Film producer Lawrence Kasanoff licensed the rights to the game in the early 1990s
He produced the first hit film ever made from a video game
Lawrence also produced the second film, animated TV series, live-action TV series films, the first one million platinum-selling album and a live-action tour
Mortal Kombat has become one of the most successful fighting franchises in the history of video games
It is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time
The series has a reputation for high levels of graphic violence, including, most notably, its Fatalities
Fatalities in the games’ language is finishing moves allowing the player to finish off their defeated opponent
Controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat, in part, led to the creation of the ESRB video game rating system
Early games in this series were also noted for their realistic digitized sprites and an extensive use of palette swapping to create new characters
Following Midway’s bankruptcy, the Mortal Kombat development team was acquired by Warner Bros. Entertainment
Then, it was turned into NetherRealm Studios
Need for Speed (NFS) is a racing video game franchise
It is published by Electronic Arts
It is currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of Burnout
The series centers around illicit street racing and in general tasks players to complete various types of races while evading the local law enforcement in police pursuits
The series released its first title, The Need for Speed, in 1994
The most recent game, Need for Speed Heat, was released on November 8, 2019
The series has been overseen and had games developed by multiple notable teams over the years
These companies include EA Canada, EA Black Box, Slightly Mad Studios, and Ghost Games
The franchise has been critically well received
It is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time
Selling over 150 million copies of games
Due to its strong sales, the franchise has expanded into other forms of media including a film adaptation and licensed Hot Wheels toys
Pac-Man is a Japanese video game franchise
It is published, developed and owned by Bandai Namco Entertainment
Entries have been developed by a wide array of other video game companies, including Midway Games, Atari and Mass Media, Inc.
The eponymous first entry was released in arcades in 1980 by Namco
It was published by Midway Games in North America
Most Pac-Man games are maze chase games, however it has also delved into other genres, such as platformers, racing, and sports
Several games in the series have been released for a multitude of home consoles and are included in many Namco video game compilations
Pac-Man is one of the longest-running, best-selling, and highest-grossing video game franchises in history
It has seen regular releases for over 40 years
It has sold nearly 48 million copies across all platforms
It has grossed over US$14.107 billion
Most of which has been from the original arcade game
The character of Pac-Man is the official mascot of Bandai Namco
Pac-Man remains one of the most recognizable video game characters in history
The franchise is seen as important and influential
It is often used as a representation for 1980’s popular culture and video games as a whole
Pokémon is a series of video games
They are developed by Game Freak
They are published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company as part of the Pokémon media franchise
Pokemon was created by Satoshi Tajiri with assistance from Ken Sugimori
The first games released in 1996 in Japan for the Game Boy
The main series of role-playing video games (RPGs) have continued on each generation of Nintendo’s handhelds
They are referred as the “core series” by their developers
The games are commonly released in trios, later pairs, each with different Pokémon
A remake of the games usually released around a decade after the original versions for another console
While the main series consists of RPGs developed by Game Freak, many spin-off games based on the series have been developed by various companies
These spin-offs encompass other genres such as action role-playing, puzzle, fighting, and digital pet games
Including spin-offs, as of November 24, 2017, more than 300 million Pokémon games have been sold worldwide on handheld and home consoles, across 76 titles
This makes Pokémon the second best-selling video game franchise, behind Nintendo’s own Mario franchise
In addition, Pokémon is the world’s largest media franchise
With successful anime series, movies, and merchandise, with spin-off game Pokémon Go
Pokemon Go have crossed 1 billion mobile game downloads worldwide
Prince of Persia is a video game franchise
It was created by Jordan Mechner
The franchise is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince from ancient Iran
The games have been developed and published by several different companies
The first two games in the series, Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, were published by Brøderbund
Prince of Persia 3D, the first to use 3D computer graphics, was developed by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company on PC
Prince of Persia 3D wad developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive on Sega Dreamcast
Ubisoft began developing and publishing the series in 2003 with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The series has been rebooted twice since its acquisition by Ubisoft
It has, also, been made into a film, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The film was penned in part by Mechner
It was released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2010
The franchise also includes Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel and the Lego line Lego Prince of Persia
The Assassin’s Creed video game series is the spiritual successor to Prince of Persia