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Best Video Games Facts

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  1. #1 🧠 Hollow Knight was developed by a tiny team The Australian studio Team Cherry built the critically loved metroidvania with only a handful of people. Video Games Indie History
  2. #2 🧠 Minecraft's nether music was composed by Lena Raine Lena Raine joined Minecraft to score the Nether update years after Daniel Rosenfeld's original ambient soundscapes. Video Games Music in Games
  3. #3 🧠 Resident Evil started as a remake of an older horror game Capcom's Resident Evil originally began development as a remake of the 1989 game Sweet Home before evolving into its own franchise. Video Games Origin Stories
  4. #4 🧠 Goldeneye 007 was originally going to be on rails Rare's iconic N64 shooter was prototyped as a rail shooter before becoming the open first-person classic that defined an era. Video Games Production Stories
  5. #5 🧠 The original Mario was named Jumpman Mario debuted in 1981's Donkey Kong arcade game as the unnamed climber Jumpman, only later renamed Mario. Video Games Character Design
  6. #6 🧠 Tetris had a Cold War legal saga Rights to the puzzle game became a Cold War-era tangle involving Soviet officials, Atari, and Nintendo, finally resolving in the late 1980s. Video Games Industry History
  7. #7 🧠 The Sega Genesis was called Mega Drive elsewhere Outside North America, the console launched as the Mega Drive due to a trademark conflict with another company. Video Games Hardware History
  8. #8 🧠 Doomguy and Master Chief share a fan rivalry Fans of id Software's Doom and Bungie's Halo have long debated which iconic helmeted soldier would win in combat. Video Games Fandoms
  9. #9 🧠 Stardew Valley was a one-person project for years Eric Barone built nearly all of Stardew Valley himself over several years before publishing it through ConcernedApe. Video Games Indie History
  10. #10 🧠 Genshin Impact's open world reaches well over 100 hours The free-to-play game's main story plus exploration content runs longer than most full-priced single-player RPGs. Video Games Industry
  11. #11 🧠 Animal Crossing began as a Nintendo 64 title in Japan The original Animal Crossing first launched on the N64 in Japan before its DOLPHIN-era worldwide releases. Video Games Origin Stories
  12. #12 🧠 Phasmophobia drew from real paranormal-investigation YouTube Kinetic Games designed the indie horror hit partly around the rhythms of online ghost-hunting livestreams. Video Games Inspirations
  13. #13 🧠 The Tetris Effect refers to a real cognitive phenomenon Playing intense pattern games like Tetris for long sessions can cause people to see falling blocks when they close their eyes. Video Games Psychology
  14. #14 🧠 Among Us launched in 2018 and went viral in 2020 The social deduction game sat with a small player base for two years before exploding into mainstream popularity during pandemic streaming. Video Games Industry
  15. #15 🧠 The first computer mouse was made of wood Doug Engelbart's 1964 prototype mouse was carved from a wooden block with two metal wheels for tracking. Video Games Hardware History
  16. #16 🧠 There is a hidden room in the original Apple II that thanks the designer Steve Wozniak hid an Easter egg in the Apple II that printed credit to himself on certain keyboard combinations. Video Games Easter Eggs
  17. #17 🧠 The original Halo was almost a Mac exclusive Bungie planned to launch the first Halo on Apple computers before Microsoft acquired the studio and made it Xbox's launch title. Video Games Hardware History
  18. #18 🧠 Doom was named after a Tom Cruise line John Carmack named the game after a line from The Color of Money in which Cruise's character says "this is the doom" before a pool shot. Video Games Origin Stories
  19. #19 🧠 Metal Gear Solid's Psycho Mantis reads your memory card The 1998 boss famously read the PlayStation memory card to comment on the player's other saved games, breaking the fourth wall. Video Games Easter Eggs
  20. #20 🧠 GTA started as a top-down racing project The original Grand Theft Auto was a top-down 2D game called Race'n'Chase before the developers leaned into the criminal sandbox. Video Games Origin Stories
  21. #21 🧠 Final Fantasy was named because it might have been the last Square was nearly bankrupt when developer Hironobu Sakaguchi titled his RPG "Final" Fantasy, expecting it to be his swan song. Video Games Origin Stories
  22. #22 🧠 Pokémon launched with two versions to encourage trading Game Freak split the original release into Red and Green (Blue in the West) so players had to connect to fill the Pokédex. Video Games Design Choices
  23. #23 🧠 The longest video game speedrun lasts over a hundred hours Players hunting for "all achievements" or full completion in massive RPGs have set records of single runs exceeding a hundred hours. Video Games Records
  24. #24 🧠 The Game Boy survived a bombing in the Gulf War A Game Boy that survived an attack on a US Army base in 1991 still powers on and is displayed at the Nintendo NY store. Video Games Hardware History
  25. #25 🧠 Mario's mustache is a design constraint, not a fashion choice Limited pixel resolution made it hard to draw Mario's mouth, so designer Shigeru Miyamoto gave him a mustache to suggest one. Video Games Character Design
  26. #26 🧠 Super Mario was originally a carpenter, not a plumber In Donkey Kong, the character known as Jumpman wore overalls because the game was set on a construction site; he became a plumber for Mario Bros. Video Games Character Design
  27. #27 🧠 Pong was based on a tennis demo The arcade hit grew out of an early Magnavox Odyssey tennis game, and a later lawsuit forced Atari to pay a licensing settlement. Video Games Hardware History
  28. #28 🧠 EVE Online has had battles costing tens of thousands of real dollars In the space MMO, large fleet battles can destroy in-game ships worth thousands of real US dollars in actual subscription value. Video Games MMO History
  29. #29 🧠 Minecraft was first released as a browser demo Markus Persson uploaded a playable Java prototype in 2009, and the rough demo grew into the best-selling game of all time. Video Games Indie History
  30. #30 🧠 The Sims started as a home architecture demo Will Wright built the first Sims as a tool to test architecture before realizing the people inside the houses were more interesting. Video Games Origin Stories

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