1.
Taito
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The Taito Corporation is a Japanese video game developer and publisher of arcade hardwares and mobile phones, and an operator of video arcades. It is also a publisher of home video games. Taito is wholly owned by Square Enix Holdings, despite being a subsidiary to Square Enix Holdings, the parent company has kept the branding of Taito entirely distinct from Square Enix. Taito is known for producing hit arcade games, such as Space Invaders and it has produced arcade games all around the world, while also importing and distributing American coin-op video games in Japan. Taito owns several arcades in Japan known as Taito Stations or Game Taito Stations, Taito has its headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company. In the past, the company had operated divisions in North America, Brazil, South Korea, Italy, the company was founded in 1953 by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan as Taito Trading Company. Taito started out importing and distributing vending machines and it was also the first company to distill and sell vodka in Japan. Later, it began leasing jukeboxes and eventually started to manufacture its own, Taito began producing electro-mechanical arcade games in the 1960s. Taito changed its name from Taito Trading Company to Taito Corporation in August 1972, several of its early arcades games saw release in America by Midway, a Chicago area-based arcade manufacturer with strong ties to Taito. Taito opened in 1973 its Taito America division, in its first years, Taito Americas sole purpose was to handle the licensing of Taitos video games to American third party publishers. It wasnt until the late 1970s that Taito America began to self-publish Taitos video games in North America, initially based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Taito America relocated to nearby Wheeling in 1985. In April 1986 and barely a month after becoming part of the Kyocera group, Japan Vending Machine was once an independent company but was purchased by Taito in July 1971 to strengthening its presence in the operation of amusement facilities. Pacific Industrial was created by Taito itself in 1963 to develop products for the company, in May 1988, Taito Software, the division of Taito America responsible for non-arcade operations, opened its own office in North Vancouver, British Columbia. However, by early 1991, the Vancouver location had completely shut down, Taito America ceased operations in July 1996 after more than 20 years of existence. Taito had already sold exclusive rights for publishing its games in America to Acclaim Entertainment several months before, similarly, a division existed in London, England in the United Kingdom to distribute Taito games in Europe. Taito Corporation Limited was created in 1988 and liquidated in February 1998, Taito has many well known arcade video games. Space Invaders is probably the most notable, but games such as Speed Race, Gun Fight, Qix, Jungle Hunt, Elevator Action, Buggy Challenge, Bubble Bobble, Takeshi no Chōsenjō, Chase H. Q. Puzznic, Kick Master, Gun Buster and Puzzle Bobble are all part of Taitos library, Taito also had a license from Hanna-Barbera to produce games based on its animated series
2.
Majesco Entertainment
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Majesco Entertainment Company is a former American video game publisher and distributor founded in 1986, headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, United States. In December 2016, the merged with PolarityTE, a biotech firm. Majesco was first known as a reissuer of old titles that had abandoned by their original publisher. By cutting the prices and eventually arranging the rights to games for both Nintendo and Sega systems, the company found a sustainable market niche. Later, Majesco arranged with Sega to manufacture a version of its Genesis 16-bit console and it released this in 1998 as the Genesis 3 and followed up with a version of the handheld Game Gear called the Game Gear Core System. The companys focus shifted to in-house game development, initially under the brand Pipe-Dream Interactive since few believed they could make the transition successfully, Majesco focused on developing for then-current generation systems, such as Nintendos GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Microsofts Xbox, and Sonys PlayStation 2. A few of the titles it released, involving popular characters, included a few Bomberman titles for the Gamecube, Majesco also published PC games with Terminal Reality as the developer, such as BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2. In 2003, Majesco was slated to publish Black9, but producers forced the developers, Taldren and its best-selling titles in the last few years have been the series of GBA Videos for the Game Boy Advance. It also published the game Jaws Unleashed, Majescos president, Jesse Sutton, said that in the future the company would focus primarily on publishing value and handheld video games. Since that announcement, the company has followed through with publishing successful budget titles in North America like Cooking Mama for the DS, on September 14,2006, Majesco released Advent Rising and re-released BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 on Steam. On November 6,2007, Majesco announced the opening of a new development facility in the Los Angeles area dedicated to the development of game products. On December 10,2007, Majesco announced that they would be publishing a game, Major Minors Majestic March. Majesco has announced that it will be launching a version of Bananagrams on August 18,2008 that will be available on Facebook. On November 4,2009, Majesco released BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 on GOG. com, on June 6,2011, Majesco announced that it was acquiring the assets of social game developer Quick Hit and Quick Hit Football to build out its social gaming strategy. After a disastrous year of 2013, the company was expected to enjoy a recovering growth in 2014. In August 2015, Majesco announced that they had appointed a new CEO, the companys focus also shifted to develop mobile and downloadable titles. Two new titles, Glue and a new installment in the A Boy, in December 2016, Majesco announced it was ceasing operations in the entertainment industry, and merged with biotech firm PolarityTE. Polarity will obtain Majescos NASDAQ symbol name, COOL, radica Games Jakks Pacific Official website Majesco Entertainment profile on MobyGames Majesco Games at the Wayback Machine
3.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
4.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
5.
505 Games
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505 Games Ltd. is a global publisher of video games founded in 2006, and is a subsidiary of Italian company Digital Bros. The company publishes games globally for leading platforms along with console and handheld systems from Sony, Nintendo,505 Games headquarters is located in the city of Milan, Italy. The company also maintains divisions in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, Los Angeles, United States, Lyon, France, Munich, Germany, Madrid, Spain and a network of distribution partners. The company transitioned from being an Italian games distributor to a games publisher, offering a broad selection of titles for players of all ages. In March 2015, Digital Bros, through subsidiary 505 Games, the company found its early success through its video games Cooking Mama and Zumba Fitness. In April 2015,505 Games was awarded the title of Best Indie Games Label at the MCV Awards, in April 2012,505 Games took over publishing duties from THQ for the fitness game Adidas MiCoach, following a lawsuit between THQ and Adidas. In April 2013, they acquired the license of Drawn To Life series, the purchase includes rights to the franchise as a whole. In April 2014,505 Games announced an agreement with Adam Orths Three One Zero of the game Adrift. The game is described as an experience, where the player controls an astronaut exploring debris of a wrecked station in outer space. In January 2015,505 Games confirmed the acquisition of the property rights to the multi-award-winning Game of the Year 2013, Brothers. A month later,505 Games announced an agreement with game developer Overkill Software for the game Payday 2 Crimewave Edition. In August 2016,505 Games announced it would be publishing Virginia from Variable State, in January 2016,505 Games announced that they will shift their focus from publishing games for other developers to developing their own intellectual properties. In October 2016,505 Games has announced through Koji Igarashi, their collaboration in publishing Bloodstained, Ritual of the Night from Inti Creates
6.
Puzzle Bobble
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Puzzle Bobble, also known as Bust-a-Move in North America, is a 1994 tile-matching arcade puzzle video game for one or two players created by Taito Corporation. It is based on Taitos popular 1986 arcade game Bubble Bobble, featuring characters, two different versions of the original game were released. Puzzle Bobble was originally released in Japan only in June 1994 by Taito Corporation, then,6 months later in December, the international Neo Geo version of Puzzle Bobble was released. It was almost identical aside from being in stereo and having some different sound effects, when set to the US region, the Neo Geo version displays the alternative title Bust a Move and features anti-drugs and anti-littering messages in the title sequence. The Bust-a-Move title was used for all subsequent games in the series in the United States and Canada, at the start of each round, the rectangular playing arena contains a prearranged pattern of coloured bubbles. At the bottom of the screen, the controls a device called a pointer. The colour of bubbles fired is randomly generated and chosen from the colors of bubbles still left on the screen, the fired bubbles travel in straight lines, stopping when they touch other bubbles or reach the top of the arena. If a bubble touches identically-colored bubbles, forming a group of three or more, those bubbles—as well as any bubbles hanging from them—are removed from the field of play, and points are awarded. After every few shots, the ceiling of the playing arena drops downwards slightly, the number of shots between each drop of the ceiling is influenced by the number of bubble colors remaining. The closer the bubbles get to the bottom of the screen, the objective of the game is to clear all the bubbles from the arena without any bubble crossing the bottom line. Bubbles will fire automatically if the player remains idle, after clearing the arena, the next round begins with a new pattern of bubbles to clear. The game consists of 32 levels, as with many popular arcade games, experienced players become much more interested in the secondary challenge of obtaining a high score. Puzzle Bobble caters to this interest very well, featuring an exponential scoring system which allows extremely high scores to be achieved, popped bubbles are worth 10 points each. However, dropped bubbles, are far more, one dropped bubble scores 20 points. This figure continues doubling for each bubble dropped, up to 17 or more bubbles which scores 1,310,720 points and it is possible to achieve this maximum on most rounds, resulting in a potential total score of 30 million and beyond. Bonus points are awarded for completing a round quickly. The maximum 50, 000-point bonus is awarded for clearing a round in 5 seconds or less, there are no rounds in the two player game. Both players have an arena each and an arrangement of colored bubbles in each arena
7.
Computing platform
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Computing platform means in general sense, where any piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the system, even a web browser or other application. The term computing platform can refer to different abstraction levels, including a hardware architecture, an operating system. In total it can be said to be the stage on which programs can run. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware, platforms may also include, Hardware alone, in the case of small embedded systems. Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS, this is referred to as running on bare metal, a browser in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser. An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in a scripting language. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform, software frameworks that provide ready-made functionality. Cloud computing and Platform as a Service, the social networking sites Twitter and facebook are also considered development platforms. A virtual machine such as the Java virtual machine, applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM. A virtualized version of a system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac, some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform to the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it, however, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS
8.
Wii
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The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19,2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii competed with Microsofts Xbox 360, Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others. The Wii introduced the Wii Remote controller, which can be used as a pointing device. Another notable feature of the console is the now defunct WiiConnect24, like other seventh-generation consoles, it features a game download service, called Virtual Console, which features emulated games from past systems. It succeeded the GameCube, and early models are fully backward-compatible with all GameCube games, Nintendo first spoke of the console at the E32004 press conference and later unveiled it at E32005. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show, at E32006, the console won the first of several awards. By December 8,2006, it had completed its launch in the four key markets, in late 2011, Nintendo released a reconfigured model, the Wii Family Edition, which lacks Nintendo GameCube compatibility, this model was not released in Japan. The Wii Mini, Nintendos first major redesign since the compact SNES. The Wii Mini can only play Wii optical discs, as it omits GameCube compatibility and all networking capabilities, the Wiis successor, the Wii U, was released on November 18,2012. On October 20,2013, Nintendo confirmed it had discontinued production of the Wii in Japan and Europe, although the Wii Mini is still in production, the console was conceived in 2001, as the Nintendo GameCube was first released. According to an interview with Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the concept involved focusing on a new form of player interaction, the consensus was that power isnt everything for a console. Too many powerful consoles cant coexist and its like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction, in 2003, game engineers and designers were brought together to develop the concept further. By 2005 the controller interface had taken form, but a showing at that years Electronic Entertainment Expo was canceled. Miyamoto stated that the company had some troubleshooting to do, so we decided not to reveal the controller and instead we displayed just the console. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later unveiled and demonstrated the Wii Remote at the September Tokyo Game Show, the Nintendo DS is said to have influenced the Wiis design. Designer Kenichiro Ashida noted, We had the DS on our minds as we worked on the Wii and we thought about copying the DSs touch-panel interface and even came up with a prototype. The idea was rejected because of the notion that the two gaming systems would be identical
9.
Puzzle video game
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Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test many problem-solving skills including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, the player may have unlimited time or attempts to solve a puzzle, or there may be simple puzzles made difficult by having to complete them in real-time, as in Tetris. Puzzle games focus on logical and conceptual challenges, although often the games add time-pressure or other action-elements, although many action games and adventure games involve puzzles such as obtaining inaccessible objects, a true puzzle game focuses on puzzle solving as the primary gameplay activity. Games usually involve shapes, colors, or symbols, and the player must directly or indirectly manipulate them into a specific pattern. Rather than presenting a collection of puzzles to solve, puzzle games typically offer a series of related puzzles that are a variation on a single theme. This theme could involve pattern recognition, logic, or understanding a process and these games usually have a simple set of rules, where players manipulate game pieces on a grid, network or other interaction space. Players must unravel clues in order to achieve some victory condition, completing each puzzle will usually lead to a more difficult challenge, although some games avoid exhausting the player by offering easier levels between more difficult ones. There is a variety of puzzle games. Some feed to the player an assortment of blocks or pieces that they must organize in the correct manner, such as Tetris, Klax. Others present a game board or pieces and challenge the player to solve the puzzle by achieving a goal. Puzzle games are easy to develop and adapt, being implemented on dedicated arcade units, home video game consoles, personal digital assistants. An action puzzle or arcade puzzle requires that the player manipulates game pieces in an environment, often on a single screen and with a time limit. This is a term that has been used to describe several subsets of puzzle game. Firstly, it includes falling-block puzzles such as Tetris and KLAX and it includes games with characters moving through an environment, controlled either directly or indirectly. This can cross-over with other genres, a platform game which requires a novel mechanic to complete levels might be a puzzle platformer. Finally, it includes other action games that require timing and accuracy with pattern-matching or logic skills, other notable action puzzle games include Team Icos Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. A hidden object game is a genre of video game in which the player must find items from a list that are hidden within a picture. Hidden object games are a popular trend in gaming, and are comparatively inexpensive to buy
10.
Multiplayer game
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A multiplayer game has several players, who may be independent opponents or teams. Games with many independent players are difficult to analyse formally using game theory as the players may form coalitions, the term game in this context may mean either a true game played for entertainment, or a competitive activity describable in principle by mathematical game theory. John Nash proved that games with several players have a solution provided that coalitions between players are not allowed. He won the Nobel prize for economics for this important result which extended von Neumanns theory of zero-sum games, such a stable strategy is called a Nash equilibrium. If cooperation between players is allowed, then the game is more complex, many concepts have been developed to analyze such games. While these have had partial success in the fields of economics, politics and conflict. In quantum game theory, it has found that the introduction of quantum information into multiplayer games allows a new type of equilibrium strategy which is not found in traditional games. The entanglement of playerss choices can have the effect of a contract by preventing players from profiting from betrayal, board games – A played on a game board with set rules
11.
Nintendo
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Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the worlds largest video game companies by market capitalization, founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small businesses, such as cab services. The word Nintendo can be translated from Japanese to English as leave luck to heaven. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major League Baseballs Seattle Mariners, as of 31 March 2014, Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units. The company has created and released some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand, in 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd. doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the Nintendo Cup. In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U. S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company and he found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchis realization that the card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales, in 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co. Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company called Daiya. However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a hotel chain, a TV network. All of these ventures failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped. In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new Nintendo Games department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester
12.
Wii Remote
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The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendos Wii console. Another feature is its expandability through the use of attachments, the attachment bundled with the Wii console is the Nunchuk, which complements the Wii Remote by providing functions similar to those in gamepad controllers. Some other attachments include the Classic Controller, Wii Zapper, the controller was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show on September 14,2005, with the name Wii Remote announced April 27,2006. It has since received much attention due to its unique features, the Wiis successor console, the Wii U, supports the Wii Remote and its peripherals in games where use of the features of the Wii U GamePad is not imperative. Development of a motion enabled controller began in 2001, coinciding with development of the Wii console, in that year, Nintendo licensed a number of motion-sensing patents from Gyration Inc. a company that produces wireless motion-sensing computer mice. At this point, Gyration Inc. brought in a design firm Bridge Design to help pitch its concept to Nintendo. Under requirement to preserve the existing Game Cube button layout, it experimented with different forms through sketches, models. By late 2004, early 2005, however, Nintendo had come up with the Wii Remotes less traditional wand shape, and the design of the Nunchuk attachment. Nintendo had also decided upon using a sensor, infrared pointer, and the layout of the buttons. Coincidentally, this idea would later be implemented on the Wii Us GamePad controller, sources also indicate that the Wii Remote was originally in development as a controller for the Nintendo GameCube, rather than the Wii. Video game developer Factor 5 stated that development of launch title Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, Rogue Leader. As the Wii gained in popularity, reports surfaced of counterfeit Wii Remotes entering circulation, although these devices may provide the same functionality as official Wii Remotes, the build quality is typically inferior and components such as the rumble pack and speaker are noticeably different. It is also unclear if current and future accessories will operate correctly with counterfeit units due to the differences in internal components, the Wii Remote assumes a one-handed remote control-based design instead of the traditional gamepad controllers of previous gaming consoles. This was done to make motion sensitivity more intuitive, as a design is fitted perfectly for pointing. The body of the Wii Remote measures 6.2 in long,36.2 mm wide, the Wii Remote model number is RVL-003, a reference to the project codename Revolution. The controller communicates wirelessly with the console via short-range Bluetooth radio, however, to utilize pointer functionality, the Wii Remote must be used within five meters of the Sensor Bar. The controllers symmetrical design allows it to be used in either hand, the Wii Remote can also be turned horizontally and used like a Famicom/NES controller, or in some cases a steering wheel. It is also possible to play a game with a Wii Remote in each hand
13.
Analog stick
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An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick, joystick, or thumbstick is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller, while digital sticks rely on single electrical connections for movement, analog sticks use continuous electrical activity running through potentiometers. The analog stick has greatly overtaken the D-pad in both prominence and usage in console video games, in a video game, an analog stick is often used to move some game object, usually the playable character. It may also be used to rotate the camera, usually around the character, the analog stick can serve a great variety of other functions, depending on the game. Today many analog sticks can also be pushed in like conventional face buttons of a controller and its use is prevalent in 3D games, where more than 8 directions are needed. Using a D-pad in a 3D game greatly limits the ability to move, for example, in a 3D platform game like Super Mario 64, using a D-pad would allow Mario to move forward, backwards, left and right, but nothing in between. With the prevalence of analog sticks, the limitations of the D-pad ceased to be an issue. Two analog sticks offer greater functionality than a single stick, on some modern game controllers, the left stick is positioned to the upper left of the D-pad while the right stick is positioned to the lower left of the face buttons. The Classic Controller for the Wii also uses this configuration, with genres such as action, adventure games, platforming, and shooting, the left stick normally controls the characters movement while the second stick controls the camera. The use of an analog stick alleviated problems in many earlier platform games. In Namcos Katamari Damacy and its sequels, both analog sticks are used at once to control the players character, Sonys PSP has been criticized for the lack of a second analog nub to accompany the left-hand one, a criticism that was later also leveled at Nintendos 3DS. Nintendo has since released an add-on for the 3DS that adds, among other things, the follow-up to the PSP, the PlayStation Vita, features dual analog sticks. It is the first handheld console to do so. The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL added a second analog controller, the first consumer games console which had analog joysticks was the Prinztronic/Acetronic/Interton series, launched in 1976. This system was widely cloned throughout Europe and available under several brand names, the 2 sticks each used a pair of potentiometers, but were not self-centering. In 1982, Atari released a controller with an analog joystick for their Atari 5200 home console. However, its non-centering joystick design proved to be ungainly and unreliable, during that same year, General Consumer Electronics introduced the Vectrex, a vector graphics based system which used a self-centering analog joystick. In 1985, Segas third-person rail shooter game Space Harrier, released for the arcades, Segas analog Mission Stick was released for the Saturn console on September 29,1995
14.
D-pad
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Like early video game joysticks, the vast majority of D-pads are digital, in other words, only the directions provided on the D-pad buttons can be used, with no intermediate values. However, combinations of two directions do provide diagonals and many modern D-pads can be used to provide eight-directional input if appropriate, although digital D-pads offer less flexibility than analog sticks, they can easily be manipulated with very high accuracy. They are also far less demanding in maintenance and do not protrude very far from the controller, making them ideal for consoles such as the Game Boy, DS. D-pads have appeared on other kinds of equipment, including A/V remote controls, calculators, PDAs, smartphones. A precursor to the D-pad was the four buttons used in arcade games such as UPLs Blockade. A precursor to the standard D-pad on a game console was used by the Intellivision. The Intellivisions unique controller featured the first alternative to a joystick on a home console, similar directional buttons were also used on the Atari Game Brain, the unreleased precursor to the Atari 2600, and on some early dedicated game consoles such as the VideoMaster Star Chess game. Nintendos known cross design was developed in 1982 by Gunpei Yokoi for their Donkey Kong handheld game and this particular design was patented and later earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. In 1984, the Japanese company Epoch created a game system called the Epoch Game Pocket Computer. It featured a D-pad, but it was not popular for its time, all major video game consoles since have had a D-pad of some shape on their controllers. To avoid infringing on Nintendos patent, most controller manufacturers use a cross in a shape for the D-pad. Sega coined the term D button to describe the pad, using the term describing the controllers for the Sega Genesis in instruction manuals. Arcade games, however, have continued using joysticks. Modern consoles, beginning with the Nintendo 64, provide both a D-pad and a compact thumb-operated analog stick, depending on the game, one type of control may be more appropriate than the other. In many cases with games that use a thumbstick, the D-pad is used as a set of buttons, all four usually centered on a kind of task. Even without a stick, some software uses the D-pads eight-directional capabilities to act as eight discrete buttons. Jam Sessions for the Nintendo DS, for example, uses the D-pad to select music chords during play, many, though not all, such designs include a trigger button in the center of the button arrangement, usually labeled Enter, OK, or the like. Some older devices do not have d-pads as such, but simple single-axis, on some remotes, the d-pad can also be used to control a robot using a signal-compatible receiver
15.
IGN
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The website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29,1996. It focuses on games, films, television, comics, technology, the company is located in San Franciscos SOMA district in California, United States. Originally a network of websites, IGN is now distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu. IGN was sold to publishing company Ziff Davis in February 2013 and now operates as a J2 Global subsidiary. com, PSXPower, Saturnworld, Next-Generation. com and Ultra Game Players Online. Imagine expanded on its owned-and-operated websites by creating a network that included a number of independent fansites such as PSX Nation. com, Sega-Saturn. com, Game Sages. In 1998, the network launched a new homepage that consolidated the individual sites as system channels under the IGN brand, the homepage exposed content from more than 30 different channels. Next-Generation and Ultra Game Players Online were not part of this consolidation, dissolved with the cancellation of the magazine, and Next-Generation was put on hold when Imagine decided to concentrate on launching the short-lived Daily Radar brand. In February 1999, Imagine Media incorporated a spin-off that included IGN and its channels as Affiliation Networks. In September, the newly spun-out standalone internet media company, changed its name to Snowball. com, at the same time, small entertainment website The Den merged into IGN and added non-gaming content to the growing network. Snowball held an IPO in 2000, but shed most of its properties during the dot-com bubble. In June 2005, IGN reported having 24,000,000 unique visitors per month, with 4.8 million registered users through all departments of the site, IGN is ranked among the top 200 most-visited websites according to Alexa. In September 2005, IGN was acquired by Rupert Murdochs multi-media business empire, News Corporation, IGN celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 12,2008. IGN was headquartered in the Marina Point Parkway office park in Brisbane, California, on May 25,2011, IGN sold its Direct2Drive division to Gamefly for an undisclosed amount. In 2011, IGN Entertainment acquired its rival UGO Entertainment from Hearst Corporation, ultimately, News Corp. planned to spin off IGN Entertainment as a publicly traded company, continuing a string of divestitures for digital properties it had previously acquired. Financial details regarding the purchase were not revealed, prior to its acquisition by UGO, 1UP. com had previously been owned by Ziff Davis. Soon after the acquisition, IGN announced that it would be laying off staff and closing GameSpy, 1UP. com, the role-playing video game interest website Vault Network was acquired by IGN in 1999. GameStats, a review website, was founded by IGN in 2004. GameStats includes a GPM rating system incorporates an average press score and average gamer score
16.
GameSpot
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GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1,1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and it was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which purchased CNET Networks in 2008, is the current owner of GameSpot, in addition to the information produced by GameSpot staff, the site also allows users to write their own reviews, blogs, and post on the sites forums. In 2004, GameSpot won Best Gaming Website as chosen by the viewers in Spike TVs second Video Game Award Show, the domain gamespot. com attracted at least 60 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete. com study. GameSpot was founded by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein in San Francisco, CA, initially, GameSpot focused exclusively on PC games. Its sister site, VideoGameSpot. com, was launched in December 1996 to cover console games, in 1997, VideoGameSpot. com became VideoGames. com for a short period, and by 1998, the PC and console sections were united at GameSpot. com. On October 3,2005, GameSpot adopted a new design similar to that of TV. com, a new layout change was adopted on October 2013. GameSpot UK was started in October 1997 and operated until mid-2002, during this period, GameSpot UK won the 1999 PPAi award for best website, and was short listed in 2001. Following the purchase of ZDNet by CNET, GameSpot UK was merged with the main US site, on April 24,2006, GameSpot UK was relaunched. In a similar fashion, GameSpot AU existed on a scale in the late 1990s with Australian-produced reviews. When a local version of the main CNET portal, CNET. com. au was launched in 2003, the site was fully re-launched mid-2006, with a specialized forum, local reviews, special features, local pricings in A$, Australian release dates, and more local news. GameSpot Japan in its current form launched in 2007 and it provides Japanese video game industry news, previews, reviews, features, and videos as well as translated articles from the other GameSpot sites. Jeff Gerstmann, Editorial Director of the site, was fired on November 28,2007, Gerstmann had previously given Kane & Lynch a fair or undesirable rating along with critique. Both GameSpot and parent company CNET stated that his dismissal was unrelated to the review, a month after Gerstmanns termination, freelance reviewer Frank Provo left GameSpot after eight years stating that I believe CNET management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons. I believe CNET intends to soften the tone and push for higher scores to make advertisers happy. GameSpot staffers Alex Navarro, Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, Davis co-founded Gerstmanns subsequent project, Giant Bomb, and was later joined by Shoemaker and Caravella. Navarro later returned to Giant Bomb, where he works as a Senior Editor. On March 15,2012, it was announced that CBS Interactive, as part of the deal, the non-disparagement agreement between Gerstmann and CNET was nullified, allowing him to finally speak publicly about his termination over four years prior
17.
Bubble Bobble
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Bubble Bobble is an arcade comical action platformer video game by Taito, first released in 1986 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. For example, some wrapped candies allow Bub and Bob to move faster, blow bubbles faster, other items, such as umbrellas, allow to skip numerous levels, moving closer to the final level. The game became popular and led to a series of sequels. The main goal of the game is to rescue Bub and Bobs girlfriends from the Cave of Monsters and it is an early example of an action game with multiple endings, which depend on the players performance and discovery of secrets. In the games plot, Baron Von Blubba has kidnapped the brothers Bubby and Bobbys girlfriends and turned the brothers into Bubble Dragons, Bub, Bub and Bob have to finish 100 levels in the Cave of Monsters in order to rescue them. In the game, each controls one of the two dragons. Players can move along platforms, fall to lower ones, and jump to higher ones and over gaps. Each level is limited to a screen, with no scrolling, however, if a screen has gaps in its bottom edge, players can fall through these. Each level has a number of enemies that must be defeated in order to advance. The players must blow bubbles to trap the enemies, then burst these bubbles by colliding with them, each enemy defeated in this manner turns into a food item that can be picked up for extra points. Defeating multiple enemies at once awards higher scores and causes more valuable items to appear. All bubbles will float for a length of time before bursting on their own, players can jump on these. Magic items appear from time to time and grant special abilities and advantages when picked up, special bubbles occasionally appear that can be burst to attack enemies with fire, water, or lightning. Furthermore, if a player collects letter bubbles to form the word EXTEND, he/she earns a bonus life, a player loses one life upon touching any free enemies or their projectiles. Enemies turn angry—turning pink in color and moving faster—if they escape from a bubble after being too long or the players spend a certain amount of time on the current level. They return to normal if either player loses a life, after a further time limit expires, an additional invincible enemy appears for each player, actively chasing them using only vertical and horizontal movements. These disappear once the level is cleared, or when a player loses a life, when there is only one enemy left, it immediately becomes angry and remains in this state until defeated. In the 100th and final level, players face a boss and this game was one of the first to feature multiple endings
18.
Bubble Bobble Part 2
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Bubble Bobble Part 2 is a game in the Bubble Bobble series. While it was never released in the arcade, two versions of the game were developed independently from other, with each game receiving a different story line as a result. The Game Boy version is known in Japan as Bubble Bobble Junior, according to the NES versions manual, this game stars Bub and Bob, the original duo. On the games cover, they are also said to be Cubby and Rubby, Bub. As seen in the intro, Bub, and a girl named Judy, were sitting in a park. Suddenly, a skull character, who is one of the Skull Brothers, captures Judy into a bubble. Two characters named Drunk follow the skull and take Judy away, Bub turns into a bubble dragon and heads off to rescue his girlfriend. There is also a mode, implying that Bob has suffered the same events as Bub had. However, the states that Judy is a friend of both. In the Game Boy version, a character named Robby has to people from a village. For both the NES and Game Boy versions, the gameplay remains unchanged from the other games in the series. However, the player can become able to float up to higher platforms, in the NES version only, there are three bonus games which are located after the player defeats a boss, or through a certain door. Bubble Bobble Part 2 at MobyGames Bubble Bobble Part 2 at MobyGames
19.
Bubble Symphony
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Bubble Symphony, also known as Bubble Bobble II, is an arcade video game in the Bubble Bobble series developed by Taito in 1994. While being a new Bubble Bobble for a new generation, in actuality it takes place after Parasol Stars, for this adventure, Bubblun and Bobblun, the familiar green and blue bubble dragons, are joined by girls Kululun and Cororon. However, they are stated to be the children of the Bub, according to the intro, the four characters inadvertently unleash Hyper Drunk, the final boss, while reading books. Hyper Drunk transforms the four into bubble dragons and banishes them to a new world, Bubblun is the well-rounded character, he can fire three grouped bubbles straight ahead when powered up. Bobblun has faster speed in exchange for shorter range and he can shoot three bubbles in a spread pattern when powered up. Kululun has the longest available range, but is slow and she can shoot her bubbles in a T pattern when powered up. Cororon has the fastest bubble blowing and can shoot her bubbles in a pattern when powered up. Although a sequel to Bubble Bobble, the game inaugurates few changes to the formula of that title. The players must collect certain square cards with music notes inside, also, the characters have to collect a rod to turn their characters from their dragon to human forms during the course of the game. The game features cameos by other notable Taito characters or settings from games as diverse as The New Zealand Story, Darius, Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Liquid Kids, KiKi KaiKai, Yūyu no Quiz de Go. Within the context of the world, Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III takes place before Bubble Symphony. All the enemies from the original Bubble Bobble appear in this game, the credits show all the enemies names, and those of characters who make cameos from other Taito games. Bubble Symphony was released on the Sega Saturn in Japan, as well as via Taito Legends 2 on the PC in North America and Europe and it was released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan only, via Taito Memories II Volume 2. A PlayStation version was completed, but never released, note, That Xbox and PS2 versions run in upscanned 640x448 resolution, which results in slight flickering, no scanlines and slightly blurrier image compared to the Arcade and Sega Saturn versions. Bubble Symphony is a video game soundtrack that was released on CD, tracks 1,2 and 22 were arranged by Yasuko Yamada, Yasutaka Mizushima and Tamayo Kawamoto. Bubble Symphony Original Sound Track was released by Zuntata Records and Taito Corp on July 31,2013 in Japan, Bubble Symphony at the Killer List of Videogames Bubble Symphony at Arcade History. com
20.
Bubble Memories
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Bubble Memories is a video game by Taito released to arcades in February 1996. It is the sequel to Bubble Symphony and is the fifth Bubble Bobble game, unlike Bubble Symphony, this game stars only two dragons, Bub and Bob, like the original Bubble Bobble. It was released in 2007 for PlayStation 2 in Japan only as part of the Taito Memories II Volume 1 compilation, the twins must climb the 80 floors of the tower to take seven colorful potions, free it from his clutches and regain their human forms. Bub and Bob are young boys in the intro, indicating that this is a prequel to the series. Bub and Bob are once again transformed into bubble dragons and have to climb up the Rainbow Tower to fight the Super Dark Great Dragon, while collecting potions to turn back into human form. Bubble Memories does very little to change the gameplay of the series, except for introducing giant enemies on some levels, different bosses, and a way to blow giant bubbles after charging up. Giant bubbles can be blown by charging up the character, the button is held until the characters horns begin flashing. There are a total of 80 levels, while the last 10 levels can only be accessed by collecting 7 potions, Bubble Memories at the Killer List of Videogames Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III at Arcade History. com
21.
Bubble Bobble Revolution
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Bubble Bobble Revolution is a 2D platformer for the Nintendo DS. There are two gameplay modes in Bubble Bobble Revolution, Classic, and New-Age. Classic mode is a conversion of the original Bubble Bobble to the DS hardware, enemies are defeated by blowing bubbles to trap them and then colliding with them, each enemy produces a food item that can be collected for extra points. The original co-op multiplayer mode is implemented, if two players own copies of the game, they can use DS Download Play to play together. New-Age plays similarly to the game, with several key differences. Characters and levels are larger, and enemies and projectiles are faster, there are additionally boss fights every tenth level, and Bub and Bob can now take three hits instead of one before dying and have several new types of bubbles. Fans are also scattered around levels, and can be spun by blowing into the DSs microphone, rather than a co-op mode, Revolution includes a four-player competitive mode in which players compete for the most points in ten different levels. All levels beyond #30 in the North American version are unplayable due to an error that causes the boss of that level not to spawn. This was an often criticized aspect of the game, codemasters ultimately responded by releasing a fixed version of the game, which included a free copy of Rainbow Islands Revolution. Bubble Bobble Revolution received scathing reviews from critics, and currently holds a Metacritic score of 38/100 based on 19 reviews, common criticism was directed at the games dated visuals and level design. Reviewers also heavily criticized the amount of odd glitches, which were described by Frank Provo of GameSpot as strange. Many critics also made note of the level 30 glitch, which Craig Harris of IGN claimed makes a bad game worse, gamesradar was heavily critical of the title as well, stating If youre looking for a fresh update to a classic arcade game, this is not it. John Walker of Eurogamer began his review off by giving praise for the game before harshly criticizing the new-age remake. Reviewers also made note of the redesigns of the original characters. Despite the negative criticism, some did praise the inclusion of the original Bubble Bobble. Provo called the game a classic and enjoyable, and praised the multiplayer modes as well. However, Harris referred to them as unacceptable for requiring two copies of the game, a statement echoed by Walker, IGN reports on Dual Screen Bub and Bob codemasters. com game page
22.
Bubble Bobble Double Shot
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Bubble Bobble Double Shot is a game in the Bubble Bobble series for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Europe on March 23,2007 and Australia on April 5,2007 by Rising Star Games and it was later released by Ignition Entertainment in North America on February 26,2008. This game was never released in Japan, the story involves Bub and Bob visiting their cousin Bubu and their grandfather. In the attic of their house, they find a treasure map and they decide to explore the island that Bubu resides on to search for treasure. Each stage is laid out over the Nintendo DSs dual screens, the game also supports co-operative multiplayer for multiple DS cards, for up to three players. One of the newest features of Double Shot is the color scheme, players can switch between Bub, Bob and Bubu on the fly, with each character shooting a different color bubble. As usual, Bub shoots green bubbles, Bob shoots blue bubbles, however, a gameplay change is that some enemies can only be attacked by a bubble of a specific color, while others require being trapped by two bubbles of different colors. Every 10 levels, there is a stage, and there are 100 stages in all. If the player loses all lives, a touch screen minigame must be completed in order to continue. It has also criticized in all countries for not having a save feature. Bubble Bobble Double Shot at MobyGames Article at IGN
23.
Bubble Bobble Plus!
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Bubble Bobble Neo. and Bubble Bobble Plus. are remakes of the 1986 action-platformer arcade game Bubble Bobble. The game was developed and published by Taito, as with previous games, the player will have to defeat all enemies across a number of screens by trapping them in bubbles and popping them. The game contains several playing modes - a remake containing 100 classic stages, in addition, for Bubble Bobble Plus. Two downloadable content packs were released consisting of 50 very hard stages each and these Extra modes also include four player support. Bubble Bobble Plus. received generally positive reviews, the review scored the title 8/10. IGN had this to say about the game, Bubble Bobble is a game of adventure and betrayal. Robert Townslend of Game Informer said, The whole Bubble Bobble thing has been done a thousand times before, smash, bash, bubble fun time to be had
24.
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2
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Rainbow Islands is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The arcade version was licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing, the game is subtitled The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 and is the sequel to Taitos hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year. It is the second of four games in the Bubble Bobble series. The game was ported for numerous home computers and game consoles, the main characters are Bubblun and Bobblun, the protagonists of Bubble Bobble. However, in this game appear in their human forms as Bubby and Bobby. Also unlike the first game, players must now alternate, with one as Bubby. Following the events of Bubble Bobble, Bubby and Bobby set out to defeat the Dark Shadow, the Dark Shadow is the entity responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble. The game is set on a chain of ten islands, each one with a different theme, each island provides four rounds of game-play, and once these are complete the player moves to the next island in the chain. In each round the player must get to the top before the sea level rises, the islands get progressively more difficult, with enemies moving much faster on the later ones. These are depicted on a map screen before the start of each island, players can release rainbows that act as both weapons against the enemies and as a makeshift platform. By jumping on them, they fall down beating any enemies below it, collecting power-ups increases the players speed, the speed of the rainbows and how many are spawned. If players take too long in a level, water will start to rise up from the bottom of the stage, like Bubble Bobble before it, the game has multiple endings. To get the True and Happy ending you must find and complete the three secret islands and these islands are not visible until all 7 big diamonds are collected. To get a big diamond, the player must collect seven different-colored small diamonds on the island, the small diamonds are found by destroying enemies by dropping a rainbow on them from above or destroying them with various special items. After collecting the diamonds, a word NICE will appear. If the small diamonds are collected in the order, you will get to a secret room at the end of each island. One of the features which sets this apart from many others is its hidden depths. While initially appearing to be quite a game, Rainbow Islands in fact has a vast number of secrets for the player to discover, including secret levels, secret power-ups
25.
Parasol Stars
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Parasol Stars is a video game by Taito released in 1991. It is a sequel to Rainbow Islands and it is technically the third game in the Bubble Bobble series. Unlike many other games in the series, Parasol Stars was never released to arcades - it was developed for the NEC PC Engine. Parasol Stars was misreported as being the third coin-op in the Bubble Bobble series by many magazines at the time, Taito has officially stated that an arcade game was never produced. Mick West stated that they ported the game directly from the PC Engine by playing it, the game was released in limited quantities in North America for the TurboGrafx-16 by Working Designs. The Game Boy and NES version were published by Ocean Software in 1991, a ZX Spectrum port was planned, but later cancelled. The game was planned for the Commodore 64, but it was cancelled as well. The games subtitle is The Story of Bubble Bobble III, which was used as the subtitle for Bubble Memories. Bubble Memories is a prequel to the 1994 game Bubble Symphony, nonetheless, Rainbow Islands is indeed the sequel to the original Bubble Bobble, even though said sequel doesnt retain the gameplay from the first. However, its possible that Parasol Stars could be a side story, or gaiden to the series occurring after Rainbow Islands. Bubby and Bobby star once again as the characters, retaining their human forms from Rainbow Islands. However, Parasol Stars is more of a take on Bubble Bobble than it is on Rainbow Islands, the game takes place on a number of different worlds, each with a distinct theme. Each world features seven rounds, the last one always hosting a boss that must be defeated to progress to the next world, completing these two lead to the final boss, Chaostikhan and the true ending. According to an ACE magazine in-depth preview, the Amiga version also has a secret Nightmare world, the player is armed with a parasol. While it is closed, the player can deploy it in two ways, either open in front of them, or open above the head. The parasol is a device, it can block as a shield, stun enemies. At many points it can be used as a parachute, the rounds are simple arrangements of platforms. Almost every level has droplets which drip from points in the level and they fall under the influence of gravity and roll along the platforms within the screen
26.
Rainbow Islands Revolution
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Rainbow Islands Revolution is a game on the Nintendo DS. It is an update of the game, Rainbow Islands. Unlike in the original, the character, Bub, rides in a bubble, and the player has to guide him with the stylus. Therefore, the game uses mainly the DSs touch screen, the player has to drag Bub around using the stylus. Contact with enemies or dangerous objects such as causes the player to lose a heart. When all hearts have been lost, the player loses a life, when the player drags the stylus anywhere on the screen that isnt Bub, the player can create a rainbow. The rainbow serves as a barrier through which enemies cant cross, if the rainbow is drawn over an enemy, the enemy is killed. Additionally, when the taps a rainbow, it falls down removing any enemies that lie below. The player can draw some special shapes which create rainbows with special effects
27.
Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure!
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Rainbow Islands, Towering Adventure. is a video game developed by Taito for WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade. It is the latest installment in the Rainbow Islands series, the game was released in Japan on March 3,2009, in the PAL regions on May 8,2009 and in North America on June 15,2009. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released on October 28,2009, as a spin-off of the Bubble Bobble series, the game features slightly similar gameplay. The player will be able to play as either Bubblun or Bobblun, or both, who have to make their way to the top of long, vertical stages with the aid of rainbows. Instead of health or a set number of lives, the uses a time limit. Getting hit by enemies will lose valuable seconds, but defeating enemies with rainbows will sprout forth gems that can replenish time, by defeating multiple enemies in a row, more valuable gems with bigger time bonuses are awarded. At certain points in the game, Dr Crescent will attack from below in one of his machines, players can either try to defeat him, or evade him until the next checkpoint. By collecting seven colored gems, players can use an attack against these mini-bosses. In the Xbox Live Arcade version, players can use their Avatars in the Time Attack, daemon Hatfield, also of IGN, gave the Xbox Live Arcade version 7.2, calling it a fun little arcade game that has a couple unusual tricks up its sleeve
28.
Puzzle Bobble 2
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Puzzle Bobble 2 is the first sequel to Puzzle Bobble. It was titled in Europe and North America as Bust-A-Move Again on the arcade, released into the arcades in 1995, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and PC conversions followed. The game was included in Taito Legends 2, but the US arcade version was included on US PS2 version instead, the game is a spin-off from Bubble Bobble. Some of the contestants in the new tournament mode are based on characters from Bubble Bobble, including variations on a Monsta, the various enemies from Bubble Bobble also make an appearance in the background of the credits sequence. Taito later repacked Bust-A-Move 2 with an alternative set of levels. Ports of Bust-A-Move 2 to the PC and Sega Saturn are of Bust-A-Move 2X, a port of 2X was made to the PlayStation but was not released until some time after a port of Bust-A-Move 2 was released. The shots of the packaging in the lower right corner of the ad show that the North American release of the game was to use the same cover art as the PAL release. Instead, possibly due to a mix-up by Acclaims marketing department and this cover earned a place on GameSpys Top Ten Worst Covers list, with journalist Kevin Bowen pointing out that the disturbing imagery was likely to frighten away the games young target audience. A Next Generation gave the game a review, calling it One of the most addictive puzzle games in the arcades right now
29.
Puzzle Bobble 3
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Puzzle Bobble 3 is the second sequel to Puzzle Bobble. It was released into arcades in September 1996 and later ported to the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and it would be the final appearance of Puzzle Bobble on the Sega Saturn. Like its predecessors, the player is tasked with shooting balls at groups of balls, creating groups of 3 or more, a European remake is entitled Bust-a-Move 3 DX released in America as Bust-A-Move 99. The game completely abandons the idea of previous titles that the playfield is being pushed down by some sort of mechanical device, when a node is no longer connected to any bubbles, it will disappear and when all nodes in a level have vanished the level is complete. The player is not penalised if such bubbles again leave the field without attaching to anything. Despite this some versions include a reimplementation of the Puzzle Bobble 2 levels now built around nodes, gameplay is further varied by the implementation of new scrolling playfields that are several times as high as the screen and must be conquered as an endurance event. Each scrolling playfield occupies the space on the world map as five previous levels. This game also marks the introduction of rainbow bubbles into the series - bubbles that are initially transparent, any adjoining bubble that is burst, the rainbow bubbles next to them switch to the colour of the burst bubble, allowing the player to build up chain reactions. The ability to choose a character was introduced, but only to the VS Computer mode, as in Bubble Bobble, the 1st player, when he/she picks Bub, gets Bub, and the 2nd player gets Bob. In the Nintendo 64 version, a 4 player simultaneous option is available, Bust-a-Move 99 at MobyGames Puzzle Bobble 3 at vgmuseum. com
30.
Puzzle Bobble 4
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Puzzle Bobble 4 is the third sequel to the video game Puzzle Bobble and is the final appearance of the series on the Arcade, PlayStation and Dreamcast. The game is also the title to be recognizably similar in presentation to the original. Building upon the success of Puzzle Bobble 3, the game adds a system that requires two sets of bubbles, attached to either side of a rope hanging across two pulleys. The game contains a mode for single player play. In total, the game features 640 levels, the console version features a level editor to either create and save a level, set a succession of levels, or to create an unlimited amount of extra levels and stages. It also has a story mode. On the planet Bubbleluna live the twins Bub and Bob, one day, the sun fails to rise because the Fairy of the Night, Cleon, has stolen the light source known as the Rainbow for Full-Moon Madame Luna. She splits this rainbow into 7 light bubbles, Bub and Bob then set off to retrieve these bubbles and restore the light and peace to their planet. This installment of the series introduces two new features, the system and chain reactions. The pulley system consists of two groups of attached to either side of a pulley. Popping some on one side will cause that side to be lighter, the other side lowers in response. If a pulley is shaking and a bubble is attached, the heavier side will lower. This requires added strategy to prevent one side moving too far, one possible strategy is to form a bubble cluster between two pulleys to prevent them from lowering or rising at all. Then the player can triangulate until acquiring the necessary bubbles to clear both anchor bubbles, while keeping both ends of the pulley clustered together. Chain reactions occur only on the two player modes, when a bubble is dropped, it can move to another place on the board if this causes more bubbles to pop. If this in turn causes more bubbles to drop, then the reaction can continue. Puzzle Mode - Consists of a field of stages labelled A-Z, to proceed to either the stages B or C, you must complete A. This continues, meaning there are possible routes to completing the puzzle mode
31.
Psychic Force
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Psychic Force is a 1995 fighting arcade game created by Taito which was later ported to the PlayStation in 1996 and 1997. The PlayStation version was released by Acclaim in North America, the game was a 3D fighter which had combined the normal features of an arcade fighting game with psychic powers. There were eight characters available to choose from in the game. Psychic Force was released without much hype and was not commercially successful at the time of its initial release, Psychic Force would later get an arcade-exclusive update titled Psychic Force EX, which was released a year later in 1996. In 1998, a sequel was released under the title Psychic Force 2012 also for the arcade and it was eventually adapted to the PlayStation under the title Psychic Force 2, which was released in Japan on October 7,1999 and later to the PAL regions in 2001. All combat in Psychic Force takes place in a space defined by a magical force field. The fighters float inside this space and are capable of movement in all directions, even though Psychic Force is structured as a 3D game, the gameplay is in 2D. The walls of the force field play a big part in the strategy behind Psychic Force, a character takes damage when theyre forced into a wall by their opponent. The character do not take damage, however, if they move into the wall themselves, if a character takes another hit as they bounce off from the wall, the character will become stunned and fall through the air. The character is eventually invulnerable while theyre falling, as in most fighting games, the first character to win two rounds wins the match. However, you win a round on time. I. e. if time runs out, neither player wins, instead, you go to a sudden death round in which the space is much smaller and both characters have 0% Psycho Gauge. The first person to land an attack wins, when you are fighting the computer, however, the character with more health remaining at the end of the round wins. The characters are controlled with an eight directional joystick and three buttons which dictate a guard, an attack, and a heavy attack. By combining these different commands, the player can make attacks, throws. A characters special move is determined by the Psycho Gauge, which is seen under the Life Gauge of the character, the plot of Psychic Force takes place in the year 2010, where selected individuals are blessed with the power of psychic abilities. All people imbued with power are called Psychiccers and uses a specific element such as fire, light, wind, electricity, gravity, time. Psychiccers are shunned by people in general because of their unnatural abilities
32.
Super Puzzle Bobble
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Super Puzzle Bobble, also released as Super Bust-A-Move in Europe and North America, is a puzzle game in the Puzzle Bobble series. It was developed by Taito Corporation, and released on November 26,2000 by Acclaim Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, there is a different arcade release with the same name. It was later ported to the Game Boy Advance on November 27,2001 and it was re-released in Japan for the PS2 in 2004 as part of Super Puzzle Bobble DX, which is Volume 62 of the Japan-exclusive Simple 2000 Series. This compilation includes a few graphical enhancements, Super Puzzle Bobble was ported to the GameCube in 2003, under the name of Super Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move All-Stars, and also Bust-A-Move 3000. The game is a port, except for the inclusion of new backgrounds. It also features new box artwork, more in line with the in-game artwork, the GameCube All-Stars version has a four player option. Super Puzzle Bobble gameplay is essentially the same as the rest of the series and it bestows some audiovisual improvements, adds and removes gameplay elements, adds a new art style, and adds a new character roster. It has single player, training, computer competition, and two player competition modes
33.
Azumanga Daioh
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Azumanga Daioh is a Japanese yonkoma comedy manga series written and illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma, which was serialized in MediaWorks Dengeki Daioh magazine between 1999 and 2002. Three additional chapters were published in Shogakukans Monthly Shōnen Sunday in May 2009 to celebrate the tenth anniversary. The manga was first released in English by ADV Manga, and was later re-issued by Yen Press, the compiled episodes were released on DVD and Universal Media Discs by Starchild Records, and an English-language version was produced by ADV Films. Prior to the series, a short and an original net animation were also produced. Several soundtrack albums were released, as well as three Azumanga Daioh video games, both the manga and anime have been praised for their humor driven by eccentric characters, with Azuma acclaimed as a master of the four-panel form for both his art style and comic timing. The series title has no significance to the story. Azumanga is a portmanteau of the authors name Azuma and manga, while Daioh comes from the magazine in which it was originally published, in the anime, daioh is mentioned during the next episode previews, used in context with the meaning great king. Azumanga is also used as a term for Kiyohiko Azumas other comics. Two previous collections of Azumas works, including official tie-in comics of Pioneer animations, were published as Azumanga and Azumanga 2 in 1998 and 2001, Azumanga was later republished in a reduced-size edition called Azumanga Recycle. Secondary characters include Kimura-sensei, a male teacher with an obsession with teenage girls, and Kaorin. Azumanga Daioh was written and illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma, largely in yonkoma format, the unnumbered chapters were serialized by MediaWorks in the monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh from February 1999 to May 2002. The series was collected in four tankōbon volumes, each of the four volumes covers about a year in the characters lives. A new edition in three volumes was released in Japan by Shogakukan to commemorate the mangas 10th anniversary, with one, covering the first year of high school. The reprint edition contains three additional 16-page chapters serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday starting in May 2009 under the title Azumanga Daioh, the series was licensed in English in North America and the United Kingdom by ADV Manga, which released all four volumes between 2003 and 2004. ADV later reprinted the series in an edition on November 7,2007. In 2009, Yen Press acquired the North American and UK license of Azumanga Daioh, in Europe, Azumanga Daioh is licensed in French by Kurokawa, in German by Tokyopop, in Spanish by Norma Editorial, and in Finnish by Punainen jättiläinen. In Asia, the series has been licensed in Korean by Daiwon C. I. in Thai by Negibose Comics, in Vietnam by TVM Comics and it was the first yonkoma manga translated in France. The anime television series, Azumanga Daioh, the Animation, was produced by J. C. Staff and it featured different voice actors and music from the regular series
34.
Bust-a-Move DS
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Puzzle Bobble in Japan, is a puzzle video game developed by Happy Happening and published by Majesco for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. Instead of the firing mechanism used in previous games in the series. This game should not be confused with Puzzle Bobble DS, a different game released only in Japan. The game received mixed reaction due to the game lacking new features apart from the new slingshot system
35.
Space Bust-a-Move
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Space Bust-A-Move is a puzzle video game developed by Lancarse and published by Taito for the Nintendo DS. As with Arkanoid DS, Space Invaders Extreme and Space Invaders Extreme 2, as with the previous games in the Puzzle Bobble series, the player controls a pointer on the bottom of the screen that shoots differently-colored bubbles upwards. The object is to shoot bubbles at other bubbles of the color at the top of the screen. When a group of three or more bubbles that touch each other are formed, then that group disappears, the objective is to clear the screen of all bubbles. The levels remains the same, with levels containing boss battles. The game includes a mode, in which players go through eight worlds that reveal a story. It also includes a mode in which players can compete against other users via a Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
36.
Puzzle Bobble Plus!
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Puzzle Bobble Plus. is a video game developed by Taito for WiiWare. It is the latest entry in the Puzzle Bobble series and it was first released in Japan on April 7,2009, and later in the PAL regions on June 26,2009 and in North America on July 6,2009. There are also two additional downloadable add-ons for 200 Wii Points each, players must match three bubbles of the same color in order to get rid of them, with each stage being completed when all the bubbles have been cleared. The game also features a mode that pits players against another opponent. Additional stages from previous games are available as paid downloadable content
37.
Bust-a-Move Universe
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Bust-a-Move Universe, also known as Puzzle Bobble Universe, is a puzzle video game developed by Arika and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan as a title on February 26,2011. Bust-a-Move Universe is similar to its predecessors in that the goal is to connect three bubbles of the color to make them disappear. Different modes of play include boss battles, 100-second, 300-second, dinosaur duo Bub and Bob travel the universe in a spaceship as doors open on planets, which release bubbles that turn into space debris. Bub must save Bob from being captured, first shown at Nintendo World 2011, it was later revealed to be a Japanese launch title. The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics with a Metacritic score of 49/100 based on 30 critical reviews
38.
Chack'n Pop
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The arcade rom set also contains unused graphics for the mechanical wind-up Zen-Chan that later appeared in Bubble Bobble. The Sega SG-1000 version is notable for featuring extended introduction and ending sequences, Chackn, a small yellow creature with extendable legs must traverse a series of single-screen mazes. He is capable of walking on floors or ceilings but not walls and he can climb steps and traverse high walls by extending his legs until he is tall enough to pass onto the next step. He is capable of throwing grenades to his left or right which, after a short period. Separate fire buttons control rolling to the left or right, Chackn is killed if caught by the explosion cloud. Each screen is played against a limit, marked by a Mighta pushing a boulder along the top of the screen. The Mighta reappears in Bubble Bobble as a recurring enemy, chackns aim is to reach the top of the screen before the time limit expires. He is delayed in this process by a series of solid walls, in order to get past the walls, he must free hearts from cages using his hand grenades. A further obstruction comes in the form of Monstas hatching from eggs, hand grenades can also be used to destroy the creatures or the eggs producing them. Later levels include moving platforms and, reminiscent of Bubble Bobble, the water does not destroy anything or in any way inhibit the movement of the enemies, but it allows Chackn to swim to otherwise unreachable platforms. Once all the levels are completed, Chackn is able to marry his girlfriend, although Chackn Pop was not a great success, several other Taito games have featured cameo appearances by Chackn or other content from Chackn Pop. In addition to inheriting the Monsta and Mighta enemies, Bubble Bobble level 29 is a duplication of an early Chackn Pop level, Chackn also appears in the centre of the heart power-up that makes Bub and Bob invincible for a short period. At the end of level 93, all bubbles on the screen will turn into Chackn sprites, the design of level 37 in the MSX version of The Fairyland Story is based on the appearance of Chackn. Chackn also briefly appears in the ending of the game. In Puzzle Bobble and Puzzle Bobble 2, Chackn appears in the centre of the screen in 2-player modes, observing the game, Chackn is one of the classic Taito characters that sometimes appears to help the main characters upon collection of a book power-up. Chackn appears as an enemy, attempting to kill the player with his grenades, Miss Chackn also appears as the design of round 35. Chackn appears as the block design of stage D-4. Chackn Pop at the Killer List of Videogames
39.
The Fairyland Story
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The Fairyland Story is an arcade platform game released by Taito in July 1985. The game was ported to the MSX and X68000 computers, and later was included in Taito Memories and Taito Legends 2 for the PlayStation 2 for the Xbox and the PC. In the game, the player guides the little witch Ptolemy through a series of single-screen levels, ptolemys main weapon is her magic attack, which can turn enemies into cakes for a short while. While in a form, the enemies can be either be destroyed by further magic attacks or by being dropped off a platform. Squashing more than one enemy results in an award of points and, sometimes. 2000 points are awarded for squashing an enemy below a cake, if three or more enemies are killed at once in one spot, bonus coins appear in that spot which may be collected for additional points. Ptolemys enemies include typical fantasy beings like orcs, mages, ogres, if Ptolemy takes too long to clear a level of a last remaining enemy, eventually that enemy will disappear without an award of points. If, however, Ptolemy takes too long to clear more than one enemy from the level, a devil appears that can kill Ptolemy by touching her. The devil is invulnerable to attack and the way to survive is for Ptolemy to kill all remaining enemies. This game element is similar to the Beluga or Skel Monsta fish that limit the time allowed for each level in the later Taito game Bubble Bobble. Ptolemys deaths are animated in different ways, depending on the enemy who kills her, at various intervals between levels, an intermission screen appears during the game showing Ptolemy riding on the back of a large, flying green dragon. A message appears on each of these screens, either congratulating the player or warning of some hazard in the next level. Many of these messages contain incorrect English idioms or grammar typical of Engrish, the Taito game designers incorporated several elements from the earlier Taito game Chackn Pop. Reviewing Taito Legends 2, Kristan Reed of Eurogamer wrote The Fairyland Story is a lot of fun - although lacks the two-player co-op fun, Ptolemy appears as a player character in Space Invaders DX, Popn Pop and Daifugo Party. Many of the Bubble Bobble and The New Zealand Story gameplay elements, the Fairyland Story at MobyGames The Fairyland Story at the International Arcade Museum Anthony Greulichs The Fairyland Story page with extensive info
40.
The NewZealand Story
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The NewZealand Story is a 1988 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The player controls Tiki, a kiwi who must save his lover Phee Phee, the player has to navigate a scrolling maze-like level, at the end of which they release one of Tikis kiwi chick friends trapped in a cage. The goal of each level is to safely get Tiki through the level, avoiding enemy fire and spikes, the weaponry starts out as arrows, but pickups can change these into bombs, lasers or bouncing fireballs. These act a little differently, and what is useful depends upon the players location, a distinctive feature of this game is the ability to ride a variety of flying vehicles, including balloons, blimps and UFOs. Vehicles can be ready for use or can be stolen from an enemy. The game features four main zones, each with four rounds, other features include the many secret areas and shortcuts hidden throughout the game, accessed using special hidden warp portals. On certain later levels, if the player loses their last life due to being killed by a projectile weapon, here, they can either receive a special ending or find the secret route out of Heaven and continue playing the game. The game shares several elements with previous Taito games, after the release of the original arcade game in 1988, the game was converted to most of the game consoles and home computers of the time. Most home releases came in 1989, with some arriving later through 1990–1992, the NES version was developed by Software Creations and published in the PAL regions by Ocean. In North America, however, the NES version was published by Taito as Kiwi Kraze, the game received even more publicity due to being included in the Amiga 500 Batman Pack, which was launched in September 1989 and sold over 2 million units. Home conversions generally received good reviews in computer game magazines, the game was also converted for the Japanese FM Towns and Sharp X68000 systems, providing arcade-perfect conversions, but released exclusively in Japan since both computers were only available there. The Sega Mega Drive version had its levels based on the version of the arcade game. The Taito Legends pack includes a version of the original arcade version of The NewZealand Story, allowing it to be played on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable. On October 14,2008, the PC-Engine version was released for the Wii Virtual Console exclusively in Japan, Tiki the Kiwi also made some cameo appearances in other Taito games such as Liquid Kids, Bubble Symphony and Popn Pop. On January 25,2007, Rising Star Games published the Taito-developed Nintendo DS remake titled New Zealand Story Revolution first in Australia, in North America, it was published by Ignition Entertainment on February 13,2007. On May 31,2007, it was published in Japan by CyberFront as New Zealand Story DS and this version combines the use of both screens for action on the top screen and a map on the bottom screen. During certain instances, the game utilizes the touchscreen, such as opening a door and it also introduces a four-player wireless mode, Normal and Expert game modes, and improved graphics and BGM over the original arcade version. Also, unlike in the original, Tiki can receive multiple hits before losing a life, the ZX Spectrum conversion of The NewZealand Story, published by Ocean in 1989, achieved critical success
