This Week in Gaming History: The Early Days of Video Game Product Placement
Monday, 6th May 2013Posted in Gaming History
Tags: gaming history, history of gaming, history of video game product placements, product placement video games
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A common complaint about video games these days is product placement. From sports games to first-person shooters, fans and gamers seem to take offense to the idea of paid branding appearing within their favorite form of entertainment.
Thing is, product placement has existed within video games almost since the beginning. The idea that video games could help deliver a brand message to potential customers has appealed to companies for decades.
In this week’s This Week in Gaming History video, we take a look back at some of the earliest examples of product placement in video gaming, even including beer, cigarettes and a brand of athletic shoe that would later become banned in schools due to gang violence.
Also worth note is an early appearance by Mountain Dew, the super-sugary soda that is a staple in video game sponsorship and product placement to this very day.
Check back every Monday for another look through video game history. I mean it.
This Week in Gaming History – Peggle addicts, Atari’s Pac-Man sucks, Joysticks film jiggles into theatres
Monday, 25th February 2013Posted in History
Tags: atari, gaming history, history of gaming, joysticks, Pac Man
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A weird mixed back of video game history for this week’s lesson. Seems the end of February is a rather uneventful period in the past of video gaming, yet some notable stuff was still brought along.
On February 27, 2007, Peggle first hit PC. On the surface, the game seems to be a puzzle game geared toward a little girl who dreams of being a Disney Princess® or something…but the game turns out to be damn addicting, as gamers on other platforms later learned the hard way.
One of the most infamous ports in video game history, the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, hit store shelves in March 1982. An agreement made in the late 1970s between Namco and Atari gave Atari the home rights to Namco’s arcade titles. At the time, Namco had no arcade titles… but when Pac-Man smashed into arcades in 1980 it gave Atari a potential gold mine. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History – Peggle addicts, Atari’s Pac-Man sucks, Joysticks film jiggles into theatres” »
This Week in Gaming History: Doom Strikes Gold, Tekken Hits, and Tecmo Takes Over
Monday, 10th December 2012Posted in Week In Gaming News
Tags: gaming news, history of gaming, week in history
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
A mixed bag of gaming history as the biggest holiday of the year draws near.
On December 9, 1994 Namco’s Tekken first hit arcades, adding yet another fighting title to arcades of the era, yet breaking tradition by actually numbering later sequels with a new number each time.
The controversial Doom first struck gold on December 10, 1993, helping kick off video gaming’s “But who will save the chiiiilllldren?” campaign of the day. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Doom Strikes Gold, Tekken Hits, and Tecmo Takes Over” »
This Week in Gaming History: Atari, Sega, and The Most Important Week Ever?!?
Monday, 15th October 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming News, History, News
Tags: atari, first computer game, gaming history, history of gaming, sega cd, sonic and knuckles, tennis for two
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
Putting together this week’s This Week in Gaming History was fun, but almost too easy, as some of the biggest events in industry history can be tied to this week.
If you are a gamer, you owe this week’s rundown a serious look.
On October 14, 1977, the Atari Video Computer System was released. Known later as the Atari 2600, this console ruled the industry for a number of years and popularized the concept of interchangeable cartridges. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Atari, Sega, and The Most Important Week Ever?!?” »
This Week in Gaming History: Q*bert Gets Nosy, Nintendo Almost Dies & A Winner Is You
Monday, 8th October 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming History, News
Tags: gaming historical facts, gaming history, history of gaming, nintendo, qbert
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
Follow @originalpsp
There is an old school feel in the air with this week’s edition of This Week in Gaming History, which combines some iconic games with some historic ones.
October 7, 1982 saw the debut of Q*bert, the iconic orange arcade jumper. Some 30 years after becoming a giant arcade smash, Q*bert is set to appear in the upcoming film Wreck-It Ralph.
Nintendo of America almost ceased to be due to Radar Scope, released on October 8, 1980. A fairly popular game in Japan, Radar Scope proved to be a royal turkey in North America, forcing NoA into bankruptcy. Continue reading “This Week in Gaming History: Q*bert Gets Nosy, Nintendo Almost Dies & A Winner Is You” »
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