The studio began as a partnership between Reiche and Ford. The two had separately attended the
University of California, Berkeley in the late 1970s before entering the
video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche was seeking a programmer to develop Star Control for
Accolade. This led to the creation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of Star Control in 1990. The release was considered a landmark
science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel Star Control II, which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. Star Control II is celebrated as one of the
greatest games of all time and is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, world design, and character design. The studio adopted the name Toys for Bob to stimulate curiosity and
differentiate themselves from other studios.
With
Crystal Dynamics as their
publisher, they developed several games, including The Horde, Pandemonium!, and The Unholy War. In the early 2000s, the studio transitioned to working on licensed games before being laid off by Crystal Dynamics. With Terry Falls as a co-owner, Reiche and Ford
incorporated the studio in 2002.
Activision became their publisher soon after, and eventually
acquired the studio in 2005. Toys for Bob created the Skylanders series when Activision merged with
Vivendi Games and acquired the Spyro franchise. The developers at Toys for Bob had already been experimenting with using physical toys to interact with video games and believed that this technology would be ideal for Spyro's universe of characters. Credited with inventing the
toys-to-life genre, the 2011 release of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was considered a technological and commercial breakthrough. This led to a spinoff series with several successful games, generating a billion dollars in revenue for Activision in the first 15 months and winning several awards. In 2018, Toys for Bob assisted with the development of the
remaster compilations Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, earning a reputation leading a revival of properties from the original
PlayStation. (Full article...)
The Lost Levels is similar to its predecessor in style and gameplay, with players controlling
Mario or
Luigi to rescue
Princess Peach from
Bowser. The game adds a greater level of difficulty and Luigi controls slightly differently from Mario, with reduced ground friction and increased jump height. The Lost Levels also introduces obstacles such as poison
mushroompower-ups, counterproductive
level warps, and mid-air wind gusts. The game has 32
levels across eight worlds and 20 bonus levels.
Reviewers viewed The Lost Levels as an extension of the previous game, especially its difficulty progression. Journalists appreciated the game's challenge when spectating
speedruns and recognized the game as a precursor to the franchise's
Kaizo subculture in which fans create and share
ROM hacks featuring nearly impossible levels. This sequel gave Luigi his first character traits and introduced the poison mushroom item, which has since been used throughout the
Mario franchise. The Lost Levels was the most popular game on the
Disk System, for which it sold about 2.5 million copies. It is remembered among the
most difficult Nintendo games. (Full article...)
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Sonic X-treme was a
platform game developed by
Sega Technical Institute from 1994 until its cancellation in 1996. It was planned as the first fully 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, taking Sonic into the
3D era of video games, and the first original Sonic game for the
Sega Saturn. The storyline followed
Sonic on his journey to stop
Dr. Robotnik from stealing six magic rings from Tiara Boobowski and her father. X-treme featured open
levels rotating around a fixed center of gravity and, like previous Sonic games, featured collectible
rings and fast-paced gameplay.
X-treme was conceived as a
side-scrolling platform game for the
Sega Genesis to succeed Sonic & Knuckles (1994). Development shifted to the
32X and then the Saturn and
Windows, and the game was redesigned as a 3D platform game for the 1996 holiday season. The plan was disrupted by company politics, an unfavorable visit by Japanese Sega executives, and obstacles with the
game engines planned for use, including one from
Sonic Team for Nights into Dreams (1996). Amid increasing pressure and declining morale, designer Chris Senn and programmer Chris Coffin became ill, prompting producer Mike Wallis to cancel the game. A film tie-in with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was also canceled.
In place of X-treme, Sega released a
port of the Genesis game Sonic 3D Blast, but did not release an original 3D Sonic platform game until Sonic Adventure for the
Dreamcast in 1998. The cancellation is considered an important factor in the Saturn's
commercial failure, as it left the system with no original Sonic platform game. Elements similar to those in X-treme appeared in later games, such as Sonic Lost World (2013). (Full article...)
The game began development in 2008. Key first conceived Proteus as an open-ended
role-playing game akin to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion but, because of the work required for such a project, later redesigned it to be "nontraditional and nonviolent". Audio designer and composer David Kanaga joined the project in 2010. Versions for the
PlayStation 3 video game console and Vita handheld console were developed by
Curve Studios, whose team added new gameplay features to the
Vita edition at
Sony's request.
Proteus won the prize for Best Audio at the 2011
IndieCade awards, and was a finalist for the 2012
Independent Games Festival's
Nuovo Award. Following its release, critics praised the game, especially for its audio features, although some criticised the game's brevity and limited replayability. The game was frequently mentioned in discussions of
video games as art, with some debating whether it could be considered a video game at all. (Full article...)
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Donkey Kong 64 is a 1999
platform game developed by
Rare and published by
Nintendo for the
Nintendo 64. It is the only Donkey Kong game to feature 3D gameplay. As the gorilla
Donkey Kong, the player explores themed
levels to collect items and rescue his kidnapped family members from
King K. Rool. The player completes
minigames and puzzles as five playable Kong characters—each with their own special abilities—to receive bananas and other collectibles. In
multiplayer modes, up to four players can compete in
deathmatch and
last man standing games.
Rare began working on Donkey Kong 64 in 1997, following the completion of Donkey Kong Country 3 (1996). It was conceived as a
2.5D platformer similar to Country before becoming a more open-ended game using the
engine from Rare's Banjo-Kazooie (1998). A 16-person team with many recruits from the Banjo group finished it in 1999. It was published by Nintendo in North America in November and worldwide in December. Donkey Kong 64 was the first game to require the Nintendo 64
Expansion Pak, an accessory that added
memory resources. The US$22 million marketing campaign included advertisements,
sweepstakes, and a national tour.
Donkey Kong 64 received acclaim and was Nintendo's top seller during the 1999
holiday season; it ultimately sold 5.27 million copies worldwide. It won the 1999
E3 Game Critics award for Best Platform Game and multiple awards and nominations from magazines. Reviewers praised the exceptional size and length, but criticized its camera controls and emphasis on item collection and backtracking. Some cited its gameplay and visual similarities to Banjo-Kazooie as a detriment. Critics said Donkey Kong 64 did not match the revolutionary impact of Donkey Kong Country but was still among the Nintendo 64's best 3D platform games. (Full article...)
Taking place 1500 years after the events of Blood Omen, Soul Reaver chronicles the journey of the
vampire-turned-
wraithRaziel, lieutenant to the vampire lord
Kain. Raziel is killed by Kain, but is revived by
The Elder God to become his "soul reaver" and to exact revenge. Raziel shares this title with Kain's sword, the Soul Reaver, which he acquires during the game.
Crystal Dynamics began development of the game in 1997, but a deteriorating relationship with
Silicon Knights, who had developed Blood Omen, created legal problems. This and other delays forced material originally planned for Soul Reaver to be instead released with later games of the series. Soul Reaver was generally well received by critics and praised for its intriguing gothic story and high-quality graphics. However, the game was criticized for simple and repetitive gameplay and an unsatisfying climax. By 2001, the game sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. (Full article...)
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Gravity Bone is a 2008
freewareadventure game developed and published by
Blendo Games. The game employs a modified version of
id Software's
id Tech 2 engine—originally used for Quake 2—and incorporates music from films by
directorWong Kar-wai, which were originally performed by
Xavier Cugat. Four incarnations of the game were produced during its one-year development; the first featured more common
first-person shooter elements than the released version. Subsequent versions shifted in a new direction, with the inclusion of more spy-oriented gameplay. The game was released for
Microsoft Windows in August 2008.
Gravity Bone received critical acclaim from
video game journalists. It was called "a pleasure to experience" by Charles Onyett from IGN, and received comparisons to games such as Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The game was praised for its cohesive story, atmosphere and its ability to catch the player's interest over a very short time span without feeling rushed or incomplete. It received the "Best Arthouse Game" award in Game Tunnel's Special Awards of 2008. A sequel, Thirty Flights of Loving, was released in 2012. (Full article...)
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Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is a
crossoverfighting game developed by
Eighting and published by
Capcom. The game features characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and various
anime series produced by
Tatsunoko Production. It was originally released in Japan for
arcades and the
Wii video game console in December 2008 as Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (タツノコ VS. CAPCOM CROSS GENERATION OF HEROES). Following high demand from international fans, Capcom worked with Tatsunoko to resolve international licensing issues and a second version, Ultimate All-Stars, was released for the Wii in North America, Japan, and Europe in January 2010, featuring additional characters and online multiplayer.
In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, players engage in combat with a team of two characters or with a single giant character and attempt to knock out their opponents. It is the seventh Capcom-designed installment in their Vs. fighting game series, which includes the Marvel vs. Capcom and Capcom vs. SNK series, and the first to be fully rendered in 3D graphics. The game is set in a
2.5D environment; characters fight in a two-dimensional arena, but character models and backgrounds are
rendered in
three-dimensional graphics. The game is designed around a simplified three-button attack system, which was inspired by the simplistic control schemes commonly used by both the Vs. series and the Wii.
The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its approachable gameplay for newcomers and depth for veteran players. However, reviewers had mixed experiences with its online component, and found Arcade mode lacking in
replay value. According to the game's producer, Ryota Niitsuma, development difficulties and a lack of Wii fighting games were the reasons for its platform exclusivity; however, multiple critics questioned if that was the best choice. Capcom announced in April 2010 that the game was a commercial success. (Full article...)
Set in a world with technology resembling the
Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story follows an expanding cast that includes fourteen permanent
playable characters. The narrative deals with the themes of a rebellion against an immoral
military dictatorship, pursuit of a magical arms race, use of
chemical weapons in warfare, depictions of violent and apocalyptic confrontations, several personal redemption arcs,
teenage pregnancy, and the renewal of hope and life itself.
Final Fantasy VI received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its graphics, soundtrack, story, characters, setting, and mature themes, and won numerous awards. It is widely considered to be one of the
greatest video games of all time, and is often cited as a watershed title for the role-playing genre. The game was a commercial success, with the Super NES and PlayStation versions selling over 3.48 million copies worldwide by 2003, as well as over 750,000 copies as part of the Japanese Final Fantasy Collection and the North American Final Fantasy Anthology. (Full article...)
Final Fantasy is mostly an
anthology series with primary installments being stand-alone role-playing games, each with different settings, plots and main characters, but the franchise is linked by several recurring elements, including game mechanics and recurring character names. Each plot centers on a particular group of heroes who are battling a great evil, but also explores the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are frequently derived from the history, languages,
pop culture, and
mythologies of cultures worldwide. The mechanics of each game involve similar battle systems and maps. (Full article...)
... that the developer of The Stillness of the Wind was inspired to make the video game after fantasizing with his girlfriend about raising goats instead of living in
London?
... that Terra Invicta's development company is a group of former volunteer
video game modders that decided to release their own game after the success of their mod?
... that the 2005 video game Bokura no Kazoku was inspired in part by the birth of its creator's first child?
... that the album series Jingle Cats spawned Jingle Dogs, Jingle Babies, and a Japanese video game in which "the object is to breed and care for cats, which begin to sing when they're done copulating"?
Persson began developing video games at an early age, making games both professionally and for pleasure for much of his life. He achieved critical success upon the publishing of an early version of Minecraft in 2009. Prior to the game's official retail release in 2011, it had sold over ten million copies. After this point, Persson stood down as lead designer and transferred creative authority to
Jens Bergensten. (Full article...)
Image 2
Akira Toriyama (
Japanese: 鳥山明,
Hepburn: Toriyama Akira, April 5, 1955 – March 1, 2024) was a Japanese
manga artist and
character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular
manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama came to be regarded as one of the most important authors in the
history of manga with his works highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.
He earned the 1981
Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful
anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended. (Full article...)
In 2012, Sarkeesian was targeted by an online harassment campaign following her launch of a
Kickstarter project to fund the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series. The threats and harassment generated widespread media attention, and resulted in the project far exceeding its funding goal. The media coverage placed Sarkeesian at the center of discussions about
misogyny in
video game culture and online harassment. She has spoken to
TEDxWomen,
XOXO Festival, and the
United Nations' Broadband Working Group on Gender, and appeared on The Colbert Report discussing her experiences of harassment and the challenge of attempting to improve gender inclusivity in gaming culture and the media. (Full article...)
Image 4
Yamauchi
c. 1949
Hiroshi Yamauchi (山内溥, Yamauchi Hiroshi, 7 November 1927 – 19 September 2013) was a Japanese businessman and the third president of
Nintendo, joining the company on 25 April 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being subsequently succeeded by
Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a
hanafuda card-making company that had been active solely in Japan into a multibillion-dollar
video game publisher and global conglomerate. He was the great-grandson of
Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo's first president and founder. Hiroshi Yamauchi owned the
Seattle Mariners baseball team from 1992 until his death.
In April 2013,
Forbes estimated Yamauchi's net worth at $2.1 billion; he was the 13th richest person in Japan and the 491st
richest in the world. In 2008, Yamauchi was
Japan's wealthiest person with a fortune at that time estimated at $7.8 billion. At the time of his death, Yamauchi was the largest shareholder at Nintendo. (Full article...)
Gunpei Yokoi (横井 軍平, Yokoi Gunpei, September 10, 1941 – October 4, 1997), sometimes transliterated as Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese
toy maker and
video game designer. As a long-time
Nintendo employee, he was best known as creator of the
Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped
Control Pad, the original designer of the
Game Boy, and producer of a few long-running and critically acclaimed video game franchises such as Metroid and Kid Icarus. (Full article...)
Charles Andre Martinet (born September 17, 1955) is an American actor. Martinet created the voices of both
Mario and
Luigi in the Super Mario video game series, portraying them from 1994 to 2023. He also voiced other characters in the series such as
Wario,
Waluigi, and the baby equivalents of Mario and Luigi, prior to stepping down as voice actor to become an official
brand ambassador for the series.
Garriott, who is the son of
NASA astronaut
Owen Garriott, was originally a
game designer and
programmer, and is now involved in a number of aspects of
computer-game development. On October 12, 2008, Garriott flew aboard the
Soyuz TMA-13 mission to the
International Space Station as a private astronaut, returning 12 days later aboard
Soyuz TMA-12. He became the second space traveler, and first from the United States, to have a parent who was also a space traveler. During his ISS flight, he filmed a science fiction movie Apogee of Fear. (Full article...)
Hironobu Sakaguchi (坂口 博信, Sakaguchi Hironobu, born November 25, 1962) is a Japanese
game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for
Square (later
Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio
Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise, in addition to other titles during his time at Square. At Mistwalker, he is known for creating the Blue Dragon and Terra Battle series among several standalone titles, moving away from home consoles and creating titles for mobile platforms.
Originally intending to become a musician, he briefly studied electronics and programming, joining Square as a part-time employee, then later a full-time employee when Square became an independent company in 1986. He led the development of several titles before helping to create the original Final Fantasy, which proved highly successful and cemented his status within the company. Following the financial failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, his debut as a film director, Sakaguchi withdrew from Square's management and eventually resigned in 2003. He continued his game career through Mistwalker, first co-developing projects through external partners and then smaller in-studio mobile projects. (Full article...)
Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is an American director, designer, programmer and developer in the video game industry. He is a co-founder of
id Software and designed their early games, including Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Doom (1993), Doom II (1994), Hexen (1995) and Quake (1996). His designs and development tools, along with programming techniques developed by id Software's lead programmer,
John Carmack, popularized the
first-person shooter (FPS) genre. Romero is also credited with coining the multiplayer term "
deathmatch".
Following disputes with Carmack, Romero was fired from id in 1996. He co-founded a new studio,
Ion Storm, and directed the FPS Daikatana (2000), which was a critical and commercial failure. Romero departed Ion Storm in 2001. In July 2001, Romero and another former id employee,
Tom Hall, founded
Monkeystone Games to develop games for
mobile devices. (Full article...)
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Kojima in 2018
Hideo Kojima (小島 秀夫, Kojima Hideo, born August 24, 1963) is a Japanese video game designer. He is regarded as an
auteur of
video games. He developed a strong passion for
film and
literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired by
Konami, for which he designed and wrote Metal Gear (1987) for the
MSX2, a game that laid the foundations for
stealth games and the Metal Gear series, his best known and most appreciated works. At Konami, he also produced the Zone of the Enders series, as well as wrote and designed Snatcher (1988) and Policenauts (1994),
graphic adventure games regarded for their cinematic presentation.
Kojima founded
Kojima Productions within Konami in 2005, and he was appointed vice president of
Konami Digital Entertainment in 2011. Following his departure from Konami in 2015, he refounded Kojima Productions as an independent studio; his first game outside Konami, Death Stranding, was released in 2019. (Full article...)
Born in
Sonobe, Kyoto, Miyamoto graduated from
Kanazawa Municipal College of Industrial Arts. He originally sought a career as a
manga artist, until developing an interest in video games. With the help of his father, he joined Nintendo in 1977 after impressing the president,
Hiroshi Yamauchi, with his toys. He helped create art for the arcade game Sheriff, and was later tasked with designing a new arcade game, leading to the 1981 game Donkey Kong. (Full article...)
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Mechner in 2017
Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964) is an American
video game designer,
graphic novelist, author,
screenwriter, filmmaker, and former video game programmer. A major figure in the development of cinematic video games and a pioneer in video game animation, he began his career designing and programming the 1984 martial arts game Karateka for the
Apple II while a student at
Yale University. The game was a bestseller. He followed it with the platform game Prince of Persia five years later; it was widely ported and became a hit. Both games used
rotoscoping, where actors shot on film by Mechner were drawn over to create in-game animation. Prince of Persia has become the basis for a long-running franchise, including a
2010 live-action film released by Walt Disney Pictures and an ongoing
series of video games, published by Ubisoft.
Mechner is the recipient of many accolades, including the 2017 GDC Pioneer Award. His works are often included in all-time lists of the game industry's best and most influential titles. (Full article...)
After working at Capcom for thirteen years, he left the company to form his own studio, Whoopee Camp. His last game was Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection for former employer
Capcom. He is notorious for making his titles difficult for the average video game player and strict personality among peers.
IGN listed Fujiwara at number 13 in its "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time" list. (Full article...)
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Bushnell in 2013
Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established
Atari, Inc. and the
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the
Video Game Hall of Fame and the
Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame, received the
BAFTA Fellowship and the Nations Restaurant News "Innovator of the Year" award, and was named one of Newsweek's "50 Men Who Changed America". He has started more than 20 companies and is one of the founding fathers of the
video game industry. He is on the board of Anti-Aging Games. In 2012, he founded an educational software company called Brainrush, that is using
video game technology in educational software.
He is credited with
Bushnell's Law, an aphorism about games that are "easy to learn and difficult to master" being rewarding. (Full article...)
A fan of
arcade games in his youth, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming
fanzineGame Freak with
Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the same name. Tajiri claims that the joining of two
Game Boys via a link cable inspired him to create a game which embodied the collection and companionship of his childhood hobby,
insect collecting. The game, which became Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, took six years to complete and went on to spark a multibillion-dollar franchise which reinvigorated
Nintendo's
handheld gaming scene. Tajiri continued to work as director for the Pokémon series until the development of
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, when he changed his role to executive producer, which he holds to this day. (Full article...)
James D. Rolfe (born July 10, 1980) is an American
YouTuber, filmmaker, and actor. He is best known for creating and starring in the comedic
retrogaming web series The Angry Video Game Nerd (2004–present). His spin-off projects include reviews of retro films, television series, and board games. He is considered a pioneer of internet gaming videos, and is noted for his widespread influence on
YouTube content after the series premiered on the site in 2006.
Rolfe began creating homemade video productions in the late 1980s, having created more than 270 videos and
short films by 2004. Among these were the first Angry Video Game Nerd (originally known as Bad NES Games, and later Angry Nintendo Nerd) episodes, which were subsequently released on his Cinemassacre website that same year. Two years later, he gained mainstream attention after the series went viral upon being published to YouTube. Following its success, Rolfe released a
feature-length film based on the series in 2014, which was met with generally mixed reception. (Full article...)
John Bruce Thompson (born July 25, 1951) is an American activist and
disbarred attorney. As an attorney, Thompson focused his legal efforts against what he perceives as
obscenity in modern culture. Thompson gained recognition as an anti-video game activist, criticizing the content of video games and their alleged effects on children. He also targeted
rap music and radio personality
Howard Stern.
Thompson's legal career was further recognized for his actions against
The Florida Bar, including challenging its constitutionality in 1993. In 2008, he was permanently disbarred by the
Supreme Court of Florida for inappropriate conduct, including making false statements to
tribunals and disparaging and humiliating litigants. (Full article...)
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford and is best known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises.
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