Genre 101 is a series that looks at the past and present of a game genre to find lessons about what defines it. This week, Shawn guides us through what may be the oldest genre of them all.
The first serve
Shawn Vermette: Everyone has heard of Pong; it might be the most ubiquitous video game in existence. But it wasn’t the first sports game. Tennis for Two, which was made way back in 1958, holds that honor. In fact, Tennis for Two was arguably the first video game ever. It’s a fitting distinction, given that sports lend themselves so well to the video game medium. Using an oscilloscope, since monitors didn’t even exist back then, two people could hit a ball back and forth over a net using basic analog controllers. That was basically it, but it was over 20 years before anyone was able to surpass it in complexity. READ MORE
The just-announced Puyo Puyo Tetris may seem like a bizarre anomaly to some in the West. Even to those who’ve played one of the localized Puyo games, it still seems weird that it could share top billing with the king of the puzzle genre.
In Japan, it’s… still weird, but considerably less so. READ MORE
As the fall release season approaches, we’re looking for a few talented individuals to join the Snackbar Games team! Here are a few more details:
Associate Editor: The first mate on the HMS Snackbar, the Associate Editor helps us do more and better things. The position helps to oversee our regular features, guide our reviews coverage and add polish to our prose. This person would need to have solid grammar skills, and knowledge of AP style is preferred.
Reporter: We don’t re-type news around here. We’d rather focus on firsthand event coverage and interviews with interesting people in the industry. Does that sound like something you’d like to take on? Solid grammar skills and the ability to write quickly are must-have skills.
Reviewer: The holiday release rush means more games than we can cover. Help us miss fewer of them! Applicants for this position would need to have access to games to review (at least initially), as well as a clean, smart writing style. A gaming-capable PC is preferred, too.
Interested in joining our merry band? Send ideas and samples of your work to [email protected].
For more ways you can be a part of our team, check out our Join Us page.
Genre 101 is a series that looks at the past and present of a game genre to find lessons about what defines it. This week, Justin tells us how fending off waves of creeps became a global addiction.
Fortify and survive
Justin Last: Build your castle, place your cannons, and fend off the unrelenting hordes. 1990 arcade release Rampart ran in phases: “Prepare for Battle”, “Build and Repair” and “Place Cannons.” As an active participant the “Prepare for Battle” round, you shoot cannons at enemy ships and grunts. “Build and Repair” is where castles are built from Tetris-esque blocks, and “Place Cannons” is self-explanatory. It doesn’t feel like what we play today, but Atari’s arcade effort started the defense genre. READ MORE
It’s time to share our love for games! And some of the latest releases are making that a lot easier. Topics: Rayman Legends, Diablo III (console), Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Killer is Dead, Final Fantasy XIV and more!
Check out the show here, check us out on iTunes or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast aggregator. Let us know what you think! Email podcast[at]snackbar-games.com.
Hosts: Jeff deSolla, Andrew Passafiume, Graham Russell, Shawn Vermette, Lucas White.
Music: Podcast theme by Tom Casper.
