Having to retrace the history of video games, it is quite legitimate to start with a cult and watershed title such as Super Mario Bros. Produced by Nintendo and released in 1983, this year Super Mario turns forty and enters the history of multiplayer video games by right.
The genesis of the masterpiece. Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros
Probably not everyone knows that it is a spin-off, given that the first game that featured the character of the Italian plumber was the previous one Donkey Konganother cult title, released once again by the Japanese house Nintendo in 1981. Today, due to the global success of Super Mario Bros, many videogame experts consider Donkey Kong by convention a sort of prequel to Super Mario, but technically things they are different, also because the game starring Jumpman, his girlfriend Pauline and the infamous gorilla, Donkey Kong, was a great success for the time.
Nintendo’s success
In fact, we are talking about a title that, in addition to selling a lot, has been published on various platforms, including the arcade version for the cabinets that were in the arcades of the time in which it was released. We are talking about a time when the artistic direction of Nintendo was entrusted to the skilled skills of Shigeru Miyamoto. It has been said of him that with the creation of Super Mario Bros, Miyamoto not only changed the future and therefore the destiny of the game, but he changed and contributed to modifying the concept of “value” in an absolute sense for all this kind of signatures of entertainment. This statement was released by game designer Hideo Kojima, but there are so many names to make for the success of this title, starting with the music composer Yukio Kaneoka, passing through the Nintendo and Atari managers, for publication and distribution intercontinental, up to the producer Gunpei Yokoi. The Donkey Kong series will then have two other sequels in the arcade version, one from 1982 and the following one released in the same year as Super Mario Bros. Impossible to mention all the available versions, but we remember at least those for Apple II, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari 800 and Nintendo Game Boy.
Video game criticism from the 1980s
Having said that, it is important to underline that to date there are many legendary video games, capable of leaving their mark on the history of gaming, which is why Super Mario Bros is rightfully considered one of the most iconic and influential games ever. In fact, we are talking about an arcade game that has in turn inspired numerous titles, effectively creating a genre of its own, which goes beyond the rigid schemes of the classic video game, despite having become a sort of cornerstone for game creators and developers.
From Super Mario to The Legend of Zelda
Another title that is worth remembering is undoubtedly the saga of The Legend of Zelda, also produced and distributed by Nintendo and started way back in 1986. This action-adventure game introduced the concept of open world for the first time in the dimension of gaming, staging epic characters such as Link, Ganondorf and Princess Zelda who gives the title to the game itself.
Having mentioned two titles that belong to the eighties, it is clear that this decade can rightfully be considered as the Golden Age of video games. Take for example another cult title like Tetris. This simple, yet amazing and addictive puzzle game gained worldwide fame from the 90’s onwards and continues to be played even today.
Grand Theft Auto and the Final Fantasy saga
Moving on to a more contemporary title, we can also mention another saga such as that of Grand Theft Auto, this series of open world games produced by Rockstar, which in some ways has revolutionized and shaped the video game industry, thanks also to its freedom and the quality of the intrinsic storytelling. How not to mention a title like Final Fantasy VIII; this Japanese RPG that has had a huge impact on popular culture due to its innovative gameplay model and touching and engaging story. From this moment on, the video game industry begins to gain awareness and awareness, coming to conceive and distribute titles with the belief that they have something great in their hands, real works of art, which can be related and compared with cinema, comics and popular fiction. The riot of the concept of Pop Art, launched during the Sixties by Andy Warhol and the leading exponents of the Counterculture movement, which through a real short circuit manages to first clear the advertising and television message, to then arrive at the gaming circuit and digital gambling with Betway Casino online, which up to a certain point had been considered more of a ghetto than a real market and niche sector, despite the impressive and at times mammoth turnover. Today of course for all enthusiasts, insiders, critics, experts and active users, the discourse linked to videogame culture is something very different, with protagonists who have rightly assumed their responsibilities, becoming the spokesperson for this world, still a little ‘ unknown to most and decidedly far from the mainstream and from a certain type of media and public attention.
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