Mental Floss

VIDEO GAMES

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Last month, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft turned 8—which means that kids who started playing it when they were in middle school are now graduating from college. (Excluding the serious players, who will probably need a couple of extra years to

David W Brown

Wikimedia Commons Forty years ago, on November 29, 1972, a startup called Atari announced the release of Pong, a coin operated “video game.” The company’s name was taken from the ancient Japanese board game Go, and vaguely translates as “to hit the mark.

David W Brown

The Game Genie was the technological holy grail of my Nintendo-playing childhood. Here was a device that would let me play Super Mario Bros. with infinite lives, or get infinite rockets in Metroid. Here's exactly how it worked, and how people are still us

Chris Higgins


Finally, an answer!

When I was a kid with a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), sometimes my games wouldn't load. But I, like all kids, knew the secret: take out the game cartridge, blow on the contacts, and put it back in. And it seemed to work. (When it failed, I'd ju

Chris Higgins




This week, Nintendo released "New" Super Mario Bros. 2. But "Old" Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't what you think it is. Here's the odd story of how Nintendo crammed Mario into places he was never meant to be. Super Mario Bros. 1

Chris Higgins


To make your Monday complete, I present you with a variety of videos featuring animals playing video games, along with analysis of whether they are good at the games. BEHOLD: 1. Real Lizard Eats Virtual Ants A bearded dragon plays "Ant Smasher," an A

Chris Higgins
The Nintendo Zapper offered a new angle on interactive television.

The 'Duck Hunt' gun, officially called the NES Zapper, seems downright primitive next to today's technology. But in the late '80s, it filled plenty of young heads with wonder.

Matt Soniak