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Top 10 Gaming Facts That’ll Blow Your Mind!

Top 10 Gaming Facts That’ll Blow Your Mind!

Many of us consider ourselves gaming aficionados, but we’ll bet we’ve rounded up at least a handful of awesome gaming facts you probably didn’t know. Here are our top ten, so hang on for the ride gamers!

10. Golden Axe of Controversy

10. Golden Axe of Controversy

Golden Axe was a widely acclaimed title when the side-scrolling brawler debuted on the Sega Genesis back in 1990. The game drew praise from all the major video game press publications for its stellar design and flawless port-over from arcade to console. According to a purported industry insider, Sega actually used prisoners on death row to complete the entire set of voiceovers featured within the game. This one may not be a fact, but it’s certainly an interesting story!

9. Best Sellers

9. Best Sellers

Ever wonder what the top two best-selling video game consoles of all time are? You might be surprised to know that both the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo DS remain number one and two respectively within the list of top consoles sold, even some decade after their initial releases. The Playstation 2, launched in 2000, comes in at a whopping 155 million units while the Nintendo DS, released in 2004, comes in at an impressive 154 million units sold.

8. Welcome to Bizarro World

8. Welcome to Bizarro World

The Atari 2600 was essentially the very first video game console that paved the way for our favorite pastime. Space Invaders , in particular, was the one game that really took the Atari 2600 from basic entertainment machine to full on lifestyle decision for many gamers during this time. In fact, Space Invaders is often credited as the single best game to come out of the Atari era.

With such widely regarded success, you would think the game that changed the industry forever would be one of the best-selling titles on the early 1970’s system. However, perhaps the most maligned game to ever be featured on any console, E.T. , actually outsold Space Invaders by a nearly 2-1 margin. Still, to this day, some have credited E.T. as the first blow in Atari’s downfall – welcome to Bizarro World, friends!

7. Not Just a Boys Club Anymore

7. Not Just a Boys Club Anymore

For some strange reason there’s a decent amount of medieval-thinking gents that still believe women have no place among the men within video gaming society. It still boggles my mind that some people can’t seem to get past the gender equality issues when referring to the gaming community as a whole. Regardless of where you stand on the debate, you might be surprised as to how many female gamers actually exist. Earth-shattering statistics, from Entertainment Software Industry, shows that female gamers now account for roughly 48 percent of the gaming population and actually account for more users when comparing women 18 and older to that of men 18 and younger – here’s to you, my fellow gamers who happen to be ladies!

6. Mortal Kombat Lean

6. Mortal Kombat Lean

This one completely blew my mind when I stumbled across it during my initial research. The original 1992 Mortal Kombat game took only ten months to produce and reached completion with a team of only four people. To make things even more astounding, the game had one programmer in Ed Boon, two comic-book artists in John Tobias and John Vogel, and one sound engineer in Dan Forden – impressive for roughly 300 frames of model animation per character to complement the over 64 unique color schemes.

5. You’re Never Too Old

5. You’re Never Too Old

According to a 2015 report published by ESA regarding gamer statistics, adults aged 50 years and older accounted for nearly 27 percent of the total gaming community this past year. That’s pretty excellent when looking at the history of the industry as a whole and how it’s been completely dominated by youth in past decades. Heck, I thought I was the only kid in town with a dad and two uncles that were knee-deep in Halo 2 just as much as I was when it came out – times are changing for the better.

4. Don’t Do Mushrooms, Kids.

4. Don’t Do Mushrooms, Kids.

Super Mario Bros. instantly captivated NES gamers when it took the scene by storm in 1985. An entire cult-like following would spawn from the bond gamers shared with Mario and his mustache-toting brother, Luigi. As with any form of popular media, people wanted to know the origins of every detail contained within the classic platformer. Thus, the debate surrounding the Super Mushrooms found throughout the levels was born. It turns out, those mushrooms that double the size of Mario and Luigi when eaten, are very similar to that of the amanita muscaria , commonly referred to as the fly agaric. The Muscaria is known throughout the northern hemisphere for its hallucinogenic properties and yes, you guessed it, the feeling of growing in size when consumed by humans.

3. Popeye the Sailor Man Gives Mario Life

3. Popeye the Sailor Man Gives Mario Life

It’s still difficult for me to forget the old days of absolutely hating Donkey Kong’s guts and wishing one of those stupid barrels would bounce back and squish him like a bug. It’s even more difficult for me to imagine Popeye and his ridiculous forearms taking center stage for this instant classic. Nintendo was attempting to do just that by acquiring the necessary licensing rights to feature Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto in place of Mario, Pauline, and Donkey Kong. The deal fell through and developer Shigeru Miyamoto had to improvise with the creation of perhaps gaming’s greatest hero ever, Super Mario. Long live Jumpman!

2. Thank You Atari

2. Thank You Atari

I can still remember the day when one of my oldest friends was stating his classic fanboy case for why the PlayStation 2 was so much better than the original Xbox. Back in the day, even though I was probably one of the biggest Xbox fans you could find in the neighborhood, I just didn’t see the point of arguing one over the other. Anyway, this particular fact would have been stellar to use against my buddy and his mouth full of garbage. It turns out the PS2 was actually modeled after the failed launch of Atari’s Falcon 030 Microbox – the striking resemblance is undeniable. The details are a bit sketchy, but Sony either acquired the patient through the proper channels or went along with the project as Atari’s doors were long closed when the PS2 debuted.

1. The Power of Games

1. The Power of Games

Space Invaders reappears to capture the top spot within this week’s top ten list though this absolutely ridiculous fact. It’s no secret that the game was a huge fan favorite when it graced the floors of arcade rooms everywhere. It was an instant classic and had something of a cult following when it arrived on scene in Japan. In fact, it was so popular in Japan that it caused a temporary shortage of the 100-Yen coin used throughout the country. This is pretty impressive when you consider the amount of coins needed to suck a major developed country dry of its most popular coin currency.

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