Secret History of Video Games

Explication : Flappy Bird was created by Dong Nguyen in a few weeks. At its peak, the game generated $50,000 per day in advertising before its creator removed it from stores, overwhelmed by success.

Explication : Warren Robinett hid his name in a secret room because Atari refused to credit its developers. "Created by Warren Robinett" appears when you find the invisible gray pixel and walk through the wall.

Explication : Toru Iwatani was inspired by a pizza with a missing slice during dinner. This simple shape also represented a mouth eating, the central gameplay concept.

Explication : The Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) was created because Hashimoto found the game too difficult to test. It became a symbol of gaming culture.

Explication : Mario was originally supposed to be called Mr. Video. He was renamed after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America's warehouses, who resembled the character and was demanding overdue rent.

Explication : Nintendo had commissioned a CD-ROM drive from Sony. After negotiations failed, Sony developed the PlayStation alone. This breakup created one of the industry's biggest rivalries.

Explication : Pac-Man on arcade crashes at level 256 because the level counter (8 bits) overflows. The right half of the screen becomes corrupted, making the level impossible to complete.

Explication : Space Invaders (1978) was so popular that arcade machines absorbed all 100 yen coins. The Bank of Japan had to triple production of this coin.

Explication : Shigeru Miyamoto is left-handed and created Link in his image. In Twilight Princess Wii, the entire game was mirrored for right-handed players using the Wiimote.

Explication : Shenmue (1999) cost about $70 million, a record at the time. Yu Suzuki created a revolutionary open world with real-time weather and NPCs with daily routines.

Explication : Rare developers used personal photos as placeholders that remained in the final game. They can be found hidden in certain textures of the game.

Explication : Sonic is blue to match SEGA's blue logo. His color was meant to immediately identify the mascot with the company, unlike Mario associated with Nintendo's red.

Explication : E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on Atari 2600, developed in 5 weeks, was a massive commercial failure. Millions of unsold cartridges were buried in Alamogordo. The site was excavated in 2014.

Explication : Donkey Kong was the antagonist in the 1981 game of the same name, where he kidnapped Pauline. He later became the hero of Donkey Kong Country and many spin-offs.

Explication : Clyde (orange) has unpredictable behavior: he chases Pac-Man then suddenly flees. The other ghosts are Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), and Inky (blue).

Explication : In Civilization I, Gandhi's aggression (1) went negative after adopting democracy (-2), causing an underflow to 255, the maximum possible.

Explication : DMA Design (Scotland) created GTA in 1997. The studio was later acquired and renamed Rockstar North. DMA Design had also created Lemmings.

Explication : Duke Nukem Forever was announced in 1997 and released in 2011 after 15 years of chaotic development, engine changes, and studio changes. It became a symbol of "development hell."

Explication : Combos were born from a bug in Street Fighter II where players could chain hits during the stun animation. Capcom decided to keep this mechanic, revolutionizing fighting games.

Explication : Chrono Trigger (1995) popularized the New Game+ concept, allowing players to restart the adventure with their stats and equipment to discover the 13 alternate endings.