I love video games. I don’t just play them, I geek out about them. Hence, I’ve compiled here a huge list of interesting facts about video games that you most likely didn’t know because I didn’t know until I learned about them. Whether it’s for leisure reading or your research, I hope you’ll enjoy reading these interesting facts. Do check back from time to time as I’ll update them along the way when I stumble upon new findings.
GENERAL FACTS
1. There are just so many gamers out there!
According to Statista, Asia was the world’s largest market for video games in 2021, with about 1.48 billion gamers, followed by Europe (715 million), which was the second-largest market. An estimated 3.24 billion people played video games worldwide.
2. Esport is a major spectator event.
Esports are now more popular than the majority of important sporting events. For example, the League of Legends world championship in 2019 attracted more viewers than the Super Bowl and NBA finals combined.
3. Gaming is more for adults than kids.
You should know that the average age of a gamer is often in their mid-30s. While some gamers may stop playing when they reach adulthood, the majority are dedicated enough to keep playing. In any case, working individuals are more likely to be able to afford gaming equipment and software.
4. The largest video game collection ever has a library of over 24,000 games!
With 24,268 video games and probably still increasing, Antonio Monteiro of Richmond, Texas currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest video game collection. Over 100 different devices may play the games in the collection, which includes titles from the second to eighth console generations. Guinness needed 8 days to complete the count!
5. The infamous cheat codes in the video game history.
The Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) was something I could remember better than I ever remember any mathematic formula back in high school. It was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was working on the NES home adaptation of the Gradius arcade game from 1985. During testing, he discovered that the game was too challenging to complete, so he developed the cheat code, which grants the player access to all of the power-ups (which are typically unlocked progressively throughout the game).
GAME SPECIFICS
1. First Game Ever Made
“Tennis for Two,” designed in 1958 by scientist William Higinbotham, was the first video game ever made. Two gamers smack a ball back and forth while playing on an oscilloscope.
2. Grand Theft Auto V’s background characters were voiced by real-life gang members that were contracted by Rockstar Games.
The producers chose to avoid using “goofy LA actors,” in an effort to give the game’s fictional criminal underworld as much credibility as possible. Therefore, Rockstar Games hired a guy to travel around and find real criminals to do the voice-overs.
(If Grand Theft Auto ever wants to do a Klang version, I’m going to audition to be a voice actor for it. I’m pretty fluent when it comes to cussing in Hokkien.)
3. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is the longest-running game ever!
It takes an average of 693 hours to finish this game. That’s about 3 months or so if you play about 8 hours a day with no weekend off.
4. The Atari ET video game is known as the worst video game of all time.
Gamers in general actually do agree on this. It was so horrible that the creators of this video game had to bury the evidence.
5. Minecraft is the best-selling video game so far.
The word’s most popular indie game, Minecraft was developed by Markus Alexej Persson, better known as Notch. Microsoft purchased Minecraft after it made over US$180 million in sales. It still ranks among the most popular games across all platforms, even selling close to US$10 million more than the legendary Tetris game.
6. Puck-Man?
The famous “Pac-Man” character was initially known as “Puck-Man” in Japan. Namco executives were concerned that vandals might convert the “P” in “Puck Man” to a “F,” creating an offensive name. Because he thought Pac-Man was more evocative of the game’s original Japanese name, Pakkuman, Masaya Nakamura decided to rename it.
7. In Silent Hill, the fog wasn’t wholly intentional.
It was initially a sort of compromise. Fog covered the village in the first Silent Hill video game due to technical restrictions. The ambient fog in the early Silent Hill’s environs was actually for worse rendering, which you can either find ingenious or a cop-out. Nevertheless, Silent Hill’s gloomy aura quickly came to be associated with the fog.
8. The Imposter Among Us!
One of the most played games of 2020 was Among Us, a multiplayer game in which players must identify the impostor among them. It was published in 2018, but after being broadcast by well-known Twitch streamers and YouTubers, it experienced a major increase in popularity. In November 2020, there were more over 500 million active users each month.
9. Tetris was inspired by wooden puzzle game Pentominoes
In 1984, a Soviet computer scientist by the name of Alexey Pajitnov invented the game Tetris. He was using an outdated computer with text-only capabilities while working at the Moscow Academy of Sciences. Later, he claimed that the wooden puzzle game Pentominoes served as his inspiration.
10. GTA San Andreas has the most voice actors in a video game!
According to Gamer’s Edition, GTA San Andreas holds the Guinness World Record for having the most voice actors in a video game. 861 voice actors, including 184 actors and 687 extra performers, are listed in the game’s credits.