‘Space Invaders was a phenomenon in the arcade.’ ibid. historian
‘I believe that Activision sold four and million games.’ ibid. founder
‘Atari had its stinkers like ET’ … ‘widely considered to be the worst game ever made.’ ibid. historian
‘They couldn’t let it on the market so they just put it in a landfill.’ ibid.
In 1985 Nintendo came out with an entertainment system. ibid.
Sega introduced a home video system in competition with Nintendo. ibid.
Sony eliminated Sega from being a hardware competitor and it marginalised Nintendo. ibid.
For some people the line between the life you log on to and reality are increasingly blurred. One couple in Korea live their virtual lives at the cost of their real lives … Love Child, television news, 2014
The only crime of its nature in which a child [Sarang] had died as an indirect result of internet gaming. ibid. Andrew Salmon re South Korean case
The genius of online gaming is that you can connect to thousands of players at the same time in the same internet space. ibid.
Just before the turn of the millennium, [South] Korea to the astonishment of the world found itself with probably the finest internet infrastructure on the planet. ibid.
The couple sold their virtual money to those who wanted to buy game items without investing the time it takes to earn them. Some call it Gold Farming, and as far as I could tell, this was the only way the couple earned income. ibid. reporter
Korea’s MMORPG games today enable users to decorate their avatars by charging the game cash, so called ‘game avatars’. ibid. young player
They would come in [Internet Bang] after dinner and play all night. They were so happy lost in this game together. ibid. reporter
They [parents of baby] had clearly fallen through the cracks of society. Rather a sad couple. They were unaware of what they had been doing. They had no information about raising children. ibid. Andrew Salmon
For some people who suffer from boredom, lose vigor, become depressed, video games provide the only comfort. They play games because they have nothing else to do. They barely eat and barely go out. They become like a hermit. ibid. psychiatrist
There is still controversy around whether the [South Korean] Law should include ‘online addiction’ in the category of mentally and physically ill. ibid. defence dude
She secretly game birth to a baby in the PC Bang toilet stall and suffocated the baby with the plastic bag. She was addicted to online gaming and roamed around the PC bang homeless. She started having contractions and went to the public restroom to give birth to a child. ibid. captions
The judge in the case accepted a psychological evaluation alleging they were addicted to online gaming. ibid. defence dude
It’s a basic responsibility as a human to feed a baby. It’s not something to be taught. ibid. rozzer
In a final twist to this story, the wife of the couple is now pregnant with a second child. ibid. Andrew Salmon in court
Sarang’s father was sentenced to one year in prison. Sarang’s mother served no time. ibid. captions
The parents are deeply sorry for their actions and are seeking redemption. ibid. defence dude
By the middle of the decade three million homes had a home computer. BBC2 crashed into the craze with the series Micro Live … The Home that 2 Built s1e3: Eighties, BBC 2020
By the mid-80s the whole board games industry was in peril not just in Britain but across the world, under attack from an army of alien invaders: Computer games! Benjamin Woolley, Games Britannia II: Monopolies & Mergers, BBC 2020
Behind their curtains things weren’t as they seemed: this world of domestic bliss it turned out wasn’t quite real. In the 70s the illusion began to disintegrate: social conventions were challenged, technology invaded the home, teenagers became surly, the divorce rate surged, the nuclear family exploded and all hell let lose. This is the story of a group of Britain who over the past three decades reshaped Games Britannia. It’s about pioneers who opened up a different world and invited us. Benjamin Woolley, Games Britannia III: Joystick Generation
‘The thing that changed computer games for ever in Britain was the arrival of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum: which was this affordable home computer which immediately became most famous and most loved for its ability to play games.’ ibid. Margaret Robertson, video games journalist
When people first started to talk about the addictive quality of computer games, Manic Miner was Exhibit A. ibid.
Black & White gives us the chance to explore a world with our own moral compass, to discover for ourselves what happens when we choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing. The genesis of Virtual World was now complete. British game-makers had found a rich source of satire, emotion and politics to play with. ibid.
Tomb Raider showed the potential of home computers and consoles to simulate in life-like detail the extraordinary natural marvels, the most extraordinary of all was Lara herself. ibid.
‘You shoot a lot of endangered species in the face.’ ibid. Charlie Brooker
This is what fantasy games such as Heavenly Sword struggle to do: to mix the right quantities of story and character together, whilst leaving a place for us in the narrative. ibid.
‘Wipeout is just an object lesson in 3D gaming.’ ibid. Dr James Newman
‘If nothing is real, is everything allowed?’ ibid. Robertson
This one is a monster … More than 80 million copies … It’s had a huge impact … Grand Theft Auto … Beneath the surface layer of shock and awe lies a deep sense of irony. ibid.
It’s intensely contemplative. It’s almost hypnotic. It’s like putting your hand on the third rail of the universe. If you play Go seriously there is a chance that you will get exposed to this experience that is kind of like nothing else on the planet. AlphaGo, dude, Netflix 2017
We think of Deep Mind as kind of like an Apollo program for AI. Our mission is to fundamentally understand intelligence. ibid. developer
The game of Go was the Holy Grail of Artificial Intelligence. ibid. developer #2
I lose with a program. And I don’t understand myself any more. ibid. Fan Hui, European champion
I still think I have the advantage. ibid. Lee Sedol v Deep Mind, South Korean tournament
I want my style of Go to be something different, something new, my own thing. Something that no-one has thought of before. ibid. Lee Sedol [18 world championships]
This is the thing we were most afraid of: self-doubt. ibid. television commentator
The computer just came out the victor. ibid. US commentator post-first-game
Surely, AlphaGo is creative. ibid. Lee Sedol, Game 2
There is something I think frightening to people about a machine that learns on its own. ibid. expert
I couldn’t believe I won one game … after losing three games in a row. ibid. Lee Sedol
Client: The modern world: What is the name of the game in the world today?
Rumpole: Space Invaders. Rumpole of the Bailey s3e6: Rumpole and the Last Resort, BBC 1983
‘We were pioneering a new medium … It was thrilling and it was terrifying and I was into it … I made the worst game of all time: ET: The Extra-terrestrial. Some people say it was the thing that destroyed the video game industry.’ High Score s1e1: Boom & Bust, game designer, Netflix 2020
Some revolutions come out of nowhere. And this one happened almost by accident. ibid.
‘My name is Tomohiro Nishikado. I made Space Invaders.’ ibid.
Atari: They transformed the arcade hit into the first ever game bundle and it quadrupled their sales. ibid.
The ‘high score’ is what drives us to play. ibid.
Asteroids: 31 hours on one quarter. ibid.
The Channel F was the first console to use interchangeable cartridges. ibid.
The home version of the arcade smash Pac Man left fans disappointed. Then a wave of crappy games. ibid.
Who gets to play games for a living? High Score s1e2: Comeback Kid
Nintendo: Donkey Kong … Things in the ’80s were a bit more analogue. ibid.
By 1990 Nintendo was on a rocket to the moon. ibid.
Could they invite players into new worlds to tell an interactive story? High Score s1e3: Role Players
Dungeons & Dragons … inspired a generation of future game designers. ibid.
Sega guy: We were so outmatched … we may as well go down swinging. High Score s1e4: This is War
In the late ’80s all kids wanted for Christmas was a Nintendo entertainment system … An underdog was about to declare war: Sega. ibid.
Without that primitive sensation, you don’t feel compelled to play again. High Score s1e5: Fight! developer
Players could now duke it out against each other.
The new era of fight games would not only resurrect the arcades, for some kids it would change the course of their lives. ibid.
E-sports have brought competitive gaming out of the gaming and into the arena. ibid.
A newly popular platform called the internet. High Score s1e6: Level Up
A new perspective: the first-person shooter. ibid.
Visionaries who changed the way we play. ibid.