Gaming History You Should Know – The McDonalds DS Training Cartridge November 27, 2020

Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the biggest independently produced content about the history of gaming. I told you guys that our article on Wednesday would not be the only burger-themed article we would be talking about this holiday weekend, and today’s featured article should not disappoint.

Everyone should be familiar with the fast-food restaurant McDonalds. Love it or hate it, it is one of the biggest companies worldwide, with billions of dollars in sales from burgers, fries, sodas and chicken. I’m sure everyone reading this article has eaten food from them at least once, or at least fondly remembers the fact they offered free Nintendo Zone WiFi service for Nintendo 3DS units at around the same time they improved their coffee. After I got my very first Nintendo 3DS XL, I remember actually making many trips there to download the latest exclusive Nintendo content, and swap StreetPass data with the location’s previous users. It was a great time to be a Nintendo handheld gamer.

McDonalds employs thousands of people, and as such has to create new ways to keep employees refreshed on working procedures. But what is the best way to train employees in today’s day and age? Most companies use textbooks and training videos, McDonalds Japan decided to create a video game. The platform? The Nintendo DS, the biggest selling handheld console of all time. The method? An exclusive McDonalds training cart that was distributed to a very select group of employees.

Many people believe this exclusive DS game did not exist, despite the fact a major news organization did a piece about it. However, given the recent dissolution of the Nintendo DS platform, many believed if a training cart ever existed the copies would’ve likely been lost or destroyed by now. Now is the time for me to introduce our hero.

Nick Robinson created an incredible documentary that is being talked about non stop all over the internet. It details his search for the elusive McDonalds Japan training cartridge. This is no easy feat, due to the global pandemic, international travel, as well as importing/exporting international goods, have almost entirely ceased. Join him as he tries to obtain this elusive game and his quest to unlock the game’s data. I believe this video is so well made it is worth being shown as an episode of NOVA on PBS.

Next time, we will be highlighting another special marketing event. You could say, this was Microsoft’s first attempt at something on the scale of Quantum Burger. The only difference is, MANY people fondly remember this event, and there is a feature-length documentary about it. We will talk about that tomorrow.

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of Pikachu in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade November 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know! I know I promised you guys a burger themed history video yesterday, but I happened to find this incredible video earlier today and had to share it with you all.

The Pokémon franchise has endured for nearly twenty-five years. It has had ups and downs over the years but is currently seeing a second Renaissance of popularity thanks to the incredible success of games like Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sword and Shield. You already know its most popular mascot, the adorable Pokémon Pikachu, has appeared in spin-off games, toys of all sorts, and even feature films but did you know Pikachu has appeared in homes every Thanksgiving for the past twenty years?

Department store Macy’s is one of the biggest retail conglomerates in the United States, and for as long as I can remember, they’ve held a yearly parade every Thanksgiving Day featuring floats, balloons, and musical performances by Broadway cast and marching bands from all over the country. Many of these balloons and floats feature the biggest franchises of the time, and as of today the biggest franchise of the past twenty years, Pokémon and its mascot Pikachu, has made an appearance at the parade every year for the past twenty years.

Today, we will be featuring YouTube Channel PatMac, which did a fantastic history video on the history of Pikachu’s appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I can’t imagine a better video to watch in anticipation for Turkey dinner than this.

As someone who has been watching the Thanksgiving Parade this morning I can assure you Pikachu was in attendance, marking his twentieth year of appearance. I can’t find video of the appearance online just yet, but from the looks of it, his Thanksgiving reveal just may be the kick off of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary celebration! Stay tuned here if more details are coming!

Pokémon games are available on many platforms including the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, Switch and smart devices.

Gaming History You Should Know – Quantum Break’s Quantum Burger Event November 25, 2020

Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the greatest independently produced documentaries about the history of gaming. I know it isn’t Sunday, but my fellow countrymen will be enjoying a feast during a national holiday tomorrow and we decided to spend this extended weekend that otherwise wouldn’t see too much gaming news spreading the word about gaming history.

Today, we will be doing something a little different. The event we will be discussing was in fact so little known, up until this time no documentaries have been produced about it. That means I’ll be talking about it myself, which would be a lot easier if I had actually attended and participated in it myself…but I didn’t, despite the fact I wish I had. With that all out of the way, let’s get started. No pressure, right?

Quantum Break was the first video game announced for the Xbox One. It was not a launch title, in fact I don’t believe it was released until about three years after the console came out, but it was a big reason why I picked up the Xbox One console at launch. Developed by Remedy and published by Microsoft, Quantum Break was a third-person action game which had an in-depth story sprinkled with a four-episode television show.

As Quantum Break prepared to launch in early-2016, Microsoft planned their major marketing push. In the US, we got a live-action trailer that occasionally aired on television (of a scene that doesn’t take place in the game). As far as I know, that is pretty much all we got. However, North of the border, in the land of Canada, Microsoft Canada started a major marketing push.

Microsoft Canada’s plan was to bring a piece of the game into the real world. A burger venue in Toronto would be used as a facade, and people who stepped inside of it would literally step inside the world of Quantum Break. The venue was called Quantum Burger, and from afar to the unknowing eye it probably looked like a regular burger joint. However, we gamers knew better. The venue would appear to be trapped in a stutter of time, what the game referred to as a “Zero State” event, and from the way the venue was arranged it appeared the stutter took place during a robbery. Links to websites and even Xbox Live codes were strewn all over the location, rewarding people for checking it out in person.

Unfortunately, an independent documentary about the event was never produced. Maybe it’s too early for something like that to happen, very few people talk about the greatness that is Quantum Break on Xbox One and even most die hard fans of the game I’ve talked to are completely unaware this event ever happened. CG Magazine did a fantastic write up about the event and you can read it here. As far as I know, only two independently produced videos which photographed the venue actually exist, and neither one of them has drawn a lot of traffic up to this point. The first was done by CG Magazine and I recommend checking it out first.

The second appears to have been done by a fan who visited the location, Keotaro. It is without a doubt my favorite video of the event, the music used fits the clips really well, and the editing was interesting. If there’s just one video you would watch of this whole event, this is the one you would watch.

Unfortunately, since the event was held in real life in only one location, in a country I didn’t even live in, I was unable to visit the venue myself or participate in the event personally. To their credit, Xbox Canada did their own official post-event video, and you can watch it here.

Ironically enough, this is not the only burger themed history article I could write about. Stay tuned for tomorrow when we bring even more gaming history you should know! Until then, stay safe.

Quantum Break is out now for the Xbox One and PC.

Gaming History You Should Know – History of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire November 1, 2020

Welcome back, happy Sunday everyone! With Halloween now a distant memory we prepare to move into the winter holidays, which always hold a soft spot in the hearts of gamers. Let’s be honest, the vast majority of game consoles launch in this season, alongside a huge library of new games to take advantage of the new platform’s features.

Let me take you back to the mid-90s. The Star Wars prequels were still years away, but the original films had just re-released on VHS with THX remaster and a new generation of young people (myself among them) were watching them for the first time ever on their home televisions. At the same time George Lucas’s video game company, LucasArts, was in its heyday, producing some of the greatest PC games of all time including Dark Forces, X-Wing, and TIE Fighter.

In the mid-90s fans wanted to read more Star Wars stories, and books that were released as part of the Expanded Universe were selling very well. At the same time, Nintendo was planning to release the Nintendo 64, and Lucasarts was asked to have a brand-new game for the console ready for Christmas! With the first prequel film still a few years away, the various Lucasfilm companies decided to to all-in on an entirely new original expanded story in the Star Wars universe taking place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It would be told across several books, a graphic novel, and a video game. There would even be toys released featuring the new original characters created for the story. It would be called…Shadows of the Empire. If you were a fan of Star Wars, this is likely the best time for you to be a fan.

So welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the biggest independently produced gaming documentaries across the web. Today, we are once again highlighting the great work of YouTube channel Saintmillion. He produced a nearly feature-length documentary about the entire Shadows of the Empire event, how it came to be, what took place during the story, and how it effected the entire Star Wars canon. Enjoy!

It’s really sad to know that after the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm, events from Shadows of the Empire are no longer acknowledged.

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is out now for PC and Nintendo 64.

Gaming History You Should Know – The Early History of Virtual Reality October 12, 2020

I know it’s not Sunday, but where I’m from today is a bank holiday and because of that we’ve had essentially a three-day weekend. I know that’s not the best excuse but hey, I didn’t want to have to wait another week to highlight this great video.

Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, an ongoing series where we highlight some of the best independently produced gaming documentaries from across the web. Today, we’ll be talking about Virtual Reality (VR). In today’s day, VR is seeing something of a second renaissance. VR setups like Oculus, Vive and PlayStation VR have a modest install base and even I have to admit I’m becoming an enthusiast.

However, with the power of modern PCs (and consoles) capable of pushing high 3D resolutions, and refresh rates, today’s VR gamers can look forward to a decent immersive experience. However VR is not a new concept and it’s first wave of popularity came in the early-to-mid 90s. 3D games like DOOM were just entering the market, pushing the demand for high-end PCs, and smart businessmen had the idea to provide a gaming experience that made you feel like you were INSIDE the game. Enter Virtuality.

In the early 90s, Virtuality developed (at the time) real-time 3D games with the intention to pair it with Virtual Reality setups. However, due to the cost of computer hardware and limitations at the time, their setups were big, expensive, and graphics were limited to keep consistent framerate. With a single VR unit costing around (at the time) $20,000, home VR setups were just impractical. However, arcades of the day were seeing a second wave of popularity thanks to recent arcade releases like Mortal Kombat, and investing in something like a VR machine and renting time on it seemed like a no brainer decision. This is how I had my first VR experiences.

Check out this great documentary produced by the YouTube channel Nostalgia Nerd. When people of my generation think of Virtual Reality (with all its highs and lows) they think of one of these Virtuality setups!

While the company may have long since folded, sold and resold many times over the years that’s not to say that Virtuality’s VR prospects were a complete failure. While they didn’t have access to the same technology we do today, it is incredible to see just what they could do back then. Since the company couldn’t use the same tiny motion tracking gyroscopes that are so common to have in every smartphone, controller and tablet today (since they weren’t invented yet) the tricks they used to compensate for their limitations should still be celebrated. They were able to produce VR games with full real-time head tracking in the days before even Quake hit the market.

I like to think VR will continue to prosper in today’s technology market. VR headsets for the PC and PlayStation are already out, and they will continue to function on newer hardware. So with the hardware in place, all we need now is the software. That, would be an article for another time.

Gaming History You Should Know – The Beginnings of Game Freak September 27, 2020

It’s Sunday, and while we haven’t had the chance to post a new Gaming History You Should Know in a few weeks, it wasn’t due to a lack of great content being available, it was more because Sundays became really busy for me as of late. If you’re new here, this series highlights some of the best independently produced original gaming documentaries from across the web.

As we’ve previously reported, the Pokémon franchise is a multimedia powerhouse, but the company who originally created the game that brought it to the world came from very humble beginnings.

YouTube Legend Tamashi, known for her reviews of the Pokémon games, created this incredible television-length documentary about the history of the company who would go on to create Pokémon, Game Freak. She’ll tell you about where the company came from, and do a review of their very first game for the Famicom, err, Nintendo Entertainment System.

https://youtu.be/6h9L3vW_f5M

Tamashi has really outdone herself with this one. I totally recommend checking out her YouTube channel, because she does some great game reviews.

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of Showbiz Pizza’s Band June 28, 2020

When I was a 90s kid, I was in love with arcades. It didn’t have to be special, but it had to have all the latest games, and maybe some VR headsets. However, if you were an 80s person, you might remember a specific arcade franchise that also served pizza and offered a cute animatronics show with anthropomorphic animal musicians. No, I’m not talking about Chuck E. Cheese, I’m talking about Showbiz Pizza.

Showbiz Pizza was an early amalgamation of restaurant and arcade, a business strategy later perfected by places like Dave and Busters. Unlike Dave and Busters, Showbiz Pizza would offer more than just arcade games while they waited for their food, their restaurants included a custom animatronics show starting an entirely original band, The Rockafire Explosion.

I know what you younger people are thinking, didn’t Chuck E. Cheese have an animatronic band and why haven’t I heard of The Rockafire Explosion but I’ve heard of Chuck E. Cheese? The Rockafire Explosion was a casualty of Mr. Cheese, but not in the way you might have guessed. So who created this crazy animatronic band, what is up with their characters, and why are they so fondly remembered to this day? This independently produced documentary, titled simply The Rockafire Explosion, answers all of those questions. In wake of Chuck E. Cheese declaring Bankruptcy this week, I think it is the perfect way to cap off your week.

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of DisneyQuest June 20, 2020

It’s Sunday and we’re back with another Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced gaming documentaries from across the Internet. Today, we’re going to tell a story about a well-themed arcade that just didn’t work out.

Children of the 80s probably remember the earlier days of Atari and Namco machines, and would flock to arcades to play games like PAC-MAN and Missile Command. Then, the crash of ‘82 happened and arcades began to evaporate. It would take a decade for a new generation of games to bring the arcade back. When I was a child in the early 90s, the arcades were packed with cutting edge titles like Mortal Kombat and Lethal Enforcers. By the end of the 90s, improved technology gave us more immersive games like Jurassic Park, Cruisin’ USA and Area 51. With the success of games like that, lots of arcades began to take chances on not only new games or new technlogies, but new ways to design their arcades to bring in newer players. Virtual Reality (VR) was offered as an option in some venues, but it was costly and the technology wasn’t there to provide the fast-paced realistic games that the platform demanded. Most VR players who tried the technology at the time weren’t happy with it.

In the early 2000s, Disney looked at the success of arcades and decided the time was right to throw the weight of their company behind a new venture. Disney has always been known as one of the most technology advanced companies in the world, with their films, television and theme parks wowing audiences since way before I was born. Disney has always been the best at providing a well-themed immersive experience to their customers, and that was exactly what was needed at the turn of the millennium.

As VR arcades started taking off, Disney decided to launch their own Disney-Branded VR arcade franchise, DisneyQuest. Two DisneyQuests were built at launch, with one in Chicago, Illinois and the other at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. For $36 US at entry, guests could come in and play all of the games on display, including tons of exclusive attractions you couldn’t play anywhere else. If successful, the plan was to open more venues all across North America.

So did DisneyQuest work? Sadly no. The third DisneyQuest venue in Philadelphia, PA was cancelled mid-construction. Chicago’s venue closed first after just a few brief years, but with the heavy tourist traffic of Walt Disney World, DisneyQuest Orlando was successful enough on its own to limp along without much further investment for nearly two decades before it finally shuttered.

So if DisneyQuest had the financial backing and access to the same high-end technology as used by one of the most successful companies in the world, why did it fail? Defunctland is an online documentary series created and hosted by a man who calls himself Kevin Perjurer. It focuses on the history of theme park rides and attractions that are no longer in operation. It also covers attractions that got far along in preproduction but were never built. It’s well researched and edited, with Kevin’s narration keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout the video. A while ago, Kevin took a look at the DisneyQuest franchise, went into its history and its demise. If you wanted to see what you could’ve done at this place in its heyday, give this a watch.

I must admit I have personally visited the DisneyQuest in Orlando, Florida but only once during a family vacation. The most impressive thing I remember from it was their Cyber Space Mountain simulator, which I challenged my cousin to ride with me. We both ended up having a great time on that trip, but seven years later when I visited the park again, I remember feeling that there was no need to check DisneyQuest out again. Perhaps that is why the venue failed, there was no incentive for repeat customers, something an arcade desperately needs to survive. Recently, arcades are seeing a resurgence with the success of venues like Dave and Busters and I have happily spent many free nights there for a happy hour special and some games. Everybody gets hungry and thirsty, and D&B’s decision to offer decent food with a constantly improving selection of new arcade games (in my opinion) succeeded where DisneyQuest failed.

If you’d like to check out more Defunctland, check out their YouTube Channel.

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of UNDERGRADS May 17, 2020

It’s Sunday! Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced gaming-related documentaries across the web. Today, I’m going to take you back to 2001, and talk about one of MTV’s most overlooked animated show, Undergrads.

Undergrads was an animated television series created by Pete Williams that focused around four college friends, Gimpy, Rocco, Nitz and Cal. The plan was for each season of the show to revolve around a year of college, so the first season focused on their Freshman year. I know what you’re thinking, what does this show have to do with gaming? A lot actually. We never actually see the characters go to class, the show revolves around what they do outside of work and studies. That involves a LOT of gaming, and several episodes focused on the characters playing different games ranging from the board game RISK to the PC game Quake III Arena. As far as I can remember, this was the first non-gaming focused television show that casually acknowledged that computer games existed, got gaming language correct, and wasn’t afraid to namedrop real games.

Sadly, Undergrads only lasted one season, and had a story that ended on a cliffhanger. Due to contract issues between MTV and Pete Williams, Pete was unable to continue the show on his own. However, nearly two decades after the show’s cancellation a light eventually appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Pete Williams intends to make an Undergrads movie and held a successful Kickstarter to start pre-production! But what makes this show so special, and if you’re unfamiliar with the show, why should you care as much as I do? Enter YouTube Channel RebelTaxi, which creates some incredible documentaries on animated shows and video games. Recently, he produced an incredible documentary about the history of Undergrads, up to this point. Give it a watch!

I’m really happy this movie will finally get released. The first season of Undergrads WAS my Freshman year of college. I do not say that lightly, pretty much every beat in the show happened to me at some point over the course of that year. I must credit Pete Williams for his sincerity for that, and with his decision to use correct gaming lingo.

So, after being silent for so long, what is the current status of Undergrads? I’ve got really good news for you. The creator of the show held a successful Kickstarter about a year ago, and pre-production of a film sequel has started. Here’s some test footage that has recently been posted.

Welcome back Nitz, Gimpy, Rocco and Cal. We missed you.