Jump to content

Portal:Video games

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Video Games Portal

A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, most commonly shown in a video format on a television set, computer monitor, flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices, or a virtual reality headset. Most modern video games are audiovisual, with audio complement delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback (e.g., haptic technology that provides tactile sensations). Some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for in-game chatting and livestreaming.

Video games are typically categorized according to their hardware platform, which traditionally includes arcade video games, console games, and computer games (which includes LAN games, online games, and browser games). More recently, the video game industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers), virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote cloud gaming. Video games are also classified into a wide range of genres based on their style of gameplay and target audience. (Full article...)

  Featured articles represent some of the best content on the English Wikipedia.

  • Image 3 Super Mario All-Stars is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four Super Mario games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Famicom Disk System: Super Mario Bros. (1985), Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986), Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988). As in the original games, players control the Italian plumber Mario and his brother Luigi through themed worlds, collecting power-ups, avoiding obstacles, and finding secrets. The remakes feature updated graphics—including the addition of parallax scrolling—and music, modified game physics, a save feature, and bug fixes. Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development developed the compilation after completing Super Mario Kart (1992), at the suggestion of the Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. No longer restricted by the limitations of the 8-bit NES, Nintendo remade them for the 16-bit SNES. The developers based the updated designs on those from Super Mario World (1990) and strove to retain the feel of the original games. Nintendo released Super Mario All-Stars worldwide in late 1993 and rereleased it in 1994 with Super Mario World included. It was The Lost Levels' first release outside Japan; it was not released on the NES in Western territories because Nintendo deemed it too difficult at the time. Super Mario All-Stars is one of the bestselling Super Mario games, with 10.55 million copies sold by 2015. Critics considered it one of the best SNES games and praised the updated graphics and music, but criticized its lack of innovation. All-Stars served as a basis for later Super Mario rereleases and was described by Famitsu as a model for video game remakes. It was rereleased twice for the anniversary of Super Mario Bros.: in 2010 (the 25th anniversary) in a special package for the Wii, and in 2020 (the 35th anniversary) for the Nintendo Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online legacy games service. The Wii rerelease sold 2.24 million copies by 2011 but received mixed reviews, with criticism for its lack of new games and features. (Full article...)
    Super Mario All-Stars is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four Super Mario games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Famicom Disk System: Super Mario Bros. (1985), Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986), Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988). As in the original games, players control the Italian plumber Mario and his brother Luigi through themed worlds, collecting power-ups, avoiding obstacles, and finding secrets. The remakes feature updated graphics—including the addition of parallax scrolling—and music, modified game physics, a save feature, and bug fixes.

    Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development developed the compilation after completing Super Mario Kart (1992), at the suggestion of the Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. No longer restricted by the limitations of the 8-bit NES, Nintendo remade them for the 16-bit SNES. The developers based the updated designs on those from Super Mario World (1990) and strove to retain the feel of the original games. Nintendo released Super Mario All-Stars worldwide in late 1993 and rereleased it in 1994 with Super Mario World included. It was The Lost Levels' first release outside Japan; it was not released on the NES in Western territories because Nintendo deemed it too difficult at the time.

    Super Mario All-Stars is one of the bestselling Super Mario games, with 10.55 million copies sold by 2015. Critics considered it one of the best SNES games and praised the updated graphics and music, but criticized its lack of innovation. All-Stars served as a basis for later Super Mario rereleases and was described by Famitsu as a model for video game remakes. It was rereleased twice for the anniversary of Super Mario Bros.: in 2010 (the 25th anniversary) in a special package for the Wii, and in 2020 (the 35th anniversary) for the Nintendo Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online legacy games service. The Wii rerelease sold 2.24 million copies by 2011 but received mixed reviews, with criticism for its lack of new games and features. (Full article...)
  • Image 4 Ōkami is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months after the release, a port for Wii was developed by Ready at Dawn, Tose, and Capcom, and released in 2008. Set in a fictional version of classical Japan, Ōkami combines Japanese mythology and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, who took the form of a white wolf. It features a sumi-e-inspired cel-shaded visual style and the Celestial Brush, a gesture-system to perform miracles. The game was planned to use more traditional realistic rendering, but this had put a strain on the graphics processing of the PlayStation 2. Clover Studio switched to a cel-shaded style to reduce the processing, which led to the Celestial Brush concept. The gameplay is modeled on The Legend of Zelda, one of director Hideki Kamiya's favorite series. The game's name is a pun, as "ōkami" can mean either "great god" (大神) or "wolf" (狼) in Japanese. Ōkami was one of the last PlayStation 2 games released prior to the release of the PlayStation 3. It was not commercially successful, leading to the closure of Clover Studio following the departure of Kamiya and other leads on the game. Although it suffered from poor sales, the game received critical acclaim, earning IGN's 2006 Game of the Year. The Wii version earned similar praise, though the motion control scheme received mixed reviews. A high-definition port, remastered by Capcom and HexaDrive, was released on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network in October 2012 and for retail in Japan in November, supporting the use of the PlayStation Move motion controller. The port was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2017 worldwide, for the Nintendo Switch in August 2018, and for Amazon Luna in April 2022. Mainstream adoption of the game has improved with the release of these remasters, and Ōkami is considered to be one of the best video games ever made, as well as an example of video games as an art form, aided by the improved art details and graphics resolutions. (Full article...)
    Ōkami is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months after the release, a port for Wii was developed by Ready at Dawn, Tose, and Capcom, and released in 2008.

    Set in a fictional version of classical Japan, Ōkami combines Japanese mythology and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, who took the form of a white wolf. It features a sumi-e-inspired cel-shaded visual style and the Celestial Brush, a gesture-system to perform miracles. The game was planned to use more traditional realistic rendering, but this had put a strain on the graphics processing of the PlayStation 2. Clover Studio switched to a cel-shaded style to reduce the processing, which led to the Celestial Brush concept. The gameplay is modeled on The Legend of Zelda, one of director Hideki Kamiya's favorite series. The game's name is a pun, as "ōkami" can mean either "great god" (大神) or "wolf" () in Japanese.

    Ōkami was one of the last PlayStation 2 games released prior to the release of the PlayStation 3. It was not commercially successful, leading to the closure of Clover Studio following the departure of Kamiya and other leads on the game. Although it suffered from poor sales, the game received critical acclaim, earning IGN's 2006 Game of the Year. The Wii version earned similar praise, though the motion control scheme received mixed reviews. A high-definition port, remastered by Capcom and HexaDrive, was released on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network in October 2012 and for retail in Japan in November, supporting the use of the PlayStation Move motion controller. The port was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2017 worldwide, for the Nintendo Switch in August 2018, and for Amazon Luna in April 2022. Mainstream adoption of the game has improved with the release of these remasters, and Ōkami is considered to be one of the best video games ever made, as well as an example of video games as an art form, aided by the improved art details and graphics resolutions. (Full article...)
  • Image 5 Iridion 3D is a quasi-3D rail shooter video game developed by Shin'en Multimedia. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance portable game console, it was released in North America on June 11, 2001 and in Europe on September 21. The player controls a single starship defending Earth from the alien Iridion. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the aliens' home planet, each following a linear path that culminate with a boss. Iridion began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color; when Shin'en decided to drop development and shift their focus to the Game Boy Advance, Iridion was the first game by the developer to appear on the system. Though billed as a 3D game, Shin'en used realtime encoding and resizing to manipulate the size of 2D sprites instead of creating a true 3D environment. More room on the game cartridge was available for graphics due to the game's use of the GAX Sound Engine, which allowed real-time decoding of song data in a small file size. On release Iridion garnered generally mixed reviews. The graphics and sound were generally praised; a year after its release, critics at Extended Play still considered it the best-looking game on the platform. In contrast, critics derided the game's repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, Iridion 3D was a financial success, and influenced future Shin'en shooters such as Iridion II and Nanostray. (Full article...)
    Iridion 3D is a quasi-3D rail shooter video game developed by Shin'en Multimedia. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance portable game console, it was released in North America on June 11, 2001 and in Europe on September 21. The player controls a single starship defending Earth from the alien Iridion. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the aliens' home planet, each following a linear path that culminate with a boss.

    Iridion began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color; when Shin'en decided to drop development and shift their focus to the Game Boy Advance, Iridion was the first game by the developer to appear on the system. Though billed as a 3D game, Shin'en used realtime encoding and resizing to manipulate the size of 2D sprites instead of creating a true 3D environment. More room on the game cartridge was available for graphics due to the game's use of the GAX Sound Engine, which allowed real-time decoding of song data in a small file size.

    On release Iridion garnered generally mixed reviews. The graphics and sound were generally praised; a year after its release, critics at Extended Play still considered it the best-looking game on the platform. In contrast, critics derided the game's repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, Iridion 3D was a financial success, and influenced future Shin'en shooters such as Iridion II and Nanostray. (Full article...)
  • Image 6 Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games created by Japanese game designers Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, being developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company, and is under the leadership of Nomura, a longtime Square Enix employee. Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney properties based in an original fictional universe. The series centers on the main character, Sora, and his journey and experiences with various Disney characters, as well as some from Square Enix properties, such as Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You, and Einhänder, in addition to original characters and locations created specifically for the series. The series consists of thirteen games available for multiple platforms, and future games are planned. Most of the games in the series have been positively received and commercially successful. As of March 2022, the Kingdom Hearts series has shipped more than 36 million copies worldwide. A wide variety of related merchandise has been released along with the games, including soundtracks, action figures, companion books, light novels, a collectible card game, and a manga series. (Full article...)
    Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games created by Japanese game designers Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, being developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company, and is under the leadership of Nomura, a longtime Square Enix employee.

    Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney properties based in an original fictional universe. The series centers on the main character, Sora, and his journey and experiences with various Disney characters, as well as some from Square Enix properties, such as Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You, and Einhänder, in addition to original characters and locations created specifically for the series.

    The series consists of thirteen games available for multiple platforms, and future games are planned. Most of the games in the series have been positively received and commercially successful. As of March 2022, the Kingdom Hearts series has shipped more than 36 million copies worldwide. A wide variety of related merchandise has been released along with the games, including soundtracks, action figures, companion books, light novels, a collectible card game, and a manga series. (Full article...)
  • Image 7 StarCraft: Ghost was a military science fiction stealth-action video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was intended to be part of Blizzard's StarCraft series and was announced in September 20, 2002. It was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. After several delays, Nihilistic Software ceded development to Swingin' Ape Studios in 2004. In 2005, Blizzard announced plans for the GameCube version were canceled. Blizzard announced in March 2006 that the game was put on "indefinite hold" while the company investigated seventh generation video game console possibilities. Subsequent public statements from company personnel had been contradictory about whether production was to be renewed or planned story elements worked into other products. The continued delay of Ghost caused it to be labeled vaporware, and it was ranked fifth in Wired News' annual Vaporware Awards in 2005. In 2014, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that Ghost had been canceled. Unlike its real-time strategy predecessor StarCraft, Ghost was to be a third-person shooter, and intended to give players a closer and more personal view of the StarCraft universe. Following Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative called a "ghost", the game would have been set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War and cover a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova's superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. Very little of the game's storyline has been released; however, in November 2006 after the game's postponement, a novel was published called StarCraft Ghost: Nova, which covers the backstory of the central character. (Full article...)
    StarCraft: Ghost was a military science fiction stealth-action video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was intended to be part of Blizzard's StarCraft series and was announced in September 20, 2002. It was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. After several delays, Nihilistic Software ceded development to Swingin' Ape Studios in 2004. In 2005, Blizzard announced plans for the GameCube version were canceled.

    Blizzard announced in March 2006 that the game was put on "indefinite hold" while the company investigated seventh generation video game console possibilities. Subsequent public statements from company personnel had been contradictory about whether production was to be renewed or planned story elements worked into other products. The continued delay of Ghost caused it to be labeled vaporware, and it was ranked fifth in Wired News' annual Vaporware Awards in 2005. In 2014, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that Ghost had been canceled.

    Unlike its real-time strategy predecessor StarCraft, Ghost was to be a third-person shooter, and intended to give players a closer and more personal view of the StarCraft universe. Following Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative called a "ghost", the game would have been set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War and cover a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova's superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. Very little of the game's storyline has been released; however, in November 2006 after the game's postponement, a novel was published called StarCraft Ghost: Nova, which covers the backstory of the central character. (Full article...)
  • Image 8 The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a 2020 adventure video game developed by One-O-One Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment. Set in December 1993, the story follows Nicole Wilson returning to her family's hotel to inspect and sell it. Ten years prior, Nicole and her mother left the Timberline Hotel after learning of her father's affair with the teenaged Rachel Foster. After being forced to stay longer than expected due to a snowstorm, Nicole decides to investigate Rachel's mysterious suicide with the assistance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agent Irving Crawford; her only contact with the outside world. The player controls Nicole as she navigates the Timberline Hotel, collecting various items to solve puzzles and progress with the story, all the while using a mobile phone to converse with Irving. One-O-One Games aimed to make a horror game that created fear from suspense rather than traditional monsters, developing the narrative and gameplay simultaneously to complement each other. The game was set in a hotel due to the developers' belief this would elicit fear and claustrophobia in players; in particular, the Overlook Hotel from the horror film The Shining (1980) served as inspiration for the Timberline Hotel. One-O-One Games designed The Suicide of Rachel Foster as a walking simulator to explore real-life topics, due to the genre's focus on narrative and exploration. They sought professional advice to portray delicate topics such as child sexual abuse and suicide compassionately. Daedalic released The Suicide of Rachel Foster for Windows in February 2020, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2020, and for Nintendo Switch in October 2021. The game received mixed reviews from critics. Praise was aimed at the setting and sound design, as well as at Nicole and Irving, their relationship, and the actors' performances, while the plot and mystery, as well as some gameplay aspects, received a mixed reception. Critics responded overwhelmingly negatively to the depiction of child sexual abuse and suicide, arguing the game does not handle these topics sensitively; the ending was criticized for forcing players to participate in an interactive suicide attempt. A sequel, The Fading of Nicole Wilson, was announced in October 2024 and is set to release in 2025. (Full article...)
    The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a 2020 adventure video game developed by One-O-One Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment. Set in December 1993, the story follows Nicole Wilson returning to her family's hotel to inspect and sell it. Ten years prior, Nicole and her mother left the Timberline Hotel after learning of her father's affair with the teenaged Rachel Foster. After being forced to stay longer than expected due to a snowstorm, Nicole decides to investigate Rachel's mysterious suicide with the assistance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agent Irving Crawford; her only contact with the outside world. The player controls Nicole as she navigates the Timberline Hotel, collecting various items to solve puzzles and progress with the story, all the while using a mobile phone to converse with Irving.

    One-O-One Games aimed to make a horror game that created fear from suspense rather than traditional monsters, developing the narrative and gameplay simultaneously to complement each other. The game was set in a hotel due to the developers' belief this would elicit fear and claustrophobia in players; in particular, the Overlook Hotel from the horror film The Shining (1980) served as inspiration for the Timberline Hotel. One-O-One Games designed The Suicide of Rachel Foster as a walking simulator to explore real-life topics, due to the genre's focus on narrative and exploration. They sought professional advice to portray delicate topics such as child sexual abuse and suicide compassionately.

    Daedalic released The Suicide of Rachel Foster for Windows in February 2020, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2020, and for Nintendo Switch in October 2021. The game received mixed reviews from critics. Praise was aimed at the setting and sound design, as well as at Nicole and Irving, their relationship, and the actors' performances, while the plot and mystery, as well as some gameplay aspects, received a mixed reception. Critics responded overwhelmingly negatively to the depiction of child sexual abuse and suicide, arguing the game does not handle these topics sensitively; the ending was criticized for forcing players to participate in an interactive suicide attempt. A sequel, The Fading of Nicole Wilson, was announced in October 2024 and is set to release in 2025. (Full article...)
  • Image 9 Sonic After the Sequel is a 2013 platform video game created by Brazilian student Felipe Daneluz (LakeFeperd). It is an unofficial game based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series and set between the official games Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Daneluz's second Sonic game, it follows Sonic Before the Sequel, which is set between the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Like its predecessor, After the Sequel stars Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Tails in a quest to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from Doctor Eggman. After the Sequel was inspired by Sonic Heroes and other games both inside and outside the Sonic series, and it was developed with Sonic Worlds, an engine based in Multimedia Fusion 2 that reduces the amount of computer programming involved in game creation. It was released as a free download for Windows personal computers on June 15, 2013. The game was very well received by video game journalists, who lauded its preservation of retro Sonic gameplay and its 1990s-style soundtrack. The trilogy of Before the Sequel, After the Sequel, and their successor Sonic Chrono Adventure performed unusually well for fangames, having been downloaded 120,000 times by March 2014. (Full article...)
    Sonic After the Sequel is a 2013 platform video game created by Brazilian student Felipe Daneluz (LakeFeperd). It is an unofficial game based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series and set between the official games Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Daneluz's second Sonic game, it follows Sonic Before the Sequel, which is set between the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Like its predecessor, After the Sequel stars Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Tails in a quest to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from Doctor Eggman.

    After the Sequel was inspired by Sonic Heroes and other games both inside and outside the Sonic series, and it was developed with Sonic Worlds, an engine based in Multimedia Fusion 2 that reduces the amount of computer programming involved in game creation. It was released as a free download for Windows personal computers on June 15, 2013. The game was very well received by video game journalists, who lauded its preservation of retro Sonic gameplay and its 1990s-style soundtrack. The trilogy of Before the Sequel, After the Sequel, and their successor Sonic Chrono Adventure performed unusually well for fangames, having been downloaded 120,000 times by March 2014. (Full article...)
  • Image 10 1080° Snowboarding is a snowboarding video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. In the game, players control one of five snowboarders from a third-person perspective, using a combination of buttons to jump and perform tricks across eight levels. 1080° was announced in November 1997 and developed over nine months. It received critical acclaim and won an Interactive Achievement Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. The game sold over two million units. A sequel, 1080° Avalanche, was released for the GameCube in November 2003. The game was re-released for the Wii in 2008 and for the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016. It was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2023. (Full article...)
    1080° Snowboarding is a snowboarding video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. In the game, players control one of five snowboarders from a third-person perspective, using a combination of buttons to jump and perform tricks across eight levels.

    1080° was announced in November 1997 and developed over nine months. It received critical acclaim and won an Interactive Achievement Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. The game sold over two million units. A sequel, 1080° Avalanche, was released for the GameCube in November 2003. The game was re-released for the Wii in 2008 and for the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016. It was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2023. (Full article...)
  • Did you know... - show different entries

    Selected biography – load new batch

    Biographies included here are taken from the list of essential video game articles.

    Selected image - show another

    January 16, 2025 –
    Nintendo officially reveals the Nintendo Switch 2 video game console, the successor to the Nintendo Switch. (Nintendo)
    September 12, 2024 – 2023–2024 video game industry layoffs
    Microsoft announces that it will lay off 650 Microsoft Gaming employees as part of cuts to its workforce. (Variety)
    August 15, 2024 –
    American video game magazine Game Informer discontinues publication after 33 years. The magazine's website is also shut down. (BBC News)

    More current events...

    Topics

    Categories

    Things you can do

    In other Wikimedia projects

    The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

    Discover Wikipedia using portals