Chapter 1
The birthplace of shoulder-rubbing play
Chapter 2
The biology of the couch co-op high
Chapter 3
Global flavors of gathering around screens
Chapter 4
The modern renaissance of the living room
Ch 1 · The birthplace of shoulder-rubbing play
nintendo Fighting Game Community Stakes
Hear the click, hear the click! No lag can stop us side-by-side.
nintendo Huge demand clogged the coin mechanism with quarters, forcing players to read body language and queue on the screen bezel for turns.
Quiz
What physical custom did arcade players globally adopt to claim their turn on a busy cabinet?
Quiz
Which game's physical cabinet in 1972 famously broke down in a California tavern because its coin box overflowed with quarters?
nintendo Rare and Nintendo management never authorized the game's most famous multiplayer feature.
Quiz
Which programmer coded the iconic split-screen multiplayer mode for GoldenEye 007 in secret just months before release?
Quiz
On which home console did GoldenEye 007 popularize four-player split-screen shooters?
Fun Fact
Arcade coin shortages: When Space Invaders swept Japan in 1978, it reportedly sparked a temporary national shortage of 100-yen coins, forcing the government to mint more.
Quiz
What does the acronym 'LAN' stand for in the context of local computer gaming parties?
Quiz
Which heavy, bulky display technology did gamers haul to 1990s LAN parties before modern flat screens existed?
Glossary
arcade (noun)
An indoor public venue containing coin-operated games. In 1972, Nolan Bushnell released Pong, turning these spaces into hubs for face-to-face competition.
An indoor public venue containing coin-operated games. In 1972, Nolan Bushnell released Pong, turning these spaces into hubs for face-to-face competition.
Quiz
Which 1991 arcade game is widely credited with establishing the competitive head-to-head fighting game genre?
Quiz
What Japanese term is used in fighting games to describe reading an opponent's mind or predicting their next physical move?