101 things you didn't know about games Page 4

32. Nintendo has never given Mario an official surname, even though ‘Mario Bros.’ suggests that it’s Mario Mario.

33. PS2 game Asterix & Oberix XXL 2 features over 100 parodies of videogame characters/titles, including Pac-Man, Tetris, Tomb Raider, Street Fighter and Super Mario Sunshine.

34. The development code name for Half-Life was Quiver, after the Arrowhead military base in Stephen King's novella The Mist.

35. The very first Dynasty Warriors game was actually a one-on-one beat ‘em up.

36. Gran Turismo 2 featured some 650 cars, a total that Gran Turismo 3 couldn’t pip.

37. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average US game player is 33 years old, and has been gaming for 12 years. Not in one session, we’re hoping.

38. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi owns a majority share of the Seattle Marines baseball team, which is now managed by former Nintendo of America head, Howard Lincoln.

39. Keita Takahashi, director of the PS2 Katamari Damacy games, cites both Picasso and Little Shop of Horrors as part of their inspiration.

40. In the early stages of Final Fantasy XII’s development, there were plans to let a second player join in the game.

41. In 2001, a pair of art students created a version of Pong known as the PainStation, where losers could be inflicted with genuine whip, heat or electrical damage.