Twenty Qs #106 : Take Two

[Jamiet99uk]

Is this character a "good guy" ?

[sweetandcool]

Please note, the list should say:

10. First appeared in a computer game.

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So think of computer games specifically, not video games generally.

[DougJoe]

Is this character a "good guy" ?

I will say that this character is the protagonist of his game and is, in general, better behaved than his corresponding antagonist... but he does (or tries to do) at least a couple of things that might not *exactly* be on the right side of the law... so, sort of?

[Jamiet99uk]

Please note, the list should say:

10. First appeared in a computer game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So think of computer games specifically, not video games generally.

What is the difference??

[sweetandcool]

Please note, the list should say:

10. First appeared in a computer game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So think of computer games specifically, not video games generally.

What is the difference??

A video game could come from any platform: NES, Super NES, Atari, SEGA, Computer, etc.

Whereas, a computer game implies it either is computer exclusive or at least originally released for the computer.

[Jamiet99uk]

Please note, the list should say:

10. First appeared in a computer game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So think of computer games specifically, not video games generally.

What is the difference??

A video game could come from any platform: NES, Super NES, Atari, SEGA, Computer, etc.

Whereas, a computer game implies it either is computer exclusive or at least originally released for the computer.

Disagree.

Video game consoles are a type of computer.

[Jamiet99uk]

A computer is simply a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

[sweetandcool]

A computer is simply a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

I mean, yes that is true. Lots of things can be classified as computers (or at least have a computer as a component). But in the gaming world, there is a clear divide between computer games and console games.

[sweetandcool]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be pedantic. It's just that the original question was asking if they "first appeared in a computer game", and then later it got put down as "first appeared in a video game".

I think of those as two different statements. That is, a computer game is a type of video game. A video game is not necessarily a computer game.

A good example is Demon's Souls. It was originally released on the PS3 (or maybe PS4?), and never designed for the computer. It was recently rereleased for the PS5. It has always been a video game, but never a computer game.

[DougJoe]

Colloquially I've always thought of "computer games" as things that are played on hardware that wasn't sold and/or specifically designed to only play games (say, for example, my Apple //e, which I did many a school homework assignment on, but also had many games for) as opposed to say, the NES, which wasn't sold for the purpose of word processing or spreadsheets that kind of stuff... but that's just me.

I interpreted the original question with this colloquialism in mind. Had the character been something from the NES (say, Link from _The Legend of Zelda_, whom I was thinking about choosing) I probably would have asked for more clarification.

[Foxcastle]

There is usually a distinction drawn between console games (NES, Xbox, etc) and PC games, and I think that's the thing sweet is highlighting. I would also argue that arcade games are a also distinct category. I just don't know how the QM is parsing these distinctions.

I was going to ask if the game appeared on this list, but there are only a handful pre-1995, and none of them strike me as the answer.

Similarly, the pre-1995 requirement eliminates all but one game on Playstation and everything on Xbox. I have been assuming that Nintendo is out, since the character is not Japanese. The Sega and Atari games from pre-1995 also don't strike me as the likely answer, but I'm not much of a gamer, so maybe I'm missing something.

So I think that it's likely that the game is actually an arcade game.

[Foxcastle]

Or DougJoe can just clarify

[sweetandcool]

There is usually a distinction drawn between console games (NES, Xbox, etc) and PC games, and I think that's the thing sweet is highlighting. I would also argue that arcade games are a also distinct category. I just don't know how the QM is parsing these distinctions.

I was going to ask if the game appeared on this list, but there are only a handful pre-1995, and none of them strike me as the answer.

Similarly, the pre-1995 requirement eliminates all but one game on Playstation and everything on Xbox. I have been assuming that Nintendo is out, since the character is not Japanese. The Sega and Atari games from pre-1995 also don't strike me as the likely answer, but I'm not much of a gamer, so maybe I'm missing something.

So I think that it's likely that the game is actually an arcade game.

The not Japanese qualification is very helpful if one does research. It strikes out SEGA since it is also a Japanese company.

It also makes it difficult because I keep thinking of Nintendo or SEGA characters

EDIT: Oh wait, you meant on the console, which presumably had non-japanese developed games on it.

[Jamiet99uk]

Did this character first appear in a game developed by an American company?

[DougJoe]

Or DougJoe can just clarify

Hopefully what I said about 30 minutes ago did, we just missed each other by a couple of minutes.

[DougJoe]

Did this character first appear in a game developed by an American company?

Yes!

[Foxcastle]

Or DougJoe can just clarify

Hopefully what I said about 30 minutes ago did, we just missed each other by a couple of minutes.

That's what I was referring to, yes :)

[DougJoe]

I was going to ask if the game appeared on this list, but there are only a handful pre-1995, and none of them strike me as the answer.

Freebie, because it's been a long day and I want to do something nice for someone - the game in question is not on that list - it did not sell over 1 million copies.

Now I'm kind of annoyed I didn't choose Carmen Sandiego.

Do it, Rockapella!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9aDMuBjR7Q

[Foxcastle]

She was cornered, trapped. She'd snuck around the world more times than she could count, from Kiev to Carolina, but they had her now. She thought she'd lost them somewhere between Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe, Chicago to Czechoslavakia, but they'd been on her tail the whole time.

The figures drew closer, they started to hum in unison, a single deep note.

She had ransacked Pakistan and run a scam in Scandinavia. She had stuck 'em up Down Under and pick-pocketed Perth. She had raced around the globe and flimflammed every nation, and this double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery wasn't going to prison.

The figures were visible now. Not even cops, they started to harmonize.

She stood proud, put her chin up and looked them in the eyes. She was going out a legend, like Bonnie and Clyde.

"Do it, Rockapella," she dared them, "or don't you have the guts?"

[Jamiet99uk]

So it's a character from a pre-1995 that didn't sell dramatically well, but who is nonetheless famous. Probably this means he went on to appear in a series of games which were more successful than the first one.