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videogame history

@vghistory.bsky.social

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a meditation on videogame (w/ some tech and web) history. donate to my ko-fi: ko-fi.com/moshboy also find me on mastodon: mastodon.social/@moshboy updated nfaq: rentry.co/vghistory old nfaq: pastebin.com/vUmrYKx6

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Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

totally rad, manual, excerpt, nes (1991) evercade.info/wp-content/u...

a photo of a woman, light hair, smiling, looking directly at the camera.
caption:
excellent! i thought i lost this picture. i totally forgot that i stuck it in this manual. very righteous babe, for sure.

(i don't think there is any context for including this in the manual and have no idea who this is?)

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

wild boater, magazine screenshot, playstation (1999) archive.org/details/fami...

3d playstation era water, tilted camera angle, polygon greenery on each side, a snow capped mountain in the distance. someone in a canoe has tipped over and possibly drowned. specs of blood(?).

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

rampart, game over screen, dos (1992) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efrh...

scared man has his head under a guillotine on a wooden platform as a masked executioner gets reads to pull the string and chop off his head. a crowd watches on from below (castle/army personnel). a castle across a river burns in the background.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

fanart (1997) archive.org/details/nint...

mario has killed two birds with the one stone: he has tied up sonic the hedgehog inside a lit cannon and has aimed it directly into the mouth of a piranha plant, sticking its head out of a green pipe (who thinks that mario is actually in the cannon). mario is sleeping/hiding, after having lit the line to the cannon.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

illustration, login, magazine (1989) archive.org/details/logi...

a bunny in shades, a suit, rimmed hat, ears protruding, looks to be sitting on some sortof hi-tech toilet (they are fully clothed though). they are smoking (blowing rings) and watching a big screen on the wall with a bunny on it. a plant in a pot is in the corner.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

tokyo game show, festival, microsoft booth (2001) archive.org/details/elec...

2 'booth babes' in skimpy xbox branded clothing (black with a green circle), posing neat a displayed xbox, one holding an xbox controller, the other with her hand on top of the xbox.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

second sight, x-space '92, secret mini-game, ps2 (2004) '..the secret game can be found on the madness level. x-space '92 is a secret mini-game that can be unlocked by using the floppy disk on the top shelf in the storage room. it can be placed in any of the computers..' archive.org/details/Powe...

a magazine screenshot of second sight, showing a computer system in the game, playing the secret mini-game x-space '92 (spaceship at the bottom of the screen shooting space entities on the upper part of the screen).

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

illustration, computer & video games, magazine (1982) archive.org/details/Comp...

a man in a hat and trenchcoat, face obscured, is walking along a sidewalk with the following places:
strip non-stop
hamburgers eats
bar (open all nite)
sex shop

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 12h

animal quest, title screen, dos (1991) www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0pB...

purple style title font, backed by the sun, a blue sky and a green landscape with a tree and a couple of animals.
text:
are you smart like a fox or strong like a bear?
do you leap like a frog or you jump like a deer?
can you howl like a wolf or you squeak like a bat?
do you soar like an owl or you sprint like a cat?

bigger font:
game design by
bill dedes &
nancy ayash

(bottom strip, green caps font):
shareware program. copy freely

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13h

uprising 2: lead and destroy, print ad, imagery, pc (1998) archive.org/details/Comp...

a hollow 3d burning figure, running, flames behind.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14h

planescape: torment, official website (1999) web.archive.org/web/19990202...

prominent title font against a dark grey background.
below, in styled text font, each word lower and further right than the last:
she's going to rule your world
at the lower right there is a graphic of a face with glowing eyes in a circle with blades/pointy bits protruding from the sides.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 15h

apply to become a game mapper, commodore user, magazine (1990) archive.org/details/comm...

vert neat, hand drawn maps of game levels are drawn at the top and bottom of the ad, complete with map keys.
text inbetween:
second mapper wanted
can you produce artwork to the standard shown here? can you crack any game and produce legible maps? can you do all of this quickly, efficiently and professionally?
if the answer to all of these questions is yes, and if you own an amiga and a 64 with both disk and cassene drives then we would like to hear from you. we will pay well for your work and you could have the enviable role of adding to the best games tips section around.
apply in writing, with examples of your work, to cu mappers, commodore user, priory court, 30-32 farringdon lane, london ecir jau

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 18h

twinsen's odyssey, promotional screenshot (1997) web.archive.org/web/19970227...

a huge, looming statue red holed eyes. in front of it is a stone book, sitting on a stone platform, a red bookmark hanging out. the place looks like a rock island. twinsen, dressed in blue is standing in front of the platform. pillars are dotted around the island.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

crazy cars, game over screen, macintosh (1988) www.mobygames.com/game/781/cra...

monochrome chunky pixelated graphics with four cars, standing hoods first in the dirt (boots in the air). a forest surrounds them. big text up top: game over

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

computer graphics (1987) archive.org/details/run-...

purple wide eyed uncanny valley smurf-like creature render, white flopped over point cap and white pants.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

comic, personal computer games, magazine (1984) archive.org/details/Pers...

a boy/young man has a caddy with a bag of joysticks. he is talking to his caddy: number 3 joystick! (while staring at the screen).
the caddy reaches for a joystick in his bag. he is playing a game of golf on computer.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

psychic detective, print ad, excerpt (1995) www.mobygames.com/game/3503/ps...

against a digital psychedelic background of swirling colours, a man wearing a denim jacket, watch, dark pants is laying on his back with something that has stabbed him in the middle of his ribs (blood surrounding). text above:
full-motion video games
as you know them
are now as dead as this guy.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

jugemu, magazine, excerpt (1996) archive.org/details/juge...

cutesy illustration of a man/boy and woman/girl, hand in hand, the man/boy with a sega saturn around his face, the woman/girl with a playstation around her face. both look very happy.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

the operative: no one lives forever, official website background, pc (2000) web.archive.org/web/20001018... www.mobygames.com/game/2617/th...

the female spy protagonist, posing, hand on hip, dressed in tight fitting clothes, wearing shades, holding a long gun, her render overlaid over an odd green shape. the rest of the background is 70s styled swirled shades of orange. groovy baby.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

illustration, creative computing, magazine (1979) archive.org/details/crea...

an illustration of 2 covert spies, one in a classic rimmed hat and trenchcoat, the other in slightly more regular clothing, both smoking, both wearing shades, both wearing 'secret wrist computers', both communicating secret codes:
101000?!
!
?
100000
100110?

(street lamp, fence and city skyline in the background).

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

quicksilva, game publisher, print ad, imagery (1984) archive.org/details/sinc...

art: a prominent double wooden door with a long skull knocker punctuating a stone wall. light can be seen in the sliver in the middle of the door. overhanging branches/greenery is protruding the upper right of the door. the general scene looks slightly foreboding.
down the bottom: quicksilva
prominent white bold caps text up the top: heroes apply within.

(the whole thing feels like a trick).

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

computer art (1996) discmaster.textfiles.com/view/16262/R...

a face looking diagonally down at an overheated melting macintosh computer, sitting on a brown desk. background is a slightly glitchy patterned bright blue with the word 'windows' repeatedly underlaid.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

boxing fever, print ad, game boy advance (2001) www.mobygames.com/game/5152/bo...

unnatural looking green haired boxer with a disproportioned face and a shiny muscle-y body that kinda looks like rubber, is holding up the game boy advance case for boxing fever with his boxing glove (the case is dangling from its corner). he is in a boxing ring.
3 in game screenshots toward the bottom of the ad.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

jolly roger, type-in listing, code, excerpt (1984) archive.org/details/sinc...

the code has graphic/sprite interludes of the lofi pixelated title font and a bird/parrot(?) in various positions.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

millionaire, zx spectrum (1984) spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3204/Z...

a sleek red sports car parked outside a mansion on the curved drivey way. above, the shiny 3d title font with the tagline:
a new experience in getting rich!!

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

harvester, official website (1997) web.archive.org/web/19970331...

repeated background with a circle symbol. at the top is the harvester title font with blood splattered outline. below in not the easiest to read red text:
you have entered the world of harvester
the most violent game ever!
(two options/buttons/hyperlinks): wimps, hardcore

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

illustration, msx・fan, magazine (1995) archive.org/details/MSXF...

hand drawn polygon landscape, polygon spectacled man, holding a polgon shield and sword, on a path facing a polygon man in a rimmed hat a trenchcoat, mouth masked, holding something. trees (a few) are on the landscape. they don't look polygon.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

get lost!, high score screen, dos (1996) www.mobygames.com/game/72946/g...

a shark, a cheetah, a bald human(?) head, a rat and a dolphin in space. these are all on the high score list (times not scores) with the human head being named 'viley'

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

computer art (1998) archive.org/details/Aust...

blue sky. a man on green grass with trees in the distance, pointing a gun upward at a giant floating fish. overlaid red text: don't shoot i come in peace
smaller overlaid text at the bottom right of the image: by bob danger

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

mic mac, magazine, excerpt (1987) archive.org/details/mic-...

faux mac prompt:
please do not click on my head. thank you.
(small pixelated monochrome art of a man's head, complete with mustache) to the right: ouch! (implying a click).

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

spirit of the stones, print ad, imagery, commodore 64 (1985) archive.org/details/pers...

a green overhead map of an island, overlaid with faux chunky pixelated protagonist (wide eyed, holding a large diamond) and enemies (white creature, black creature and a dog or a bear or something). water surrounded the island.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

computer art (1987) archive.org/details/nibb...

pixelated art on the mac, depicting dancing copies of the same woman (x 5) kicking a leg up, wearing heels and a hat and smiling. eyes are dots.

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

fanart (1992) archive.org/details/nfor...

a 'sonic control unit', that is, a vehicle (with a pointy spike on its front) with luigi driving and mario sitting on top, controlling a turret chain gun, is chasing after sonic the hedgehog, who is yelling 'help'. the landscape looks specifically mario-esque with triangle hills and clouds with two dotted black eyes. of note is that this is in n-force magazine, which is a nintendo magazine so many of their readers would have specifically despised sonic.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

illustration, sega saturn magazine (1998) archive.org/details/sega...

imagine a body horror movie where somehow mario and sonic's body melded together but the result was still totally cutesy. this is it.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

the punisher, screenshot, arcade (1993) www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1zu...

mean looking dude, neatly parted dark hair, trenchcoat, collar turned up, pointing a gun at the camera, screen soaked in shades of red.
overlaid text font: if you're guilty, you're dead.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

ugetsu kitan, screenshot, pc-98 (1992) www.mobygames.com/game/164916/...

a man with a blood stain on his forehead sits in a room with a whole lot of blood stains on the walls, blood splatter on the floor.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

nintendo ultra 64, print ad, advertised in 3do magazine (january, 1996) archive.org/details/3dom...

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

sex, screenshot, pc-98 (1995) www.mobygames.com/game/44815/s...

'sex' painted prominently on a heavily graffiti'd wall. mr. funk stands on front of the 'x'. he is wearing a backwards cap and sunglasses.
his text box:
[mr. funk]
move your body!
(and some japanese text)

Reposted by videogame history

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

ripper, magazine screenshot, dos (1996) archive.org/details/pc-p...

a woman wearing what looks like a metallic/chrome futuristic vr headset. she is overlaid in a room with a lot ofvery tall windows, out of which a city skyline can be seen.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

grand theft auto 2, promotional video, magazine still & caption (1999) archive.org/details/play...

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

loom, manual, illustration, pc engine super cd-rom² (1992) archive.org/details/loom...

hooded person is weaving a tune on a weaving instrument as a large bird flies nearby. the sun is out and look upon the situation at hand.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

a.III, manual, excerpt, pc engine super cd-rom² (1993) don't do this to your disc archive.org/details/a3_j...

an sweating cd-rom disc with angry eyes with a thick pencil/pen/marker shoved through its middle hole.
text roughly translates to:
oh, my god.
don't make the hole bigger!

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

pitfall II: lost caverns, print ad, excerpt (1984) archive.org/details/Comp...

pitfall harry is swimming in dangerous waters with snakes and a huge ominous looking frog, watching from the shore.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

maniac pro-wrestling: ashita e no tatakai, magazine screenshot, pc engine (1990) archive.org/details/pc-e...

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

escape-mcp, commodore 64 (1983) www.mobygames.com/game/19592/e...

a blonde man in a red top, blue pants, red shoes with white tips, is running(?) in a tilted almost abstract landscape, away from a flying machine that looks like it comes from tron.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

microzine #31, volcanic voyager, screenshot, apple II (1989) www.mobygames.com/game/152613/...

a slightly mean looking smoldering man with bubbly skin, wearing a white t-shirt that says: i lava hawaii. his hand is holding a white card or piece of paper on a blue bench or table. a lava lamp is sitting not far away.
text:
dr. no isn't human! he's made of lava!
press return to continue or esc to quit.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

murder, screenshot, zx spectrum (1983) www.mobygames.com/game/173876/...

caps green text on light grey:
please wait until the foul deed is done!

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

rockstar warehouse, game studio, official online store, website (2002) web.archive.org/web/20020806...

an Asian store, rockstar warehouse (red on yellow sign), surrounded by bright pink/red. people are walking past. a sign in the door says 'open' and a barred fence surrounds the store.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

primal image, magazine screenshot, ps2 (2000) archive.org/details/psex...

a woman wearing leather, standing on a wireframe floor, behind a wireframe chair. green ui overlaid across the top of the screen.

videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

mr. driller, print ad (2000) archive.org/details/offi...

the cutesy protagonist mr. driller in various poses with his drill inbetween the repeated word 'whirr'. white text font in a small long pink shape: by now, you know the drill.
title font and 2 in game screenshots down the bottom of the ad.
ad text, pink:
it's addictive. it's frenetic. it's a total blast! it's mr. driller, the pick-up-and-play puzzle game that's a hole lot of fun. strap on your hard hat, fire up your drill and tunnel into action. mr. driller takes seconds to learn, yet provides years of challenge and enjoyment. be prepared: once you start drillin' there is no chillin'!