Phenomena
Cultural movements, industry events, and defining moments.
BBC Computer Literacy Project
A nation learns to code
The 1980s British initiative that put computers in every school and homes across the nation, creating the foundation for the UK games industry.
CRPG Renaissance
Kickstarted revival
The CRPG renaissance saw crowdfunding revive isometric role-playing games after publishers abandoned the genre, with Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin proving audience demand remained.
Indie Renaissance
Bedroom coders return
The 2008-2015 explosion of independent game development that echoed the bedroom coder era, enabled by digital distribution and proving small teams could create culturally significant games.
Nintendo Seal of Quality
Certification and control
The Nintendo Seal of Quality certified games for NES and later systems, establishing quality standards while giving Nintendo control over its platform's software library.
Pokémon Phenomenon
Catching the world
Pokémon grew from Game Boy RPG to global multimedia empire, generating billions through games, cards, anime, merchandise, and a cultural presence that spans generations.
RPG Golden Age
Peak role-playing
The RPG golden age of 1995-2001 saw parallel peaks in both Japanese and Western role-playing games, with Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Baldur's Gate, and Planescape arriving in rapid succession.
Sega vs Nintendo
The first console war
The Sega vs Nintendo rivalry defined gaming in the early 1990s, with aggressive marketing, mascot battles, and playground debates that shaped an industry and a generation.
The 1983 Video Game Crash
When the industry nearly died
Overproduction, quality collapse, and consumer distrust crashed the North American games market—until Nintendo proved games were worth playing again.
The Console Wars
Sega vs Nintendo: gaming's greatest rivalry
The early 1990s battle between Sega and Nintendo defined a generation, turned gaming into tribal identity, and changed how games were marketed forever.
The Rise of the Bedroom Coder
How kids with cassette decks built an industry
In the 1980s, a generation of self-taught programmers turned spare rooms into studios and changed video games forever.
The Tetris Rights Wars
Gaming's most complex licensing saga
Tetris emerged from the Soviet Union into a thicket of competing claims, fraudulent contracts, and corporate espionage that reads like a Cold War thriller.
Video Game Crash
1983's industry collapse
The video game crash of 1983 nearly destroyed the North American games industry, caused by market saturation, poor quality control, and the infamous E.T. cartridge burial.