What do we love more than retro toys & games? Retro game trivias! There’s a plethora of interesting and fun trivia and tidbits out there but here’s the top 10 we think are worth mentioning!
- Zelda was inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald
It is not uncommon for video game creators to take inspiration from their wives (looking at you Takeshi Tazuka who was inspired by his wife to create Boo or the Ghost in Super Mario Bros 3). In this case, it was the wife of writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald that inspired Zelda. Zelda Fitzgerald was an Alabama native, novelist, feminist, noted for her looks and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband as "the first American flapper”.
- Link’s name also has special meaning too
According to its creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Link is not human so he doesn't have a last name. His name simply means a link between universes and transcend time hence there are multiple "Links" across the Zelda timeline.
Pacman was inspired by Pizza
The concept of a pizza eating made more exciting by using chomping sounds was named after the Japanese version of “chomp” which is “paku-paku” which was then shortened to Pakman. But predicting that the P may be replaced with F in the North America market, the name was officially changed to Pac-man.
Super C used a different "Konami Code"
Who doesn't know the famous Contra power-up inducing combo, Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right Left Right B, A? But this was not used in its sequel, Super C for some reason they used a slightly different version (Right, Left, Down, Up, A, B, Start) and gave 10 lives instead of the latter’s 30 lives.
A U.S court ruled that Donkey Kong and King Kong are two different Apes.
Due to a copyright lawsuit filed by Universal City Studios claiming that Donkey Kong highly resembled King Kong therefore demanded a piece of the over $180 million profits from the games at that time. The court ruled that Universal had no right to the characters and failed to prove that there was any likelihood that people were misled by the characters.
Mario was named after the landlord
When Donkey Kong Jr. was made a Nintendo Employee mentioned that the character looked like Mario Segale, the Italian landlord of Nintendo’s US office and thus Mario was born.
Metroid took inspiration from Alien
The fantastic game made even better by the unexpected ending of having a female revealed as the “Big Boss” at the end was inspired by the phenomenal and female led movie Alien.
Original sealed copies of Castlevania 1 and 2 sell upwards of $900
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The growing video game collection community never ceases to amaze. Video games are taking their rightful spot as historical artifacts. Properly sealed and preserved toys can garner huge profits. Don't forget to Protect and Display your toys and games with the best quality.
Do you miss your NES Games? Want to start your own collection or looking to repair or protect your current one?
