FOR THE SHORT OF ATTENTION, THE TWITCHY OF NERVE, THE QUICK OF THUMB, WE OFFER... : TRIVIA OVERDRIVE.Byline: Glenn Gaslin and P.J. Huffstutter You think you know everything, don't you? You think you can outwit out·wit tr.v. out·wit·ted, out·wit·ting, out·wits 1. To surpass in cleverness or cunning; outsmart. 2. Archaic To surpass in intelligence. the zombie. You can whip martial artists from around the world. You can maneuver your fighter faster than that MIG or jump higher and faster than the little white ghost following you, and collect enough floating coins for an extra life. Or, maybe you don't know a thing. Maybe you just got a computer or Playstation or Saturn or Nintendo64. Maybe you don't know Mario from Luigi, a game pad from a joystick, a MUD from a meg. Maybe the big gift under the tree will be your first introduction to the massive, star-studded, a-hook-for-every-interest computer game industry. Maybe this will be your first lesson in the lightning-fast, hyper-real world of today's video games, the CD-ROMs for home computers, the cartridges for sophisticated game machines wired into the television and the hand-held video fun boxes. Either way, we've given you a guide, a cheat-sheet of sorts, to help you find your way through the aisles of the consumer electronics store. Don't feel bad if you don't know what to buy. Even the most jaded gamer's eyes would glaze this holiday season, as software companies push their products. If you succumb, you'll be adding to the $467.2 million worth of video and computer game software already sold in the first three quarters of 1996, according to Software Publishers Association. It's impossible to keep track of all the titles available for home computers and game machines. But this video game quiz should give you - whether you're a gaming guru or Gump - an idea what $29.99 to $69.99 can buy. So power up, plug in and good luck. 1. Mario, star of the season's megahit meg·a·hit n. A product or event, such as a movie or concert, that is exceedingly successful. Noun 1. megahit - an unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording Super Mario 64, began his video game career doing battle with a giant monkey in the original Donkey Kong. What was the little guy's name back in the early '80s? a. Mario b. Luigi c. Jumpman d. Pac-Man e. Q-Bert 2. Which of the following is not a spin-off product from Myst, the most popular CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). game ever? a. T-shirt b. Novel c. Parody called ``Pyst'' d. Recipe book e. Coffee mug 3. Match the video game character to his/her profession and most recent adventure: 1. Mario 2. Sonic 3. Crash Bandicoot 4. Lara Croft 5. Duke Nuke 'Em 6. Ms. Pac-Man 7. A geometric block a. Bodyless icon from the '80s who, along with other first-generation arcade classics such as Defender, Asteroids and Dig Dug, is staging a mini-comeback on PCs. b. Plumber who roams just about the most versatile 3-D world ever created on a video game, fighting white ghosts and collecting red coins. c. A feisty hedgehog who curls up into a ball and rolls down texture-mapped hills in Sonic 3D Blast. d. Simple building block constructed from four squares that falls from the sky in hopes that a quick-fingered player will move it into the right space in the super-addictive classic, Tetris Tetris (Russian: Тетрис) is a , released on a large spectrum of platforms. Alexey Pajitnov originally designed and programmed the game in June 1985[1] . e. Gun-toting archeologist who battles 'gators, snakes and scoundrels in search of old and valuable burried stuff in the new adventure, Tomb Raider. f. A sort of fox-like creature who wears sneaker-like shoes and jeans-like pants and travels through a jungle-like world battling bizzare crime lord-like beings. g. Beefy beefy, beefyness 1. in dog conformation, used to describe overdevelopment of musculature in the hindquarters. 2. in cattle, used to designate the desirable physical conformation of a beef animal, but an undesirable character in dairy cattle. hero of the bloody shoot-'em-up genre who enjoys blasting post-apocalyptic toilets. 4. What game-content rating does the Entertainment Software Rating Board (they rate many, but not all, titles out there) give to the popular, easy-to-play, shoot-'em-up Descent II? a. EC (Early Childhood) for ages 3+ b. K-A K-A Kids to Adults (former ESRB game rating, 6 yrs. and up) (Kid-Adult) for all ages c. T (Teen) for 13+ d. M (Mature) for 17+ e. AO (Adults Only) 18+ 5. Which of the following is not a character from Mortal Kombat Trilogy Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a fighting game developed and produced by Midway. The name is somewhat misleading, as it is not a collection containing three separate games. ? a. Kitana b. Cyrax c. Sonya Blade d. Sub-Zero e. Nightwolf f. Mary Ivonskaya g. Kung Lao h. Jax 6. What's the proper name for one of these things: a. Joystick b. Mouse c. Game pad d. Game Gear e. Track pad 7. What was the first video game in the history of mankind? a. Space Invaders b. Asteroids c. Pong (games) Pong - A computer game invented in 1972 by Atari's Nolan Bushnell. The game is a minimalist rendering of table tennis. Each of the two players are represented as a white slab, controllable by a knob, which deflects a bouncing ball. d. Combat e. Pac-Man 8. Name three games that feature insect characters. 9. According to Sega of America, hours spent playing video games can be justified because they ... a. Improve hand-eye coordination. b. Develop logical thinking. c. Expand problem solving abilities. d. Enhance socialization socialization /so·cial·iza·tion/ (so?shal-i-za´shun) the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways. so·cial·i·za·tion n. with peers and family members. e. All of the above. 10. Which movie has not been turned into a CD-ROM game? a. ``Toy Story'' b. ``Star Wars'' c. ``101 Dalmatians'' d. ``All Dogs Go to Heaven 2'' e. ``The Hunchback hunchback, abnormal outward curvature of the spine in the thoracic region. It is also known as kyphosis and humpback, and in its severe form a noticeable hump is evident on the back. of Notre Dame'' 11. Which of these are current game titles? a. D b. SSN SSN abbr. Social Security Number c. XS d. SPQR SPQR abbr. Latin Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and the people of Rome) e. all of the above 12. The wacky ``Roger Rabbit''-like CD-ROM adventure Toonstruck stars which Hollywood regular? a. Gillian Anderson b. John de Lancie
John de Lancie (born March 20, 1948) is an American character actor. He is known for his recurring role as "Q" on the various Star Trek series, and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1. c. Christopher Lloyd d. Mark Hamill e. Steven Spielberg 13. Which of the following is not an installment in the hugely popular Sim series of games, in which you play God to any number of kinetic worlds? a. SimIsle b. SimAnt b. SimCopter c. SimCity 2000 d. SimTower e. SimPants 2000 f. SimPark g. SimFarm h. SimLife 14. Two members of which enduring '70s rock band star in the monkey-laden theme park adventure, 9? (a) Aerosmith (b) Journey (c) Yes 15. Which of the following sports legends lends their name and image to current video games? a. John Madden b. Wayne Gretzky c. O.J. Simpson d. Tony La Russa e. Alexi Lalas f. (a) and (d) g. All but (c) LEVEL BOSS Bonus Question! Answer key is on page 16. If you're playing an online ``death match'' of the hyperviolent 3-D gorefest Quake, and your coproc6essor is moving at a speed of 200 megahertz One million cycles per second. See MHz. MegaHertz - (MHz) Millions of cycles per second. The unit of frequency used to measure the clock rate of modern digital logic, including microprocessors. and you have 64 megabytes of internal RAM and a 4X CD-ROM drive and a one-gigabyte hard drive running Windows95 (not Windows NT, never NT, not with Quake). With what are you likely to kill the drooling drooling the discharge of saliva from the mouth. A normal feature in some breeds of dogs such as St. Bernard, Newfoundland and English bulldog, presumably because of their loose, pendulous lips. ogre that's chasing you? a. Flamethrower flamethrower, mechanism for shooting a burning stream of liquid or semiliquid fuel at enemy troops or positions. Primitive types of flamethrowers, consisting of hollow tubes filled with burning coals, sulfur, or other materials, came into use as early as the 5th cent. b. Nailgun c. An F-22 d. A blue hedgehog e. John Madden f. Either (a) or (b) Are you a video-game guru? VIDEO QUIZ ANSWERS: 1. (c) Jumpman, a k a Mario, is now battling ghosts and evil turtles in Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 game system. 2. (d) 3. 1 = (b), 2 = (c), 3 = (e), 4 = (f), 5 = (d), 6 = (a). 4. (c). 5. (f) Mary is actually a pro wrestler in that other two-people-kick-each-other-until-they-die game, Tobal No. 1 (only available for Sony PlayStation). 6. (c). 7. (c) Atari released Pong arcade machines in 1972, six years before the debut of Space Invaders, eight years before Pac-Man and 21 years before Doom. 8. Centipede centipede, common name for members of a single class, Chilopoda, of the phylum Arthropoda. Centipedes are the most familiar of the myriapodous arthropods, which consist of five groups of arthropods that had a separate origin from other arthropods. (an ``ancient'' game from the early '80s), Spider, Bad Mojo: The Roach Game. 9. (e). 10. (d) Of course, a half-dozen or so games under the ``Star Wars'' title, including Shadows of the Empire (for Nintendo 64), Dark Forces, X-Wing and Rebel Assault. 11. (e). 12. (c) The others have their own games. Anderson is featured in Hellbender hellbender: see salamander. hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, family Cryptobranchidae) found in swift-flowing rivers in the eastern and central U.S. It grows to about 25 in. . De Lancie returns to strange new worlds in Star Trek: Borg. Hamill plays a Luke Skywalker-type guy in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom. And Spielberg lends his image, name and ideas to Director's Chair. 13. (e). 14. (a) Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith show up for a little CD-ROM fun. Bonus fact: In an early '80s arcade game called Journey Escape, the members of Journey tried to outrun out·run tr.v. out·ran , out·run, out·run·ning, out·runs 1. a. To run faster than. b. To escape from: outrun one's creditors. 2. screaming fans. 15. (f) Among the dozens of star-powered sports games are Madden '97 (football), Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey is a video game developed by Midway Games and released for the Nintendo 64 console on October 31, 1996. It was the first-ever 4-player game for the Nintendo 64. , Tony La Russa Baseball Tony La Russa Baseball is a baseball computer and video game console simulation game (1991-1997), designed by Don Daglow, Mark Buchignani, David Bunnett and Hudson Piehl and developed by Stormfront Studios. 3 (1996 Edition) and Alexi Lalas Red Hot Soccer. Bonus question: (f). SCORIN6G: Add how many you got right (out of 21 answers) to see if you ... ... are in desperate need of fresh air and sunshine (19-21 right). ... are on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of starting your own video game company and making $34 billion (15-18). ... have a Pentium Pro processor installed in your head (11-14). ... spend a lot of time yelling at TV screens, but know when to stop (8-10). ... would rather play football with real leather (5-7). ... know where the power switch is, but that's about it (1-4). ... still drive one of those cars where you stick your feet out the bottom and run to get moving. And your record player's needle is actually a live bird's beak. And your dishwasher has a monkey inside. And your dog's name is Dino, but he's not really a dog (0). CAPTION(S): 17 Photos, Box Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Use Your BRAIN BOY Test your video game I.Q. Plug in to our quiz (2--17--Color) no caption (Video Games) Box: Are you a video-game guru? (See Text) |
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