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Xevious (universe): Difference between revisions
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After the critical and financial success of [[Konami]]'s 1981 arcade game ''{{iw|wikipedia|Scramble|video game}}'', competitor Namco wanted a game that could rival its success. The company assigned a small team led by {{s|wikipedia|Masanobu Endō}} to make such a game. Endō had no experience with programming and learned during development. The initial pitch was a vertical shooter name ''Cheyenne'', which involved a Vietnam war era helicopter shooting at enemies both on the ground and in the air. After the project planner quit the company during development, the team was shuffled and Endō was promoted to head designer. The game was also reworked around this time to include more science-fiction elements inspired by ''{{iw|wikipedia|Alien|film}}'', ''{{s|wikipedia|Star Wars}}'', ''{{iw|wikipedia|UFO|TV series}}'' and ''{{s|wikipedia|Battlestar Galactica}}''. The name was also changed to ''Zevious'', then changed again to the final title ''Xevious'' to sound more exotic and mysterious. Story and world-building were high priorities, which included large, detailed sprites that would stand out among its competitors. To be as efficient with the hardware limitations as possible, most enemies contained several different shades of gray due to that | After the critical and financial success of [[Konami]]'s 1981 arcade game ''{{iw|wikipedia|Scramble|video game}}'', competitor Namco wanted a game that could rival its success. The company assigned a small team led by {{s|wikipedia|Masanobu Endō}} to make such a game. Endō had no experience with programming and learned during development. The initial pitch was a vertical shooter name ''Cheyenne'', which involved a Vietnam war era helicopter shooting at enemies both on the ground and in the air. After the project planner quit the company during development, the team was shuffled and Endō was promoted to head designer. The game was also reworked around this time to include more science-fiction elements inspired by ''{{iw|wikipedia|Alien|film}}'', ''{{s|wikipedia|Star Wars}}'', ''{{iw|wikipedia|UFO|TV series}}'' and ''{{s|wikipedia|Battlestar Galactica}}''. The name was also changed to ''Zevious'', then changed again to the final title ''Xevious'' to sound more exotic and mysterious. Story and world-building were high priorities, which included large, detailed sprites that would stand out among its competitors. To be as efficient with the hardware limitations as possible, most enemies contained several different shades of gray due to that color having the largest selection on the arcade board graphics processor. Other innovations include one of the earliest examples of pre-rendered graphics with the backgrounds and boss fights. | ||
The game was an unprecedented success in Japanese arcades when it released in 1983, breaking many sales records that had not been seen since ''{{s|wikipedia|Space Invaders}}'' in 1978. Sales were more modest internationally, likely due to the video game crash that occurred right when the game released, but it was still among the top selling arcade games of the year. The game was ported to the Famicom later that year and become the system seller for the console with 1.26 million copies sold in Japan, an impressive number to this day. The game was so popular that getting the high score became a status symbol, and competitions popped up all over Japan and other parts of the world over who can get the highest score. Guidebooks about the game's secrets and strategies to get the high score also appeared at this time, which was then a novel concept, and frequently sold out. Many games made later took direct inspiration from ''Xevious'' on how to make a vertical shooter, with game designers {{s|wikipedia|Fukio Mitsuji}} and {{s|wikipedia|Tetsuya Mizuguchi}} cite the game as a major influence over their careers and lives. | The game was an unprecedented success in Japanese arcades when it released in 1983, breaking many sales records that had not been seen since ''{{s|wikipedia|Space Invaders}}'' in 1978. Sales were more modest internationally, likely due to the video game crash that occurred right when the game released, but it was still among the top selling arcade games of the year. The game was ported to the Famicom later that year and become the system seller for the console with 1.26 million copies sold in Japan, an impressive number to this day. The game was so popular that getting the high score became a status symbol, and competitions popped up all over Japan and other parts of the world over who can get the highest score. Guidebooks about the game's secrets and strategies to get the high score also appeared at this time, which was then a novel concept, and frequently sold out. Many games made later took direct inspiration from ''Xevious'' on how to make a vertical shooter, with game designers {{s|wikipedia|Fukio Mitsuji}} and {{s|wikipedia|Tetsuya Mizuguchi}} cite the game as a major influence over their careers and lives. | ||