How Many Minutes Will It Take You To Match These Logos To Their Video Games?
- by Shaun Finlayson
- – on
- in The Geek Corner
The video game industry makes over $100 billion every year. The movie industry only brings in about $80 billion a year (only). That is how big gaming has become. No longer is it the pass time of basement dwellers, living with their parents. It is now the pass time of everyone, from the first team sportsmen, to the chess club, everyone at some point, has played a video game.
But, there are those among us who take gaming to the extreme. That live, breathe, and eat gaming. We know the industry inside and out. We know the people who create these games, and write their stories. We know how shady studios and publishers can get, and we know the history behind the development of our favorite games. And most importantly, we know how much love goes into them. The stories about how these games came to be can be more interesting than some war stories. The backstabbing and mishandling of an IP can be absolutely heartbreaking to some.
What we've done is picked some of the most famous video game symbols from the world of gaming. From early 1990's to some of the industries most recent releases, it's time to see if you know your video games.
"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted." - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Originally planned to be a spin off from the Prince of Persia series, this game franchise went on to become one of the best selling video game franchises of all time. If you think you haven't seen or played it before, you're just wrong. Because somehow, somewhere, at this very moment, you are playing a game in this series. The first title went on to release in 2007, and since then there have been 10 games released, and that's not counting the mobile stuff.
"You want to hear a story, eh? One about treasure hunters?" - Marcus Kincaid
Set in modern day Australia, this series is best known for pretty much infinite guns. Okay, maybe not infinite guns. More like 17.5 million guns in total. The story follows a group of vault hunters in search of a mythical, you guessed it, Vault. And also guns. They love guns. Each vault hunter also has a unique skill set. Developed by Gearbox Software and released in 2009, the game was so successful that it went on to spawn 2 more games.
"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." - G - Man
One of the greatest video games of all time, and still the benchmark I hold all other video games too, this series holds a special place in every gamer's heart. To this day, developer studios still look towards this franchise for guidance when creating a first-person shooter. And people are still waiting patiently for the third sequel to this series. So good news everyone, if you look on the question number, I just confirmed it! You're so welcome. I got you.
"What does a Hero truly need?" - Brought to you by microtransactions
This one is pretty odd. It started out as a mod for WarCraft: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne, it got such a following that it actually created its own genre of video games: Massive Online Battle Arena. Games consist of 2 teams of 5 heroes that battle it out to prove who is the least n00b. Valve created the sequel to it, despite it technically belonging to Blizzard Entertainment. It is one of the fathers of esports too.
"Scotland is not a real country, you are an Englishman with a dress!" - Soldier
Again, Valve struck gold with this series. Released on 2007 bundled with The Orange Box, it went on to be the definitive team shooter for years to come. To this day the game still receives regular updates in the forms of new maps, items and even game modes. Even the community creates updates for the game. Two teams consisting of nine characters face off against each other with the ultimate goal of just absolutely ruining each others weeks. It's the best.
The fate of the world rests in the hands of one.
Released March of 2006, this title was the next big thing in the world of role playing games. It's basically the Half-Life of role playing games. Set completely in an open world, it is still to this day known as one of the most open ended video games of all time, allowing the player to craft his own way through the world. Even the NPC's had their own lives, walking around the world to go pick up milk or what ever.
"Make life take the lemons back!" - Cave Johnson
Hands down the best puzzle game ever, and anyone who disagrees is just plain wrong. There are no two ways around it. Featuring a portal gun, this game allows you to navigate the dangers of Aperture Science's.... science facility. Experience falling in love with a Companion Cube, only to have GLaDOS, a powerful supercomputer, force you to destroy it. Heartbreaking stuff. The game received critical acclaim for its writing, humor, pacing and gameplay. It's just simply the best puzzle game.
"We will fight for the lost!" - Commander Shepard
The greatest trilogy of all time. This series revolves around your fight to save the galaxy from a race of powerful beings known as the Reapers. From taking down rouge Specters, to taking on a suicide mission, to taking back Earth from the Reaper invasion, you travel the Milky Way trying to unite the galaxy against a force that has existed for over a billion years, with one single goal: Harvest all life in the galaxy. Depending on your choice's, you succeed or fail.
"There are men who embrace destiny; these are the ones that change the world forever." - Flemeth
Set in a dark, high-low fantasy world, this game sees you take on the role of a Grey Warden. A warrior tasked with ending the darkspawn threat and killing the Archdemon, saving the world from the Blight. The game allows you to create a character from one of three different races, and your choice's throughout the story can effect your playthrough of the sequels in the series. So far the series has had three entries, with a fourth planned soon.
"I took an arrow to the knee." - Another dead meme
Another incredible title, this game has been ported to everything from consoles, to Windows, to the Switch, with a planned 2018 release for your toaster. The game releases you into a world where you are free to make your own story. You start off the game and thirty minutes later you could be a freaking vampire, or chasing a dog around that's trying to find his voice. It is completely open ended, to the point where you don't even touch the main story.
"My swords? Both are for monsters." - Geralt of Rivia
You follow the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer. Although you spend most of your time planning for the hunt, gathering ingredients to craft oils and potions, the overall quest is to save Ciri, Geralts adoptive daughter. The game is filled with moral ambiguity, crafting one of the greatest stories in gaming history. It is quite possibly the greatest role playing game of all time. Released in 2015, the game sold more than 10 million copies by March 2016.
An arena where robots go to kill each other.
Developed by id Software, this game helped create the multiplayer deathmatch as we know it. The first in the franchise was published in 1996, and the single player story pretty much involved fighting your way through a maze filled with monsters. The ultimate goal of the game is to kick the butt of all the bosses, and collect their runes. Once that's done, the final boss opens up. It is regarded as one of the most influential games ever made.
"It's dangerous to go alone! Take this" - That creepy wizard in that cave
This series is one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history. Spanning 30 years, 28 games, and countless hours of enjoyment, this series has become a house hold name. Set in the fantasy wold of Hyrule, you play Link, or at least some version of link, as each game takes place at a different point of time, or a different timeline. All we know for sure is that time is involved somehow. This series is a true classic of gaming.
"Humans are no strangers to war." - Litterally every General ever
In this series you follow the conflict between the humans, the Locust Horde, and their mutated best friends forever, the Lambent and The Swarm. There are 5 games in the series, and the best thing about them is the Chainsaw Gun. Unfortunately though, the gun does not shoot actual chainsaws. But, it does have a chainsaw attached to it, so that is a fair compromise. This series is one of the most popular titles on Xbox, becuase again, Chainsaw Gun.
Would you kindly...
Set in the 1960's, you play as Jack after a plane crash leaves you stranded in the ocean. Eventually you discover Rapture, an underwater city that was meant to be a isolated utopia, but has fallen to ruin. This is due to the discovery of ADAM, a material that rewrites genetic code in order to grant superpowers. Of course, none of this really matters when a Big Daddy shows up to school you. This game is mostly known for its unique setting.
"Make us whole again." - Yah, nah, rather not
As one of the greatest horror franchises of all time, you play Isaac Clarke, a space engineer who is good with space stuff, who goes looking for his girlfriend who got lost on a spaceship doing space things out in space. The series is known for its unique mechanic where you can't just shoot the creepy aliens in the head. Oh no, not this time. Now you have to shoot off their limbs in order to do any real damage.
"It's called luck, and it is gonna run out." - Joel
This game holds the world record for making the most players cry within twenty minutes of starting it. It is an emotional roller coaster of fun, pain, and sadness. But man is it one good title. What makes the game so interesting is the lore for its zombies: the zombies aren't the dead raised again, but created by a fungus that grows inside a person and then basically mind controls you. Which is a real thing that exists. Sweet dreams.
"The drums of war thunder, once again..." - And then the teenage pregnancy rate just dropped down a mine shaft
As biggest and baddest Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ever made, this game is responsible for why I and 12 million other people never had a girlfriend in high school. It was a commitment, not a game. So a player can pick between two factions, and then battle it out in player versus player, or follow the story unfold in raids and dungeons. All the while gearing up and pressing the same four buttons over and over again in rotation.
"Someone who doesn't play the odds doesn't last too long in my experience. Well, except me." - Neeshka
Based on Dungeons and Dragons, this game took the board game and brought it to the video game world via a third person role playing game. And it was fantastic. Created by Bioware, the godfather of RPG's, it his dice roll mechanics, and the game allowed players to create their own custom content and add it to the game. It also came strapped with a multiplayer mode, and even had a mechanic that allowed on player to take over as the Dungeon Master.
"Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes!" - Minsc, to his cat
This title was made by big daddy Bioware (man, there's a lot of Bioware titles in this quiz aren't there?) and released in 1998 to critical acclaim. This title is the granddaddy of role-playing games. Using Dungeon and Dragon mechanics, the player creates a character and travels the world with a party of companions. The game revived the RPG genre after a long slump of either trash, or nothing. It recently got a remake and release on mobile and Windows platforms.
"The monster you created has returned to kill you!" - The Liam Neeson of video game characters
Set in Greek mythology, you hunt down the Gods of Olympus and just kill everything, I mean everything, in your way. Seeking vengeance for being tricked into killing your wife and daughter, and then being cursed to wear their ashes on your skin forever, you take on the big boys like Ares, Zeus, Poseidon, the entire pantheon of the Greek Gods. And they never stood a chance. Armed with your chain blades, you battle creatures and monsters in spectacular fashion.
"No. Not alone." - The guy who's never alone
You take the role of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The cool thing is that the each game in the series, you play as a different Horsemen, following the same story from different perspective. War arrives for the final battle on Earth, angels and demons waging war with mankind in the middle. War discovers that none of the other Horsemen have answered the call, and that the Seventh Seal had not been broken. The Horsemen then set out to prove War's innocence.
"Strange how there's always a little more innocence left to lose." - The Outsider
Here you play a steam punk assassin with a knack for murdering people in the most creative of ways. From summoning a pack of rats, to possessing a rat, to teleporting all over the show, to your basic stabby-stab, you have so much in your arsenal. It can actually get quite overwhelming. After being framed for the murder of your Empress, who you also happen to be bangin' since you have a daughter, you set out on a quest of vengeance .
The Silent Assassin
The original assassin. And he will happily assassinate someone wearing their clothes. You play as a clone designed to be the perfect hitman, infiltrating a location in plain sight, yet leaving no evidence that you were ever their in the first place. This series is extremely popular, and has even spawned two movies based on the franchise. The main protagonist also has a barcode on the back of his head. Presumably, to allow his clients to just run up and scan it to get a quote.
"The nation I protect can never admit that I exist." - Sam Fisher
This series has arguably the best and greatest stealth games ever made. You play as an agent of Third Echlon, an NSA initiative, tasked with protecting the world from threats it doesn't even know exists. And therefore, you do not exist. Using shadows and stealth, you navigate your way through the game without ever being noticed. You are the closest thing to a ghost the land of the living can come to. The signature gadget of the series is the Trifocal goggles.
"I don't look back anymore. I don't regret. I look forward. Everything is connected, and I'll use that to expose, to protect, and if necessary… to punish." - Aiden Pearce
Imagine a city where everything is connected. Everything is controlled by an operating system. The street lights, the cars, the sewage pipes, everything and anything is connected to one system. Now imagine one person got unrestricted access to that system. That person would be a god among men. He would quite literally control the world around him. And that's the premise for this game. You play that hacker who got access to that system, and use it to become a vigilante.
"Just… Come on. Just don't." - Every player when the patch notes come out
In this series, players take on the role of a Guardian, a protector of Earth's last safe city when micro-transaction's take over the wor- I mean, aliens invade, and take over the world. The best part of this game comes in the fact that you have Peter Dinklage following you around, narrating everything for you. The worst part of this game is the fact that he has nothing interesting to say. But at least the guns are fun, and isn't that whats important.
"The world could always use more heroes!" - Tracer
This game is like crack cocaine for kids. It is a team based arena shooter with a massive roster of characters that each have their own strengths and weaknesses, each taking time to learn and master. There are two objectives: Capture the point and escort the payload. It also has a lootbox mechanic, that keeps you coming back for that sweet, sweet loot. Created by Blizzard, this game boasts a player base of over 35 million people. 70% of which are Hanzo mains.
"Hehehe WOOOOOOAH!" - Dr. Balanced
Do you have more money than you know what to do with? Do you want to have the best cards all the time? Then this is the game for you! This game is addictive, and its probably the best card trading game of all time. You buy packs of cards, and build up the best deck you possibly can, and then face off against other players. And there is not better feeling than pulling the right card at the right time.
"They push. We push." - Some randy soldier
Another massive franchise, these games focus on massive, online multiplayer battles, with more than 50 millions players since 2012, across 11 games and 12 expansion packs. Each game takes you to a different time period, from modern day military, to modern day police, to futuristic warfare, all the way to World War 1. Sadly tho, it's owned and published by Electronic Arts, the most shadiest, anti-consumer companies in the world. At least they haven't started charging us to join squads in game.