[game_preservation] Fwd: Re: [GAMESNETWORK] Boss battle first ref

Devin Monnens dmonnens at gmail.com
Tue Sep 28 23:37:41 EDT 2010


Wouldn't that also make Adam and Eve's exile from The Garden of Good and
Evil the world's first escape sequence? :D

And then Cain gets (predictably) Achievement Unlocked: First Blood!

On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 7:55 PM, Mike Melanson <mike at multimedia.cx> wrote:


> EGM once ran a humorous timeline of video game history. It started at

> something like 500 B.C. with David defeating Goliath in history's first

> recorded boss battle.

>

> :)

>

> --

> -Mike Melanson

>

>

>

> On 09/27/2010 01:06 PM, Andrew Armstrong wrote:

>

>> Thought this was interesting and if anyone wants to pass along some

>> gem of knowledge I'll post a reply (or send it to the OP himself).

>>

>> Some other replies (not below) point to anecdotal evidence only really,

>> or the suggestion it was from a specific game, which is unlikely to me!

>>

>> Andrew

>>

>> -------- Original Message --------

>> Subject: Re: [GAMESNETWORK] Boss battle first ref

>> Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:19:12 +0100

>> From: Andrew Armstrong <andrew at AARMSTRONG.ORG>

>> Reply-To: Games Research Network <GAMESNETWORK at uta.fi>

>> To: GAMESNETWORK at uta.fi

>>

>>

>>

>> I'm tending to think it wasn't from Videogames originally either; "boss"

>> after all is a common enough word well before electronics, it'd not be

>> hard to imagine it as a term used in some kind of card games and board

>> games; although off the top of my head I'm terrible at the rules for

>> early games of this kind.

>>

>> Perhaps also a military term too? A lot of random things are taken from

>> jargon reused elsewhere.

>>

>> In any case I'd look outside videogames though for the first uses of the

>> term. To me it sounds like a pretty natural way of describing something

>> shorthand, better then "leader enemy fight" or "bigger monster fight",

>> perhaps ask what else did people use to describe such fights /instead/

>> of boss? I'm not that old so I don't have any anecdotes of that kind to

>> share!

>>

>> Andrew

>>

>> On 27/09/2010 17:43, Claudio Franco wrote:

>>

>>> I remember using the term 'big boss' when playing Renegade / Target

>>> Renegade in ZX Spectrum with my mates - decades ago.

>>>

>>> Perhaps it originates ultimately from arcade machines? Possibly very

>>> hard to say for sure

>>>

>>> Clue:

>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29

>>>

>>> where it says...

>>>

>>> The first interactive game to feature a boss was /dnd

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnd_%28computer_game%29>/, a 1975

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_in_video_gaming> computer

>>> role-playing game

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_role-playing_game> for the

>>> PLATO system

>>>

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_%28computer_system%29>.^[4]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-armory-3

>>> >

>>> ^[5]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-uvl-4>

>>>

>>> One of the earliest dungeon crawls

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_crawl>, /dnd/ implemented many

>>>

>>> of the core concepts behind /Dungeons & Dragons

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons>/.^[5]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-uvl-4>

>>>

>>> The objective of the game is to retrieve an "Orb" from the bottommost

>>> dungeon.^[6]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-5> The

>>>

>>> orb is kept in a treasure room guarded by a high-level

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_point> enemy named the Gold

>>>

>>> Dragon. Only by defeating the Dragon can the player claim the orb,

>>> complete the game, and be eligible to appear on the high score

>>> list.^[4]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-armory-3

>>> >

>>> ^[7] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-6>

>>>

>>> The first arcade game <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_game> to

>>>

>>> feature a boss was /Phoenix

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28arcade_game%29>/, a fixed

>>> shooter <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot_%27em_up#Fixed_shooters>

>>>

>>> developed by Taito <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taito> in 1980

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_in_video_gaming>.^[8]

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-7>

>>> /Phoenix/ includes five levels

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_%28video_games%29> ("Rounds")

>>>

>>> which pit the player against swarms of alien birds. During the first

>>> two Rounds, the player is assaulted by the pigeon-like "Scouts",

>>> whereas the more formidable "Soldiers" are introduced in Rounds 3 and

>>> 4. On disposing these enemies, a giant mothership

>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothership> appears in the fifth and

>>> final Round.^[9]

>>> <

>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_%28video_gaming%29#cite_note-ahistory1-8

>>> >

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Claudio

>>>

>>> Researcher / London Knowledge Lab MA student

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> On 27 September 2010 17:32, jparker <jparker at ucalgary.ca

>>> <mailto:jparker at ucalgary.ca>> wrote:

>>>

>>> It may be lost in time, but I recall its use in Doom. Any further

>>> back?

>>>

>>> J

>>>

>>> Mike Reddy wrote:

>>>

>>> The son of a friend asked me last night if I knew where "boss

>>> battle" came from. I vaguely thought of Metal Gear, where the

>>> protagonist is called Big Boss, but that can't be right can

>>> it? Oh, if only someone on the webnetz could tell me...?

>>>

>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_battle etc do not give the

>>> origins of the term. Is it lost in time?

>>>

>>> \

>>>

>>> \

>>> From Hauptmann

>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> Electricity is really just organized lightning. ... G Carlin

>>>

>>> Dr. J. R. Parker, Digital Media Laboratory

>>> Professor of Play http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker

>>> <http://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Ejparker>

>>> Faculty of Fine Arts jparker@ ucalgary.ca <http://ucalgary.ca>

>>>

>>> University of Calgary 403-220-6784 AB606/AB611

>>> --

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--
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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