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

[Sean Gugler]

 I was a pre-teen when Phoenix was new, and don't recall the term "boss"
ever coming up.  Nor even for Bowser in "Super Mario Bros." for NES
8-bit.  The term "boss" I think has been retroactively applied to those
games, it was not contemporary with them.  It feels like around 1986 or
1987 when I first heard the term used ... maybe in connection with the
arcade title "Double Dragon" but I couldn't be sure.

Cheers,

          - Sean



On 9/28/2010 8:37 PM, Devin Monnens:

> 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

> <mailto: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

>         <mailto:andrew at AARMSTRONG.ORG>>

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

>         <mailto:GAMESNETWORK at uta.fi>>

>         To:     GAMESNETWORK at uta.fi <mailto: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>

>             <mailto: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>

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

>                Faculty of Fine Arts jparker@ ucalgary.ca

>             <http://ucalgary.ca> <http://ucalgary.ca>

>

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

>                --

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> -- 

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

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