[game_preservation] Fwd: Re: [GAMESNETWORK] Boss battle first ref
Mike Melanson
mike at multimedia.cx
Tue Sep 28 21:55:04 EDT 2010
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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