The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. Spacewar! was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such games on a video display. The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games were Computer Space and Pong. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang up to capture Pong's success in both the arcade and the home by cloning the game, causing a series of boom and bust cycles due to oversaturation and lack of innovation.
A browser game is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Alternative names for the browser game genre reference their software platform used, with common examples being Flash games, and HTML5 games.
Alien Hominid is an independently developed run and gun video game developed by The Behemoth. The game was developed from an Adobe Flash game originally released on Newgrounds in August 2002. O3 Entertainment released the game for PlayStation 2 and GameCube in North America in 2004, whilst ZOO Digital Publishing released the game in Europe for PlayStation 2, Xbox, mobile phones and Gizmondo in 2005. A port for the Game Boy Advance, co-developed by Tuna Technologies, was also released in Europe in 2006. A high-definition version titled Alien Hominid 360 was released for Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade service on February 28, 2007. Another remaster, Alien Hominid HD, will be released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2023, alongside a sequel, Alien Hominid Invasion.
Castle Crashers is a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash video game developed by The Behemoth. The Xbox 360 version was released on August 27, 2008, via Xbox Live Arcade as part of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. The PlayStation 3 version was released in North America on August 31, 2010, and November 3, 2010, in Europe via the PlayStation Network. A Microsoft Windows version, exclusive to Steam, was released on September 26, 2012. The game is set in a fictional medieval universe in which a dark wizard steals a mystical crystal and captures four princesses. Four knights are charged by the king to rescue the princesses, recover the crystal, and bring the wizard to justice. The game includes music created by members of Newgrounds.
Thomas Charles Fulp is an American programmer known for creating the website Newgrounds and co-founding the video game company The Behemoth.
Defense Grid: The Awakening is a tower defense video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment for Windows and Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360. The game was one of the titles promoted by Microsoft during their Game Developers Conference keynote speech on February 20, 2008. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on December 8, 2008, and for Xbox 360 on September 2, 2009. The OS X version shipped from Virtual Programming on July 7, 2010.
Dan Paladin, also known as Synj, is an American video game artist, designer, and co-founder of the video game company The Behemoth.
The Maw is an action-adventure video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games and released for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game centers on the extraterrestrial Frank and a purple, amorphous creature called The Maw, who have crash-landed their spacecraft on an alien planet. The player assumes the role of Frank and directs The Maw—which can take on the abilities of objects and fauna it consumes—via a leash.
Ronimo Games was a Dutch video game developer founded in 2007 by former students of the Utrecht School of the Arts.
BattleBlock Theater is a comedic platform game developed by The Behemoth and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360, Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is the third title from The Behemoth following Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. The game was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 3, 2013, and later temporarily made free via Games with Gold on July 16, 2014.
In the video game industry, digital distribution is the process of delivering video game content as digital information, without the exchange or purchase of new physical media such as ROM cartridges, magnetic storage, optical discs and flash memory cards. This process has existed since the early 1980s, but it was only with network advancements in bandwidth capabilities in the early 2000s that digital distribution became more prominent as a method of selling games. Currently, the process is dominated by online distribution over broadband Internet.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. The game is a "reimagined" remake of the 1994 cult classic strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense and a reboot of MicroProse's 1990s X-COM series. Set in an alternative version of the year 2015, the player controls an elite multinational paramilitary organization called XCOM during an alien invasion of Earth. The player commands troops in the field in a series of turn-based tactical missions; between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.
Bit.Trip Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, generally shortened as Runner2, is a 2013 side-scrolling platformer developed by Gaijin Games. The game is the direct sequel to Bit.Trip Runner and has been released as a downloadable title available on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360 and Wii U consoles, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and on iOS, as well as PlayStation 4 in 2016. The PC, Mac, Linux, and Wii U versions were self-published by Gaijin Games, and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were published by Aksys Games.
Wizorb is a video game created and published by Tribute Games. It was released on the Xbox 360 Xbox Live Marketplace on September 29, 2011. The gameplay is a cross between a Breakout clone and a role-playing video game. Wizorb was ported to Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It was released for Windows through Steam on March 14, 2012, with added achievements and cloud storage. Upon release, Wizorb saw favorable reviews from critics, with VentureBeat's Jacob Siegal listing it as one of the top 10 independent video games of 2011.
Halo: Spartan Assault is a twin stick shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games. Part of the Halo media franchise, the game was released on July 18, 2013, for Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms. The game subsequently released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Steam, and iOS. Halo: Spartan Assault is set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4. Players control the human soldiers Sarah Palmer and Edward Davis as they fight a new splinter faction of the alien Covenant. The game launched with 25 single-player missions; an additional campaign released as downloadable content. The console versions also feature an exclusive cooperative horde mode.
XCOM: Enemy Within is an expansion pack for the turn-based tactical video game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The expansion pack primarily adds new gameplay elements to the base game, as well as introducing new themes of transhumanism via aggressive gene therapy.
Crawl is a brawler indie game by Australian developer Powerhoof. Up to four players and bots in local multiplayer advance through randomly generated dungeons with one player as the hero and the others as spirits who possess traps and monsters in the environment to kill and thus replace the hero. The game received a Steam Early Access release for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms in August 2014, and a full release for those three as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in April 2017 and a release for Nintendo Switch on December 19, 2017.
Aztez is a side-scrolling brawler, turn-based strategy video game by Team Colorblind. The player fights through areas within the Aztec empire prior to the Spanish invasion. Aztez was released on August 1, 2017 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Grumpyface is a mobile game developer based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It was founded by Chris Graham in June 2010. They are best known for their collaboration with Adult Swim Games and Cartoon Network Games, and have developed over seven titles between the two publishers. Some of Grumpyface's most popular titles include Castle Doombad, Super Mole Escape, and Steven Universe: Attack the Light!.
Pit People is a tactical role-playing game by indie game developer The Behemoth. An early access version for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One was released in January 2017 and the full version was released March 2018.
