The history of Arcade games traces back to decades ago, with the first arcade games being established in the 1970s. From a form of entertainment that mostly took place on coin-operated machines found in business areas like restaurants, a lot has changed.
Today, arcade games can be played on PC like gamblers can play video poker at the Sloto Cash online casino. Some of the popular arcade games that you may have interacted with include Death Race, Sea Wolf, and Tank, to mention a few. Centipede is one of the most important and popular arcade games there has ever been.
Here are some interesting facts about Centipede that will help you learn more about this game:
1. Centipede has a sequel
It is safe to say that Centipede is one of the most successful arcade games. Like other successful games, a sequel followed Centipede. As customary of popular games, a sequel was created for Centipede with the hope of making it a Franchise.
Millepede was released in 1982 by Atari. While it is not as popular as Centipede, it is still an exciting game. This is unlike in Centipede, where the player is a garden gnome.
2. Centipede was initially a boardgame
This might come as a surprise to gamers who haven’t really dug into the game’s history. Centipede was indeed a board game before becoming what it is today. The board game was played mainly in the 80s. The players would assume the roles of the Centipede and the gnome.
The role of the gnome in the game was to protect the garden. The person playing Centipede would play the cards to obstruct the gnome’s progress in defending the garden. The winner would then be the person who would be standing at the end of the game, that is, either the Centipede or gnome.
3. It was very popular among the female gamers
While tons of female gamers exist, the numbers are lower than that of their male counterparts. One interesting fact about this arcade game is that it managed to win the female audience’s hearts. It is still considered the first popular game to secure a female audience.
Well, this could be because the development of the game had female touch. Another exciting thing is a female employee at Atari’s game company participated in the creation of the game.
4. It is among the major games with the most clones
Well, something having a significant number of clones speaks something. It would be true to say that Centipede has many admirers judging from the number of imitations the game has had since its creation.
Some of the popular imitations include Bug Blaster and Bug Attack.
5. There was a Centipede movie in the pipeline
Back in 2016, there were discussions on having a film based on the game. This is something that has been happening to iconic media like books. A good share of movies are based on books. There has also been a rising trend of films based on games, a good example being Angry Birds.
But who would have thought that someone would create a movie out of this particular game? There was a deal cooking between Atari and Furla to bring this one to your screens. This would have been a great movie if the production went ahead. People were certainly curious about how the game activities would be put together for the film and playing the Centipede and gnome.
The conversations have not carried on since, but gamers across the globe are certainly looking forward to this.
6. There is more to watch out for in the game
Most people would think the Centipede is the only thing that the gnome needs to look out for. Well, there is more to it. There is the scorpion which makes things even harder for the player. The role of the scorpion in the game is to poison the mushroom such that the Centipede falls on the player.
There are also fleas and spiders which eat the mushrooms. The more obstacles in the game, the more challenging and exciting it is.
7. You are not required to jump in the game
There is no pint of jumping in Centipede because when the fleas in the game fall, the mushrooms are usually head height. So this means there is no need to jump.
8. Jim Schneider is a fan
Who would have ever thought that Jim Schneider would be a fan of this arcade game? Jim Schneider scored 16,389,547 in marathon play of the game. It was a big achievement as he has held this record since 1984.
It is also worth noting that such a score in old-school arcade games is not an easy thing to do. Another phenomenal record comes from Donald Hayes, who scored 7,750,817 in the 2018 tournament play.
9. Players are the gnome in the game
As you play the game, you are the gnome who is assigned to protect the mushroom garden from centipedes, spiders, and fleas. It is incredible that the game has a narrative and would have made a great movie.
Also, the players should always aim for the Centipede’s head.
Conclusion
Above are just some of the facts you need to know about the Centipede arcade game. You have now learned things you didn’t know about this amazing game. It was initially a board game, has a sequel, and there could be a film cooking.
