Score (game)
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (April 2017) |
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points (except in game shows, where scores often are instead measured in units of currency), and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score use it as a quantitative indicator of success in the game, and in competitive games, a goal is often made of attaining a better score than one's opponents in order to win.
Video games
In
In modern gaming, the presence of a score is not as ubiquitous as it was in the past. During the era of
In
Scoring
In puzzle games, scores are usually gained by solving the puzzles quickly. Higher scores can be gained by performing combos of puzzle solving. There is often a time bonus which can add extra points. The level number is often a multiplier on the points, so higher scores are possible on harder levels. Level multipliers can also be picked up in some games, to further multiply your points bonus.
In other games, points are typically gained from defeating monsters and enemies. When defeating a
Usually, when a player gets a certain number of points, they may get an
High score
The high score of a video game is usually the highest logged point value. Many games will have a list of several high scores, called the high score table or leaderboard.
History
The concept of a high score first achieved cultural significance with the rise in popularity of
The high score has a close association to the "free game." When in an arcade, many games will offer a player a free chance at another game if they achieve a high score. This has declined in popularity in recent years, as players are often allowed to play for as long as they can without losing, but not given free games even if they achieve a high score.
The first video game to use the term "high score" was Midway's Sea Wolf (1976). The game saved the highest score achieved on the cabinet, but could be reset by a player at any time by pressing a button on the machine.
The high score concept changed in July 1978 with the release of
The popularity of the high score made it nearly ubiquitous and a defining feature for many games.
The high score also exists in online games in various forms. The spread of the Internet has made it possible to compete with the rest of the world, rather than the players of a single machine or game. Many modern games have the ability to post his/her high score to a central webpage. Online multiplayer games, especially first person shooters, real time strategies, and role-playing video games often have ranking systems. These new high score lists and ranking systems often are more complex than conventional high score lists. Some are based on tournaments, while others track game servers continuously, keeping statistics for all players.
Some games include default "high scores" that do not actually represent real players, but are displayed whenever the machine's memory is reset, often with generic initials such as "AAA." These scores often represent certain levels of achievement for a player to aspire to, ensuring that there is always something for players to compete with. Many video games also have default high scores built in, sometimes attributed to fictitious entities (e.g. Commander Keen) or to members of the game's development team.
In popular culture
The high score's prominence in video game culture, and even mainstream society has led to various pieces of art and entertainment. There is a
In
On September 24, 2005, Twin Galaxies issued Poster #59, which publicized a $1,000 prize to the first gamer who could break George Costanza's fictitious Frogger high score of 863,050 points.[2]
On August 1, 1982, the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard issued a colorful poster that listed the world record high scores for more than two dozen arcade video games. The poster was distributed among arcades worldwide. This was the first poster (#1) in a series of colorful posters that continues today, with poster #131 issued in October, 2008.[3][needs update]
In an episode of Friends, Chandler Bing puts in dirty words on all the high score positions on a Ms. Pac-Man machine. He then finds out that they are not blanked when the machine is reset, so he has to break all his high scores to remove the offending words. (This is not possible on an actual Ms. Pac-Man machine; such machines only record one high score and do not allow the winning player to enter initials.)[citation needed]
In the media
According to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, "high-score" attempts enjoyed as much press coverage as any other video game–related topic reported in the media during the 1982–1985 period. Though the media was often focused on the amazing growth of the video game industry, it was equally as fascinated with the human side of gaming, as typified by the "player vs. machine" showdowns that led to new world record high scores set on nearly a daily basis. In fact, Twin Galaxies reports that during that early era it was not unusual for there to be multiple new world records reported in the media on a single day.
See also
- Time attack
- Speedrun
- Running up the score
References
- ^ a b c Shannon Symonds (2010-11-19). "The Changing Face of Winning in Video Games". International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ Twin Galaxies' Poster #59, September 24, 2005 Archived October 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Twin Galaxies' Tradition of Video Game Posters, 1982-2008 Archived March 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
External links
- High Score – large online database of user-submitted high scores
- Twin Galaxies – historic authority on video game world records