A Brief History of Typing Games - From Alien Zaps to Zombie Attacks
31Exploring the strange and curious history of typing games, from the late seventies to the modern day. Also available as a podcast: https://pod.link/1567218857/episode/bb2fd216e8c3bcfa6526d5126d145055
Read the typed transcript here: https://curiousarcade.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-typing-games-from-alien-zaps-to-zombie-attacks-44c0ed831d8e
Since the release of the first home computers in 1977, the PC has rarely been seen apart from the keyboard. The keyboard quickly became the PC’s standard input device, replacing the fiddly switch controls of hobbyist computers like the Altair. However, not everyone who owned a computer knew how to type. And so for almost as long as there have been home computers, there have been typing games.
Take a leisurely tour of this offbeat, yet surprisingly profitable, gaming genre.
It begins in the late seventies with the work of freelance writer (and programmer) Dick Ainsworth, who was commissioned by Bally to make an “educational” game for their home arcade. Ainsworth laid the foundations for future typing games, pioneering a programming technique that served as an early form of AI.
The tour continues to the early eighties with the first proper typing games and commercially successful educational games for the home computer. MasterType (1981) and Typo Attack (1982) added a keyboarding slant to addictive tried-and-tested arcade gameplay.
With more professionals taking up the computer, there remained a gap in the market for a serious typing game. That gap was plugged by Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (1987). Soon enough the mysterious master typist became a software icon. Stories abounded about her miraculous typing exploits. But reporters just couldn’t seem to grab hold of her.
Super Mario took on her mantle in Mario Teaches Typing (1992), a typing platformer (typeformer?) published by Nintendo. Then onto the late nineties where Sega performs some strange alchemy, mixing a zombie-blaster with a typing mechanic in Typing of the Dead (1998). It’s a weird but somewhat winning formula. Sega dabbles with the formula all the way through to the 2010s, releasing a steady stream of variations on their type-to-shoot classic.
The last stop showcases some fresher takes on the typing genre, with the parodic David Lynch Teaches Typing (2018) and the demonic The Textorcist (2019), games every bit as strange as their titles suggest. The tour ends with a questioning gaze cast over the future of typing games. With phones practically glued to children’s fingertips, and more exciting forms of interaction emerging in the mainstream, one might ask if the keyboard even has a future…
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Medium: https://curiousarcade.medium.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcadecurious
Download "The Textorcist" demo: https://www.gog.com/game/the_textorcist_the_story_of_ray_bibbia_demo
Download "David Lynch Teaches Typing":
https://rhinostew.itch.io/david-lynch-teaches-typing
0:00 1978: Bingo Math - Ainsworth & Bally
2:53 1979: Microsoft Typing Tutor - Opening the Gates
4:31 1981: MasterType - Invasion of the Space Invaders
5:47 1982: Typo Attack - Atari's Winning Star
7:18 1987: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - Mystery Mavis
10:56 1992: Mario Teaches Typing - Super Tutor Mario
12:20 1996: House of the Dead - Sega Mega Arcade
14:26 1998: Typing of the Dead - Type or Die!
17:02 2001: English/Flick of the Dead - The Undying Dead
19:59 2018: David Lynch & The Textorcist - Strange Future
#Curious #Typing #Games
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Music Credits:
Cool Vibes by Kevin MacLeod
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George Street Shuffle by Kevin MacLeod
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Sidewalk Shade - slower by Kevin MacLeod
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Modern Jazz Samba by Kevin MacLeod
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Pixelland by Kevin MacLeod
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Welcome to the Show by Kevin MacLeod
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Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod
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Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod
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