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135-1100: Co-op gameplay has gained popularity as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs and consoles, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of games—including shooter games , sports games , real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games —include co-op modes. A cooperative video game is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents ( PvE ). Cooperative video games are often abbreviated as co-ops . The gameplay of cooperative games may be entirely cooperative or be limited to cooperative modes . Co-op gameplay has gained popularity as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs and consoles, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of games—including shooter games , sports games , real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games —include co-op modes. The first video game to feature co-op play dates back to 1973, with Atari 's arcade video game Pong Doubles , which

270-442: A TV set or an appropriately sized computer display , and is often used as a digital photo viewer, music and video player, TV receiver, and digital video recorder. HTPCs are also referred to as media center systems or media servers . The goal is to combine many or all components of a home theater setup into one box. HTPCs can also connect to services providing on-demand movies and TV shows. HTPCs can be purchased pre-configured with

405-401: A kit form and in limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions, and output was provided by front panel lamps. Practical use required adding peripherals such as keyboards, computer displays , disk drives , and printers . Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit microcomputer based on

540-511: A multitasking operating system . Eventually, due to the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market , personal computers and home computers lost any technical distinction. Business computers acquired color graphics capability and sound, and home computers and game systems users used the same processors and operating systems as office workers. Mass-market computers had graphics capabilities and memory comparable to dedicated workstations of

675-553: A portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT , and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL/1130. In 1973, APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC . Because SCAMP

810-436: A shoot 'em up gameplay rhythm with fighting elements when he designed Kung-Fu Master . The game was also distinctive for its use of health meters , for both the player character and each boss. Another 1984 release, Bruce Lee , combined multi-player, multi-character combat with traditional collecting, platform and puzzle gameplay. Later that year, Karateka combined the one-on-one fight sequences of Karate Champ with

945-469: A touchscreen display, which can be controlled using either a stylus pen or finger. Some tablets may use a hybrid or convertible design, offering a keyboard that can either be removed as an attachment, or a screen that can be rotated and folded directly over top the keyboard. Some tablets may use desktop-PC operating system such as Windows or Linux, or may run an operating system designed primarily for tablets. Many tablet computers have USB ports, to which

1080-612: A 3D display product for their consoles. This display system supported this practice under the trademark SimulView. While the SimulView feature set was designed to work only with the Sony 3D monitor, the move renewed interest in this technology, and it was not long before the gaming community circumvented this vendor lock-in gambit, allowing SimulView-supporting games to utilize the feature on third-party 3DTV equipment. By contrast, in cooperative platform games , both players typically occupy

1215-835: A 4096-color palette, stereo sound, Motorola 68000 CPU, 256 KB RAM, and 880 KB 3.5-inch disk drive, for US$ 1,295. IBM's first PC was introduced on 12 August 1981 setting what became a mass market standard for PC architecture. In 1982 The Computer was named Machine of the Year by Time magazine. Somewhat larger and more expensive systems were aimed at office and small business use. These often featured 80-column text displays but might not have had graphics or sound capabilities. These microprocessor-based systems were still less costly than time-shared mainframes or minicomputers. Workstations were characterized by high-performance processors and graphics displays, with large-capacity local disk storage, networking capability, and running under

1350-671: A certain degree of success, and entered the Japanese arcade earnings charts at number-two in August 1996. Core Design 's Fighting Force (1997) was anticipated to redefine the genre for 32-bit consoles through its use of a 3D environment. However, it was met with a lukewarm reception. The beat 'em up genre declined in the late 1990s, largely disappearing from arcades by the end of the decade. In 2000, Squaresoft published The Bouncer (2000), developed by DreamFactory and designed by former Virtua Fighter designer Seiichi Ishii , for

1485-403: A co-op rhythm game which allowed players to work together to complete a song of their choosing or the two players could fight each other in the battle mode with each guitarist striving for a higher score. Early-generation home consoles typically did not offer co-op options, due to technical limitations which hindered the increased graphics required for simultaneous co-op play. Though consoles from

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1620-453: A combat motif as beat 'em ups, including fighting games. However, they were differentiated by a specific prefix; games like Double Dragon or Final Fight were called "scrolling beat 'em ups" and games such as Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat were referred to as "one on one beat 'em ups". Fighting games were still being called "beat 'em up" games in the UK gaming press up until the end of

1755-427: A computer expert or technician . Unlike large, costly minicomputers and mainframes , time-sharing by many people at the same time is not used with personal computers. The term home computer has also been used, primarily in the late 1970s and 1980s. The advent of personal computers and the concurrent Digital Revolution have significantly affected the lives of people. Institutional or corporate computer owners in

1890-410: A computer that could fit on a desk was remarkably small, leading to the desktop nomenclature. More recently, the phrase usually indicates a particular style of computer case . Desktop computers come in a variety of styles ranging from large vertical tower cases to small models which can be tucked behind or rest directly beneath (and support) LCD monitors . While the term desktop often refers to

2025-557: A computer with a vertically aligned computer tower case , these varieties often rest on the ground or underneath desks. Despite this seeming contradiction, the term desktop does typically refer to these vertical tower cases as well as the horizontally aligned models which are designed to literally rest on top of desks and are therefore more appropriate to the desktop term, although both types qualify for this desktop label in most practical situations aside from certain physical arrangement differences. Both styles of these computer cases hold

2160-446: A cooperative game, the industry has settled on games that support up to four players as an informal standard. This comes from a combination of factors. Historically, cooperative arcade video games maxed out at four players. Similarly, consoles which supported local co-op play on the same screen also maxed out at four players. There is also a human factor according to various developers. While having more than four players involved could make

2295-510: A desk, including a keyboard, a small one-line display, and printer. The Wang 2200 microcomputer of 1973 had a full-size cathode ray tube (CRT) and cassette tape storage. These were generally expensive specialized computers sold for business or scientific uses. 1974 saw the introduction of what is considered by many to be the first true personal computer, the Altair 8800 created by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) . Based on

2430-415: A few years before. Even local area networking, originally a way to allow business computers to share expensive mass storage and peripherals, became a standard feature of personal computers used at home. An increasingly important set of uses for personal computers relied on the ability of the computer to communicate with other computer systems, allowing interchange of information. Experimental public access to

2565-434: A game more interesting to play, this starts to exceed a comfortable number related to social interactions between players and may cause segmenting of the larger group into smaller ones, while up to four players encourages cooperation and coordination within that group. Many video games support split screen displays in order to show two or more players in different regions of the game. Split screen displays would usually split

2700-432: A graphics card installed. For this reason, desktop computers are usually preferred over laptops for gaming purposes. Unlike desktop computers, only minor internal upgrades (such as memory and hard disk drive) are feasible owing to the limited space and power available. Laptops have the same input and output ports as desktops, for connecting to external displays, mice, cameras, storage devices and keyboards. Laptops are also

2835-469: A hardware specification called Handheld PC was later released by Microsoft that run the Windows CE operating system. Beat %27em up A beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all ) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling , two-dimensional (2D) levels, while

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2970-487: A hinged second panel containing a flat display screen. Closing the laptop protects the screen and keyboard during transportation. Laptops generally have a rechargeable battery , enhancing their portability. To save power, weight and space, laptop graphics chips are in many cases integrated into the CPU or chipset and use system RAM, resulting in reduced graphics performance when compared to desktop machines, that more typically have

3105-408: A keyboard or mouse can be connected. Smartphones are often similar to tablet computers , the difference being that smartphones always have cellular integration. They are generally smaller than tablets, and may not have a slate form factor. The ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is a small tablet computer . It was developed by Microsoft , Intel and Samsung , among others. Current UMPCs typically feature

3240-540: A larger screen or use with video projectors. IBM PC-compatible suitcase format computers became available soon after the introduction of the PC, with the Compaq Portable being a leading example of the type. Later models included a hard drive to give roughly equivalent performance to contemporary desktop computers. The development of thin plasma display and LCD screens permitted a somewhat smaller form factor, called

3375-465: A little more expensive compared to desktops, as the miniaturized components for laptops themselves are expensive. Notebook computers such as the TRS-80 Model 100 and Epson HX-20 had roughly the plan dimensions of a sheet of typing paper ( ANSI A or ISO A4 ). These machines had a keyboard with slightly reduced dimensions compared to a desktop system, and a fixed LCD display screen coplanar with

3510-739: A microprocessor, the Intel 8008 . It was built starting in 1972, and a few hundred units were sold. This had been preceded by the Datapoint 2200 in 1970, for which the Intel 8008 had been commissioned, though not accepted for use. The CPU design implemented in the Datapoint 2200 became the basis for x86 architecture used in the original IBM PC and its descendants. In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed

3645-518: A mixture of single-player goals ("quests") and larger end-game challenges that can only be completed via intensive co-op play, of up to twenty-five (formerly forty) players in end-game raids, and up to forty versus forty in battlegrounds. Co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple input controllers or over a network via local area networks , wide area networks , or the Internet. Cooperative games designed to be played by multiple players on

3780-451: A more detailed and in-depth single player experience or a purely multiplayer game. Epic's Unreal Tournament series had shifted almost entirely towards deathmatch modes, and significant FPS releases such as Doom 3 , Quake 4 , and both Half-Life titles shipped without cooperative gameplay modes. However, Killing Floor , originally a total conversion mod for the game Unreal Tournament 2004 , first released in 2005, introduced

3915-481: A new naming scheme: devices without an integrated phone are called Windows Mobile Classic instead of Pocket PC, while devices with an integrated phone and a touch screen are called Windows Mobile Professional. Palmtop PCs were miniature pocket-sized computers running DOS that first came about in the late 1980s, typically in a clamshell form factor with a keyboard. Non-x86 based devices were often called palmtop computers, examples being Psion Series 3 . In later years

4050-419: A number of modern games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies. The gameplay tends to follow arcade genre conventions, such as being simple to learn but difficult to master, and the combat system tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games . Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of

4185-433: A period of high popularity between the release of Double Dragon in 1987, which defined the two-player cooperative mode and continuous belt scroll format central to classic beat 'em ups, and 1991's Street Fighter II , which drew gamers towards one-on-one fighting games . Games such as Streets of Rage , Final Fight , Golden Axe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are other classics to emerge from this period. In

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4320-406: A preview of features that would later become staples of personal computers: e-mail , hypertext , word processing , video conferencing , and the mouse . The demonstration required technical support staff and a mainframe time-sharing computer that were far too costly for individual business use at the time. Early personal computers‍—‌generally called microcomputers‍—‌were often sold in

4455-411: A resurgence, with popular titles such as Dungeon Fighter Online , Dragon's Crown , Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge . A beat 'em up (also called a "brawler") is a type of action game where the player character must fight a large number of enemies in unarmed combat or with melee weapons. Gameplay consists of walking through a level , one section at

4590-418: A row, in 1988 and 1989 . Double Dragon 's success resulted in a flood of beat 'em ups in the late 1980s, where acclaimed titles such as Golden Axe and Final Fight (both 1989) distinguished themselves from the others. Final Fight was Capcom 's intended sequel to Street Fighter (provisionally titled Street Fighter '89 ), but the company ultimately gave it a new title. In contrast to

4725-755: A sense of progression, along with the use of cut scenes to give it a cinematic look and feel. Like Kunio-kun , the game's combat system drew inspiration from the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon , while Double Dragon added a new disaster-ridden city setting inspired by the Mad Max films and Fist of the North Star manga and anime series. Double Dragon became Japan's third highest-grossing table arcade game of 1987 , before becoming America's overall highest-grossing dedicated arcade game for two years in

4860-615: A shared mainframe computer system was demonstrated as early as 1973 in the Community Memory project, but bulletin board systems and online service providers became more commonly available after 1978. Commercial Internet service providers emerged in the late 1980s, giving public access to the rapidly growing network. In 1991, the World Wide Web was made available for public use. The combination of powerful personal computers with high-resolution graphics and sound, with

4995-512: A single screen, utilizing multiple monitors, or participating in online multiplayer. Some games, like Super Mario Galaxy , the Wii version of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands , Super Mario Odyssey and some versions of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , however, limit the second player to an omniscient, invulnerable helper role, where they can assist the first player. This may include

5130-410: A sizable online community. It allowed one player to serve as a Dungeon Master , shaping and altering the game world against a party of human-controlled players, playing cooperatively. (An earlier game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption (2000) was the earliest CRPG to feature this sort of "storyteller" mode.) Contemporary MMORPGs such as Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft feature

5265-489: A sophisticated move set likened to a fighting game. It updated the Streets of Rage formula to 3D, while implementing moves and combos from the fighting game Virtua Fighter 2 (1994), the ability to combine weapons to create more powerful weapons, and in two-player mode the ability to perform combined special moves and combos. It also had cut scenes , with quick time events interspersed between scenes. The game achieved

5400-494: A standard feature in consoles, as the Dreamcast , GameCube and Xbox all later featured them. As larger multiplayer games became feasible, cooperative gameplay also became more available. The 7th and current generations of video game consoles all feature wireless controllers, removing port-based local player limits. The release of Doom in 1993 was a breakthrough in network gaming. Up to four players could travel through

5535-655: A television already in the home as the computer display, with low-detail blocky graphics and a limited color range, and text about 40 characters wide by 25 characters tall. Sinclair Research , a UK company, produced the ZX Series‍—;‌the ZX80 (1980), ZX81 (1981), and the ZX Spectrum ; the latter was introduced in 1982, and totaled 8 million unit sold. Following came the Commodore 64 , totaled 17 million units sold,

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5670-410: A time, defeating a group of enemies before advancing to the next section; a boss fight normally occurs at the end of each level. Arcade versions of these games are often quite difficult to win, causing players to spend more money. Beat 'em ups are related to but distinct from fighting games, which are based around one-on-one matches rather than scrolling levels and multiple enemies. Such terminology

5805-406: A time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems . Workstations are used for tasks such as computer-aided design , drafting and modeling, computation-intensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modeling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects. Before the widespread use of PCs,

5940-442: A two-player cooperative mode via split screen where 2 players needed to cooperate in order to solve puzzles and eliminate enemies. Later PC RPGs became more powerful and flexible in simulating the shared real life RPG experience, allowing players to collaborate in games over the Internet. Blizzard Entertainment 's immensely successful Diablo (1996), which incorporated Blizzard's online matchmaking service, battle.net , allowing

6075-601: A wide range of users, not just experienced electronics hobbyists who had the soldering skills to assemble a computer kit. The Apple I as delivered was still technically a kit computer, as it did not have a power supply, case, or keyboard when it was delivered to the Byte Shop. The first successfully mass-marketed personal computer to be announced was the Commodore PET after being revealed in January 1977. However, it

6210-542: Is a desktop computer that generally comprises a high-performance video card , processor and RAM, to improve the speed and responsiveness of demanding video games . An all-in-one computer (also known as single-unit PCs) is a desktop computer that combines the monitor and processor within a single unit. A separate keyboard and mouse are standard input devices, with some monitors including touchscreen capability. The processor and other working components are typically reduced in size relative to standard desktops, located behind

6345-495: Is a portable computer that provides the full capabilities of a desktop computer . Such computers are currently large laptops. This class of computers usually includes more powerful components and a larger display than generally found in smaller portable computers, and may have limited battery capacity or no battery. Netbooks , also called mini notebooks or subnotebooks , were a subgroup of laptops suited for general computing tasks and accessing web-based applications . Initially,

6480-509: Is considered one of the strongest beat 'em up titles for its fantasy elements, distinguishing it from the urban settings seen in other beat 'em ups. Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja featured platform elements, while P.O.W.: Prisoners of War took the weapon aspect a stage further, allowing the players to pick up guns. Another beat 'em up— River City Ransom (1989), named Street Gangs in Europe—featured role-playing game elements with which

6615-563: Is loosely applied, however, as some commentators prefer to conflate the two terms. At times, both one-on-one fighting games and scrolling beat 'em ups have influenced each other in terms of graphics and style and can appeal to fans of either genre. Occasionally, a game will feature both kinds of gameplay. In the United Kingdom, video game magazines during the 1980s to 1990s, such as Mean Machines and Computer & Video Games (C+VG) for example, referred to all games which had

6750-585: Is speculation and there is no sign of it so far. In the history of computing , early experimental machines could be operated by a single attendant. For example, ENIAC which became operational in 1946 could be run by a single, albeit highly trained, person. This mode pre-dated the batch programming, or time-sharing modes with multiple users connected through terminals to mainframe computers. Computers intended for laboratory, instrumentation, or engineering purposes were built, and could be operated by one person in an interactive fashion. Examples include such systems as

6885-583: Is the Dynasty Warriors series, which beginning with Dynasty Warriors 2 (2000) offered beat 'em up action on large 3D battlefields with war strategy game elements, displaying dozens of characters on the screen at a time. The series to date spans 14 games (including expansions) which players in the West view as overly similar, although the games' creators claim their large audience in Japan appreciates

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7020-478: Is used to contrast with Mac, an Apple Macintosh computer. Since none of these Apple products were mainframes or time-sharing systems, they were all personal computers but not PC (brand) computers. In 1995, a CBS segment on the growing popularity of PC reported: "For many newcomers PC stands for Pain and Confusion." The "brain" [computer] may one day come down to our level [of the common people] and help with our income-tax and book-keeping calculations. But this

7155-483: Is very popular. Dungeon Fighter Online has become one of the most-played and highest-grossing games of all time, having grossed over $ 10 billion. Other traditional 2D scrolling beat 'em ups were released on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network including The Behemoth 's Castle Crashers (2008), featuring cartoon graphics, quirky humor, and acclaimed cooperative gameplay, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (2011), Double Dragon Neon (2012) and Scott Pilgrim vs.

7290-653: The 1979 movie of the same name), released in 2005, featured large scale brawling in 3D environments interspersed with other activities such as chase sequences. The game also featured a more traditional side-scrolling beat 'em up Armies of the Night as bonus content, which was acclaimed along with the main game and was later released on the PlayStation Portable . Capcom's Viewtiful Joe (2003), directed by Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, used cel-shaded graphics and innovative gameplay features (such as

7425-536: The Apple I computer circuit board, which was fully prepared and contained about 30 chips. The Apple I computer differed from the other kit-style hobby computers of era. At the request of Paul Terrell , owner of the Byte Shop , Jobs and Wozniak were given their first purchase order, for 50 Apple I computers, only if the computers were assembled and tested and not a kit computer. Terrell wanted to have computers to sell to

7560-590: The Bendix G15 and LGP-30 of 1956, and the Soviet MIR series of computers developed from 1965 to 1969. By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person. The personal computer was made possible by major advances in semiconductor technology. In 1959,

7695-656: The Galaksija (1983) introduced in Yugoslavia and the Amstrad CPC series (464–6128). In the same year, the NEC PC-98 was introduced, which was a very popular personal computer that sold in more than 18 million units. Another famous personal computer, the revolutionary Amiga 1000 , was unveiled by Commodore on 23 July 1985. The Amiga 1000 featured a multitasking, windowing operating system, color graphics with

7830-503: The PlayStation 2 console. It was an ambitious project that attempted to deliver a cinematic, story-driven beat 'em up, combining 3D beat 'em up gameplay with action role-playing game elements, cinematic cutscenes, high production values and an "Active Character Selection" system where choices alter the storyline . It was highly anticipated due to Squaresoft's reputation with Japanese role-playing games such as Final Fantasy , but

7965-480: The belt scroll format, allowing both vertical and horizontal movement along a side-scrolling environment, while also popularizing street brawling in the genre. Created by Yoshihisa Kishimoto , game was inspired by his own teenage high school years getting into daily fights, along with Bruce Lee's martial arts film Enter the Dragon . The Western adaptation Renegade (released the same year) added an underworld revenge plot that proved more popular with gamers than

8100-405: The lunchbox computer. The screen formed one side of the enclosure, with a detachable keyboard and one or two half-height floppy disk drives, mounted facing the ends of the computer. Some variations included a battery, allowing operation away from AC outlets. A laptop computer is designed for portability with clamshell design, where the keyboard and computer components are on one panel, with

8235-607: The macOS operating system), and free and open-source , Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux . Other notable platforms until the 1990s were the Amiga from Commodore , and the PC-98 from NEC . The term PC is an initialism for personal computer. While the IBM Personal Computer incorporated the designation into its model name, the term originally described personal computers of any brand. In some contexts, PC

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8370-508: The second generation of video games onward typically had controller ports for two-player games, most systems did not have the computing or graphical power for simultaneous play, leading most games that billed "2-player gameplay" as a feature to merely include the single player game mode with alternating players. During this early era, many video games which featured co-op play (including beat 'em ups such as Double Dragon ) were ported to less advanced home systems. Alternating play replaced

8505-460: The silicon integrated circuit (IC) chip was developed by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor , and the metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) transistor was developed by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs . The MOS integrated circuit was commercialized by RCA in 1964, and then the silicon-gate MOS integrated circuit was developed by Federico Faggin at Fairchild in 1968. Faggin later used silicon-gate MOS technology to develop

8640-661: The "1977 trinity". Mass-market, ready-assembled computers had arrived, and allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on software applications and less on development of the processor hardware. In 1977 the Heath company introduced personal computer kits known as Heathkits , starting with the Heathkit H8 , followed by the Heathkit H89 in late 1979. With the purchase of the Heathkit H8 you would obtain

8775-444: The 1960s had to write their own programs to do any useful work with computers. While personal computer users may develop their applications, usually these systems run commercial software , free-of-charge software (" freeware "), which is most often proprietary, or free and open-source software , which is provided in ready-to-run , or binary form. Software for personal computers is typically developed and distributed independently from

8910-403: The 1990s. Beat 'em up games usually employ vigilante crime fighting and revenge plots with the action taking place on city streets, though historical and fantasy themed games also exist. Players must walk from one end of the game world to the other, and thus each game level will usually scroll horizontally . Some later beat 'em ups dispense with 2D -based scrolling levels, instead allowing

9045-562: The 2010s include the Payday and Destiny series. Most early role-playing video games were inspired by multiplayer tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons , but were restricted to single player due to the technology of the era. The earliest RPGs featuring something resembling co-op play were MUDs , which would later evolve into the MMOG genre. In 1989, Image Works released Bloodwych for MS-DOS and various other platforms which featured

9180-555: The 8-bit Intel 8080 Microprocessor, the Altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution as the first commercially successful personal computer. The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a de facto standard in the form of the S-100 bus , and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC . In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold

9315-628: The CPU. Due to the lack of online multiplayer , co-op games in the RPG genre have generally been less common on console systems than on PCs. Nevertheless, some of the earliest co-op action RPGs were console titles, including the TurboGrafx-16 game Dungeon Explorer (1989) by Atlus which allowed up to five players to play simultaneously, and Square 's Secret of Mana (1993) for the Super NES which offered two- and three-player action once

9450-549: The Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Linux operating system , and low-voltage Intel Atom or VIA C7-M processors. A pocket PC is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer ( personal digital assistant , PDA) that runs the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system . It may have the capability to run an alternative operating system like NetBSD or Linux . Pocket PCs have many of

9585-544: The World: The Game (2010). Fable Heroes (2012) is an Xbox Live Arcade only title released in 2012. Saints Row IV (2013) featured a parody of Streets Of Rage entitled "Saints Of Rage", where the player rescues Johnny Gat from a virtual prison. Dragon's Crown (2013) is a 2D fantasy game with a mix of beat 'em up and ARPG elements that were specifically inspired by Golden Axe and Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom . Streets of Rage 4 (2020)

9720-473: The ability to attack enemies within the first player's view, typically via a targeting reticle. Other co-op games such as It Takes Two and Evolve give the other player special roles, tasks or abilities. In essence, the second player's role in co-op video games is far from a duplicate of the first player. It introduces a unique perspective, fostering a culture of teamwork and mutual support. Often, these games also incorporate additional features to enhance

9855-473: The ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians, and other business problem-solvers. In the late 1960s such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton. Another desktop portable APL machine, the MCM/70 , was demonstrated in 1973 and shipped in 1974. It used the Intel 8008 processor. A seminal step in personal computing

9990-521: The appeal of some, while the appeal of others has been deemed to have diminished with time. Although the genre lacks the same presence it did in the late 1980s, some titles such as Viewtiful Joe and God Hand kept the traditional beat 'em up genre alive. The traditional 2D beat 'em up genre has seen a resurgence in Asia, where the South Korean online beat 'em up Dungeon Fighter Online (2004)

10125-462: The arcade's co-op play in the NES version (although Double Dragon II and III , for the same system, did retain their co-op gameplay). Most other titles featuring two-player were head-to-head sports titles. Though most of the console beat 'em ups were arcade ports, original franchises such as Streets of Rage and River City Ransom also became popular. In the run-and-gun shooter genre, Contra

10260-433: The basic structure of a beat 'em up, with Lee ascending five levels of a pagoda while fighting numerous enemies and several boss battles along the way, while another Lee film Enter the Dragon (1973) also influenced the genre. The first video game to feature fist fighting was Sega 's arcade boxing game Heavyweight Champ (1976), which is viewed from a side-view perspective like later fighting games. However, it

10395-480: The beat 'em up genre and was present in megahits such as Final Fight (1989), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989), and The Simpsons (1991). Ports of these games to home consoles were often criticized for their lack of co-operative functionality. In 1998, Time Crisis II launched as the first in the series as a two-player arcade rail shooter where two players could provide cover for each other. In 2009 Konami and Activision released Guitar Hero Arcade ,

10530-400: The beat 'em up genre began seeing a revival in the form of popular 3D hack and slash games in the style of Devil May Cry (2001 onwards), including Onimusha , Ninja Gaiden (2004 onwards), God of War (2005 onwards), God Hand (2006), Heavenly Sword (2007), Afro Samurai (2009), and Bayonetta (2009). Featuring a more fantasy themed approach, with longer campaigns and

10665-477: The capabilities of desktop PCs . Numerous applications are available for handhelds adhering to the Microsoft Pocket PC specification, many of which are freeware . Microsoft-compliant Pocket PCs can also be used with many other add-ons like GPS receivers , barcode readers, RFID readers and cameras. In 2007, with the release of Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft dropped the name Pocket PC in favor of

10800-620: The characters in the party. Namco 's Tales series allowed multiple players to take control of individual members in its real-time battles in some of the titles, such as Tales of Symphonia , while the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games replicated the Diablo formula for consoles, offering two-player simultaneous play through the game's campaign. With the release of the Nintendo 64 (1996, 1997), having four controller ports started to become

10935-504: The chasm could be prevented from scrolling into view by a slow player. Developers have attempted to counter these frustrations by using a camera that can zoom in and out over an entire level as needed, keeping both players within the scope of the camera. This type of camera was used to enable the display of four player cooperative gameplay in New Super Mario Bros. Wii . Another strategy allows player screens to be split when

11070-577: The chassis and CPU card to assemble yourself, additional hardware such as the H8-1 memory board that contained 4k of RAM could also be purchased in order to run software. The Heathkit H11 model was released in 1978 and was one of the first 16-bit personal computers; however, due to its high retail cost of $ 1,295 was discontinued in 1982. During the early 1980s, home computers were further developed for household use, with software for personal productivity, programming and games. They typically could be used with

11205-504: The cooperative gaming experience, creating a space where players can come together, strategize, and share the joys of gaming in an interactive and immersive way. Personal computer A personal computer , often referred to as a PC , is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as word processing , internet browsing , email , multimedia playback, and gaming . Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user , rather than by

11340-453: The cooperative wave-based survival game mode. After the Gears of War franchise introduced the term, Horde mode , which is four-player cooperative wave-based survival game mode, the cooperative game mode has undergone a resurgence, starting a trend which included Halo 3: ODST ' s "Firefight" mode and Call of Duty: World at War ' s "Nazi Zombies" mode. More games in the genre from

11475-476: The early 1990s, following the success of Capcom's Street Fighter II (1991) which drew gamers back towards one-on-one fighting games, while the subsequent emerging popularity of 3D video games in the late 1990s diminished the popularity of 2D-based pugilistic games in general. Another notable game from this era is Gang Wars , released in 1989. Sega's Die Hard Arcade (1996) was the first beat 'em up to use texture-mapped 3D polygon graphics , and it used

11610-736: The enemies are defeated. Each level contains many identical groups of enemies, making these games notable for their repetition. In beat 'em up games, players often fight a boss —an enemy much stronger than the other enemies—at the end of each level. Beat 'em ups often allow the player to choose between a selection of protagonists—each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and set of moves. The combat system typically tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games. Attacks can include rapid combinations of basic attacks ( combos ) as well as jumping and grappling attacks. Characters often have their own special attacks , which leads to different strategies depending on which character

11745-432: The enemy, making him unable to defend himself against successive punches. Rather than one-hit kills, the player needed to hit enemies multiple times, "beating them up," in order to defeat them. Compared to earlier side-scrollers, the environment was expanded to a scrolling arena-like space, while the combat system was more highly developed, with the player able to punch, kick, grab, charge, throw and stomp enemies. In 1987,

11880-463: The entire game together, playing on separate computers over a LAN . The game's campaign mode was designed primarily for single player , but the difficulty was tweaked to compensate for extra human players. The following three games produced by id Software ( Doom II , Quake and Quake II ) all featured co-op modes. Starting from the early 2000s, however, many FPS developers have forsaken co-op campaign play, opting to focus more purely on either

12015-479: The first single-chip microprocessor , the Intel 4004 , in 1971. The first microcomputers , based on microprocessors, were developed during the early 1970s. Widespread commercial availability of microprocessors, from the mid-1970s onwards, made computers cheap enough for small businesses and individuals to own. In what was later to be called the Mother of All Demos , SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart in 1968 gave

12150-607: The freedom of movement in Kung-Fu Master , and it successfully experimented with adding plot to its fighting action. It was also among the first martial arts games to be successfully developed for and ported across different home systems. Sega 's My Hero (1985) adopted the gameplay format of Kung-Fu Master , but changing the more traditional martial arts setting to a more contemporary urban city environment with street gangs. Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun , developed by Technōs Japan and released in 1986 in Japan, introduced

12285-419: The game's players to play through the entire single player campaign together. The D&D-sanctioned Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, released in 1998 and 2000, respectively, allowed up to six players to play through the campaign mode over a network. Atari 's Neverwinter Nights (2002) was an official and comprehensive D&D simulator, featuring even more robust game-creation tools and developing

12420-495: The gaming experience by introducing a dynamic element of cooperation. Co-op games typically adapt their single-player counterparts, enabling additional players to assume control of distinct characters within the game's universe. These characters, while visually and physically separate from the first player's avatar, must adhere to the same fundamental game rules, including managing their individual health bars and resources. This cooperative dynamic injects depth and collaboration into

12555-437: The gaming experience, fostering a sense of teamwork as players strategize and coordinate their actions to overcome challenges and achieve objectives throughout levels . In some instances, co-op games transcend mere adaptation, offering a unique and immersive cooperative system. These games may introduce entirely new cooperative maps, characters, and mechanics specifically tailored to multiplayer gameplay. This approach enriches

12690-568: The genre. Most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical, science fiction or fantasy themes. The first beat 'em up was 1984's Kung-Fu Master , which was based on Hong Kong martial arts films . 1986's Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun introduced the belt scroll format employed extensively by later games, while also popularizing contemporary urban settings, while its Western localized version Renegade further introduced underworld revenge themes. The genre then saw

12825-399: The hardware or operating system manufacturers. Many personal computer users no longer need to write their programs to make any use of a personal computer, although end-user programming is still feasible. This contrasts with mobile systems, where software is often available only through a manufacturer-supported channel, and end-user program development may be discouraged by lack of support by

12960-500: The infrastructure provided by the Internet, and the standardization of access methods of the Web browsers , established the foundation for a significant fraction of modern life, from bus time tables through unlimited distribution of free videos through to online user-edited encyclopedias. A workstation is a high-end personal computer designed for technical, mathematical, or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at

13095-519: The introduction of the IBM PC, portable computers consisting of a processor, display, disk drives and keyboard, in a suit-case style portable housing, allowed users to bring a computer home from the office or to take notes at a classroom. Examples include the Osborne 1 and Kaypro ; and the Commodore SX-64 . These machines were AC-powered and included a small CRT display screen. The form factor

13230-549: The keyboard. These displays were usually small, with 8 to 16 lines of text, sometimes only 40 columns line length. However, these machines could operate for extended times on disposable or rechargeable batteries. Although they did not usually include internal disk drives, this form factor often included a modem for telephone communication and often had provisions for external cassette or disk storage. Later, clamshell format laptop computers with similar small plan dimensions were also called notebooks . A desktop replacement computer

13365-444: The late 1990s, the genre lost popularity with the emergence of 3D-polygon technology. In the 2000s, a sub-genre of 3D hack-and-slash games emerged (also known as "character action games"), adapting the beat 'em up formula to utilize large-scale 3D environments, with popular franchises including God Hand , Devil May Cry , Dynasty Warriors , God of War and Bayonetta . Since the 2010s, traditional 2D beat 'em ups have seen

13500-415: The main character had acquired his party members. Secret of Mana's co-op gameplay was considered innovative in its time, as it allowed the second or third players to drop in and out of the game at any time. This function influenced future titles, such as Dungeon Siege III . Final Fantasy VI (1994) offered a form of alternating co-op play for its battles, with the second player taking control of half of

13635-684: The main screen into either two or four sub-regions so that 2–4 players can roam freely within the game world. Many first-person and third-person shooter games use this technique when played in multiplayer co-op mode, such as the console versions of games in the Rainbow Six series , the Halo series or the fifth installment of the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: World at War . Split screen modes have also been combined with 3D Television technology by hobbyists, using alternate-frame sequencing for

13770-458: The manufacturer. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft operating systems (first with MS-DOS and then with Windows ) and Intel hardware – collectively called Wintel – have dominated the personal computer market, and today the term PC normally refers to the ubiquitous Wintel platform. Alternatives to Windows occupy a minority share of the market; these include the Mac platform from Apple (running

13905-455: The monitor, and configured similarly to laptops. A nettop computer was introduced by Intel in February 2008, characterized by low cost and lean functionality. These were intended to be used with an Internet connection to run Web browsers and Internet applications. A Home theater PC (HTPC) combines the functions of a personal computer and a digital video recorder . It is connected to

14040-418: The other player in others. Two-player games of Nintendo's Mario Bros. could be played as competitively or cooperatively. Co-operative games became particularly popular among operators of coin-op video games as they had the potential to net double the revenue per game. Drop-in/drop-out co-op was pioneered by Gauntlet (1985) which came in models of two and four players for different locations. This trend

14175-581: The overall gaming experience, catering to players who seek a more robust and engaging cooperative adventure. Furthermore, co-op games provide a range of options for players to engage with one another. Split-screen modes are a common feature, allowing players to share a single screen while independently controlling their characters. This setup enhances the social aspect of cooperative gaming, enabling more effective communication and strategic coordination. Additionally, players can choose from various display options to match their preferences, whether it's playing on

14310-458: The player characters are far apart, but combine into one full-screen image when player characters are close enough together. The 2005 video game The Warriors is considered notable for attempting this in a 3D third-person perspective format. A common concept in cooperative games is the sharing of resources between players. For example, two players managing one team in a real-time strategy game, such as StarCraft , will often have to draw off

14445-676: The player selects. The control system is usually simple to learn, often comprising just two attack buttons. These buttons can be combined to pull off combos , as well as jumping and grappling attacks. Since the release of Double Dragon , many beat 'em ups have allowed two players to play the game cooperatively —a central aspect to the appeal of these games. Beat 'em ups are more likely to feature cooperative play than other game genres. The beat 'em up or brawler genre includes several sub-genres: Beat 'em up games have origins in martial arts films , particularly Bruce Lee 's Hong Kong martial arts films . Lee's Game of Death (1972) inspired

14580-411: The player to roam around larger 3D environments, though they retain the same simple-to-learn gameplay and control systems. Throughout the level, players may acquire weapons that they can use as well as power-ups that replenish the player's health . As players walk through the level, they are stopped by groups of enemies who must be defeated before they're able to continue. The level ends when all

14715-519: The player's character could be upgraded, using money stolen from defeated enemies. The Streets of Rage series was launched in the early 1990s and borrowed heavily from Final Fight . Streets of Rage 2 (1992) for Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis was one of the first console games to match the acclaim of arcade beat 'em ups. Its level design was praised for taking traditional beat 'em up settings and stringing them together in novel ways, and its success led to it being ported to arcades. The beat 'em up

14850-503: The primary defining characteristic of netbooks was the lack of an optical disc drive, smaller size, and lower performance than full-size laptops. By mid-2009 netbooks had been offered to users "free of charge", with an extended service contract purchase of a cellular data plan. Ultrabooks and Chromebooks have since filled the gap left by Netbooks. Unlike the generic Netbook name, Ultrabook and Chromebook are technically both specifications by Intel and Google respectively. A tablet uses

14985-478: The principled combat sport of other martial arts games. Renegade set the standard for future beat 'em up games as it introduced the ability to move both horizontally and vertically. It also introduced the use of combo attacks; in contrast to earlier games, the opponents in Renegade and Double Dragon could take much more punishment, requiring a succession of punches, with the first hit temporarily immobilizing

15120-496: The protagonist's special powers) to "reinvigorate" its traditional 2D scrolling formula. Releases such as God Hand in 2006 and MadWorld in 2009 were seen as parodies of violence in popular culture, earning both games praise for not taking themselves as seriously as early beat 'em up games. Classic beat 'em ups have been re-released on services such as the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade ; critics reaffirmed

15255-426: The purpose of presenting each of two couch co-op players with their own 2D full-screen image on the same display, rather than for stereoscopy. Due to the complexity involved in correcting the resulting aspect ratios, and that in obtaining 3D glasses which allowed both lenses to synchronize to the same eye-frame, this remained the purview of enthusiasts until 2011, when Sony Computer Entertainment America began to market

15390-426: The release of Double Dragon , designed as Technōs Japan 's spiritual successor to Kunio-kun ( Renegade ), ushered in a "golden age" for the beat 'em up genre that took it to new heights with its detailed set of martial arts attacks and its outstanding two-player cooperative gameplay . It also had a continuous side-scrolling world, in contrast to the bounded scrolling arenas of Kunio-kun , giving Double Dragon

15525-498: The required hardware and software needed to add television programming to the PC, or can be assembled from components. Keyboard computers are computers inside of keyboards, generally still designed to be connected to an external computer monitor or television . Examples include the Atari ST , Amstrad CPC , BBC Micro , Commodore 64 , MSX , Raspberry Pi 400 , and the ZX Spectrum . The potential utility of portable computers

15660-622: The same display screen have come to be known as "couch co-op", "local co-op" or "single-player co-op" games. Cooperative games in which players each use their own display system are known as "online co-op", "network co-op" or "multiplayer co-op" games due to the majority of such systems utilizing telecommunications networks to synchronize game state among the players. Games have also been brought to market in which both modes can be combined—accommodating more than one display with each display accommodating one or more players. While there are no practical technical limits to how many players can be involved in

15795-487: The same pool of resources to build and upgrade their units and buildings. The sharing of resources, however, can be as simple as the system used in the Contra games (and other shoot-'em-up/beat-'em-up games) where a player who is out of spare lives could "steal" a life from the other player so both players could continue to play at the same time. The second player's role is pivotal in co-op video games, fundamentally altering

15930-404: The same screen and must coordinate their actions, particularly with regard to the scrolling. If the scrolling is limited to a forward direction only, players can potentially kill each other. For example, one player lagging behind could cause problems for his partner, as the screen will not scroll onward. If a player was attempting to complete a jump over a chasm, the "safe" surface on the far side of

16065-525: The simple combo attacks in Renegade and Double Dragon , the combo attacks in Final Fight were much more dynamic, and the sprites were much larger. Acclaimed as the best game in the genre, Final Fight spawned two home sequels and was later ported to other systems. Golden Axe was acclaimed for its visceral hack and slash action and cooperative mode and was influential through its selection of multiple protagonists with distinct fighting styles. It

16200-598: The subtle differences between the titles. While critics saw Dynasty Warriors 2 as innovative and technically impressive, they held a mixed opinion of later titles. These later games received praise for simple, enjoyable gameplay but were simultaneously derided as overly simplistic and repetitive. On the urban-themed side of the genre was the Yakuza series (2005 debut), which combined elaborate crime thriller plots and detailed interactive environments with street brawling action. Rockstar Games ' The Warriors (based on

16335-418: The systems hardware components such as the motherboard , processor chip and other internal operating parts. Desktop computers have an external monitor with a display screen and an external keyboard, which are plugged into ports on the back of the computer case. Desktop computers are popular for home and business computing applications as they leave space on the desk for multiple monitors . A gaming computer

16470-458: The variety seen before in multiple characters now being present in the one and only main character. Giving the player multiple weapons and movesets based on a variety of martial arts and different weapons. These games are also known as "character action" games, which represent an evolution of traditional arcade action games. The subgenre was largely defined by Hideki Kamiya , creator of Devil May Cry and Bayonetta . A best-selling Japanese series

16605-451: Was Data East 's fighting game Karate Champ (1984) which popularized martial arts themed games. Kung-Fu Master (known as Spartan X in Japan), designed by Takashi Nishiyama and released by Irem in 1984, laid the foundations for side-scrolling beat 'em ups. It simplified the combat system of Karate Champ , while adding numerous enemies along a side-scrolling playfield. The game

16740-497: Was a tennis doubles version of their hit arcade game Pong (1972). Co-op play was later featured in another Atari coin-op, Fire Truck (1978). Several early 1980s arcade coin-op games allowed for co-op play. Wizard of Wor offered solo, competitive two-player, or cooperative two-player gaming while Williams Electronics' Joust encouraged players to alternatively compete and cooperate by awarding bonus points for co-op play in some rounds and awarding bonuses for attacking

16875-437: Was also a popular genre for video games based on television series and movies, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman Returns a surprise success, and encouraged many more beat 'em up games based on the characters . Taito 's arcade game Riding Fight (1992) combined beat 'em up gameplay with a pseudo-3D chase view and hoverboard racing gameplay . The "golden age" of the genre eventually came to an end during

17010-507: Was also released to critical acclaim and has renewed interested in both the series and genre. Dragon's Crown sold over a million copies by 2017, while Streets of Rage 4 has sold over 2.5 million copies as of April 2021 . Also other well known classic franchises gained new titles such as Battletoads (2020) and The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors (2019) and River City Girls (2019). The beat 'em up genre has also seen

17145-508: Was apparent early on. Alan Kay described the Dynabook in 1972, but no hardware was developed. The Xerox NoteTaker was produced in a very small experimental batch around 1978. In 1975, the IBM 5100 could be fit into a transport case, making it a portable computer, but it weighed about 50 pounds. Such early portable computers were termed luggables by journalists owing to their heft. Before

17280-652: Was back-ordered and not available until later that year. Three months later (April), the Apple II (usually referred to as the Apple) was announced with the first units being shipped 10 June 1977, and the TRS-80 from Tandy Corporation / Tandy Radio Shack following in August 1977, which sold over 100,000 units during its lifetime. Together, especially in the North American market, these 3 machines were referred to as

17415-435: Was based on two Hong Kong martial arts films: Jackie Chan 's Wheels on Meals (1984), known as Spartan X in Japan (where the game was a tie-in), and Bruce Lee's Game of Death , the latter inspiring the five end-of-level boss fights and the plot structure, variations of which were used in subsequent scrolling beat 'em ups. Nishiyama, who had previously created the side-scrolling shooter Moon Patrol (1982), combined

17550-420: Was followed by the likes of Quartet (1986), Ikari Warriors (1986), and Rampage (1986) which became high-earners for American operators. Beat 'em up games, exemplified by Double Dragon (1987), were among the most successful games of the late 1980s. Their co-operative nature often included mechanics such as friendly fire, providing more opportunities for dynamic play. The feature became expected in

17685-401: Was intended to allow these systems to be taken on board an airplane as carry-on baggage, though their high power demand meant that they could not be used in flight. The integrated CRT display made for a relatively heavy package, but these machines were more portable than their contemporary desktop equals. Some models had standard or optional connections to drive an external video monitor, allowing

17820-498: Was met with a mixed reception upon release. The same year, Italian studio NAPS team released Gekido: Urban Fighters for the PlayStation console, which uses a fast-paced beat 'em up system, with many bosses and a colorful design in terms of graphics. In the early 2000s, game reviewers started to pronounce that the genre had died off. By 2002, there were virtually no new beat 'em ups being released in arcades. After 2000,

17955-673: Was more successful in its NES incarnation than it was in the arcades in the North American market. Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis and the Metal Slug series for the Neo Geo were also well-received titles. Electronic Arts has produced key co-op sports games , including the original NHL Hockey (1991) and Madden NFL (1990) installments on the Sega Genesis. These games allowed two players or more to play against

18090-453: Was the 1973 Xerox Alto , developed at Xerox 's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) . It had a graphical user interface ( GUI ) which later served as inspiration for Apple's Macintosh , and Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Alto was a demonstration project, not commercialized, as the parts were too expensive to be affordable. Also in 1973 Hewlett Packard introduced fully BASIC programmable microcomputers that fit entirely on top of

18225-500: Was the first to emulate APL/1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". This seminal, single user portable computer now resides in the Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C.. Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975 with

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