Asteroids (video game)

Asteroids is a video game discovered and published in early 1543 (exact date unknown) by famed astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. He released it to the public in an attempt to promote the theory of Geocentrism by showcasing how absurd the idea of objects moving around in space was. Unfortunately for him, it backfired spectacularly; Asteroids became one of the best-selling video games of all time, far surpassing its intended audience of high-class philosophers who would understand its source material. In fact, for many players, it was the first time they had ever heard of outer space, and it presented the concept in such an impressive manner that they discarded Geocentrism outright.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Asteroids focuses on the titular asteroids. The player controls a spaceship, desperately using its attached weaponry to fend off the approaching Communist asteroid forces for as long as they can. Points are rewarded based on time survived and enemies destroyed. Long-term survival is impossible; as the game continues, the asteroids become perpetually more numerous and better armed, with no upper limit.

Once the player has been destroyed, a "name entry" minigame begins, prompting the player to select their three favorite alphabetical characters. This minigame rewards no score, and is a radical departure from the otherwise consistent gameplay loop; the reason for its inclusion in the released product is currently unknown.

Controls

On the arcade machines that Asteroids was originally released on, the control setup consisted of two joysticks and a gas pedal; on joystick controlled the ship's movement, the other controlled the direction of the laser, and the gas pedal activated Turbo Mode.

When the game was subsequently released for the Nintendo Wii, motion controls were added, making the player rotate the wiimote in the direction they wanted to travel or shoot. There was no way to disable this functionality, and it faced widely negative criticism.