Retro Title Screens: Where did they come from?

[agentnnc]

I've always wondered why we have to press start after starting a video game. You would think that you know what game you're playing if you put it in (and know the menus one the latest consoles even tell you what they are). So why is it that we have title screens and where did they come from?

 

[James.]

Wow.
I googled "Where did title screens come from" and this was the number 1 result...

I'd like to know too

 

[FrozenIpaq]

Just a good way of showing you what game you are playing before you engage in it and to hammer into that mind of yours what game you are playing

 

[El Diablo]

To advertise their companies probably, not everyone looks at the 3 or 4 main companies on the back of the box when they buy a game but if they make you sit through some short intros before you play the game you have no choice.

That's my opinion anyway.

 

[FrozenIpaq]

To advertise their companies probably, not everyone looks at the 3 or 4 main companies on the back of the box when they buy a game but if they make you sit through some short intros before you play the game you have no choice.

That's my opinion anyway.

Read into it more, he's not talking about the opening credits but rather the title screen where it displays the game's name and prompts you to press a button to continue. Don't worry, I read it the same way you did at first

 

[El Diablo]

Well in that case the only answer must be to make you do more work to play your game .

 

[Zero]

I always thought of it as a prompt to see if you're ready to play, like if you stepped away while the console started up.

 

[Ahadiel]

I don't understand why they have the "press any key to start" before the main menu screen in Mass Effect 2. It's already going to stop at the menu...

 

[Cryox]

I always thought of it as a prompt to see if you're ready to play, like if you stepped away while the console started up.

Yeah, that's the way I see these things as. They also, if left alone for so long, usually fade to a trailer of the game.

Another thing I see those start up screens as being is another canvas for the game's artists to add more graphics etc

 

[Scorned]

You could say the same thing with movies at a movie theatre or the title page of a novel, It's just an introduction to whatever you're playing/watching/reading.

 

[Abe Froeman]

If I had to guess, it's a carry over from when the opening cinematic to the story was shown before actually starting to play. I used to always watch the intro movies before starting a game, but now with all of the media and trailers released prior to playing, I don't need to.

 

[Riorio99]

I love the one for inFamous, where pressing start triggers the event at the start of the game.

I always assumed that the title screen was just a carry over from the attract mode on Arcade Games.

 

[Moose]

Perhaps when games were pretty simple and a menu wasn't necessary the title screen was the only thing to prevent the game starting straight away on loading, effectively being the menu? Just a guess.

EDIT: Wikipedia has a vague article on Title Screens.

 

[agentnnc]

I love the one for inFamous, where pressing start triggers the event at the start of the game.

I always assumed that the title screen was just a carry over from the attract mode on Arcade Games.

I think you may be right about the arcades. It makes sense that it would carry over from the screen that said "Insert X coins to start". I remember the super mario 64 title screen where you could stretch mario's face in various amusing ways. That was something original.