When was the last time you had a trivia night?

The word “trivia” goes a very long way, like, waaaaay back in the time of the ancient Romans. The modern trivia games we know now were born in the middle of the 1960s, when Ed Goodgold, the father of Trivia, and publicist Dan Carlinsky started organizing the first “trivia contests”.

Trivia games then took off from just being university parlor games to becoming staple entertainment for the masses. Many media networks even adapted the game into their programs, with the well-known TV show Trivial Pursuit just being one of the more prominent examples.

But with the rise of the internet and the recent pandemic, people would think that trivia games and quizzes would have gone to the ground. Not at all, as Quizwise’s creator would attest to with their daily player count in our latest podcast episode!

Five game insights we think will pique your interest!

Mario trivia time! Did you know that Mario’s first appearance wasn’t actually in Super Mario Brothers? His first actual iteration was in the first Donkey Kong! And he wasn’t named Mario back then, his name was “Jumpman”.

Atari is well-known for many firsts, with Pong being one of their most popular games. But did you know that they also created the first racing video game? The name of that game was Space Race, and it was created in 1973, Atari’s second game right after Pong.

Mentioning trivia this much must’ve stirred something in your memories and has you wanting to play a trivia game with your friends and family. If Quizwise and its custom quiz feature isn’t enough for you, then we have something a lot more classy and nostalgic that might suit your needs.

All gamers know the brand Playstation; it’s one of Sony’s crowning achievements after all. But we’ve gotten so used to Sony as this major corporation that makes great tech and video games that we’ve forgotten the origin of their now household name.

The name was coined by combining two words; “sonus” and “sonny”. The word “sonus” in Latin means “noise” or “sound”, while “sonny” is… well, that means little boy or young boy. No, really. That sonny.

Pub trivia nights and the like are still alive and thriving. But with the age of information that we live in now, trivia gatherings are not like what they used to be. While trivia games and shows are not as they were before, they’ve evolved to continue being part of our lives.

General knowledge trivia game websites like Sporcle and Quizwise exist, and niche trivia sites are heavily used among hardcore fan communities, and all of them now have modern features that make them appealing even in this new age. 

After all, even if it’s obscure historical stuff, when it gets gamified, it becomes interesting and fun.

And to that, we share a quote from Dane Cook, an American stand-up comedian and actor:

“The little boy inside of all us men always loves something video game related.”

Weekend’s up! Treat yourself to a nice, cold beverage, crispy fries and a comfy seat then fire up one of our quick and easy games! Since you’re going to be drinking something nice, give it a nice, zesty undertone with our Squeezy.

And if you want to learn more about what we’re up to at Hey, Good Game, you can find out more right here.

That’s all for this week. See you next Friday!

-The Hey, Good Game Team