Only Connect Video Games [4] Trivia Quiz

Answer: They're all palindromic

Palindromes are, of course, words that spelled the same both forwards and backwards.

The Tuni Nut is the mystical artefact of Symmetry City in "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages" (2001). As its palindromic name suggests, it helps maintain the city's symmetry. Link encounters the ruined nut in the present and seeks to fix it by travelling to the past (when it was just Symmetry Village) and getting the nut repaired before the village is ruined.

"Remember Me" (2013) and the episodic "Life is Strange" (2015) are creations of the French developer Dontnod Entertainment.

The original PlayStation 3 controller was the SIXAXIS, which traded the rumble features of the DualShock 2 for motion sensors and accelerometers. It didn't take long for Sony to realise that people like a rumbling controller too, so the SIXAXIS was phased out in favour of the DualShock 3, a noticeably heaver and sturdier controller than its short-lived predecessor.

The cute little Eevee is fairly well known in the world of Pokemon, capable of evolving into a variety of other Pokemon depending on the conditions to which the Eevee is subjected (for instance, Vaporeon is obtained by exposing Eevee to a Water Stone; Leafeon is obtained by levelling up Eevee whilst near a Moss Rock).

Answer: They're all songs at the end of video games

What better way to cap off a video game than a song that plays over the end credits?

"I Was Born for This" plays at the end of "Journey" (2012), and was composed by Grammy Award-nominated Austin Wintory.

"Hope for the Future" plays over the credits of "Destiny" (2014), and was written by none other than Sir Paul McCartney (yes, THAT Paul McCartney).

"Want You Gone" is the ending theme of "Portal 2" (2011), written by Jonathan Coulton and performed by GLaDOS voice actor Ellen McLain.

"Still Alive" is the final track in "Mirror's Edge" (2008), with lyrics written and performed by Lisa Miskovsky. Coincidentally, "Still Alive" is also the name of the ending theme to "Portal" (2007), also by Jonathan Coulton.

Answer: They're all British

Creative Assembly, based in Horsham, West Sussex, is best known for the "Total War" series and for the surprise hit "Alien: Isolation" (2014).

Rockstar North, found in Edinburgh, is perhaps most famous (or infamous) for being the studio responsible for the hugely-popular "Grand Theft Auto" series.

Folks who've played the "LittleBigPlanet" series will recognise the Media Molecule as the creative talent behind it, based in Guildford, Surrey.

Arguably the best British developers of the '90s and early '00s, the team at Rare in Twycross, Leicestershire, can lay claim to the "Donkey Kong Country" series, the "Banjo-Kazooie" games, the "Perfect Dark" series, "Goldeneye 007" and many more.

Answer: Cavalier

The "Batman: Arkham" series is a prime example of how to get the best out of a licensed IP. London-based developer Rocksteady Studios can lay claim to three of these games: "Arkham Asylum" (2009), "Arkham City" (2011) and "Arkham Knight" (2015), while WB Montreal took on "Arkham Origins" (2013), a prequel game set before Rocksteady's.

Answer: 4: C C M

It is, of course, the first four courses in "Super Mario 64" (1997). After wandering through the entrance hall of Peach's Castle, you'll eventually come across the game's first course, Bob-Omb Battlefield. Heading deeper into the castle will see you play through Whomp's Fortress, Jolly Roger Bay and Cool Cool Mountain.

There are fifteen courses in total in "Super Mario 64", each with a variety of stars to obtain, as well as a smattering of Bowser boss levels and hidden stages to find.

Answer: 2: Liberty

Narrative heavy but exquisite action/stealth series "Metal Gear Solid" is behind each of these games. In reverse order of numbering, there is "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" (2015) (interestingly the first game in the series to use Roman numeral numbering in the title), "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" (2008), "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" (2004) and "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" (2001). Up until his widely-publicised departure from Konami in 2015, Hideo Kojima guided the series as its creator, and had a hand in pretty much every game (including being the director, writer, producer and designer of all the main series games).

Answer: Pt

If you've played anything from the PlayStation 3 onwards, you'll recognise the familiar "ding" when you earn a trophy. Yes, these are the varieties (or colours) of trophies in order of rarity: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. By completing various predetermined tasks, you can earn a trophy, based on its relative difficulty to obtain. That is to say, bronze trophies are generally the easiest to get, while gold trophies are more difficult or require you to be in it for the long haul. Platinum trophies can only be obtained once all other trophies for that game have been unlocked.

Answer: End

Take Indiana Jones and inject a bit of Lara Croft and you've got the charming treasure hunter Nathan Drake, star of the "Uncharted" series.

"Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" (2007) sees Nate on the hunt for El Dorado, following in the footsteps of his namesake, Sir Francis Drake.

"Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" (2009), considered to be the gold standard of video game sequels, takes Nate and company to the Himalayas in search of the lost city of Shambhala.

"Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" (2011) trades the snowy landscapes of the previous game for the arid emptiness of the Rub' al Khali as Nate goes in search of the fabled Iram of the Pillars.

"Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" (2016) brings an end to Nate's story as he seeks the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Henry Avery in perhaps his most dangerous and high-stakes adventure.

Answer: Deus Ex

FPS stealth-em-up series "Deus Ex" has had a number of entries over the years since its inception in 2000.

"Deus Ex: Invisible War" (2003) follows the events of the previous game and places you in control of a new protagonist, Alex D, after a terrorist attack hits Chicago and various organisations seek to be the ones to rebuild the society and control it.

"Deus Ex: Human Revolution" (2011) takes place before the original "Deus Ex" as Adam Jensen, a cybernetically-augmented human, tracks down those responsible for nearly killing him whilst simultaneously dealing with the prejudice against augmented humans in some parts of society.

"Deus Ex: The Fall" (2013) is a mobile game (and later released for PC too) and has much in common with "Human Revolution" as Ben Saxon, a human who has also been augmented, begins to experience 'rejection' as his organic and augmented parts fail to work together. Fortunately, a drug called Neuropozyne helps stave off rejection. Unfortunately, the world is running low on it.

"Deus Ex: Mankind Divided" (2016) sees a severe divide between ordinary humans and augmented humans, as many begin to act violently as a result of Illuminati intervention during every augmentation procedure. Adam Jensen returns from "Human Revolution" and travels across the world to uncover the Illuminati's sinister machinations.

Answer: Maxis

The people lacking vowels in this question are Gabe Newell of Valve, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Markus Persson of Mojang and Will Wright of Maxis.

Newell co-founded Valve in 1996, having been a programmer at Microsoft for many years and working on some of the earliest version of the Windows operating system. Newell has been somewhat vocal about his aversion to console game development, leading him to be a poster-boy of sorts for PC gaming.

Miyamoto is quite possibly one of the titans of video gaming and is personally responsible for starting some of the most popular and successful series in history. Having joined Nintendo in 1977, he's the man behind "Super Mario", "The Legend of Zelda" and "Star Fox", amongst many others.

Persson, known best by his moniker Notch, is the creator of the "Minecraft" phenomenon and co-founder of what was then Mojang Specifications. He left Mojang in 2014 after it was acquired by Microsoft.

Will Wright is best known as the design talent behind "The Sims" (2000), though he also worked on several "Sim" titles prior to this big break, including "SimCity" (1989) and "SimCity 2000" (1993).