Press 'I' to Start Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ice Climbers

Appearing as far back as 1985, Popo and Nana are the blue and pink Ice Climbers whose adventures scaling mountains in spite of condors and polar bears graced the NES console back in the early days of home gaming. The Ice Climbers saw a resurgence in popularity in the 2000s not for a return to form, but for their inclusion in the popular Gamecube title "Super Smash Bros. Melee" in which players could use both of them, in tandem, to fight opponents on the battlefield. Nintendo Research & Development 1, responsible for creating the game, would go on to create the Game Boy handheld console.

Answer: Iggy

Of the seven Koopalings, Iggy starts with 'I'; the others are Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Roy, Wendy, and Larry. The Koopalings appeared in "Mario" games as far back as "Super Mario Bros. 3", but all of them took on roles as castle-owners in "Super Mario World" (SNES).

They would continue to recur as boss antagonists in a number of sidescroller and role-playing "Mario" titles, often switching up their individual tactics (and order) depending on the game. Allegedly, Iggy Koopa was named after musician Iggy Pop.

Answer: It Takes Two

Created by Hazelight Studios, "It Takes Two" released at a unique time in which cooperative or multiplayer gaming reached a peak, notably because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This game, however, set itself apart from the rest by forcing two players, each taking the role of one of young Rose's parents, to work together despite their marital strife. Trapped in the bodies of two dolls, they had to set forth, council themselves, and fight through anthropomorphized figures and loosely-veiled challenges to their relationship.

"It Takes Two" would win multiple 'Game of the Year' awards from different outlets, a testament to its stellar storytelling.

Answer: Inscryption

"Inscryption" manages to be a deck-builder while also subverting this popular genre almost entirely, forcing players to work around the game's unique trappings to, firstly, beat a figure known as 'Leshy' in a unique card game. At the same time, you can search the space around the game for hidden secrets that may change the outcome. After a short time, this game gives way to another...and another...each different from the last as you try to get to the bottom of everything.

After its release in 2021, "Inscryption" was nominated for a number of awards, succeeding both critically and amongst fans in the indie gaming sphere. Daniel Mullins, who created the game, is also known for the video game oddity "Pony Island".

Answer: Ivysaur

In a technical sense, all of these Pokemon evolve from starters that your character could technically pick up at the beginning of mainline titles in the series. Ivysaur is by far the earliest though, appearing as far back as "Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow". A grass-type Pokemon, it evolves from Bulbasaur and slots in at #2 in the Kanto Pokedex.

Infernape evolves from Chimchar in "Pokemon Diamond and Pearl", Incineroar evolves from Litten in "Pokemon Sun and Moon", and Inteleon evolves from Sobble in "Pokemon Sword and Shield".

Answer: Instance

An instanced dungeon is one that operates, generally, on its own single server or basis, creating a space that many people (or even just one person) can enter, but which closes off its contents to everyone outside that party. This means that while multiple parties can partake in the dungeon or setting, each one receives its own monsters, bosses, and items and progress is only tracked, generally for an allotted time, before it's reset. Taking "World of Warcraft", for example, dungeons and raids can be completed by a group and they are locked together, with that progress, until the raid timer resets at the end of the week.

This ensures that no one is freeloading off other groups' successes and that there's enough to go around.

Answer: Insomniac Games

Interestingly, all four of these options have had significant impacts on the gaming industry with all of them being key names behind massive titles. Irrational Games, before being dissolved by 2K Games, made "BioShock" and "System Shock"; id Software created "Doom", "Quake", and "Wolfenstein"; Infinity Ward contributed massively to the "Call of Duty" franchise.

Insomniac Games, however, was in Sony's pocket for the PlayStation from the jump, creating long-running and popular IPs like platformers in the "Spyro the Dragon" and "Ratchet & Clank" series and sci-fi shooters like "Resistance". They would go on to make the well-received "Spider-Man" games for the PlayStation 4 and 5 as well.

Answer: Impa

Impa appears throughout the complicated and interwoven storylines of the "Legend of Zelda" series but almost always in the role of caretaker, bodyguard, and confidante of Princess Zelda. Perhaps her most notable appearance was in "Ocarina of Time" when, as the Sage of Shadow, Impa and the Sheikah were able to protect the Princess from Ganondorf when he gained access to the Temple of Time. Impa returned to assist Link, as a Sage, when he defeated Bongo Bongo at the end of the Shadow Temple hidden in the Kakariko Village graveyard.

Answer: Intellivision

Releasing in late 1979, the Intellivision grew, fast, to cover about a fifth of all home console sales by the time the 1980s kicked early video gaming into full swing. Made by Mattel, it had a number of noteworthy and expected games-- everything from NBA, NFL, and Boxing to "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", "Pitfall!", and "Commando". And yes, even though major IPs would go elsewhere, it did see early home versions of classics like "Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong", "Centipede", "Dig Dug", and "Frogger".

The Intellivision was discontinued in 1990 while Nintendo and Sega dominated the home console space. Mattel wouldn't continue to make consoles, instead selling licensing for its most popular franchises out to other publishers.

Answer: Ishimura

The USG Ishimura was ill-fated from the get-go as it was designed to travel to foreign interstellar bodies and break them apart for their valuable minerals. The catch is that it also happened to unearth an alien obelisk that set forth otherworldly Necromorphs.

In the 2008 game "Dead Space", Isaac Clarke suits up to survive an outbreak of Necromorphs on the Ishimura while in its 2011 sequel, he deals with much of the same, set into overdrive, on The Sprawl. As he discovers, the Ishimura may have survived the first encounter.