I'll Be Waiting Trivia Quiz

Answer: Princess Peach

Princess Peach is the love interest of one of Nintendo's most recognizable characters- Mario. She is the typical fictional "damsel in distress" type character, often being captured by Bowser- the giant turtle in question. However, she broke this mould in "Super Princess Peach", where she was the protagonist and had to save Mario, not the other way around! She made her first appearance in 1985 with "Super Mario Bros.".

The "Mario" franchise technically began in 1981 with the arcade game "Donkey Kong", in which Mario appeared under the name of "Jumpman". The first game in which Mario was the main character, however, was in 1983 with the arcade game "Mario Bros.". It has since become the best-selling game franchise in history, and Mario has become the mascot for Nintendo.

The other options are also Nintendo females, Princess Daisy and Rosalina from the "Mario" universe and Samus Aran from "Metroid".

Answer: Half-Life 2

"Half-Life 2" is set about twenty years after the events of the original, "Half-Life". It is a first-person shooter and is seen from the viewpoint of the protagonist Gordon Freeman, not featuring any cut scenes and instead the plot moves along from descriptions given by other characters. The plot is set in an Earth which has fallen to the power of the Combine, an empire which harvests humans. The "Black Mesa Incident" in the question refers to the original game, where alien life forms flooded the research facility of Black Mesa.

Alyx Vance assists Gordon Freeman in his resistance against the Combine. While it is not explicitly stated, it is hinted that there might be something more than just friendship going on between them.

"Half-Life 2" received overwhelmingly positive feedback from critics, being on of "Metacritic"'s highest ranking games of all time with an aggregative score of 96/100. It was developed on Valve's Source engine and was first released in 2004. It is playable on Steam and on the PC, PS3, XBox 360 (as part of Valve's "Orange Box" bundle package) and Mac. It has received masses of awards, including being voted by readers of "The Guardian" as the best game of the decade, winning the award for Overall Game of the Year by IGN and "Best Game" at the Game Developers Choice Awards and ranking at #5 on "Game Informer"'s list of the "The Top 200 Games of All Time" in 2009.

The other games were also developed on Valve's Source engine.

Answer: Zelda

Princess Zelda is the titular character of the "Legend of Zelda" series, although she is not the main protagonist, that title belonging to Link (whom this letter was addressed to). She is the typical "damsel in distress" type character, typically captured by Ganon, the primary antagonist of most of the games, so he can rule over Hyrule. Throughout the games her appearance and age has varied a lot. She has also appeared as some "alter egos", including her disguise as Sheik in "Ocarina of Time".

The first installment in the fantasy RPG franchise was "The Legend of Zelda" in 1986 for the NES. It is one of the most successful franchises ever by sales. It was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, who also created franchises such as "Mario", "Donkey Kong", "Star Fox" and "Pikmin", and is published and developed by Nintendo.

Answer: Prince of Persia

"Prince of Persia" is an action platform series which began in 1989 with "Prince of Persia". They are set in ancient Persia, where the gamer controls the prince in order to save something (this "something" varies between games). To do so, he uses stealth and an impressive acrobatic ability. They have been so successful that they have even spawned a 2010 motion picture, graphic novels and comic books and even a series of "Prince of Persia" Lego sets.

Princess Farah, the princess of India, appeared in "The Sands of Time", where she was the companion and love interest of the prince. The two are brought together through fate to capture the titular Sands of Time and return it to the Hourglass to which they belonged. While they don't trust each other and first, they gradually grow closer and closer together and fall in love. However tragedy strikes as it so often does in the world of video games. (Spoilers!) At the Tower of Dawn, Princess Farah falls to her death. The Prince rewinds time in order to rescue her, but in the process he accidentally makes her forget she ever loved him, as well as erasing her memory of the event. However, later she is captured by the main antagonist Vizier, and the Prince rescues her, and the feeling returns later on.

The strange word "Kakolookiyam" from the letter was a secret word which was a password to a door, and was also used by the Prince to convince Farah of the truth in his tale after he erased her memory.

The other games are also popular platform games (games which involve jumping about on platforms, for example roofs, often over obstacles).

Answer: 10 (X)

Millions worldwide have gushed over the tragic romance between the two characters of Yuna and Tidus, who appear in the tenth installment in the popular fantasy RPG franchise "Final Fantasy", which was released in 2001. The two meet when they join together (with others) to defeat the main antagonist Sin, and they grow deeper in love as the game progresses. However, (spoiler!) it is revealed later that Tidus isn't "real" exactly and is formed by the dreams of a group of deceased people, which means if Sin is defeated, Tidus disappears. Ultimately, Sin IS defeated and Tidus DOES disappear forever, causing many players to reach for the tissue box.

The first of the "Final Fantasy" series was released in 1987 and was just that- a last ditch effort made by creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to break in to the industry. Little did he know that the game would be so successful that many sequels would follow and that the Nintendo franchise would become one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. Each game follows the same rough structure- a group of playable characters band together to defeat one common foe. It is this formula, as well as the added elements of magic, romance and more, that has made it so popular.

The other numbers (and corresponding Roman numerals as the games generally use them) are indeed numbers of "Final Fantasy" sequels, but they were chosen at random.

Answer: Gears of War

"Gears of War" is a sci-fi third person shooter franchise released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and PC. The first title was released in 2006 and it received unanimous acclaim from critics. It won the award for Best 360 Game at IGN, Gamespy and 1UP and "Overall Game of the Year" at the 2007 Interactive Achievement Awards, amongst others. The highly anticipated sequel was released in 2008, and again received high acclaim from critics. The games take place on Sera, an Earth-like planet on the edge of collapse. The "Emergence Day" from the question was the day the "Locust Horde" conflicted a full-scale assault on the planet. Numerous other media have been released based on the series, including books and comics. In 2007, New Line Cinema announced they had acquired the rights to turn the game in to a movie.

Dominic Santiago is a tough-guy soldier from the series. He was married to Maria after he got her pregnant as a teenager and joined the army to earn a living and support his family. On Emergence Day their two children were killed, as well as Maria's parents. This event led to her developing depression and she continually denied the fact her children were dead. One day she went for a walk and never returned. (Spoiler!) She ended up dying in a terrible way and this broke the heart of Dom. He re-did his tattoo of her to become a tribute to her memory. How sweet!

The other options are also shooter game franchises.

Answer: Pac-Man

The first "Pac-Man" game was an arcade game first released in 1980 in Japan, where it rose quickly in popularity. Pac-Man is now one of the all-time classic video game characters, and one of the most recognizable with his yellow circle appearance. The goal was to collect all of the pellets inside a maze to proceed to the next level, all the while avoiding the ghosts (aka goblins or monsters), who'll make you lose a life if touched. In 1982, the world of "Pac-Man" was revisited, this time with "Ms. Pac-Man", where he was joined this time by his wife (who looks exactly the same, but with a red bow on her head and a mole). Later, Pac-Man Jnr. and Baby Pac-Man joined the team, to make a happy family of yellow blobs. Awwww!

The other characters are also video game characters (Spider-Man has had video games released about him as well as comics and movies).

Answer: James Sunderland

The first of the "Silent Hill" series was released in 1999, and the series has expanded with numerous sequels, including "Silent Hill 2" in 2001. They are a series of survival horror games developed by Konami originally for the PlayStation, but it has since had titles released for other consoles. A movie of original game was released in 2006 to mostly negative reviews.

The relationship between James and Maria is a complicated one. She is so incredibly like his deceased wife Mary that James is not even sure if she really is real or if she is just an illusion created by the town caused by his absolute want to see Mary again, despite her constant reassurance that she is in fact real. It is hinted that she may not be real, considering that she seems to have the exact same memories as Mary and that she constantly dies and comes back to life. It is not until later when it is revealed that (spoiler!) she is in fact not real and serves as a representation of James' guilt and wishes for Mary and her death.

Alan Wake is the protagonist of "Alan Wake", Point Man is the protagonist of the "F.E.A.R." series and Jake is the protagonist of "Bioshock", all other notable horror games.

Answer: Sonic

Amy was first named Rosy the Rascal and has been chasing Sonic since her first appearance in "Sonic CD" in 1993 (the first female "Sonic" character!). She's a pink anthropomorphic hedgehog who, as cute as her personality is, sometimes just doesn't get it. For example, in an effort to win Sonic's heart, she threatened to lock him in Prison Island. How romantic.

Amy appears in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series of video games, movies, television series and comics. The titular character of this series is Sonic himself, a lightning-quick blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who can roll up in a ball to attack his enemies. He is considered the mascot of SEGA. It is unclear whether he returns Amy's feelings.

Answer: Mass Effect

"Mass Effect" is a sci-fi RPG franchise in which your decisions alter the outcome of the game. In the games, the player plays as Commander Shepherd, who can be female or male and can look any way the player decides. Throughout the game the player makes their own decisions on what to say and do, and these alter how the game progresses. The first game in the franchise was released in 2007 and received critical acclaim, despite the controversy surrounding a sex scene in the game which, depending on your choices on Commander Shepherd's love interest, could take place between a human and a female alien named Liara. And, if you choose to be a female Commander Shepherd, the alien remains female. Ahem.

The "Mass Effect" series didn't stay away from controversy. In the third and final installment in the main trilogy, many fans expressed their disappointment in the ending, where their choices seemed to have little to no influence on the ending.

The other games are also popular sci-fi RPGS.