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Author Topic: The Legend of the Blue and Red Players
Nion
We Three Blings


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One thing that's stuck out in my mind for a long time is the unspoken rule in videogaming:

Player 1 is Blue.

Player 2 is Red.

What is the origins behind this? Why is it so fervently stuck to in the gaming industry?

Also, are there set colors for players 3 and 4? While rare, I know there were games that had up to four players. I think they did have specific colors as well, but I may be misremembering.

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Jason Threadslayer
Let There Be PCs on Earth


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Probably because blue and red were easily discernable on a B&W TV.

Combat uses red for player 1 and blue for player 2.

Gauntlet uses red for player 1, blue for player 2, yellow for player 3 and green for player 4.

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GenYus
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What did Warlords use? IMS, that was one of the first Atari games to have more that 2 players.

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Draos
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For some reason I am thinking it was green and yellow for 3 and 4. Or at least that is what I think I remember in the atari combat game.
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BeachLife
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I think it's usually yellow then green, in that order. Green is last since it doesn't always contrast well with blue.

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Jason Threadslayer
Let There Be PCs on Earth


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quote:
Originally posted by GenYus:
What did Warlords use? IMS, that was one of the first Atari games to have more that 2 players.
The Atari 2600 version uses yellow, cyan, green, and purple.

The arcade version uses green, magenta, purple, and a weird shade of blue.

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Jason Threadslayer
Let There Be PCs on Earth


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River Raid uses yellow for player 1 and black for player 2.

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eternalsaturn
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Don't forget the classic example - Super Mario Bros. uses red for player 1 and green for player 2. [Smile]

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vtsquire
I Saw Three Shipments


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of course, we can go way back to games like stratego.
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Ganzfeld
Let There Be PCs on Earth


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Hmm, Stratego first used red and blue pieces in the French game L'attaque, and the blue and red colors would fit the Napoleonic theme. I wonder if there're other reasons for red and blue.

I'll add another "classic" with red and blue: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.
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mommyrex
Deck the Malls


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Another classic: the original Battleship. (Apparently the current version is battleship-gray for both players.)

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