U.S. National Video Game Team
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 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Twin Galaxies. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2015. |
The U.S. National Video Game Team was founded on July 25, 1983 in Ottumwa, Iowa, USA by Walter Day and the [Twin Galaxies]Intergalactic Scoreboard.
In 1986, the USNVGT continued on without Day with Donn Nauert [1] as team captain. Eager to increase their reach, the Team purchased Twin Galaxies from Day for $1,500 [2] and began to extend their reach to include publishing the Top Score Newsletter and Electronic Game Player Magazine, which became Electronic Gaming Monthly a short time later. [2] Nauert appeared in television commercials for the Atari 7800 [3] and served as the referee for Incredible Sunday on That's Incredible!, a three-game competition on the Nintendo Entertainment System that served as a precursor to the Nintendo World Championships 1990. [1] The USNVGT also endorsed various video game products with a Player's Seal of Approval from 1988-1989.
On August 7, 2015, the U.S. National Video Game Team concept was rebooted by gaming advocate Patrick Scott Patterson and founding member Tim McVey. On September 27, 2015 the two announced the reboot at the film premiere of Man VS Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler in Austin, TX, also announcing multi-Guinness World Record gamer Carrie Swidecki as their first member. [4]
Members
Walter Day was the Team Captain and the first five members chosen by Twin Galaxies for the team were:
- Billy Mitchell, Hollywood, Florida (Had five listings in Guinness that year, a record)
- Steve Harris, Gladstone, Missouri (Later founded Electronic Gaming Monthly [EGM])
- Jay Kim, Miami, Florida
- Ben Gold, Dallas, Texas (Won history's first Video Game World Championship, televised by ABC's That's Incredible)
- Tim McVey, Ottumwa, Iowa (Achieved history's first Billion-Point-Score on a video game.)
Additional members accepted in 1983:
- Tom Asaki, Bozeman, Montana
- Tim Collum, Boyd, Texas
- Eric Ginner, Mountain View, California
- Todd Walker, Milpitas, California
- Mark Bersabe, San Jose, California
- Jeff Peters, Etiwanda, California [2]
Additional members accepted in 1984:
- Mark Hoff, Ottumwa, Iowa
- Leo Daniels, Wilmington, North Carolina
- Chris Emery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Additional members accepted in 1985:
- Perry Rodgers, Seattle, Washington
- Donn Nauert, Austin, Texas [3]
- Dwayne Richard, Alberta, Canada
Additional members accepted in 1986:
- Gary Hatt, Ontario, California
- Jim Allee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Brent Walker, Austin, Texas
- Todd Rogers, Bridgeview, Illinois (First paid pro video game player)
- Scott Rogers, Bridgeview, Illinois
- Eric Gater, Oskaloosa, Iowa
Additional members accepted in 1994:
- Terry "Trickman" Minnich, Lombard, Illinois
- Ken "Sushi-X" Williams, Lombard, Illinois
Additional members accepted in 2005:
- David Nelson, Laconia, New Hampshire
New members accepted in 2015 reboot
- Carrie Swidecki, Bakersfield, California
References
- ^ a b Patterson, Patrick Scott (June 25, 2015). "ICONS: Donn Nauert is one of the fathers of eSports competition". G4@Syfygames. NBCUniversal. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ a b c Patterson, Patrick Scott (May 8, 2015). "ICONS: Jeff Peters has left his mark on multiple aspects of gaming culture - Part 2". G4@Syfygames. NBCUniversal. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
- ^ a b Owen Good (13 Apr 2012), There was Once a U.S. National Video Game Team, and This Guy Was Its Captain, Kotaku, retrieved 7 Aug 2013
- ^ PatrickScottPatterson.com. "U.S. National Video Game Team is rebooted for the 21st Century | PRLog". www.prlog.org. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
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