.gif)
Paperboy (video game)
Encyclopedia
Paperboy is a 1984
arcade game
by Atari Games
. The players take the role of a paperboy
who delivers newspaper
s along a suburb
an street on his bicycle
. This game was innovative for its theme and novel controls.
non-subscribers' homes and must avoid hazards along the street. Subscribers are lost by missing a delivery or damaging a subscriber's house.
The game begins with a choice of difficulty levels: Easy Street, Middle Road and Hard Way. The object of the game is to perfectly deliver papers to subscribers for an entire week and avoid crashing (which counts as one of the player's lives) before the week ends. The game lasts for seven in-game days, Monday through Sunday.
Controlling the paperboy with the handlebar controls, the player attempts to deliver newspapers to subscribers. Each day begins by showing an overview of the street indicating subscribers and non-subscribers. Subscribers and non-subscribers' homes are also easy to discern in the level itself, with subscribers living in brightly colored houses, and non-subscribers living in dark houses.
The primary objectives of the game are to keep as many subscribers as possible and to stay alive. Secondary objectives include vandalizing non-subscribers' homes and hitting nuisances with newspapers.
Keeping subscribers is fairly straightforward: the player must deliver a paper to them. While the player may deliver more than one paper to each customer, they have to avoid accidentally damaging their homes, such as by throwing a paper through a window. Delivering a newspaper directly into the customer's newspaper box (or mailbox, as the voiceover calls it) earns bonus points. Accidentally damaging a customer's home or failing to deliver a paper causes the customer to cancel his subscription and may cause him to set traps for the paperboy the next day. In more advanced rounds, the homeowner may immediately run after the paperboy after the house was vandalized.
The player must stay alive by avoiding obstacles that appear along the street. Some obstacles include everyday nuisances such as fire hydrants, storm drains, break dancers, cars, skateboarders, drunks, kids with radio controlled toys and even rather bizarre foes such as a tornado
, oversized house cats
, and even the Grim Reaper himself. The player must also cross street intersections successfully (which gets harder each day). Some obstacles can earn the player bonus points. For example, the breakdancer and some men brawling in the street can be "smacked" with a newspaper for extra points. Running into any of the obstacles with the bike results in the loss of a life.
There are two types of collisions possible from running into obstacles, "%#@*!" and "SMACK!" The former results from hitting obstacles that are integral parts of the landscape, such as fire hydrants, fences, and signposts. The latter collision type comes from obstacles not integral to the landscape; cars, people, dogs and bees.
Along the way, the paperboy can pick up extra bundles of papers since he can carry only a limited number. These are sometimes located in difficult to reach spots.
A 'Perfect Delivery' is achieved by successfully delivering to all current subscribers, and this awards double bonus points for each house delivered to, as well as reinstating one lost subscriber, up to a maximum of 10 out of the 20 houses being subscribers. If a 'Perfect Delivery' is achieved when the player already has 10 subscribers, double bonus points are still awarded, but no further subscribers are added.
The end of each level contains a "training course", with unique music, which the player can traverse within an allotted time for bonus points. In the training course are various targets to be struck with papers, jumps, water and other hazards. Riding over a jump replenishes the paperboy's stock of papers in addition to earning points. As with the rest of the level, the difficulty of the training course increases over the week, with new hazards added each day. Crashing on the course or running out of time ends the day, but does not result in the loss of a life. Successful completion of the training course rewards the player with a bonus for any remaining time.
The game concludes with the Sunday delivery. The road is the hardest version of whichever road the player has selected, and the Sunday edition papers are heavier and fly more slowly. Successfully delivering papers on this day ends the game, but with a newspaper headlined "Paperboy Wins Award For Outstanding Paper Delivery", complete with a picture of the paperboy holding a trophy.
Losing all lives also ends the game with a headline reading "Paperboy Calls It Quits." Causing all subscribers to cancel their subscriptions by either failing to deliver their paper or vandalizing their houses results in a headline reading "Paperboy Fired", along with a digitized voice which states "You're fired!"
The arcade version of the game included a number of voice clips, used both as voiceover commentary at game start (e.g. "Paperboy... stopping at nothing in his valiant effort to save this land from TV journalism
,") and as the voice of the paperboy himself when tossing a paper into a mailbox or losing a life. Hitting a few particular obstacles could trigger voice clips specific to the obstacle (for example, a satirical "Let's see you hang ten!" when struck by a skateboarder, or when struck by a tricyclist, he replies "I hate that kid.") Voice clips from collisions only result from the "SMACK!" kind.
The cabinet of this game is a standard upright but with custom controls. The controls consist of a bicycle handlebar
with one button on each side, used to throw papers. The handlebars can be pushed forward to accelerate, and pulled back to brake.
(DEC) T-11
. For sound and coin inputs, it uses a 2.2 MHz MOS Technology 6502
. The sound chips are two POKEY
s for digital sound, a Yamaha YM2151 for music, and a Texas Instruments
TMS5220
for speech. The protection chip is a Slapstic model 137412-105.
Paperboy was ported
to consoles
and home computers, starting in 1986. In some of these versions, the player could assume the role of a papergirl instead of a paperboy. Paperboy was ported to the BBC Micro
and Acorn Electron
(by Andy Williams, 1986), Commodore 64
(by Chris Harvey and Neil A Bate, 1986), Commodore 16
(1986), Amstrad CPC
(1986), ZX Spectrum
(1986), Apple II
(1986), TRS-80 Color Computer
(1986), DOS
(1988), Apple IIGS
(1988), Nintendo Entertainment System
(1988), Game Boy
(1990), Game Boy Color
(1999), Atari ST
(1989), Amiga
(1989), Atari Lynx (1990), Sega Master System
(1990), Game Gear (1991), and Mega Drive/Genesis
(1991).
Unlike the arcade version, several of these versions inspired a sequel, Paperboy 2 for several home systems (Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, NES, SNES, ZX Spectrum), and a 3D version for the Nintendo 64
called Paperboy 64.
More recently, Paperboy was included in Midway Arcade Treasures
, a compilation of arcade games for the Nintendo GameCube
, PlayStation 2
, PlayStation Portable
, Xbox
, and Windows
released in 2003.
A Mobile
version of Paperboy was released in 2005.
Paperboy was also released on February 14, 2007 on Xbox Live Arcade
for the Xbox 360
.
A iPhone
/iPod Touch
25th Anniversary version of Paperboy was released December 18, 2009.
. This portrayed a more thought-out world. The paperboy was named Julio from a Hispanic
family, and had to deal with the people of his community being brainwashed through subliminal messaging by Mother Brain
into attacking the N-Team. When questioned why Julio was immune to this brainwashing, he admitted to Captain N and his friends that he was illiterate due to neglecting his reading lessons to devote all his efforts to his paper route to earn money for his family in light of his father being laid off from work. This later proves no longer necessary, when his father finds another job and both his parents homeschool Julio in order for him to gain proficient reading skills.
The game featured on the BBC
television programme "First Class
".
1984 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
by Atari Games
Atari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
. The players take the role of a paperboy
Paperboy
A paperboy is the general name for a person employed by a newspaper, They are often used around the office to run low end errands. They make copies and distribute them. Paperboys traditionally were and are still often portrayed on television and movies as preteen boys, often on a bicycle...
who delivers newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s along a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an street on his bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
. This game was innovative for its theme and novel controls.
Gameplay
The player controls a paperboy on a bicycle delivering newspapers along a suburban street which is displayed in a cabinet perspective view. The player attempts to deliver a week of daily newspapers to subscribing customers, attempts to vandalizeVandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
non-subscribers' homes and must avoid hazards along the street. Subscribers are lost by missing a delivery or damaging a subscriber's house.
The game begins with a choice of difficulty levels: Easy Street, Middle Road and Hard Way. The object of the game is to perfectly deliver papers to subscribers for an entire week and avoid crashing (which counts as one of the player's lives) before the week ends. The game lasts for seven in-game days, Monday through Sunday.
Controlling the paperboy with the handlebar controls, the player attempts to deliver newspapers to subscribers. Each day begins by showing an overview of the street indicating subscribers and non-subscribers. Subscribers and non-subscribers' homes are also easy to discern in the level itself, with subscribers living in brightly colored houses, and non-subscribers living in dark houses.
Delivering the papers
The paperboy begins his route at the start of the street (bottom of the screen) and progresses towards the end. The player can control the paperboy's speed, but the paperboy is in constant movement and cannot stop moving forward until the level (day of the week) has ended. Should he slow down or stop for more than a few seconds, bees will appear (arcade version only). For each paper that is delivered to a subscriber's mailbox, the player receives 250 points. If the paper is delivered to the subscriber's doorstep, the player receives 100 points. Points are multiplied x2 for playing 'Middle Road', and x3 for playing 'Hard Way'. Points can be gained for breaking plants, running over flowers, or throwing papers into windows of the non-subscriber houses.Keeping subscribers is fairly straightforward: the player must deliver a paper to them. While the player may deliver more than one paper to each customer, they have to avoid accidentally damaging their homes, such as by throwing a paper through a window. Delivering a newspaper directly into the customer's newspaper box (or mailbox, as the voiceover calls it) earns bonus points. Accidentally damaging a customer's home or failing to deliver a paper causes the customer to cancel his subscription and may cause him to set traps for the paperboy the next day. In more advanced rounds, the homeowner may immediately run after the paperboy after the house was vandalized.
The player must stay alive by avoiding obstacles that appear along the street. Some obstacles include everyday nuisances such as fire hydrants, storm drains, break dancers, cars, skateboarders, drunks, kids with radio controlled toys and even rather bizarre foes such as a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
, oversized house cats
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, and even the Grim Reaper himself. The player must also cross street intersections successfully (which gets harder each day). Some obstacles can earn the player bonus points. For example, the breakdancer and some men brawling in the street can be "smacked" with a newspaper for extra points. Running into any of the obstacles with the bike results in the loss of a life.
There are two types of collisions possible from running into obstacles, "%#@*!" and "SMACK!" The former results from hitting obstacles that are integral parts of the landscape, such as fire hydrants, fences, and signposts. The latter collision type comes from obstacles not integral to the landscape; cars, people, dogs and bees.
Along the way, the paperboy can pick up extra bundles of papers since he can carry only a limited number. These are sometimes located in difficult to reach spots.
A 'Perfect Delivery' is achieved by successfully delivering to all current subscribers, and this awards double bonus points for each house delivered to, as well as reinstating one lost subscriber, up to a maximum of 10 out of the 20 houses being subscribers. If a 'Perfect Delivery' is achieved when the player already has 10 subscribers, double bonus points are still awarded, but no further subscribers are added.
Training course
Recapping the delivery
The next day begins with the neighborhood overview again, highlighting new subscribers and any unsubscribers. A flawless delivery record for the previous day results in a new subscriber. The next day through, the street is harder with more obstacles and faster cars.The game concludes with the Sunday delivery. The road is the hardest version of whichever road the player has selected, and the Sunday edition papers are heavier and fly more slowly. Successfully delivering papers on this day ends the game, but with a newspaper headlined "Paperboy Wins Award For Outstanding Paper Delivery", complete with a picture of the paperboy holding a trophy.
Losing all lives also ends the game with a headline reading "Paperboy Calls It Quits." Causing all subscribers to cancel their subscriptions by either failing to deliver their paper or vandalizing their houses results in a headline reading "Paperboy Fired", along with a digitized voice which states "You're fired!"
The arcade version of the game included a number of voice clips, used both as voiceover commentary at game start (e.g. "Paperboy... stopping at nothing in his valiant effort to save this land from TV journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
,") and as the voice of the paperboy himself when tossing a paper into a mailbox or losing a life. Hitting a few particular obstacles could trigger voice clips specific to the obstacle (for example, a satirical "Let's see you hang ten!" when struck by a skateboarder, or when struck by a tricyclist, he replies "I hate that kid.") Voice clips from collisions only result from the "SMACK!" kind.
The cabinet of this game is a standard upright but with custom controls. The controls consist of a bicycle handlebar
Bicycle handlebar
Bicycle handlebar or often bicycle handlebars refers to the steering mechanism for bicycles; the equivalent of a steering wheel. Besides steering, handlebars also often support a portion of the rider's weight, depending on their riding position, and provide a convenient mounting place for brake...
with one button on each side, used to throw papers. The handlebars can be pushed forward to accelerate, and pulled back to brake.
Hardware
The game runs on the Atari System 2 hardware. The CPU is a 10 MHz Digital Equipment CorporationDigital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
(DEC) T-11
DEC T-11
The T-11, also known as DC310, is a microprocessor that implements the PDP-11 instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation. The T-11 was code-named "Tiny". It was developed for embedded systems and was the first single-chip microprocessor developed by DEC...
. For sound and coin inputs, it uses a 2.2 MHz MOS Technology 6502
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
. The sound chips are two POKEY
Atari POKEY
The Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit is a digital I/O chip found in the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and many arcade games in the 1980s. It was commonly used to sample potentiometers and scan matrices of switches...
s for digital sound, a Yamaha YM2151 for music, and a Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
TMS5220
TMS5220
The Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips are a series of speech synthesizer DSP ICs created by Texas Instruments beginning in 1978. They continued to be developed and marketed for many years, though the speech department moved around several times within TI, until finally the speech department...
for speech. The protection chip is a Slapstic model 137412-105.
Finish line bug
A bug in early versions of the game allowed the player to skirt the finish line at the end of the training course and play the day over again, with garbage data appearing in the display. A ROM update was later released to correct this.Ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to consoles
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and home computers, starting in 1986. In some of these versions, the player could assume the role of a papergirl instead of a paperboy. Paperboy was ported to the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
(by Andy Williams, 1986), Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
(by Chris Harvey and Neil A Bate, 1986), Commodore 16
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...
(1986), Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
(1986), ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
(1986), Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
(1986), TRS-80 Color Computer
TRS-80 Color Computer
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
(1986), DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
(1988), Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
(1988), Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(1988), Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
(1990), Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
(1999), Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
(1989), Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
(1989), Atari Lynx (1990), Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
(1990), Game Gear (1991), and Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
(1991).
Unlike the arcade version, several of these versions inspired a sequel, Paperboy 2 for several home systems (Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, NES, SNES, ZX Spectrum), and a 3D version for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
called Paperboy 64.
More recently, Paperboy was included in Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures is a collection of 24 arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC....
, a compilation of arcade games for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
released in 2003.
A Mobile
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
version of Paperboy was released in 2005.
Paperboy was also released on February 14, 2007 on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
A iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
/iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
25th Anniversary version of Paperboy was released December 18, 2009.
Television
The character and world of Paperboy was featured prominently in an episode of Captain N: The Game MasterCaptain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master was an American animated television series that aired on television from 1989 to 1991 as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. The show incorporated elements from many of the most popular Nintendo games of the time...
. This portrayed a more thought-out world. The paperboy was named Julio from a Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
family, and had to deal with the people of his community being brainwashed through subliminal messaging by Mother Brain
Mother Brain (Metroid)
is a fictional video game villain created by Nintendo for the Metroid series. She is a large brain with one eye, who sits in a large jar. From this jar, she controls the Space Pirates on Zebes. She is killed multiple times by series protagonist Samus Aran...
into attacking the N-Team. When questioned why Julio was immune to this brainwashing, he admitted to Captain N and his friends that he was illiterate due to neglecting his reading lessons to devote all his efforts to his paper route to earn money for his family in light of his father being laid off from work. This later proves no longer necessary, when his father finds another job and both his parents homeschool Julio in order for him to gain proficient reading skills.
The game featured on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television programme "First Class
First Class (game show)
First Class was a 1980s BBC TV game show hosted by Debbie Greenwood. The show was broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC 1 and ran for at least three series. Two teams of three students would take part in a multi-format quiz featuring questions on both general knowledge and popular culture, as well...
".