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===''Jet Rocket'' (1970) to ''Hydlide'' (1984)=== [[File:Jet Rocket.jpg|thumb|[[SEGA]]'s ''[[Jet Rocket]]'' (1970), the first open-world game.]] The first open-world game was ''[[Jet Rocket]]'', a [[Electro-mechanical game|video projection]] [[arcade game]] released by [[SEGA]] in August 1970. It introduced free-roaming flight movement over an open-world 3D landscape, for the first time in an [[electronic game]], with players flying around in a first-person perspective and shooting at various landmarks across the game world.<ref>Carl Therrien, [http://gamestudies.org/1502/articles/therrien Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First-Person Shooter Genre], ''Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research'', Volume 15, issue 2, December 2015, ISSN 1604-7982</ref><ref name="jet-rocket">[http://segaretro.org/Jet_Rocket Jet Rocket] at [[SEGARetro]]</ref> This makes it the first open-world electronic game. ''Jet Rocket'' inspired several clones,<ref>https://archive.org/stream/NextGeneration24Dec1996/Next_Generation_24_Dec_1996#page/n10/mode/1up</ref> including Bally's ''[[Target Zero]]'' and Williams' ''[[Flotilla]]'', both released in December 1970. The most first 3D open-world game was Sega's video projection arcade game ''[[Heli-Shooter]]'' (1977), a combat flight simulator that allowed the player to fly a helicopter in any direction across a free-roaming, open-world landscape.<ref>http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/shelishoot.htm</ref> [[File:Western Gun.jpg|thumb|[[Taito]]'s ''[[Western Gun]]'' (1975), the first open-world [[video game]].]] The first open-world [[video game]] was [[Taito]]'s ''[[Western Gun]]'' (1975), localized for North America as ''[[Gun Fight]]'' (1975). ''Western Gun'' had two cowboy gunslingers who could freely roam across an environment littered with cacti and mountains while attempting to shoot each other. The North American ''Gun Fight'' limited each player's movement to their own side of the screen, whereas the original Japanese ''Western Gun'' allowed players to freely roam across anywhere on the screen. ''Gun Fight'' also reduced the scale of the environment, with mountains no longer being present. Taito's ''[[Interceptor]]'' (1975), designed by [[Tomohiro Nishikado]], was the first free-roaming sandbox game with a [[scrolling]] open world.<ref>[https://giantbomb.com/interceptor/3030-36563/ Interceptor]</ref> The first video game with an [[overworld]] was the University of Tokyo's ''[[Heiankyo Alien]]'' (1979). It was a [[maze]] chase game predating ''[[Pac-Man]]'' (1980), but with a major difference being that the maze represents an entire city, the ancient Japanese city of [[Wikipedia:Heian-kyō|Heian-kyō]], or what is today [[Wikipedia:Kyoto|Kyoto]]. SEGA's [[Stealth video games|stealth]] game ''[[005]]'' (1981) took this further, with the player walking around an overworld city and entering buildings. [[File:Rallyx2.png|thumb|[[Namco]]'s ''[[Rally-X]]'' (1980), the first [[scrolling]] open-world video game.]] ''[[Rally-X]]'', released by [[Namco]] in 1980, was the first [[scrolling]] open-world video game, and the first open-world driving game, a distant ancestor to ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''. ''Rally-X'' featured a vehicle driving around a multi-scrolling game world, becoming the basis for ''[[Miami Vice]]'' (1986),<ref>[http://www.elmundodelspectrum.com/contenido.php?id=368&d=Miami-Vice-(1986)-OCEAN Miami Vice (1986) OCEAN], El Mundo del Spectrum</ref> which in turn became the basis for ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' (1997). While the roots of open-world strategy gaming can be traced back to the board game ''[[Go]]'' (c. 300 BCE), the first open-world [[Strategy video games|strategy video game]] was ''[[Nobunaga's Ambition]]'', released in 1983, featuring a large [[overworld]] map.<ref name="cgw">{{Cite journal|first=Evan|last=Brooks|work=[[Computer Gaming World]]|date=September 1988|issue=51|pages=12–13, 34, 48–49|title=The Politics of War|quote=Both games come from Japan (Koei Corporation) and deal with the unification of countries during a feudal era and both games offer the sophisticated strategy player an opportunity to balance economic, diplomatic, and military decisions during a formative period of a foreign nation.}}</ref> The same year, ''[[Portopia Serial Murder Case]]'' was the first open-world [[adventure game]].<ref name="oxm">{{Cite magazine|title=Megal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain|magazine=Official Xbox Magazine|date=Christmas 2015|url=https://archive.org/stream/Xbox_The_Official_Magazine_Xmas_2015#page/n107/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="tieryas">{{Citation|author=[[Peter Tieryas]]|title=THE MURDER MYSTERY FROM THE CREATOR OF DRAGON QUEST|magazine=Entropy|url=https://entropymag.org/the-murder-mystery-from-the-creator-of-dragon-quest/|date=April 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last=Jacobi | first=Scott | publication-date=October 2006 | title=Nintendo Realm - November to December 1985 | periodical=Retrogaming Times Monthly | issue=29 | url=http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RTM29/RTM29.html | accessdate=2007-08-16 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630232207/my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RTM29/RTM29.html | archivedate=June 30, 2007}}</ref> A precursor to open-world gaming was the open dungeon exploration of early role-playing games. This dates back to tabletop RPGs such as ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Empire of the Petal Throne'', which adapted the outdoor exploration of earlier wargames such as ''Chainmail'', which in turn is rooted in the outdoor overworld exploration of ''Go''. Dungeon exploration can be seen in early computer role-playing games such as ''Temple of Apshai'' (1979) as well as RPG-influenced adventure games such as ''Adventure'' (1980), and in treasure-hunting arcade games such as ''[[Tutankham]]'' (1982) and ''[[The Tower of Druaga]]'' (1984). However, these do not constitute open worlds in the modern sense, which refers to large outdoor environments, which early computer role-playing games or adventure games did not have until ''Ultima'' (1981), which in turn got its overworld concept from tabletop RPGs such as ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Empire of the Petal Throne''. But in ''Ultima{{'}}s'' case, the overworld was not to scale, as was the case in tabletop role-playing games, with the player character being a giant on the world map, which doesn't fit the modern definition of an open world either. Early examples of free-roaming, [[Nonlinear gameplay|non-linear]], open worlds in video games, with generally gradually increasing open-endedness, include ''[[Bosconian]]'' (1981),<ref>{{allgame|398|Bosconian}}</ref> ''[[Time Pilot]]'' (1982),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits - NDS - Review|publisher=[[GameZone]]|date=April 9, 2007|url=http://nds.gamezone.com/reviews/item/konami_classics_series_arcade_hits_nds_review|accessdate=2011-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Konami Arcade Classics: Well, at least it's classic|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=January 7, 2000|url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/161/161714p1.html|accessdate=2011-04-08}}</ref> ''[[Panorama Toh]]'' (1983),<ref>[http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2013/06/dark-age-of-jrpgs-6-panorama-toh-pc-88.html Dark Age of JRPGs (7): Panorama Toh ぱのらま島 - PC-88 (1983)], Hardcore Gaming 101</ref> [[W:c:dataeast:Boomer Rang'r|''Boomer Rang'r'']] (1983), ''[[Mugen no Shinzou]]'' (1984), ''[[Dragon Slayer]]'' (1984),<ref name=gsutra_20games/> ''[[Ginga Hyoryu Vifam]]'' (1984),<ref>{{MobyGames|gingahyry-vifam|Gingahyōryū Vifam}}</ref> ''[[Hydlide]]'' (1984), ''[[Tritorn]]'' (1984), and ''[[Elite]]'' (1984).<ref name=gradar>{{Cite web | last = Sefton | first = Jamie | title = The roots of open-world games | publisher = [[GamesRadar]] | date = July 11, 2007 | url = http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-roots-of-open-world-games/a-200807111086555044 | accessdate = 2008-07-25}}</ref><ref name="gamasutra_elite">{{Cite web | last = Barton | first = Matt | coauthors = Bill Loguidice | title = The History of Elite: Space, the Endless Frontier | publisher = [[Gamasutra]] | date = April 7, 2009 | url = http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3983/the_history_of_elite_space_the_.php | accessdate = 2009-12-27}}</ref><ref name=egamer>{{Cite web | last = Whitehead | first = Dan | title = Born Free: the History of the Openworld Game | publisher = [[Eurogamer]] | date = February 4, 2008 | url = http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=91968 | accessdate = 2008-07-25}}</ref><ref name=cvg_history1>{{Cite web | title = The complete history of open-world games (part 1) | publisher = [[Computer and Video Games]] | date = May 24, 2008 | url = http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=189591 | accessdate = 2008-07-25}}</ref> Open-world arcade flight simulators such as SEGA's ''[[Jet Rocket]]'' (1970) and its clones ''[[Flotilla]]'' and ''[[Target Zero]]'', along with SEGA's more advanced 3D flight simulator ''[[Heli-Shooter]]'' (1977), influenced the development of free-roaming flight simulator video games such as ''[[Flight Simulator]]'' (1980), which in turn influenced open-world space simulators such as ''[[Elite]]'' (1984), and which in turn influenced ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' (1997).
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