/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.8063573]

Where did the term "boss" even come from? I grew up late during the early 16bit days so it was already a well-established term. Sounds weird when you think about it, but I couldn't come up with a better name for it.

[Anonymous No.8063581]

I believe the first game with a boss was Galaxian? or it was Space Invaders already?
Anyway, one of those two games is the origin, it's the "boss" of the smaller enemies.

[Anonymous No.8063586]

>>8063581
Oh, I didn't realize it was a term actually used in games. I figured it was just something people came up with.

[Anonymous No.8063590]

>>8063581
Oh, I didn't realize it was a term actually established in games. I figured it was just something people came up with.

[Anonymous No.8063595]

>>8063573
mayor

[Anonymous No.8063609]

They'd even describe them as bosses in manuals or have it flash up on the screen that the "boss" was incoming or whatever.

[Anonymous No.8063647]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%83%9C%E3%82%B9#Japanese

So it looks like the word boss was borrowed from English, the meaning "leader of organization" was carried over particularly with a criminal connotation, as in a "mafia boss", so by association, the leader of the bad guys within video games was called "boss" as well. The term was carried back into English, where it previously was associated mostly with employment but now generally has come to mean video game enemy pretty regularly.

[Anonymous No.8063649]

>>8063595
this, any quintessential scotsformer has to have the best moppets and soulful mayoral battles

[Anonymous No.8063652]

>>8063647
Makes sense, but I think that they only translated it as boss because it's a cognate.

[Anonymous No.8063654]

Also if you're curious about the word in English, it's borrowed from Dutch and the Dutch word just means "base".

[Anonymous No.8063659]

>>8063654
>the Dutch word just means "base".
That isn't what wiktionary says.

[Anonymous No.8063661]

>>8063652
It's not a cognate, it's a loanword from English, so it makes sense to translate it also in English, but it was loaned into Japanese with a stricter meaning: a leader of a criminal organization. That's one possible meaning of boss in English, but isn't the main one, which is why it's not immediately obvious even to native English speakers why a video game enemy is a "boss". But the stricter Japanese meaning of the word then being reintroduced to English happened to widen the definition and now any challenge you have to overcome is now a "boss battle" in popular slang.

[Anonymous No.8063665]

>>8063661
Sorry I didn't realize that I was speaking to one of those autistic linguistics pseuds. In normal every day language normal people just call words which are the same word in another language cognates regardless of the technical term.

[Anonymous No.8063667]

>>8063659
Whoops, got it mixed up in memory with the word bass, there's a lot of doublets with words like base and state and so on.

[Anonymous No.8063670]

>>8063665
I wasn't even challenging you, just clarifying, God damn.

[Anonymous No.8063672]

>>8063670
Clarify something utterly pointless that doesn't matter to anyone other than pretentious redditors.

[Anonymous No.8063675]

>>8063672
It was relevant to the thread, why are you upset?

[Anonymous No.8063678]

He’s there to show you who’s the boss of this gym.

[Anonymous No.8063681]

>>8063675
My use of everyday language which is technically wrong isn't relevant.
>why are you upset?
Because I have a genuine interest in languages, but unfortunately every online forum about it is filled with homos like you. With the exception of /x/ where they parade around made up etymology like Jesus meaning hail Zeus.

[Anonymous No.8063694]

>>8063681
again, I wasn't challenging you. You gave the point that they translated it hat way because it was cognate to English, and I agreed with you by saying that it did make the most sense for them to translate an English borrowed word with the same English word, I just corrected you and said that it is properly a loan word, didn't even expect you to get angry about it.

[Anonymous No.8063706]

>>8063694
>again, I wasn't challenging you.
You told me that I am wrong. I don't understand what the fuck you're trying to say, "I wasn't challenging you". I'm not going to lie you're actually really making me angry kek.

[Anonymous No.8063725]

>>8063706
>You told me that I am wrong
Where? Besides saying "it's not a cognate"? The very next sentence is agreeing with your point: "so it makes sense to translate it also in English", and then I elaborated on how it gained a slightly more specific meaning in Japanse once it was loaned, "but it was loaned into Japanese with a stricter meaning", which I explained because that's necessary for understanding how it came to have this specific meaning in English.

If I were a ruder person I'd be making triggered jokes right now and calling you insults but honestly if you really are angry you should probably just walk away and play a good game or something.

[Anonymous No.8063727]

>>8063694
>>8063706
ha ha ha

[Anonymous No.8063729]

>>8063573
It's a nintoddler term. Before it was accepted as canon by babies who learn to beat video games from the nintendo hotline it was just one of many terms used. To be fair, while boss is a super gay term it's still better than "the big enemy at the end of the level" or whatever.

>>8063581
Neither of those have bosses zoom zoom

[Anonymous No.8063738]

>>8063729
>while boss is a super gay term
And unironically saying "zoom zoom" isn't?

[Anonymous No.8063742]

>>8063729
>nintoddler
nice /v/ console war lingo you've got there.
Also
>Boss Galaxian is a main antagonist in the 1979 arcade Namco game, "Galaxian."
Zoomarella zoomarella, consolewarrino zoomerino.

[Anonymous No.8063752]

>>8063742
>Boss Galaxian
that is not a boss

[Anonymous No.8063758]

>>8063725
I think most people would agree that grammarfaggotry is annoying.
>If I were a ruder person I'd be making triggered jokes right now and calling you insults
Acting smug is worse.

[Anonymous No.8063760]

>>8063758
I'm really sorry I corrected you, I didn't mean to make you angry.

[Anonymous No.8063765]

This is the first ever boss fight in video games.

[Anonymous No.8063786]

>>8063758
>I think most people would agree that grammarfaggotry is annoying.
this whole fucking thread is about etymology, nitpicking is the whole point. you're the only one getting in your feelings

[Anonymous No.8063806]

>>8063729

>being this annoying for fun
good lord man fuck off

[Anonymous No.8063889]

>>8063590
>>8063573
The leader is known as the boss. Not hard to get. Used in lots of media. Even fuckin 'kung fu fighting' uses the term.

>>8063665
>>8063672
>>8063681
>>8063706
You are a whiny little bitch. Hope you feel good being such a weak pathetic crying MAGA tier tranner.

[Anonymous No.8064035]

>>8063573
The earliest I can remember "boss" being used in-game was probably Quartet or Renegade

[Anonymous No.8064054]

>>8063786
Using a word wrongly in a colloquial way isn't to do with etymology.

>>8063889
>YOURE A WHINY LITTLE BITCH
>Muh blumpf maga
Oh the irony

[Anonymous No.8064157]

D&D probably already had boss fights before video games. no idea if they actually called them bosses tho

[Anonymous No.8064204]

>>8064054
you're still crying about this? I wasn't criticizing you for using it wrongly, I was just clarifying that it specifically was a loan word, I didn't include any comments like "what a dumb fuck, doesn't even know the difference between a cognate and a loan" so I genuinely am completely flabbergasted by this entire encounter, even later.

[Anonymous No.8064293]

>>8063738
If there was something more gay that would make you seethe more I'd use that

>>8063742
>whale sharks are whales
Imagine seething so hard you can't even think straight

>>8063806
Why do facts annoy you?

[Anonymous No.8064310]

>>8064293
Just accept you got caught on your faggotry and move on.

[Anonymous No.8064343]

>>8063665
In normal every day language normal people never say the word "cognate" at all.

[Anonymous No.8064349]

>>8064310
only faggot here is you

[Anonymous No.8064913]

>>8064310
>j-j-just
Cry harder little zoom zoom. I'm winning like a mayor.

[Anonymous No.8064949]

>>8063672
Bitch, sit down and be humble. That anon schooled you.

[Anonymous No.8064974]

Both of you retards are faggots. Just shut the fuck up already.

[Anonymous No.8064980]

>>8064974
The anon throwing a pathetic hissy fit over being slightly corrected is an enormous faggot. The other anon kept his cool.

[Anonymous No.8064996]

>>8063573
It's an old Marxist term, not from video games. You're supposed to defeat your boss, then your boss's boss all the way up to the mega shareholders to win the game and earn exp in the form of means of production. Your labor union is your party.

[Anonymous No.8065140]

>>8063573
He's the mayor or the CEO of the badguys. Depends on the type of game though. if it was a UK release (not sure about Whales) then it was called a Gromper (east sussex term) and the little versions of the boss enemy was called Gromps.

[Anonymous No.8065178]

>>8063729
>nintoddler
Oh fuck off /v/tard
Boss was used in Atari games

[Anonymous No.8065218]

>>8065140
>Gromper
Is the U.K. not familiar with the word 'boss'? Why are you guys so weird?

[Anonymous No.8066080]

>>8065178
Another nintoddler seething so hard they couldn't read the post through their zoomer tears.

[Anonymous No.8066104]

>>8063573
Daimakaimura is one of my favorite games of all time that I literally beat on one credit (1cc) actually I took only 1 death the whole run both loops

[Anonymous No.8066112]

>>8063573
>Sounds weird when you think about it
Nah. It perfectly describes what you're up against. The big-bad leader(s) of the enemies you're fighting.

[Anonymous No.8066151]

>>8063889
This is the only post that mentions "kung fu" which is an important piece of the puzzle. The very successful Bruce Lee film The Big Boss (1971) helped popularize the term. A lot of the stuff in vidya came from movies and games like D&D. But in particular the "boss" of a gang of henchmen the hero has to beat up was well-established before vidya got popular.

[Anonymous No.8066186]

>>8063729
Trying way too hard to fit in.

[Anonymous No.8066359]

>>8063729
>Neither of those have bosses zoom zoom
Once again "zoom zoom" posters prove they are actually teenagers attempting to fit in.

[Anonymous No.8066447]

>>8066080
>akshually
>source: dude trust me
>zoomer
>nintoddler
You’re just a walking(debatable) meme factory aren’t you
Where ms the proof that Atari games had no bosses?

[Anonymous No.8066467]

>>8066186
>>8066359
>projecting

>>8066447
>still couldn't read the post through his seething zoomer tears
>w-w-where's muh straw man
Come back when you're 18+ and can read, zoomie

[Anonymous No.8066484]

>>8063670
I think you did okay anon, I appreciate your explanation, thank youmrnky

[Anonymous No.8066490]

>>8063706
Aww did a random Internet anon make you mad? Bless you

[Anonymous No.8066541]

>>8063573
Brucelee

[Anonymous No.8066556]

>>8063665
You sound like an insecure faggot.

[Anonymous No.8066576]

>>8063665
how does it feel being out-autisted?

[Anonymous No.8066831]

>>8066541
Can't believe he copied metal gear

[Anonymous No.8066876]

ボス & 中ボス

[Anonymous No.8066880]

>>8066467
>Come back when you're 18+ and can read, zoomie
Reply again when you have proof instead of opinions, tourist

[Anonymous No.8066953]

>>8065218
In the South West UK and Wales we never used the word Gromper - it has always been boss. This is the first time I've heard it

[Anonymous No.8066959]

>>8065140
Even the manuals called them bosses. Maybe Sussex had special releases where they renamed them?

[Anonymous No.8066969]

>>8063729
It was a thing way before Nintendo you tard

[Anonymous No.8066973]

>>8066969
It really wasn't. You've been proven wrong yet you refuse to be put down like a dog past his prime. You're a sad little man.

[Anonymous No.8066976]

>>8066969
Nintendo is pretty unique in the sense that its haters manage to be worse than their blind loyal fanboys.
What the fuck is up with the most autistic /v/ and /vr/ shitposters are always anti-nintendo? You've got Niggarel, quentin and manlet tears from /v/, and here we have australia-kun. What is it about Nintendo that makes autistic guys like these seethe so much for years and years?

[Anonymous No.8067023]

>>8066973
Not him but yes there absolutely were bosses in arcade games that predate the NES by several years.

[Anonymous No.8067025]

>>8066973
>You've been proven wrong
>proven
Funny thing about that word is that entails the need for proof
And as far as I can see in this thread there seems to be a severe lack of it

[Anonymous No.8067027]

>>8066953
>>8066959
Seeing as he spelled Wales “Whales” I think he might’ve just been talking out his ass.

[Anonymous No.8067079]

>>8063665
Another easier exemple to understand for you would be "cosplay".
Japanese used the words "costume play" and abbreviated it in the way they often do, and then it came back to the rest of the world.

Costume play could mean a lot of thing, especially sexual, but cosplay is exclusively for weeb culture.

>>8063665
>>8063672
He literally answered Op's question the right way you high fructose corn syrup brained retard. You can't read 2 lines without getting a headache and thinking you're back to school or what ?

[Anonymous No.8067142]

>>8066880
What opinions would those be, your straw men?
>u-u-ur a tourist
top kek kid

>>8066969
>It was a thing way before Nintendo you tard
>The history of Nintendo traces back to 1889
Zoom. Not even once.

[Anonymous No.8067165]

>>8063573
I propose from now on that all video game bosses be called “the head honcho”

[Anonymous No.8067185]

>>8067165
wtf is a honcho

[Anonymous No.8067257]

>>8067142
Replying with a stutter, amazing
Yet to see you posting any proof

[Anonymous No.8067269]

Mob boss
Crime boss
"The Boss"

Boss has a negative connotation when linked to leading bad people, it also implies they are the boss because they are much smarter or stronger than the bad guys who work beneath him.

[Anonymous No.8067538]

>>8067257
>p-p-proof of muh strawman
Top kek kid

[Anonymous No.8067543]

It's an architectural term for grotesques (Gargoyles but not technically gargoyles)
A boss is a load bearing keystone. The joke is, once you defeat the boss the building collapses.

[Anonymous No.8067568]

>>8067543
what an overwhelmingly gay fucking thread

[Anonymous No.8067572]

>>8067543
sry m8
that wasnt at you
i just was too flabbergasted by faggotry to scroll back up

[Anonymous No.8067869]

>>8066973
I'm not the original anon you were sperging about and I'm pretty sure arcade games had bosses before Nintendo did

[Anonymous No.8067875]

>>8066976
Hey I never said I hated Nintendo, got a few Nintendos lying around - I'm just confident that arcades did it before them. And me speccy

[Anonymous No.8067885]

>>8067142
Okay cool well can you show me the Nintendo bosses from 1889 onward? Love to see their vintage consoles. The Kings in the playing cards don't count as bosses

[Anonymous No.8067927]

>>8067538
Still no proof of these 1889 bosses kek

[Anonymous No.8067942]

I researched it for a past thread asking this question. IIRC, the term popped up occasionally in early 80s gaming magazines, but didn't really become a universally accepted term until the very late 80s. Nintendo Power is likely what pushed the term into the mainstream, given the timing.

[Anonymous No.8067959]

>>8067869
>>8067875
>>8067885
>the sperg was australia-kun
Is this guy for real? He's beens shitposting practically non-stop for entire days now. Does he even sleep?

[Anonymous No.8067961]

My house always called them "masters".

[Anonymous No.8067968]

>>8067961
Why?

[Anonymous No.8067998]

>>8067968
Why not? It means basically the same thing. Probably came in through my mom who was into MUDs. Is my best guess.

[Anonymous No.8068012]

>>8067959
I think that Australia is SOME of the regular shitposting machines on this board, but not all of them at once. For like 6 or 7 shitmachine personas, there has to be like 3 or 4 actual dudes behind, because one man couldn't shitpost this hard without stopping, there's not enough caffeine and autism in the universe.

[Anonymous No.8068072]

>>8067027
Kek I thought he was just being special

[Anonymous No.8068112]

>>8063573
mayor LMFAO

[Anonymous No.8068124]

>>8067968
cause he grew up in an S&M household.

[Anonymous No.8068171]

>>8066541
This. He literally beats up a bunch of henchmen and their boss in it. Shit's older than videogames and I can't believe this thread is being made once a month.

[Anonymous No.8068175]

>>8063573
Game of Death.

[Anonymous No.8068602]

>>8063595
ringleader

[Anonymous No.8068689]

>>8063573
>Where did the term "boss" even come from?
Renegade, I suppose?

[Anonymous No.8068720]

>>8063678
FUCK YOU LEATHERMAN

[Anonymous No.8068810]

>>8063573
What sounds like more fun; a boss fight, or a mayor battle? I think you know in your heart which one is best.

[Anonymous No.8068850]

>>8068810
How about both?

[Anonymous No.8068884]

>>8068175
This. Bruce Lee has to climb several levels of a tower, and fight the boss of each level, as they are referred to.

His fight with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an iconic piece of pop culture and a lot of games reference those terms.

[Anonymous No.8068902]

>>8063573
Konami coined the term "mayor".

[Anonymous No.8069568]

>>8068810
I prefer a good gubernatorial donnybrook.

[Anonymous No.8069572]

>>8069568
Unironically this. That has such a ring to it.

[Anonymous No.8069705]

>>8063590
>>8063573 (OP)
The leader is known as the boss. Not hard to get. Used in lots of media. Even fuckin 'kung fu fighting' uses the term.

>>8063665
>>8063672
>>8063681
>>8063706
You are a whiny little bitch. Hope you feel good being such a weak pathetic crying MAGAq tier tranner.


Jannies are trannies or righties around here? Man this site sucks now.