# What was the computer game that Tom Hanks was playing in "Big?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612 "2004-10-17T02:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/1 "2004-10-17T02:34:40Z")
I always wondered what it was. It looks similar to one of the early “Kings Quest” games, but isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/2 "2004-10-17T04:17:57Z")
CharlesForbin posted this in the Killermovies message board: [http://www.killermovies.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3794&perpage=20&pagenumber=1](http://www.killermovies.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3794&perpage=20&pagenumber=1) > [@](#): > > I checked the movie credits, and no credit is given to the game publisher, which there would (should) be if it was a real game. There are these credits: > > Computer Image Designed by SMA Video Inc. (now SMA Realtime, Inc.) > Computer Display Engineered by David Satin (David Satin is now EVP, Secretary, and Treasurer of SMA Realtime, Inc.) > > … There were some theories that it was the old Roberta Williams (of King’s quest fame) game “The princess and the Wizard”, but looking at the walkthrough: [http://www.geocities.com/jean\_matthews/WizardWalkthrough.html](http://www.geocities.com/jean_matthews/WizardWalkthrough.html) No wizard appears in an icy location. The screenshots show that the graphics on the movie were much better: [http://www.gb64.com/oldsite/gameofweek/7/gotw\_wizardandprincess.htm](http://www.gb64.com/oldsite/gameofweek/7/gotw_wizardandprincess.htm) Conclusion: The game in _Big_ was only a simulation. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/3 "2004-10-18T18:10:50Z")
IIRC, the display wasn’t in 16-colors but 4, which would most likely be MS-DOS with a 40-column CGA display. Given that 16-color EGA had been around for four years prior to the movie’s release, I think it’s unlikely that it was a real game. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/4 "2004-10-18T22:42:54Z")
Actually it was an Apple II running in hires graphics mode. You can tell by the text area at the bottom of the screen which the Apple seperated from the graphics area. This was often used by early graphical adventure makers (including Roberta Williams) to show a picture of what was happening with a text description and area for player input below. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/5 "2004-10-19T01:24:58Z")
> [@Just Some Guy](#): > > Actually it was an Apple II running in hires graphics mode. You can tell by the text area at the bottom of the screen which the Apple seperated from the graphics area. I’ll take your word for it being an Apple II but CGA is capable of the same sort of text-below-the-picture thing. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-computer-game-that-tom-hanks-was-playing-in-big/269612/6 "2004-10-19T05:37:14Z")
Not to continue arguing for the sake of argument but I thought I would drop some more evidence (and hey, what are we here for if not to go into obsessive details over silly things 🙂 ). You are right that CGA can do text in graphics, as can pretty much any graphics display, but that particular formatting including the ratio of text area to graphics area, the columns of characters for the text (while I didn’t count them I can tell the difference between 40 column and 80 column at a glance and the image is too high of resolution to be CGA’s 40 column mode), the type face of the text, and the number of text lines below the image are all staples of of Apple’s hires graphic mode. The text area just happens to be the big tell in this situation since most games that copied that format of image over description on other platforms (and I saw it replicated all over the place) looked very different. For my next trick I will explain how to tell the difference between graphics modes for Commodores, Apples, Ataris, and EGA (CGA is too obvious 🙂 ). But maybe that’s really getting too geeky…