Trivia / Elite

• Genre Popularizer: It paved the way for all 3D space simulators, and particularly space trading and open sandbox games.
• Killer App: Elite singlehandedly sold a lot of BBC Micro computers before the inevitable ports mentioned below.
• Port Overdosed: Despite having only one console port (for the NES, in Europe only), and having received no modern re-releases, the original Elite still qualifies for Port Overdosed status thanks to its complete smothering of the 80s home computer market, as befitting a Killer App.
• Saved from Development Hell: Elite IV, having spent time in Development Hell for 17 years, was finally saved thanks to crowdfunding efforts, culminating in its release as Elite Dangerous in December 2014.
• Screen-to-Stage Adaptation: Ian Bell's brother, Aidan wrote Elite: The Musical.
• Sequel Gap: Frontier: Elite II released nine years later in 1993. The gap between then and Frontier: First Encounters was a modest two years in 1995, but then you see the entry above and realize that Elite: Dangerous wouldn't release for 19 more years!
• Urban Legend of Zelda: One of the all-time classics is the Mirage ship in Frontier: Elite II. They wound up chucking it into a secrets guide (complete with made-up specifications) and added a Mirage II into Elite III: Frontier II: First Encounters.