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31 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Video Games

We almost got Ivan the Space Biker instead of Gordon Freeman

31 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Video Games

November 17, 2023

Sick of playing video games? Of course, you aren’t, but we bet you can’t play a video game this very moment or you wouldn’t be wasting your time reading instead of tapping arrows. If that’s the case, why not read a few video-game fun facts about your favorite way to pass your limited life on this planet? After all, the amazing developers spent a lot of time creating that game you’ll only play through once, so you might as well spend a few moments appreciating their effort through trivia about the work they accomplished.

31

The Team Fortress Spy is a glitch that never went away

b ya The Team Fortress Spy is a glitch that never went away. A bug in the graphics caused some enemies to render as teammates. They pulled the old it's a feature, not a bug, and developed it into its own wildcard class. CRACKED.COM — The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

30

The early prototype for Half Life's protagonist was a burly, bearded, strung-out looking madman.

HALF-LIFE CRACKED.COM The early prototype for Half-Life's protagonist was a burly-bearded, strung out looking mad-man nicknamed by the designers as Ivan the Space Biker. As game production advanced, they changed Ivan into Gordon Freeman, with his iconic goatee and glasses. — 5 Classic Video Games That Were Almost Hilariously Different

29

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim lets players identify the dragon in the introduction...if they get close enough

THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM LETS PLAYERS IDENTIFY THE DRAGON IN THE INTRODUCTION, IF THEY CAN GET CLOSE ENOUGH. CRACKED COM In the opening cinematic of Skyrim, a dragon begins to wreak havoc and allows you to escape execution. Getting close enough to the dragon will show his name on your HUD, revealing he is Alduin, the harbinger of the apocalypse throughout the Elder Scrolls series. — The Gamer

28

Weird stuff happens to Mario when he drowns in Super Mario Galaxy.

Weird stuff happens to Mario when he drowns in Super Mario Galaxy. — 13 Weird Workarounds Behind The Magic Of Fav Games

27

The multiplayer mode that defined GoldenEye 007 for many, was created on the sly.

CRACKED.COM The multiplayer mode that defined GoldenEye 007 for many, was created on the sly. The game was already running behind so the devs knew they'd never get permission from the higher-ups at Nintendo and Rare. They just did it (in a month's time) and added it right before release. PLAYERS MILLION NN SELLER CHOICE de INTERACTIVE 1998 1997- ARTS 183 SCIENCES FBC NH Rumble Party GAME OF THE YEAR - - H - TEEN T 4015 111 ESRB NILE — 31 Design Tricks Behind Famous Video Games (You Can't Unsee)

26

Diablo

Diablo was supposed to be a turn-based game with claymation graphics. — 29 Video Game Features With Just Bonkers Backstories

25

Street Fighter was born during a dull meeting.

STREET FIGHTER WAS BORN DURING A DULL MEETING. 100 STATEST FRIENTER Capcom programmer Takashi Nishiyama was getting really bored during a long meeting, so he started thinking about martial arts games, and the boss fights in those games, and wouldn't it be cool to make a game that was all about those boss fights. CRACKED.COM — Polygon

24

The Legend of Zelda's iconic title music was a last-minute patch.

TLOZ's iconic title music was a last-minute patch. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA™ TM ©1986 NINTENDO CRACKED.COM They had planned to use Ravel's Boléro, but found out at the last minute that it wasn't yet in the public domain. Nintendo composer Koji Kondo had a day to whip up the iconic theme. — 14 Behind-The-Scenes Zelda Facts

23

The Doomguy's grunt of pain is a dude taking a dump

The Doomguy's grunt of pain is a dude taking a dump. Most of the iconic Doom sounds are stock effects, often creatively edited - demon growls are usually animal sounds, but the cacodemon dying sounds like roller blades, of all things. And when the Doomguy takes damage, a snippet is played of a man straining himself on a toilet. DOOM 46 73% 2 3 9 186% 7 41 6 AMMO HEALTH ARMS ARMOR CRACKED.COM — decino on YouTube

22

Pokemon GO made people hunt for monsters literally everywhere.

Pokemon GO made people hunt for monsters literally everywhere. 35 GRACKED COM The gaming phenomenon caused people to break laws like trespassing and loitering, and various venues (like holocaust museums) ended up banning it. — USA Today

21

Call of Duty is a recruiting tool for the US military

... TELL US NOW. Call of Duty CRACKED Jeph G. says CoD has been selling us a little thing called the military-industrial complex: Call of Duty has always been a recruiting tool for the US Military. — Tell Us Now: 20 Blatant Examples Of Product Placement In Video Games

20

You could fit all the game developers of Pokemon Blue and Red into a minivan

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS YOU COULD FIT ALL THE GAME DEVELOPERS INTO A MINIVAN. Ken Sugimori Junichi Masuda Koji Nishino art director composer planner Shigeki Morimoto Tetsuya Watanabe GRACKED.COM programmer programmer It took 6 years with a team of only 8 to bring the original game to life. By comparison, it took 100 individuals to make Let's Go: Pikachu & Eevee, an updated retelling of the first generation of games for the Nintendo Switch. — Polygon

19

In Mafia II, the NPCs are SO realistic that they pee.

In Mafia II, the NPCs are SO realistic NNO that they pee. STORE And they won't stop, no matter what. In this game, characters just let it fly, and they will not stop regardless of what happens to them. Even if you start a fistfight, threaten them with a gun, or attack them with a bat. Nothing stops the stream. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/ZOBBUPy7_oA — 12 Glitches That Are The Best Part Of The Game

18

Saints Row 4 parodies romance mechanics by letting you sleep with all your companions any time you want.

31 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Video Games — 11 Video Games That Openly Mock Other Games

17

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker CRACKED COM While Japanese censorship seems to be more lax when it comes to nudity and religion, they take less kindly to torture. A scene where Snake is tortured with cattle prods was edited for the Japanese market so that he was instead being poked with laughing rods. — 15 Video Games That Had To Change Bizarre Details (In Different Countries)

16

Win the Stanley Parable by playing the game for the entire 24 hours of any Tuesday.

THE STANLEY PARABLE Achievement unlocked COMMITMENT If you hate Tuesdays, you'll love this achievement, as it tasks you with playing the game for the entire 24-hour period of any given Tuesday. CRACKED.COM — 10 Insane Video Game Achievements

15

In Fallout: New Vegas, you can find the remains of Indiana Jones

CRACKED.COM IN FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS GO SOUTHEAST OF GOODSPRINGS IN THE WILD WASTELAND TRAIT FOLLOW THE ROAD AND YOU'LL FIND THE REMAINS OF INDIANA JONES IN A NUKED FRIDGE — 21 Easter Eggs In Classic Video Games

14

The Gamecube V2 Keyboard Controller was probably the most difficult-to-hold controller

Gamecube V2 Keyboard Controller CRACKED.COM Finally Gamecube players have the ability to swear at others in online chat. They just need the most difficult-to-hold controller possible to do it. — Kotaku

13

There's a pervert in the Japanese version of Marvel Superheroes vs. Street Fighter.

MARVEL SUPERHEROES vs. STREET FIGHTER There's a pervert in the Japanese version of Marvel Superheroes vs. Street Fighter. He's an older man named Norimaro who dresses like a schoolboy. Не spends his time trying to take Chun-Li's picture. If you beat the game with him, he steals her panties. CRACKED.COM — 21 Games We Grew Up On (With Weird Backstories)

12

"No More Heroes" wants you to erect a sword.

No More Heroes wants you to erect a sword. 1 . CRACKED.COM The Wii game, unusually horny for a Nintendo release, has more than a few suggestive portions. The most egregious is one you can't avoid, which charges Travis' beam katana by vigorously pumping the Wiimote, causing the limp weapon to become rigid. — Destructoid

11

Mario's hat, mustache, overalls, and color scheme were technical necessities, rather than design choices.

31 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Video Games — The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

10

Super Mario Bros. 2 was too hard for Americans.

SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 GRACKED.COM Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally more similar to the first game, although much harder. So hard, in fact, that developers didn't think Americans could play it, so they reskinned the Japanese game Doki Doki Panic with familiar Mario characters. — 6 Baffling Early Prototypes of Your Favorite Video Games

9

Batman: Arkham City can't stop telling you that the Joker isn't really him.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY CAN'T STOP TELLING YOU THE JOKER ISN'T REALLY HIM. 1 На OF CRACKED.COM There are many clues that the Joker in Arkham City is actually the shape-shifting villain Clayface, like the fact that he shows no bones in X-ray mode and Harley Quinn remarks It's not you, is it? — 6 Incredible Spoilers Hidden In Famous Video Games

8

Video Game Animation

31 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Video Games — 13 Weird Workarounds Behind The Magic Of Fav Games

7

The game Wing Commander crashes with an error message that would read "EMM386 Memory manager error." when exited

The game Wing Commander crashes with an error message that would read EMM386 Memory manager error. when exited. LIKT EJECT nation LOE CUTE LOTE coma KAPICATION USA as Nana Gunc Larse cannen DESTINATION Ner 2 ANGE NOZ km 4400 Objective This bug was made into a feature by one of the game programmers by changing the error message to Thank you for playing Wing Commander! C:\wc1> CRACKED.COM — 31 Design Tricks Behind Famous Video Games (You Can't Unsee)

6

The corpses in Dead Space are medically accurate.

The corpses in Dead Space are medically accurate. After the producer deemed the initial designs for the corpses not scary enough, the developing team modeled them using photos of actual car crash victims and war casualties. CRACKED COM — 29 Video Game Features With Just Bonkers Backstories

5

Capcom was against mirror matches

CAPCOM WAS AGAINST MIRROR MATCHES. STREET FIGHTER Why would anyone want to play the same character? the top brass said when the American team pitched the idea. Meanwhile, players were frustrated they couldn't do exactly that. The idea got traction eventually, though, and Street Fighter II: Champion Edition came out. CRACKED.COM — Polygon

4

A ton of Christian imagery had to be replaced for the US version of Legend of Zelda

A ton of Christian imagery had to be replaced for the US-version. CRACKED.COM You can still see a cross on Link's shield, but other elements were adjusted due to Nintendo of America's religion ban: priests and churches became sages and sanctuaries, and what we know as The Book of Magic was originally The straight-up Holy Bible. — 14 Behind-The-Scenes Zelda Facts

3

Doom aimed at being "Aliens meets Evil Dead II"

Doom aimed at being Aliens meets Evil Dead II DOOK The reason you get a chainsaw is because Ash has one. CRACKED.COM — Doomworld & DoomWiki.org

2

This game actually hurt people who sucked at it.

This game actually hurt people who sucked at it. CRACKED.COM The PainStation, a German creation, is a two-player Pong-like game. Players can get shocked, whipped, or burned by the console. — Wired

1

How does your NES know when you've hit a duck?

How does your NES know when you've hit a duck? Nintendo® Zapper Your Zapper gun is equipped with a photodiode to detect light. IFE HIT <<<<< BELLI 004500 RCCRE So, whenever you 1. The screen goes 2. The next frame, a 3. After that, a pull the trigger, black for a frame. If white rectangle different white this happens: the Zapper doesn't flashes for the first rectangle flashes for detect any light, it target. If at this the second target if knows you're aiming point light is necessary. at the screen. detected, then your aim has been true. GRACKED.COM — 31 Design Tricks Behind Famous Video Games (You Can't Unsee)

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