Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why game cases came wrapped in endless tape
Retailers tried to prevent theft by wrapping game cases in so much security tape that peeling it off often left a sticky white residue along the top.
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Final Fantasy XIV became too popular to keep selling
During the Endwalker launch surge in December 2021, long login queues pushed Square Enix to suspend sales of the base game and limit new free-trial access.…
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Why Smash Bros. fighters eat chickens off the floor
The roast chicken is a healing item: fighters can pause a brawl to eat one that appears on the ground and instantly recover from their injuries.
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The video game glitch that created combos
In Street Fighter II, players could cancel part of an attack’s recovery into another move, chaining hits before the opponent could respond. A quirk of timing…
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Backgammon’s doubling cube lets a player raise the stakes before the game ends
The opponent can accept the higher stakes or drop, conceding the game at the current stakes.
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Tabletop roleplaying games use dice to decide whether simple actions succeed or fail
A bad roll can make even a highly trained assassin stumble over a fence or accidentally offend a king.
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Magic: The Gathering began as convention filler
Richard Garfield pitched a complex board game, but the publisher thought it was too expensive to produce and asked for something small and cheap to play…
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Tetris reached the Game Boy through a deal for one specific kind of screen
In 1989, Henk Rogers secured Tetris's handheld rights and licensed them to Nintendo. Rights to a computer game didn't automatically settle who could publish…
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Moonwalker's arcade and console games weren't the same game
The 1990 releases shared Michael Jackson's music and imagery, but the arcade machine used an angled view while Sega's home versions were side-scrollers.…
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Pinochle removes every card below nine
The result is a deck built around nines and higher, rather than a standard deck with its low cards.
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Journalists get watched while testing preview builds
At exclusive previews, journalists may have to test a tightly controlled game build while a PR representative stands nearby, making candid criticism awkward.
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Early Japanese PS2s needed a memory card to play movies
Early Japanese PS2 models needed movie-decoding software installed on a memory card before they could play standard digital movies.
Discover moreSnoop Dogg replaces Call of Duty radio chatter
The paid voice pack swaps military radio chatter for Snoop Dogg’s laid-back comments and rhymes during matches.
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Some conventions empty nearby stores of deodorant by Saturday
At some three-day conventions, nearby convenience stores run out of deodorant and body wash by Saturday morning as crowds fill the area.
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Orange cheese dyes stain porous plastic
Orange dyes and oils can stain porous plastic, leaving marks that may be impossible to remove.
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Monster Hunter: World sends you into battle after a cat cooks dinner
The Meowscular Chef is a muscular feline who presides over extravagant pre-hunt meals. Eating is also part of preparation, with food affecting the hunter's…
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On a Catan seven, players with 8+ cards discard half
A seven produces no resources; instead, anyone holding more than seven cards must discard half, often wrecking a carefully planned build.
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Resident Evil 2 lets players board windows before enemies climb in
You can board specific windows with wooden planks before enemies climb through them. It turns a survival-horror threat into a frantic home-improvement task.
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WonderSwan added buttons for rotated play
Its controls included an extra cluster of buttons for use when the console was rotated. The game software determined whether you played with the screen…
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Glowing objects make hidden switches less surprising
When every useful object shines like a small sun, a hidden switch is no longer much of a discovery.
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Microsoft named the Xbox One as an all-in-one hub for home entertainment
Microsoft intended it to route every kind of home media through a single device.
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Two Truths and a Lie exposes poor poker faces during fabricated statements
Making up a plausible lie takes more mental effort than stating a truth, which can make players stumble, sweat, or giggle.
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Splinter Cell let you hide above guards
Players could brace themselves in a full split between two walls, letting armed guards walk underneath without spotting them.
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Destiny needed a Ghost whose actor could keep coming back
Bungie cited scheduling and the demands of an evolving game when replacing Peter Dinklage with Nolan North. North also rerecorded the earlier dialogue,…
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