Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
The famous Leeroy Jenkins raid was staged
The 2005 Leeroy Jenkins video was scripted by the World of Warcraft guild PALS FOR LIFE as a satire of players' overplanning. Its popularity eventually led…
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How alarms silence the background music
Audio ducking automatically lowers the volume of background tracks when a high-priority sound, such as an alarm, plays, so the alert isn’t drowned out.
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An air-hockey table turns a puck into a tiny hovercraft
Air forced through holes in the surface supports the puck on a thin cushion, reducing contact and friction. A light hit can then send it racing across the…
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Xbox one mandatory online check caused public disaster
Microsoft required the console to verify physical games online every 24 hours, but the backlash forced the company to rewrite its plans months before launch.
Discover moreNiko Bellic is a veteran of the Yugoslav Wars
Before moving to America, he fought in the Yugoslav Wars as a teenage soldier. Those experiences shaped his cynical outlook and combat skills.
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A boss fight that read your memory card
In Metal Gear Solid, Psycho Mantis comments on compatible game saves and seems to anticipate your moves. Moving the controller to another port breaks his…
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MASH let a notebook choose your spouse, home, and future
Players filled in possible partners, jobs, and other outcomes, then eliminated choices by counting around the page. The title's Mansion, Apartment, Shack, and…
Discover moreNoctis Lucis Caelum translates to light of the night sky
The name belongs to Final Fantasy XV’s prince, a brooding character usually dressed in black leather and often complaining about road trips.
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Magnavox Odyssey battery life was nearly non-existent
The Magnavox Odyssey needed six C batteries just to make a dot bounce across the screen.
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Boat race drinking enforces strict sequential consumption
Each person must finish drinking and slam down an empty glass before the next teammate can start, putting the whole team's progress in sequence.
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Why Call of Duty consulted real arms experts
Infinity Ward reportedly consulted military contractors and black-market arms experts to set prices for weapons such as unregistered RPGs in its…
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The casino worker guarding a mountain of chips
The person seated at the center of the table is a casino supervisor, not a player. They monitor payouts and watch for suspicious dice while overseeing stacks…
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Mass Effect’s alien languages began with animal noises
Sound designers built the alien effects from stock recordings of raccoons, bears, and bugs, then altered the animal noises to create the characters' voices.
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D&D's co-creator once worked in insurance
Before co-creating Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson, Gary Gygax worked as an insurance underwriter. His hobby was miniature wargaming: battles with rules,…
Discover moreWhen an office building turns into a heavy-metal nightmare
The building’s walls twist, floors drop, and hallways rearrange to the beat of loud rock, turning navigation into sensory overload.
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The Xbox 360 made its hard drive a removable sidecar
On the original console design, the drive sat in an external housing that clipped onto the machine. Owners could replace the storage module without opening…
Discover moreDonald Duck is Kingdom Hearts' most powerful mage
In Kingdom Hearts, Donald can cast Zettaflare, a spell powerful enough to surpass attacks by legendary final bosses.
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Metal Gear Solid 3 makes a ladder climb into a musical scene
Snake's long ascent leaves the player holding the climb control while the theme song takes over the soundtrack. Combat and exploration pause without the game…
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Battleship white pegs exclusively indicate a missed shot
Each white peg marks a shot that landed in empty water, leaving a visible record of every miss on the grid.
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Pac-Man's 256th board breaks before you can finish it
A counter-related glitch corrupts the right side of the maze with garbled graphics. That leaves the original arcade game without a normal way to complete the…
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Why old Xbox controllers had detachable cables
Breakaway cable sections detached if someone yanked the cord, helping keep the heavy console from being pulled off a shelf and onto a foot.
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Faking digital global locations to bypass regional pricing
Some shoppers use a VPN to make a digital store think they’re in a country such as Argentina or Turkey, where prices may be lower. Those discounts are meant…
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Why PlayStation's startup towers change height
Each white pillar represents a memory file, and its height reflects how many hours are in that save data.
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The game that could fake-delete your save file
When its Sanity Meter ran low, Eternal Darkness could fake a deleted save, mute the TV, or flash a bogus blue screen. Nintendo patented this kind of fake…
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