Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Mortal Kombat's Raiden is a thunder god in disguise
Stealing your character concepts directly from centuries-old mythology is incredibly efficient. The hat-wearing protector of Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat is…
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The fighting-game kick that makes blocking a guess
Defending against a jumping kick is impossible when the foot is occupying multiple dimensions. By attacking at the exact pixel overlapping your opponent, you…
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Why Mortal Kombat's blood turned gray on Nintendo
Terrified of completely losing their family-friendly image, they forced developers to recolor blood to look exactly like grey sweat. It completely ruined the…
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Video-game ragdoll physics turns bad collisions into bodies that fold like spaghetti
The hilarious sight of a defeated opponent cartwheeling over a mountain is just constrained physics geometry at work. Developers assign invisible spheres to…
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The bizarre Sega accessory that made you fight thin air
Long before motion controls actually worked, you could stand inside a plastic hexagon and aggressively karate chop the empty air. The Activator was incredibly…
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Guitar Hero was once dismissed as a terrible idea
Pitching a plastic peripheral with colorful buttons was a nightmare. Publishers laughed at the developers, claiming nobody wanted to pretend to play an…
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Why Dark Souls feels like a half-understood story
The crushing, cryptic lore of Dark Souls stems from basic illiteracy. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki grew up reading Western fantasy books, but his English was…
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Valve threw away most of Half-Life and started over
Imagine finishing 80% of your massive project and then casually throwing it in the trash because it wasn't 'fun enough'. Valve looked at their 1997 build of…
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The schoolyard game created to teach topology
What you used to desperately pass the time during middle school detention was actually high-level math. Published in 1889 by a French mathematician, this…
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Why terrifying joint locks can be gentle hugs
When a performer appears to be twisting an opponent's leg into a medical catastrophe, they are actually applying zero pressure. The most visually terrifying…
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Tetris was the USSR's first software export
Cold War tensions were briefly paused for the sake of falling geometric blocks. This digital masterpiece holds the bizarre historical honor of being the…
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Why fighting-game combos leave you helpless
The sheer joy of being juggled in the air for fifteen consecutive seconds while unable to push a single button. You get to completely let go of the controller…
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Why Breath of the Wild goes quiet in empty fields
Wandering a massive wasteland gets tedious, so the audio team decided silence was better than a loop. Instead of an epic score, players are treated to…
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Nintendo Switch stops saving screenshots after 10,000 images
Despite the sheer convenience of massive external micro drives, the console aggressively caps your ability to store more than ten thousand images. Once you…
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In Silent Hill, a siren signals the town is becoming a blood-soaked nightmare
A blaring air raid alarm is universally terrifying. The foggy horror classic utilizes a deafening, echoing siren to warn players that the relatively safe…
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Why a seven can ruin everything in craps
Before the point is established, hitting a seven is cause for massive celebration. After the point is set, even whispering the word seven at the table will…
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Sudoku was invented in Indiana
Despite its incredibly Japanese-sounding moniker, the numbers game was cooked up by a guy named Howard in the American Midwest. He published it in puzzle…
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Elite esports players issue hundreds of commands every minute to control a battle
Carpal tunnel syndrome is practically a mandatory requirement for climbing the competitive ladder. Elite commanders issue hundreds of rapid-fire orders every…
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In Cyberpunk, medical aid arrives by gunship
Why wait for an ambulance when you can pay an exorbitant subscription fee for an armed tactical drop? In a dystopian nightmare, medical responders literally…
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In fighting games, blocking a heavy hit can freeze your character long enough to be punished
Successfully blocking a massive sword swing comes with the minor downside of temporary paralysis. Because your avatar needs time to visually absorb the…
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A game lets you destroy Beethoven with a fake trombone
Beethoven didn't write his symphonies to be destroyed by a flailing computer mouse, but here we are. Trombone Champ tasks you with matching musical notes by…
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Why Mass Effect's Asari are blue
When building an epic space opera filled with horrific cybernetic reapers and militaristic turtles, Bioware knew exactly what their nerdy audience really…
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Sonic rings scatter everywhere upon taking heavy damage
Wealth retention is incredibly difficult when moving at the speed of sound. A single careless bump into a slow-moving mechanical crab will cause this blue…
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Why video-game villains get to finish their speeches
Instead of shooting the bad guy, your heavily armed character will respectfully stand still and listen to their entire evil plan.
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