Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why a wider game view may ease motion sickness
Playing a first-person title with a low FOV is like walking around looking through a toilet paper tube. Expanding the field of view stops your brain from…
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Why giant mousepads hold your keyboard in place
People buy massive pads claiming it gives them more room to aim. In reality, it just stops their incredibly light, cheap plastic keyboards from sliding across…
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Dropping from heights is calculated by strict timers
Gravity is often too much math for a computer to handle. Instead of calculating terminal velocity, many engines simply count how many seconds your character…
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Screen input latency is heavily measured in frames
The time it takes for your button press to actually translate into on-screen action is tiny but crucial. Anything over fifty milliseconds feels like you are…
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How changing colors created new game enemies
Instead of drawing new enemies, older developers would just take an existing character, change their digital shirt from blue to red, and declare them a…
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Analog shoulder buttons measure precise pressure
Unlike digital face buttons that just click on or off, analog triggers detect exactly how hard you squeeze them. This was primarily invented so you could…
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A game mirror may render the room twice
Digital engines cannot actually reflect things. To make a mirror work, the code has to duplicate the entire environment and character model in a hidden room…
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The controller sticks that don't drift
Hall effect sensors use magnets to measure analog stick position without any physical contact. Hardware manufacturers have known about this for decades but…
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Why ultrawide screens can wreck game interfaces
Buying a massive cinematic monitor seems great until you realize most creators hardcode their menus for standard ratios. Enjoy permanently staring at…
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Digital platinum trophies demand endless grinding
Earning a platinum award rarely means you are highly skilled. It usually just means you had the sheer stubbornness to collect five hundred useless digital…
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Why old 3D games were filled with fog
Early 3D titles didn't have atmospheric mist because the creators loved eerie environments. They did it because the console would literally catch fire if it…
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How controllers make virtual mud feel real
Instead of spinning a lopsided weight to make a controller shake, modern haptics use miniature speakers. They literally play low-frequency sound waves into…
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How a save file can bring a game world down
The longer you explore an expansive roleplaying adventure, the more changes the system has to track. Eventually, the save file becomes so massively engorged…
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Specular highlights make digital skin look sweaty
To make plastic-looking characters appear more lifelike, creators crank up the light reflection on their models. The accidental result is an entire cast of…
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Modern game installations extract heavily zipped files
You aren't downloading a massive two hundred gigabyte file directly. The servers send compressed data packets that your processor then has to furiously…
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Display panels prioritize response over pure colors
High-end competitive monitors boast lightning-fast pixel changes, but to achieve this, they often sacrifice color accuracy. You get unparalleled…
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Texture pop-in happens when memory loads too slowly
When you drive into a new virtual city and the buildings look like smooth clay blocks for three seconds, that is the hard drive failing to fetch…
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Genshin Impact localization teams reportedly went months without payment
Record-breaking profits never trickle down to the people doing the typing. Despite the gacha giant raking in astronomical wealth globally, third-party…
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A video game raised more than some space programs
Selling promises is far more lucrative than selling software. This sci-fi title has crowdfunded hundreds of millions of dollars over a decade by selling…
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Fallout 76 promised canvas and shipped plastic
Nothing builds customer loyalty like blatant false advertising. Bethesda charged premium prices for a collector's edition that promised a high-quality canvas…
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Spore's anti-piracy software punished paying customers
Anti-piracy measures usually just end up punishing the people who actually paid. EA included draconian SecuROM software that severely limited how many times a…
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Why Hearthstone changed its art for China
Artistic integrity immediately vanishes when billions of dollars are on the table. Blizzard retroactively changed various digital cards to remove exposed…
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How a video game put loot boxes before lawmakers
When a sci-fi shooter offends international lawmakers, you know you've messed up. EA locked iconic heroes behind massive paywalls or hundreds of hours of…
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Hideo Kojima put his name on nearly every mission screen
Humility is completely optional when you are considered an industry auteur. Following a bitter dispute with his publisher, this famed director ensured his…
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