Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
When roommate drama destroys a professional team
Even elite teams can fall apart over ordinary roommate conflicts: one player refusing to share snacks or taking an inside joke too far can become a bigger…
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A voice actor's instrument is living tissue that needs recovery
The vocal folds vibrate as air passes between them, and sustained talking or shouting can strain the voice. Hydration, breaks, and avoiding vocal overuse…
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Regional localizations alter character names
Localization teams sometimes change character names to better suit another market’s language or cultural context, so the same character may have different…
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Virtual billboards serve real world advertisements
Game publishers can swap billboard textures dynamically, so a virtual street can carry real-world ad campaigns—sometimes jarringly breaking immersion.
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The sound of rain might be frying bacon
Audio technicians found that frying pork in a hot pan sounds like rain hitting a roof—so that cozy downpour in your digital window may actually be breakfast.
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Why adult women voice so many child characters
Recording with children can be complicated by labor laws and unpredictable behavior, so studios often hire adult actresses to voice child characters. Skilled…
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Stunt doubles perform digital backflips in tight suits
Professional stunt performers wear tracking suits to do the flips and kicks, supplying the movement for a digital character instead of the actor performing…
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Why movie dogs wear tracking suits
Tracking markers on a snug suit let production teams capture a dog’s movements, including its tail wag, for animation.
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Why video games invent fake brands
Invented ads let game makers fill billboards with realistic-looking clutter without paying licensing fees.
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How a coffee cup became a monster's breath
Sound designers can make a monster’s breath by whispering into a paper coffee cup and distorting the recording. A break-room cup can become a creature…
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Colorblind accessibility options change entire palettes
Games may replace red- and green-coded warnings or team markers with more distinguishable colors, helping players spot hazards and tell allies from enemies.
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Resident Evil 7's artists went shopping for real animal organs
Capcom's team used photogrammetry: photographs from different angles became detailed 3D models. To give the horror game's objects convincing surfaces, they…
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Diablo became itself when its creator stopped waiting for turns
David Brevik originally wanted turn-based combat and resisted the push toward real time. Once he tested the change, clicking a monster and immediately…
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Some N64 games needed a red RAM upgrade
Some demanding N64 games required players to install a red Expansion Pak in the console’s top slot to add four megabytes of RAM.
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The Sega CD turned a console into a bulky stack
It needed its own large power supply, turning the console into a bulky stack that could barely fit on a standard entertainment center shelf.
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PlayStation 3 Super Slim possessed a flimsy sliding cover
The Super Slim swapped the motorized disc slot for a manually sliding, ribbed-plastic cover.
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Mario Kart could turn eight GameCubes into one race
Double Dash's LAN mode could connect eight consoles through broadband adapters and a network hub. Each station could have its own TV, with up to eight…
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The Switch dock lets the console keep doing the computing
The original Switch runs the game inside the handheld unit even when you play on a TV. The dock supplies power and routes video to HDMI; it isn't a second…
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The Xbox 360 that could not save your progress
The cheapest model shipped without a hard drive, so players with nowhere else to save had to leave the console running to preserve their progress.
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The PlayStation disc that lived inside a plastic shell
Sony's Universal Media Disc put a small optical disc inside a plastic shell for the PlayStation Portable. The shell could snap open and expose the disc to…
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The PlayStation Vita had a touchpad on its back
A capacitive touchpad covered the back of the Vita, so players could trigger accidental inputs just by resting their fingers on the system.
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Why the Sega Saturn had two processors
Sega added a second processor to improve the Saturn's 3D capabilities, but the complicated design made the console difficult to program efficiently.
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Game Boy Micro was inexplicably tiny and lacked features
Released as a late-life redesign, it was about the size of a candy bar, with bright metal faceplates but no backward compatibility with older cartridges. Its…
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Xbox One S removed the massive proprietary power brick
The redesign moved the power supply inside the console, eliminating the bulky brick that had hung from earlier Xbox power cables.
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