Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why early PlayStation discs had blue undersides
Sony decided that the best way to stop unauthorized copying was to simply make the bottom of the disc violently blue. This quirky manufacturing choice made it…
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A beloved game prototype made in 48 hours
Masterpieces of modern digital comedy often come from sleep-deprived caffeine binges. The prototype for this famously clunky medical simulator was hacked…
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The hidden traffic penalty in SimCity
Digital mayors learned very quickly that corporate greed has devastating, hidden consequences. If you cranked the tax rates too high to line your city's…
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This game makes you control every leg muscle
Running a simple track event shouldn't require a degree in human anatomy. Yet, controlling this athlete requires you to manually flex his individual calves…
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Farming Simulator requires players to balance crop moisture
Digital agriculture pulls absolutely zero punches when it comes to tedious realism. Players must aggressively monitor soil compositions and moisture levels,…
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Madden uses real stadium boos
Nothing captures the spirit of American football quite like the sound of fifty thousand furious humans. EA actually sampled authentic boos and disgruntled…
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Euro Truck Simulator players formed virtual unions
Digital labor apparently deserves digital rights and fair compensation. The incredibly dedicated community driving fake big rigs across Europe actually formed…
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Sega patented the floating arrow
Imagine claiming legal ownership over a gigantic, glowing green directional indicator. Sega somehow managed to convince the patent office that they owned the…
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EA’s soccer game helped bankroll risky projects
Licensing the most popular sport on earth turned out to be a financial masterstroke. The annual soccer franchise generated so much consistent, ungodly wealth…
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How your PS3 could help scientists
Sony built a processor so ridiculously powerful that Stanford University asked to borrow it. They launched an initiative where users could donate their…
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Why soccer scouts use Football Manager
A glorified spreadsheet simulator is so remarkably accurate that actual professionals use it to cheat. Real-world soccer teams regularly consult the massive…
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PaRappa the Rapper's final boss is a toilet line
The pinnacle of nineteen-nineties rhythm-based storytelling ends precisely where you would expect. After learning martial arts and baking a cake, the final…
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This skating game makes you use your feet
Instead of blindly mashing buttons to perform a kickflip, this simulator demands you flick the controller sticks precisely how a skater would flick their…
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Gran Turismo forces players to take tests
Most racing titles just throw you the keys to a supercar and say 'go fast.' This strict driving simulator requires you to sit through literal exams,…
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Why esports players face drug tests
Because apparently chugging fifteen energy drinks isn't enough, professional digital athletes are routinely screened for performance-enhancing substances like…
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Slot machines are spreadsheets disguised as spinning fruit
The specific arrangement of cherries and bells on the spinning digital wheels is meticulously calculated to reflect the exact mathematical odds of hitting a…
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Complex competitive card games hire judges to interpret rules during tournaments
Some competitive tabletop card battles have rulebooks thicker than local tax codes. The mechanics are so aggressively convoluted and poorly translated that…
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The button that reveals every speck in PowerWash Simulator
Pushing a specific button causes every single tiny, remaining speck of grime on a massive mansion to glow violently in bright orange. It turns a wildly…
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Heavy Rain lets you scream Jason on repeat
During a highly emotional mall sequence, you can completely ignore all subtle narrative tension by repeatedly pressing a button to just scream Jason into the…
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Why Shark Tank Pitchers Face Silent Stares
When the doors open, the entrepreneurs must stand completely motionless and silent for several minutes while the cameras capture dramatic secondary footage.…
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Wheel of Fortune still charges $250 for a vowel
Despite decades of runaway inflation, a simple 'E' still sets contestants back exactly 250 bucks. Apparently, the outside world has absolutely zero bearing on…
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Euro Truck Simulator lets you hear live Berlin radio
While hauling thirty tons of digital fertilizer across a perfectly recreated German highway, you can actually listen to a genuine, live Berlin morning show.…
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LA Noire makes you interrogate every twitch
To successfully solve a case, you must stare deeply into completely uncanny, highly realistic digital faces to see if their left eyebrow nervously twitches.…
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Bingo daubers use specialized ink to prevent ticket smudging
The brightly colored markers are specifically formulated to dry almost instantly upon contacting the paper. This prevents the incredibly fast-paced,…
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