Random trivia you know about gaming.

[Andy Shandy]

This thread has been inspired by the fact that a short while ago I found out that the famous barcode on Agent 47's head in Hitman actually is a real barcode for a real item. Rather hilariously, the item in question is a dildo holder. Hitman: The Dildorigin anyone? Or as shrekfan said in the Brovengers chat, a Hitman/Saints Row crossover? I'm already imaging the stoic 47 in the bird suit killing people left and right with The Penetrator from Saints Row.

Anyway, what random facts and trivia does other Escapists know about video games?

 

[an annoyed writer]

There's a whole archive of random and awesome game trivia at didyouknowgaming.com, such as some of these gems:

In the original Star Fox for the Super Nintendo, the design of Fox and his crewmates was a little more gruesome than we see now: to counteract G-forces in their pre-G-diffuser arwings, each character had their feet amputated and replaced by a pair of cybernetic prosthetics. The theory goes that it was to prevent the blood from rushing to the pilots' feet during intense maneuvers.

In Paper Mario, Vivian, one of your party members, is actually transgendered. Throughout the game she searches for vindication, and Mario seems to be the only one who gives her the chance. Her sisters and Bowser's various minions pick on her for her transgendered status. in the game's conclusion, she is finally recognized as a woman, finally earning the vindication she'd been seeking. Unfortunately, the US localization stripped the game of this politicized element and instead replaced it with the decidedly more "Kid friendly" narrative of her sisters calling her variations of ugly. In its original form, it reveals a touching story about a middle-class plumber accepting people for who they are and being willing to work with them despite their quirks. This makes Mario a decidedly progressive character.

The final one is not pulled from that site, but instead from Hyrule historia, a book detailing the Legend of Zelda universe:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight princess is designed to echo Ocarina of Time in many ways: from the narrative following an adult Link to the depiction of Hyrule shrouded in darkness. One of the most interesting echoes of the past comes in the form of Ocarina's Link himself: the Hero's Shade, the undead knight who teaches the current Link all of sword skills, is actually the lingering spirit of the Hero of Time himself. From what we can see, we can discern several things: at one point after Majora's Mask, the Hero of Time was Knighted by Hyrule as evidenced by the armor. Noting the Darknut Knight's ranking system(themselves being possessed knights of Hyrule) we can discern that he is at the very least a higher ranking Knight, if not their former commander. We can also discern that after Majora's Mask, he fell into depression for reasons relating to the search for a successor that never came. Finally, we can see that he is not in fact mute: he speaks directly to the player to teach them sword techniques. This makes Ocarina's and Majora's Mask's link one of the more characterized Links in the series.

 

[Folji]

"Starkiller" wasn't a random Skywalker-esque named that LucasArts picked for The Force Unleashed; it was George Lucas' working name for Luke Skywalker when he drafted the script for the first movie!

 

[Beautiful End]

My favorite trivia is: They played the opening song from Final Fantasy VIII during the Olympics a long time ago.

I also remember this: When I was watching Charlie's Angels: The Movie for the first time, I recognized two kids playing FFVIII...with two controllers. I laughed and pointed it out to my family along with the fact that FFVIII is a single player game. And they dismissed me like they always do when i talk about videogames.

I know more but those are my favorites ones.

Also, I'm not linking Did you know Gaming. We ALL know it exists. I think the point of this thread is to add whatever trivia you remember right now or your favorite one. Come on, guys. Don't be party poopers.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Shiguru Miyamoto didn't want to make Ura Zelda (essentially an upgrade or expansion pack) for Ocarina of Time, as he knew that the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive was going to be a massive failure. So, he struck up a deal with the big heads at Nintendo. If he and his team could make a new Zelda game by 2000, they wouldn't have to male Ura Zelda. The deal was made and the result is what we know today as "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask".

The first ever concept art of Sonic the Hedgehog was drawn on a napkin, and he was, at the time, called "Mr. Needlemouse".

Megaman is blue, because the Nintendo Entertainment System had more shades of blue than any other color. Which is odd, considering his sprites didn't have that many shades of blue.

Mario wears overalls because that made it easier to tell what everything on him was (arms, legs, etc.).

An early concept of the characters Ratchet & Clank involved a reptile-like alien with three robot sidekicks.

The Doom Marine is supposed to be YOU!

"Hail to the King, Baby!" did not originate from Duke Nukem 3D. Nor did a lot of the things he said in that game, which so many people credit him for, anyway.

Stop 'N' Swop doesn't actually do anything.

The "Donkey Kong" we saw in 1981, we now know as "Cranky Kong".

Nintendo has used "Zelda's Theme Backwards" at least twice. Once as Midna's theme in Twilight Princess and again as the main theme of Skyward Sword. Aside from the three main notes, neither of these tunes really sound alike.

The Spy was added into the classic Quake mod, Team Fortress when players complained about a glitch that got certain characters' sides mixed up.

A reference to Dr. Eggman from the Sonic series is pretty much the very first thing spoken in the game, Beyonetta.

Although Disney didn't actually acquire the rights to these characters, Mario is mentioned in Wreck-It Ralph and Luigi can be seen in a bar. (His face isn't shown, though.)

Borderlands 2 has a lot of references to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic built right in.

Between the DreamCast and GameCube versions of Sonic Adventure, the only difference between the intros (aside from the title logo near the beginning) is Tails' mouth. It's closed in the DreamCast version and open in the GameCube version. (This isn't an in-engine cutscene. This is a pre-rendered video, which makes this even more strange.)

In Viewtiful Joe, when Joe plucks out a bomb out of thin air and bounces it on his foot like a soccer ball for a few seconds, he whistles the first six notes of the Super Mario Bros. overworld theme.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the first appearance of the character (not playable), Shadow the Hedgehog is mistakenly labeled as "Sonic Heroes". His first appearance was actually in Sonic Adventure 2. Similarly, the guide says that Sonic can transform into "the mighty god, Super Sonic." It's actually supposed to say "gold", or rather "golden". In fact "Mighty Super Sonic" would've been just fine.

Dolphins are an important theme in Super Mario Sunshine for the Nintendo GameCube (like Delphino Island). Why? Because, the GameCube's prototype name was "Dolphin".

The creator of Earthworm Jim also made a TV show called "Catscratch".

Paper Mario was originally going to be called "Super Mario RPG 2". However, when Square merged with Enix, that broke their ties with Nintendo. So, Nintendo had to make certain changes or remove certain things altogether that Square had involvement in. What's especially bizarre is that the game already had its trademark "paper" look before the name was changed.

In the Sonic series, Shadow was originally going to be called "Terios" (which is Japanese for "Reflection of" or "Therefore, I am..."), Rouge was originally going to be called "Nails" (as part of the rivalry between her and Knuckles), and Silver the Hedgehog was going to be "Venice the Mink". (He also had a yellow mane and went through all kinds of sci-fi gear, including a helmet.)

Skyrim is the fifth major installment of a series called "The Elder Scrolls", which has been around since 1994.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time almost got a "T" rating. Not because of the Shadow Temple, the redeads, the deadhand, the bloody walls and floors, or anything remotely-related to that. It almost got a "T" rating because Link thrusts his sword straight into Gannon's face. The ESRB stated that if the graphics had been better, they would have given it a "T" rating. (Note that this was about seven years before the E-10+ rating existed, hence the rating of Ocarina of Time 3D.)

 

[Voulan]

I also remember this: When I was watching Charlie's Angels: The Movie for the first time, I recognized two kids playing FFVIII...with two controllers. I laughed and pointed it out to my family along with the fact that FFVIII is a single player game. And they dismissed me like they always do when i talk about videogames.

I did the exact same thing! The best part was that they were pummeling those controllers like they were playing a modern shooter. It's not the worst blasphemy I've seen though - on a random TV show I was watching (which I unfortunately can't remember) two guys were playing their Xbox 360....with PS3 controllers. Oh dear.

Lara Croft was originally going to be called Laura Cruz. It's a pretty well known fact, but I mention it because Lara is also one of the most popular gaming icons whose name is frequently misspelled and pronounced, to this day. It's not Laura, guys. It's not even pronounced similar. Say it with me: Lar-ra. Not Lore-ra. Her name is LARA.

For the love of god. A personal fact that has also become a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Eddie the head]

The plasma whip in Ratchet and Clank 3. Was made on a bet. The president of Insomniac bet a guy he couldn't make it work and when he did he gave him a case of beer. Also that game almost had a M rating for a few jokes they made.