If gamers were great at one thing, that would be lying. Throughout the years, gamers from around the world have conjured up lies (video game urban legends) that were believed to be true by the masses. I decided to put together a list of my favorite video game lies to share with our readers. Feel free to challenge me on any of these, but I guarantee that all of the following tales are indeed untrue:
#10. Blowing into NES cartridges will fix them.
One of the biggest lies of the 1980s was the whole blowing into the NES cartridge tale. Most gamers believed that blowing into cartridges would fix them and allow you to play games that weren’t loading. By doing this, you were actually damaging the cartridges with moisture. Using alcohol and Q-tips would be the proper way to clean and fix cartridges that don’t load.
#9. There is a port on the NES that will play SEGA games.
No one in North America was able to take advantage of the strange port on the bottom of the NES. Most gamers claimed that the port was there to play SEGA games, but it was actually there for LAN parties. Unfortunately, Nintendo never took advantage of the port in North America.
#8. There’s a secret code that will enable you to unlock a nude Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.
One of the most widespread lies of the 1990s told people that there was a cheat code in Tomb Raider that would allow you to play as a naked Lara Croft. This was certainly a fantasy of most gamers, but an untrue one. No such cheat exists in any of the Tomb Raider games. The only way you’ll ever play as a nude Lara Croft is with an unofficial PC mod.
#7. Iraq Purchased 4,000 PS2’s to launch missiles.
According to World Net Daily, the FBI and the U.S. Customs Service are investigating the transfer of several thousand PS2 consoles to Iraq. The urban legend claims that Iraq purchased 4,000 PS2 consoles, which could be linked together to form a supercomputer. While this was a cool story that circulated around the internet, there are no facts behind it. Once the United States invaded Iraq, no PS2 consoles were recovered among the weapons of mass destruction. In fact, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found at all. I’m suspicious that the Saddam regime were just huge God of War fans and wanted everyone to have a system.
#6. You can kill the dog in Duck Hunt.
A lot of people claimed that the dog in Duck Hunt (NES) could be killed if you had a high enough score to enter a special mode. This lie was actually rooted in the arcade game, where you could shoot the dog during the special mode, but you were never able to kill the dog.
#5. If you beat Super Mario Brothers four times in a row without dying, Nintendo will send you 4 free games.
This one certainly sounds absurd, but a lot of people believed it. I was told by numerous friends that if I could beat Super Mario Brothers four times in a row without dying, that a 1-800 number would appear on the screen, which if called would send you a voucher for 4 free NES games.
#4. There is a dungeon level in the Legend of Zelda that is a swastika.
Gamers are always trying to claim that games are inspired by Nazis or crazy Russians. This particular myth reminds me of the one claiming Mario was inspired by Stalin. Many people have spread the rumor that one level in the original Zelda (NES) was a swastika. According to PerezStart, “this shape is actually a “manji”, which is a Buddhist symbol of good fortune”.
#3. Wrapping your 360 in a towel will fix RROD.
If you are crazy enough to try this one, I hope you have fire insurance! Wrapping your Xbox 360 in a towel will actually cause further damage to your system and is a huge fire risk. The trick may work temporarily, but does not last very long and certainly causes further damage to your already broken system.
#2. In 1982, someone scored 6,131,940 points on Pac Man.
In the 1980s, high scores were everything. I remember taking Polaroid pictures of my high scores to send to the video game magazines. In 1982, an 8-year old broke the Pac Man high score with 6,131,940 points. The highest score achievable is 3,333,360!
In 1982, 8-year-old Jeffrey R. Yee of San Fransisco set the worldwide record for the high score on Pac Man: 6,131,940 points. In reality, the highest score achievable is 3,333,360 points, due to a game-ending byte-overflow bug in the screen rendering code when level 256 is reached, causing a “split-screen” effect, and rendering the game un-advanceable at this point. Even President Ronald Reagan was fooled by this lie, having sent Jeffrey a letter of congratulations.
#1. The government used a game called ‘Polybius’ to brainwash citizens.
Some people believe that a government run arcade cabinet called ‘Polybius’ was released to collect data on citizens. One the game was played, it would cause seizures, memory loss and major brainwashing. This absurd story never really happened, but many people still believe it.
1: Action/Puzzle game. Rumored to have a rotating 3D Puzzle, along with logic puzzles, and mazes resembling the playing style of Pac-Man.
2: You were flying through a tunnel and had to dodge things in your path. Lights flashing at rapid rates to heighten the effect. Said to resemble a pro-type for Atari’s “Tempest.” (Which was a shooter game. In an article about Tempest, it was said that the prototype caused motion sickness after a period of time.) The basis of the game was to get through a maze without being caught in a trap or a mine. Apparently, the further the levels went, to make the game more difficult, the background would start flashing much like a strobe light, and the spinning of the mazes.
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