Whenever you find yourself truly immersed into a video game it is easy to forget the amount of coding that was involved into the games creation. It really is the ultimate goal for a developer to create a world for gamers that allows them to forget that they are simply using a piece of software. For a few moments a person can transform themselves into warriors, adventurers, pro athletes, fighter pilots, plumbers trying to save princesses, and countless other things.
Occasionally there are things that happen in these adventures that immediately remind us that we are using software. These things are called glitches. With all of the code that is needed to create these games, there are bound to be some mistakes along the line. Some have funny consequences, other can completely ruin the gaming experience. Here are some examples.
One of the first games to really showcase an array of glitches was Super Mario Brothers for the NES. The most commonly known of the glitches shown in the REARN49 video below is a specific jump you can execute in world 1-2. If executed properly you jumped through the brick wall and into the warp zone. At that point you had to use the warp zone. But instead of warping to worlds 1,2,or 3 you went to world -1, a never ending water level that you could never beat.
Since baseball season has just started here is a horrible example of glitches from more recent times. MLB 2K9 is the source, and EDDIEGGG27 vents a bit of frustration in this complilation. (Not work friendly audio in this video)
Street Fighter 2 houses several interesting glitches. But this one is noteworthy due to something horrible happening to E. Honda's gentleman's region. This one is not for the faint at heart, watch with caution.
Before I get started I would just like to thank the people at Captive Media for inspiring this blog post. Without their tireless drive towards innovation I wouldn't be able to write about the games of the past, and the impact those games had on the games of today. And I must say I am quite excited about this particular gaming innovation.
Ever since Nintendo released R.O.B. the robot, game companies have scrambled to find new ways for gamers to experience their games. The lists of ideas ranged from the Power Glove, the Power Pad, and the Konami LaserScope, to the more recent Wii motion controllers, Playstation's Sixaxis and Move controllers, and Xbox's Kinect. While many of these ideas went on to be great, others were monumental flops. While everybody always wonders where the next great innovation in gaming will come from, Captive Media is trying to answer that question for us.
As you can see the Captive Media game system is not controlled by your standard means of gaming, but instead by nature's call. That's right you play while you pee. The games are controlled by literally by aiming your urine stream to the left and right. The "p-controller"
According to the Captive Media website there are currently seven games available to play. There is a snowmobiling game, a track and field game, a trivia game, a pirate game, a art game, an opinion poll game, and finally a game where you can flip through advertisements. Since the game system is online enabled there is actually a worldwide leaderboard available online to see how you rank against other players.
I feel like this game would make me imagine the unpleasant sensation of peeing outside in the cold
Just what I want when I pee, some bearded dude standing right in front of me , and a parrot trying to sneak a peek at my junk
In addition to the games the video monitors also act as a means of advertisements, and entertainment while in the bathroom. The cleverly named "PTV" feature is designed to be a combination of those two elements. The PTV channel can be customized by each venue that hosts the Captive Media system in order to create a unique and fun restroom experience.
I think that the lack of a firefighting game is a horrible letdown
The system is just now over one year old and has been almost exclusively used in Europe. However next week Coca Cola Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will debut the systems in their restrooms. The team's General Manager, Kurt Landes said in a press release that "These games are sure to make a huge splash." I am sure that the stadiums janitorial staff is hoping that isn't true. One thing that is true is that now instead of pumping quarters into a machine to get replay a game, now one must pump beer into themselves to get to replay the machines.
If I was an IronPigs player I might be concerned that my management doesn't have a lot of faith in exciting baseball this summer if they are trying to make the bathroom more entertaining
I do have a few concerns about the machine. First off their website mentions content for women, which leads me to wonder how exactly that works. Normally the curious part of me would want to know the answer, but the cautious part of me is afraid enough of the answer not to try to find out.
Secondly, all good gaming companies have a life cycle for their systems. I wonder what is going to happen when the Captive Media Number Two is released. What will those games be like? I won't lie, when I know I need my number two is going to take a while, I might just grab my GameBoy Advance and play something. Maybe they could make a Turd Man RPG.
This week's YouTube review starts with the amazing Chuck Norris vs Super Mario Bros video. Chuck has earned the reputation for being a brutally awesome individual. You can see that implanting him into Super Mario Brothers drastically changes the game play options. Thank you daneboe for this video.
Who knew that John Madden was into video games way before the EA Sports annual football game that bears his name. Considering that Madden on really had to work on Sundays, I guess this commercial proves that he spent his off time commentating video game competitions. I will admit, I would have liked to see Madden analyze the kids' gameplay with the overuse of a telestrator and the word "Boom"
It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since Red vs Blue first came out. The fellas at roosterteeth.com are a true success story. Using the multiplayer mode of the original Halo game for the Xbox they created an animated series about a blue team of inept solders facing off against a red team of inept soldiers in the middle of Blood Gulch Canyon. When the videos quickly became popular and when Bungie studios contacted Rooster Teeth about the videos it appeared that they would be putting them to an end. But Bungie gave Rooster Teeth their blessing to continue the series, and even have used them to create commercials for their Halo games. This is the very first episode titled "Why Are We Here"
