Here’s some “useless video game knowledge” shared by gamers online
A large number of tweets sharing obscure and interesting video game facts have been circulating on Twitter. The trend started with a tweet from the Super Pod Saga Twitter account which asked, “What is the most useless piece of video game knowledge you know?”
Tons of gamers responded with facts spanning a wide range of games. For example, one user shared that Freya is the only left-handed party member in Final Fantasy IX. Of course, this information isn’t really relevant when playing the game, but it’s a fun little fact. In this article, I want to share 7 more bits of trivia that I found interesting.
The Sonic protein
First up is a case of a protein being named after a video game character. According to a tweet by Twitter user @TheNCSmaster, our bodies have a “Sonic hedgehog” protein, with the origin of course being Sega’s mascot character Sonic the Hedgehog.
Furthermore, there also appears to be a “Pikachurin” protein. In this case, the protein was named after Pikachu, the mascot of the Pokémon series. The protein is essential for quickly sending visual information, so borrowing its name from the speedy Pikachu is a perfect fit. In a sense, we all have a little bit of Sonic and Pikachu in us to help keep our bodies up and running.
UNDERTALE’s Flowey sounds just like Ronald McDonald
Flowey is the only character in UNDERTALE that has voiced human speech, with the line “That’s a wonderful idea!” According to Twitter user @McDonaldsOOC, Flowey’s voice is the same as Ronald McDonald, the mascot of the fast-food chain McDonald’s.
When listening to the included video, it does sound similar to the voice of Flowey. However, whether the voice in-game was sampled from Ronald McDonald, imitated, or just a coincidence is unknown.
As an aside, it was revealed that UNDERTALE creator Toby Fox recorded the line personally for the dub in the Japanese version.
The missing “L” from Resident Evil 2
Remakes often try to stay true to the original while sometimes making a few changes along the way. This also applies to the remake of Resident Evil 2. In the original, the “Welcome” sign for Leon’s welcoming party is misspelled as “Wellcome.” The remake fixes this spelling error and changes the hanging banner to a string of letters attached together.
Some players might be disappointed by a change that brushes over some of the charm of the original, but there’s no need to worry. The missing “L” is laying on a nearby table. It pays respect to the original game while also being a nod to longtime fans.
Why Savos Aren never sleeps
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim features a wide variety of characters that go about their daily lives in the game. Among them is Savos Aren, a particularly hard worker who lives in the College of Winterhold. Savos is a character that constantly wanders the premises and never stops to get any sleep. The reason apparently lies in a limit on how far the character can move.
According to players’ testing, the internal data for Savos states that he is set to sleep between 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. However, Savos is limited to a travel range of 500 units while his bed is located 1,300 units away. Since his bed is too far away, Savos became a hard-working character that roams around with no sleep… Or a character that’s cursed to roam because he can’t sleep.
The cows in Team Fortress 2 can destroy the world
The cardboard cows that appear on the Team Fortress 2 map 2Fort apparently must not be deleted from the game’s files. According to Twitter user @AlphaUnitTom, deleting the files related to the cows from the game causes such a big issue that the game can’t run without them.
YouTuber Shounic, who makes videos about Team Fortress 2, also has a video looking into the subject. According to the video, the game has a number of essential files that are required for the game to run. Among them are a collection of seemingly unimportant 3D models and other random things. Oddly enough, the cardboard cow is one of them, so deleting it will result in the game not running properly.
What’s that peeking out of Oro’s robe?
In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, there’s one frame of animation for the character Oro where it looks like a little something from the character’s nether regions peeks out to say hello. While it could be something unrelated that happens to look that way, when considering the fleshy color and shape, you couldn’t blame someone for coming to that conclusion.
One reply added, “Wow now I can’t unsee it.” Next time you play as Oro, you may have to avert your eyes… Or maybe you’ll know exactly where to look.
Turning Luigi’s jewels into coins
Now let’s take a look at another groin that’s grabbing attention. Twitter user @4Lukaska showed off a way to earn coins in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga by continuously punching Luigi over and over in a delicate area.
First, have Luigi hit Mario with a hammer to shrink him down. Next, have Luigi go to jump on Mario’s shoulders and then jump with Mario while Luigi is over his head. Doing so will cause Mario to jump up and punch Luigi right between the legs. Doing this continuously will deplete Luigi’s HP, but it can’t drop below one. It is tough to see Luigi’s pain as Mario knocks the coins out of him, though.
Each hit will result in Luigi’s HP dropping by a set amount, and Mario will receive a coin for each damaging hit. Additionally, the amount of damage Luigi takes from each punch varies by the region and version of the game. In the North American version, one hit generates one coin and does one damage. In the Japanese version, each hit (one coin) does two damage. In the remake, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, each hit (one coin) does four damage.
After Luigi’s HP drops as low as it can go, instead of coins, Mario’s punches bring only pain. Luckily, in the remake and Japanese version, Luigi can be healed with Recovery Blocks to make for an infinite money-making scheme. The remake not only makes it more painful for Luigi, but encourages players to punch him more. Luigi might prefer you use a different method to get your coins, though.
Bertrand Russell once said, “There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.” We only showcased a small part of the trivia that was posted, so check the original tweet from Super Pod Saga for more.
Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-01-28 16:58 JST)
