This article presents a countdown of the top 40 mind-blowing facts in gaming history. Some of the notable facts include:
* The fog in Silent Hill was added to conceal poor loading times
* The name "Final Fantasy" was chosen because Square thought it would be their last game due to bankruptcy
* Kurt Cobain is referenced in a level of Doom 2
* The Simlish language in The Sims is composed of elements from Ukrainian, Navajo, and Telugu
* Prisoners in some Chinese jails are forced to farm gold in World of Warcraft
* Tetris creator didn't receive royalties until the 1990s
* Rockstar paid for controversy to generate press for their games
* Pokémon Gold and Silver were meant to be the last Pokémon games
* The Konami code was created for testing purposes but accidentally left in the final game
* Mario was designed with practical limitations in mind, such as his big nose and mustache
* Metal Gear was originally designed as an action game but was changed to a stealth game due to system limitations
* The PlayStation was originally designed to be a Nintendo product
* A group of students hacked a version of Pac-Man and it became Mrs. Pac-Man
* Nintendo owns the rights to a porn parody of the Mario games
* The first video game was not Pong, but a Magnavox game called Table Tennis.
These facts showcase the interesting and sometimes surprising history of the gaming industry.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. In the German version of Link's Awakening, a buzz blob says "Not without a condom" after being turned into a kook man.
2. The fog in Silent Hill was added to conceal poor loading times.
3. The name "Final Fantasy" was chosen because Square thought it would be their last game due to bankruptcy.
4. A level in Doom 2 is named "Nirvana" and features a shotgun, possibly as a reference to Kurt Cobain.
5. Kirby's Dream Land 2 has a hidden risqué image in one of its levels.
6. The towers in the PS2 splash screen are related to the number of games played and the time spent playing them.
7. The N64 logo is made up of exactly 64 vertices and 64 faces.
8. Space Invaders caused a nationwide shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan due to its popularity.
9. Fox McCloud's character has robotic legs, according to the manual.
10. Diablo has a sound effect that makes sense when played backwards.
11. Dr. Wily's sprite in Mega Man 7 has a hidden image of breasts when the foreground is removed.
12. The grunts in Quake have their bodies hard-wired to pleasure devices when they murder someone, according to the manual.
13. Silent Hill is based on the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania.
14. The NES controller was originally intended to have a microphone.
15. Playing Minecraft is a mandatory part of the curriculum for young students in Stockholm.
16. A large portion of Sonic the Hedgehog 3's soundtrack was composed by Michael Jackson.
17. The Simlish language is a combination of Ukrainian, Navajo, Telugu, and English.
18. Prisoners in some Chinese jails are forced to farm gold in World of Warcraft.
19. Space Invaders speeds up as more enemies are killed due to reduced rendering requirements.
20. Team Fortress Classic had a bug where players would sometimes appear in the other team's colors, which was later turned into the Spy class.
21. The original Donkey Kong was conceptualized as a Popeye game.
22. Halo was originally designed as a real-time strategy game for PC.
23. Mass Effect 3's ending features a cameo by Buzz Aldrin.
24. The Simlish language is a combination of Ukrainian, Navajo, Telugu, and English.
25. Before Minecraft, Tetris was the most ubiquitous game in the world, but its creator didn't receive royalties until the 1990s.
26. Rockstar paid for controversy to generate press for their games.
27. The second installments of the Pokémon series, Gold and Silver, were intended to be the last Pokémon games.
28. Donkey Kong was originally portrayed as a cruelly treated pet by Mario.
29. In the Japanese version of Earthbound, Ness walks around naked in his own mind.
30. The Konami code was never intended for public use, but was accidentally left in the final game.
31. Mario was designed with practical limitations in mind, such as his big nose and moustache.
32. Metal Gear was originally designed as an action game, but was changed to a stealth game due to system limitations.
33. The PlayStation was originally designed as a Nintendo product.
34. A group of university students created a hacked version of Pac-Man, which was later bought by Namco and turned into Ms. Pac-Man.
35. Nintendo owns the rights to a porn parody of the Mario games, Super Hornio Brothers.
36. Mario, Paarthurnax (from Skyrim), and Cortana (from Halo) share the same voice actor.
37. If someone asks what the first video game was, most people would respond with Pong, but it was actually a ripoff of a Magnavox game called Table Tennis.
38. Deus Ex predicted that terrorists would take down the Twin Towers a year before it happened.
39. Mario frequently murders citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, according to the American manual.