"Mandela Effect" moments in Gaming?

[Eamon]

Not sure this counts, but a ton of people now remember the Xbox One's terrible reveal to have been at the E3 that year. But that is not the case - there was a separate May showcase that contained the horrific "TV TV TV" reveal, while the E3 was actually a really good games-focused event

 

[BanetteAndBaguette]

For some reasons as a kid I'd think the fat dragon boss from rayman origins would say "totally fruity" when defeated instead of "tutti ma bene" and I'm still thinking about that to this day

 

[MoonlitBow]

wait WHAT gen 1 had dual types?!?!?

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Single type Pokemon were actually kind of uncommon in Generation 1 in fact. A lot of single type Pokemon ended up evolving into one with a second type as well.

 

[Stencil]

I still swear to god I was able to jump onto the streetlights and swing from them like monkey bars in Streets of Rage on the 6-pak. Maybe I just dreamt it, I was like 5 at the time.

 

[Het_Nkik]

as a kid I'd think the fat dragon boss from rayman origins

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In my head this game came out like 5 years ago, not 11. Jesus.

 

[Tunesmith]

I hate the popularisation of the "mandela effect" which normally boils down to people misremembering things and refusing to accept that that their memory is fallible.

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Concept is interesting but I dislike it nontheless because the entire thing was created by Fiona Broome just to help her sell her books.

 

[Treefrog]

I can still vividly picture playing GBC games on my DS... except apparently thats not a thing lol. I was sure that the internet was wrong, thats how sure I am that its a thing I could do back in the day

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I thought that earlier DS systems had this? My launch DS has this feature. I believe that took it out for the revisions?

The redeads in OoT's castle town freeze you when they scream. I'm sure of it. But they don't.

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Oh really?! I thought both the undeads in town and in the well froze you, or at least slowed down time while the camera focused on them.

 

[plow]

,

Not sure if this works. Me and my friends thought, that this was the 1.6 Intro Music, like forever. Turned out it wasn't and it's the Condition Zero intro. It was used as an Intro in some "cracked" versions we had. But even after playing the Steam version of 1.6 for YEARS, we still thought that that is the official intro song to 1.6

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Until yesterday, Tunic was never said to be a Game Pass game.

 

[double_heist]

Not really gaming related but the only other instance of the Mandala effect I could think of was the Berenstain Bears. I remember clearly in my childhood that it was spelled Berenstein Bears, but apparently that was a lie:

 

[MayorTortimer]

For a while, I had no idea that Skarmory was introduced back in Gen 2–I was always sure it was a Gen 3 Pokemon for some reason. I played Gold obsessively as a kid, but Skarmory was exclusive to Silver, which would explain why I practically never came across it.

Still, for years I had assumed it was a Gen 3 Pokemon just because it fits more with those Pokemon aesthetically, in my opinion. Definitely was a bit of a "mandela effect" experience when I first made the realization...

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

I've seen tons of people claim to have reached the Pong mini game Easter egg in Mortal Kombat II for SNES and Genesis after playing 250 matches but it doesn't actually exist. It's included on most cheat sites and guides but isn't actually in either 16 bit ports. It IS real in arcade, but anyone remembering it on Super Nintendo or Genesis just saw it in a magazine and has a false memory.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Single type Pokemon were actually kind of uncommon in Generation 1 in fact. A lot of single type Pokemon ended up evolving into one with a second type as well.

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so many grass poison types. I think the only pure grass type might have been Tangela lol

 

[Aaronrules380]

For a while, I had no idea that Skarmory was introduced back in Gen 2–I was always sure it was a Gen 3 Pokemon for some reason. I played Gold obsessively as a kid, but Skarmory was exclusive to Silver, which would explain why I practically never came across it.

Still, for years I had assumed it was a Gen 3 Pokemon just because it fits more with those Pokemon aesthetically, in my opinion. Definitely was a bit of a "mandela effect" experience when I first made the realization...

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I think Slugma also has a similar effect on some people. Largely because they're underused in gen 2 (because gen 2 kind of shafted it's new Pokemon in favor of gen 1 ones) and very rare but much more noticable in their gen 3 appearances

 

[Tavernade]

For a while, I had no idea that Skarmory was introduced back in Gen 2–I was always sure it was a Gen 3 Pokemon for some reason. I played Gold obsessively as a kid, but Skarmory was exclusive to Silver, which would explain why I practically never came across it.

Still, for years I had assumed it was a Gen 3 Pokemon just because it fits more with those Pokemon aesthetically, in my opinion. Definitely was a bit of a "mandela effect" experience when I first made the realization...

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I remember leaks at the time had Skarmory as a third legendary bird alongside Ho-oh and Lugia, and would not be surprised if there was a lot of misinformation about them going around back then. But at the same time I don't recall seeing anything from that being discussed in any of the deep dive Pokemon rumors and debunking stuff I've watched/read. So maybe I'm misremembering myself?

 

[MayorTortimer]

I remember leaks at the time had Skarmory as a third legendary bird alongside Ho-oh and Lugia, and would not be surprised if there was a lot of misinformation about them going around back then. But at the same time I don't recall seeing anything from that being discussed in any of the deep dive Pokemon rumors and debunking stuff I've watched/read. So maybe I'm misremembering myself?

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I have no idea, unfortunately! I was not online before Gen 2 came out haha - I was like 7 when it released in the US.

Still, it's so hard to keep a good archive of all the rumors/fan speculation before new Pokemon games release. Pokemon fans always take a tiny morsel of information and blow it into something way out of proportion hahaha. I could totally see people assuming Skarmory was a legendary - its design has that vibe!

 

[Tavernade]

I have no idea, unfortunately! I was not online before Gen 2 came out haha - I was like 7 when it released in the US.

Still, it's so hard to keep a good archive of all the rumors/fan speculation before new Pokemon games release. Pokemon fans always take a tiny morsel of information and blow it into something way out of proportion hahaha. I could totally see people assuming Skarmory was a legendary - its design has that vibe!

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Yeah, it definitely has that vibe! I think a lot of it was also how nicely it fit alongside Articuno/Moltres/Zapdos? Like I was all ready for it to be on my team as the legendary rep and then kind of lost interest when it was just a normal Pokemon.

That speculation period was probably really unique in the franchise, because you had magazines releasing the Japanese info early and (poorly) translating and understanding it, plus the internet interactions about it. I can't imagine much was generated from magazines for Gen 3 or beyond. Both because magazines were dying by then and because Gen 3 seemed like the franchise hype was dying down a little by then.

 

[MayorTortimer]

Yeah, it definitely has that vibe! I think a lot of it was also how nicely it fit alongside Articuno/Moltres/Zapdos? Like I was all ready for it to be on my team as the legendary rep and then kind of lost interest when it was just a normal Pokemon.

That speculation period was probably really unique in the franchise, because you had magazines releasing the Japanese info early and (poorly) translating and understanding it, plus the internet interactions about it. I can't imagine much was generated from magazines for Gen 3 or beyond. Both because magazines were dying by then and because Gen 3 seemed like the franchise hype was dying down a little by then.

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It's wild how fan speculation from that era crept into playground conversations at my elementary school, despite virtually all of us not being online. I distinctly remember kids talking about "Pikablu" before Gold and Silver came out, haha. Must've been kids hearing things from their older/more online siblings or something.

 

[natanqb]

I think many prople remember Cloud as a silent protagonist in the original FF 7, but he isn't.

 

[404LinkNotFound]

People collectively thinking that the Wii barely sold software outside Nintendo games and some shovelware when majority of its sales came from 3rd parties and its software total was nearly 1 billion copies

Then again i guess it doesnt count cuz people definitely thought that even during the Wii era has it happened

 

[dlauv]

Feels like less Mandela and more internalized Cheatplanet.com bullshit.

 

[Harp]

The Pikachu thing seems pretty silly. Do all Pokémon always no matter what have the same spots, stripes, etc? For the purposes of promotional art, or the ease of animation in the anime, I'm sure they do or at least are fairly close in that regard, but I always assumed they were like animals. Not every Zebra has the same stripes, not every chihuahua/beagle mix has the same colors in the same distribution. Why would Pokémon, then?

But then I guess if literally every piece of official art is consistent on the tail, well then that settles that.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

People collectively thinking that the Wii barely sold software outside Nintendo games and some shovelware when majority of its sales came from 3rd parties and its software total was nearly 1 billion copies

Then again i guess it doesnt count cuz people definitely thought that even during the Wii era has it happened

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Artificial scarcity! ...despite there being more Wii consoles available to purchase than any other console before or since.

 

[404LinkNotFound]

Artificial scarcity! ...despite there being more Wii consoles available to purchase than any other console before or since.

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Artifical scarcity makes no damn sense. Theyd actually want people to have the systems as soon as possible to make the real money...software purchases

 

[gothi]

Not sure this counts, but a ton of people now remember the Xbox One's terrible reveal to have been at the E3 that year. But that is not the case - there was a separate May showcase that contained the horrific "TV TV TV" reveal, while the E3 was actually a really good games-focused event

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Just to add to this, even to this day people are still saying things like:
"Xbox planned to make it so you couldn't sell or lend your games to each other" and often pull up the Sony video as evidence.

The original Xbox plan allowed you to share your entire game library with up to 10 "family" members across multiple consoles, with the caveat that whilst you could always play your games only 1 of the 10 family members could play games in your library at the same time as you.
You could still give one of your games to a friend - the requirement there being that you had to have been friends for 30 days or more and you could only do it once as it was a transfer of ownership.

As for selling your games you could still do that but only to retail partners like Gamestop etc, this would have had an effect on places like eBay and publishers could always opt out (the backlash would have been significant for the first publisher to try this).

Certainly more restrictive than what people were used to, and the 10 family members thing would have been ripe for abuse with people who were OK scheduling game sessions, but not quite the blanket removal of sharing & selling that people remember it as being.

 

[buset]

I thought that earlier DS systems had this? My launch DS has this feature. I believe that took it out for the revisions?

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yeah, the DS Lite is the one without the GBA slot

 

[Deleted member 27921]

yeah, the DS Lite is the one without the GBA slot

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DS Lite *does* have a GBA slot. Has a cool color-matched cover and everything.

The DSi does NOT have a GBA slot.

 

[buset]

DS Lite *does* have a GBA slot. Has a cool color-matched cover and everything.

The DSi does NOT have a GBA slot.

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You are correct. Its the Mandela effect all over again ;)

 

[emperor bohe]

That ridiculous thing about setting your age to 99 in DOA2 and how it affected the boob bounce.

It never did but so many people would argue with me that it did...

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This was a big one lol, but I owned the game and remember it not really doing anything. Can't remember if this was the case in DOA1 as well tho.

 

[pbayne]

I think it was gen 3 of pokemon-the male character's hat im pretty sure most people(myself included)thought that was his own white hair.

 

[sugarless]

You are correct. Its the Mandela effect all over again ;)

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Also, both versions with GBA slots could only play GBA games, not earlier GBC/GB games. This is probably conflation of memories of GBC/GB games being played on a GBA and sticking way out of the smaller slot.

 

[Oozer]

Halo 1 was never going to be a Mac exclusive. It began development on PC and was intended to release on PC on day 1.

 

[BanetteAndBaguette]

In my head this game came out like 5 years ago, not 11. Jesus.

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time sure does fly haha

 

[Version 3.0]

It says Game Boy, as two words, on the front of almost every one ever made. Only the Micro lacks the branding right in your face. And of course all official material spells it with two words.

Yet 90% of the time (Eg check out ebay listings) it is written as 'gameboy'.

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That's true, but I'm not sure anyone's confused about it. They're just lazy. Like everyone writes Spider-Man as "Spiderman".

 

[SneakyBadger]

Ooh good topic. I'm looking forward to reading through this thread later. I feel like there are a couple for me but I'll have to try and remember.

 

[Ralemont]

I don't know if this counts since it isn't a specific memory tied to something, but I think literally everyone playing Mortal Kombat 1 at the time thought Sub-Zero was A Good Guy and Scorpion was A Bad Guy.

 

[RoadDogg]

Halo 1 was never going to be a Mac exclusive. It began development on PC and was intended to release on PC on day 1.

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Is this true? I remember seeing Jobs introduce it back in 1999 as Macworld and it being a Mac exclusive. I just went back and rewatched the video and he doesn't actually say exclusive so it's possible whatever site I saw it on implied it on their own, but every article I can find now still stays it was a Mac exclusive strategy game when Jobs announced it.

 

[FarZa17]

Vega, Balrog and M.Bison name swap in Street FIghter II made me thought that I am mis-remembered or in different universe before...

....only to find out that the name swap indeed happened, where Western/International version of SF game have to swap names to avoid Mike Tyson lawsuit.
I am more familiar with Japan/Asia origin name, where the red boss is Vega.

 

[Version 3.0]

I thought that earlier DS systems had this? My launch DS has this feature. I believe that took it out for the revisions?

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Can you double check that? I've got a launch DS right here, and I just tried, and I can't get a Game Boy nor a Game Boy Color cart to fit in. And the manual and box both say you can play GBA games, but make no mention of Game Boy or Color ones.

They both work fine on a GBA - launch or SP - which has got to be what people are thinking of.

 

[OtakuCoder]

Not sure this counts, but a ton of people now remember the Xbox One's terrible reveal to have been at the E3 that year. But that is not the case - there was a separate May showcase that contained the horrific "TV TV TV" reveal, while the E3 was actually a really good games-focused event

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The problem with the E3 event was that they did absolutely nothing to address the always-connected DRM and mandatory Kinect concerns, which left Sony a golden opportunity to tear them a new one.

 

[CerealKi11a]

Some people think Pikachu has a dark end on its tail, like the ears, but it doesn't.

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I blame Pichu for that

 

[Eamon]

The problem with the E3 event was that they did absolutely nothing to address the always-connected DRM and mandatory Kinect concerns, which left Sony a golden opportunity to tear them a new one.

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I don't disagree with the point you're making here but that is very different than what people tend to recall about the summer of 2013. There seems to be a Mandela effect in which people have combined E3 2013 and the Xbox One Reveal event in their memories - when this isn't true

 

[Dremorak]

I thought that earlier DS systems had this? My launch DS has this feature. I believe that took it out for the revisions?

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Nintendo Support: Game Boy Game Doesn't Fit

en-americas-support.nintendo.com

Nope!
I thought the same thing. Weird right?

 

[RoadDogg]

The DS never played anything below GBA and Nintendo never claimed as such. It was one of the first things they spelled out when the DS was gong to be their 3rd pillar and not actually replace the GBA or the Game Boy line all together.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I don't know if this counts since it isn't a specific memory tied to something, but I think literally everyone playing Mortal Kombat 1 at the time thought Sub-Zero was A Good Guy and Scorpion was A Bad Guy.

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I didn't.


Because I read the manual.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

In TMNT 1 for the NES just before you dive off the dam to do the famous bomb disarm level there is a little gap on the south part of the dam and I remember being able to drop down there as a kid when I first played the game at my neighbors place and he remembers that too but we know as adults that it isn't possible (which confuses the hell out of us)

 

[Clown_im_OP]

This was probably something exclusive to my circle of friends, but back in the day (we were like 12) we convinced ourselves that there was a alternate Ifrit summon in FFVII, like with Choco/Mog. Someone said he saw it and it just snowballed I guess. To this day I can picture it in my head.

 

[OtakuCoder]

I don't disagree with the point you're making here but that is very different than what people tend to recall about the summer of 2013. There seems to be a Mandela effect in which people have combined E3 2013 and the Xbox One Reveal event in their memories - when this isn't true

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I mean, the explanation for why that happened is pretty straightforward: this was a long time ago and most people don't reserve the memory capacity to recall that there were two separate Xbox events. Their brains summarise it as "Shit went down at E3".

 

[Dreavus]

The redeads in OoT's castle town freeze you when they scream. I'm sure of it. But they don't.

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I think the redeads in windwaker freeze you though, along with a similar sound effect, so maybe that's where that came from?

 

[Ralemont]

I didn't.


Because I read the manual.

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Even MK1's manual is vague on this. It just says Scorpion is out for revenge for the Lin Keui killing him. The stuff about his family being killed was added in MK2.