10 Biggest Myths of Gaming

Myths in gaming have become a staple of video game discussions around the world: you're talking about games and someone puts in their two cents by adding a ridiculous claim or secret to the title being discussed. This speculation of secrets has led to various spirals of rumors and urban legends scattered throughout gaming history. Avoid the Polybius arcade cabinet at all costs, gumshoes, as we unearth the Biggest Myths of Gaming. You can watch our 5 favorite myths from the 5x5 team above, and then dive into even more myths in our feature below.

Saving Aerith - Final Fantasy 7

Unless you were using a GameShark, don't expect to see the last surviving Cetra in your party on discs two and three of FF7. Oh well, Cloud stole Zack's identity so it's only Fair that Zack got his girl back.

Playing as Akuma - Resident Evil 2

Akuma's appearance in Raccoon City was merely a joke that Electronic Gaming Monthly ran in their April 2000 issue. Hardcore gamers took it upon themselves to add the skin of Akuma to the PC version of RE2, but it still wasn't as awesome as EGM's falsified pictures of Gouki throwing Gohadokens at zombies.

Playing as Luigi in Super Mario 64

Though there have been claims that Luigi was intended to appear in Super Mario 64, Mario's brother ultimately no-showed Mario's 64-bit debut. Luigi was never in the finalized version of Super Mario 64, but he was a playable character in Super Mario 64 DS along with Yoshi and Wario.

Mew in Pokémon Red/Blue

While it turned out that Mew was available for the original Game Boy titles, it was only obtainable through glitch exploitations and specific Nintendo giveaway events. Despite all the speculation we heard 13 years ago (has it really been that long?), Mew never really appeared at the lone truck near the S.S. Anne.

Playing as Kano in Mortal Kombat 2

Kano was never a playable character in Mortal Kombat 2. The only way to see Kano in Mortal Kombat 2 was in Shao Kahn's arena where both he and Sonya were chained up for the Outworld emperor's amusement.

Cow Level in Diablo

There was an urban legend about a cow level existing in the first Diablo title. If you were to click a specific cow outside of Tristram a certain number of times, you would enter the cow level. But it turns out that Blizzard did not weaponize bovines until April Fool's Day of 1999, when they released this pre-production photo of Diablo 2.

Tomb Raider Nude Code

During a time when AOL Keywords were the keys to the internet, "Nude Raider" and "Tomb Raider nude codes" were common searches for teenage fans of Lady Croft's original trilogy. However, no such nude code exists.

Blowing Game Cartridges

Many of us believed that blowing into a game cartridge (mainly NES games) would help improve the connection between the game and its receiving slot. But the truth is that the repeated exposure to the trace amounts of saliva expelled while blowing would ultimately corrode the pin connectors of your cartridge. A recommended cleaning process for gaming cartridges would be some isopropyl alcohol applied by a q-tip.

Getting the Triforce in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Players based the idea that the Triforce was actually obtainable in Ocarina of Time on pre-production teasers of the game back when it was set to be a Nintendo 64 launch title next to Super Mario 64. Many forget that the actual Triforce was split between Ganondorf, Zelda and Link once Ganon wished for Hyrule to fall into darkness. Even from a narrative standpoint, the Triforce was unattainable.

Video Games Encourage Violence

Don't let a few mentally disturbed people with pre-existing, sociopathic problems drag us all down. Associating gamers with violence is on par with identifying the Westboro hate group with Christianity; it isn't the subject at hand that has caused the tragedies of Sandy Hook, Aurora or Columbine, but each individual person's interpretation of life itself, with video games being only a minor factor in hindsight of all their alleged troubles and influences.