Trivia Browser
subdirectory_arrow_right Earthbound (Franchise)
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When Contact released its first teaser materials in Japan, some EarthBound fans believed the teasers to be for Mother 3, due to the presence of a doctor who strongly resembles Dr. Andonuts from EarthBound, drawn in a similar artstyle.
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During the height of Super Mario 64 DS' popularity, a popular rumor was that Waluigi was hidden as an unlockable character - this rumor was inspired both by the presence of Wario and Luigi without their combined counterpart, and a set of coincidences within the game and its supplementary material:• The character switching room having 4 doors, one for Mario; one for Luigi; and one for Wario, along with a final, empty room (this room actually contained a Power Star).
• 4 bunnies existing in the game: a yellow bunny who appears when playing as Yoshi, a pink bunny who appears when playing as Mario, a green bunny who appears when playing as Luigi, and an orange bunny who appears when playing as Wario. The manual's page on the mini-games that bunnies are used to unlock shows a purple bunny that doesn't appear in the game.
• The title screen and floor of the Rec Room having a colour scheme based on yellow (Wario's color), green (Luigi and Yoshi's color), red (Mario's color), and purple (Waluigi's color).
• The image of Peach's Castle on the file select screen having what appears to be an open window that does not exist in the game, which many assume is where Waluigi would be hiding.
The popularity of these theories would birth an infamous hoax known as "Purple Prizes", a graphic created by Andrew Brown of Nintendo World Report in an attempt to rebirth the mystery he felt as a child from trying to find Luigi in the original Super Mario 64 for the younger Nintendo DS generation, and posted it to DeviantArt and a set of gaming forums under the false pretense of being a scan from an unnamed magazine. Although he clarified that the picture was fake a mere 2 days later, the image still spread online like wildfire, and was misreported as originating from Nintendo Power or IGN. Brown noted that some attempts to debunk flaws in the image were not based on the actual and plentiful flaws he acknowledged the image as having, but rather misconceptions such as Waluigi's yellow gamma being a C or accusing certain images of being based on the original Nintendo 64 game instead of the DS remake.
Article reciting the coincidences that made Waluigi popular:
https://aminoapps.com/c/mario/page/blog/remembering-purple-prizes/j0Yu_KugYddrQ210D6kD6RapzbDJBmG
Article about the making of Purple Prizes:
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/28610/waluigi-we-hardly-knew-ye-the-time-i-fooled-the-world
Super Mario 64 DS manual (page 32):
https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/downloads/games_8/emanuals/nintendo_ds_21/Manual_NintendoDS_SuperMario64DS_EN.pdf
https://aminoapps.com/c/mario/page/blog/remembering-purple-prizes/j0Yu_KugYddrQ210D6kD6RapzbDJBmG
Article about the making of Purple Prizes:
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/28610/waluigi-we-hardly-knew-ye-the-time-i-fooled-the-world
Super Mario 64 DS manual (page 32):
https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/downloads/games_8/emanuals/nintendo_ds_21/Manual_NintendoDS_SuperMario64DS_EN.pdf
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It is often said that Mega Man was once used as Capcom's mascot in the 1980s, in a similar way to how Nintendo and Sega use Mario and Sonic respectively. Like many other statements of platforming characters being used as corporate mascots, this is untrue, as Mega Man has never been used to promote the wider Capcom brand of software outside of his own games or crossovers in which he appears. However, Capcom did have a mascot in the 1980s: the titular hero of Captain Commando - many earlier NES Capcom games were branded as part of the "Captain Commando Challenge Series", including licensed titles such as DuckTales, with game manuals having signed messages "written" by Captain Commando. Despite this, Captain Commando was never released on the NES.Capcom's former community manager Seth Killian addressed Capcom's current lack of a mascot and Mega Man's use as an unofficial mascot on the Capcom-Unity forums in 2009:
"...we don't have an "official" mascot. We have a logo, that’s it.
As far as unofficial mascots go, however, yes, MM would definitely be that. I have actually heard someone discuss this, and I think the reasoning was something akin to Mega Man best embodying the spirit of the company.
So apparently in addition to making great games, Capcom is also here to save the planet from overthrow by evil robot masters (and according to recorded history so far, I'd say we're doing pretty well–2009 and still no overthrows)."
As far as unofficial mascots go, however, yes, MM would definitely be that. I have actually heard someone discuss this, and I think the reasoning was something akin to Mega Man best embodying the spirit of the company.
So apparently in addition to making great games, Capcom is also here to save the planet from overthrow by evil robot masters (and according to recorded history so far, I'd say we're doing pretty well–2009 and still no overthrows)."
Example of a Challenge Series manual:
https://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Duck-Tales-Game-Manual.pdf
Example of a Challenge Series box:
https://imgur.com/AktT0EB
Seth Killian on Capcom's mascot:
https://nintendoeverything.com/?p=22493
https://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Duck-Tales-Game-Manual.pdf
Example of a Challenge Series box:
https://imgur.com/AktT0EB
Seth Killian on Capcom's mascot:
https://nintendoeverything.com/?p=22493
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A common internet rumor, typically pushed by Nintendo fans upset over rival console manufacturer Microsoft's purchase of former Nintendo collaborator Rare, is that Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports: Season Two were mandated by Microsoft, and were not something that employees of Rare wanted to work on. According to Yooka-Laylee creative lead Gavin Price, this was not true, claiming:
"Phil Spencer taking the mantle of Xbox is one of the best things that could have happened for Rare. Because he’s always said to people at Rare [as general manager of Microsoft Studios], ‘Do what you want to do and we’ll back you,’ and he’s always stayed true to his word in that regard. It was people in Rare’s management at the time who said: ‘Well, Kinect is a great opportunity for the studio – go all in on it.’ So when executives at Microsoft see that the management team are passionate about doing that, they back them. Microsoft to their credit did that, and perhaps the story online isn’t quite reflective of the truth."
subdirectory_arrow_right Final Fantasy (Franchise)
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The Final Fantasy series' title was long rumored to stem from the idea that it would've been Square and series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's final game if it didn't perform well. According to these claims, Square was in dire financial straits in 1987, with Sakaguchi planning to quit the gaming industry and return to university studies. These claims appeared to be further corroborated when series composer Nobuo Uematsu affirmed them in a 2009 interview with Wired, claiming that Square's financial position was the main inspiration for the Final Fantasy name.
However, Sakaguchi debunked the rumors in a 2015 keynote address. In reality, Square always intended to give the first game in the series a name whose initials were "FF," as the Japanese pronunciation, エフ・エフ ("efu efu"), was considered pleasing to the ears. The developers' initial pick was Fighting Fantasy; however, it turned out that this name was already taken by a tabletop RPG series. Consequently, the title was changed to Final Fantasy. According to Sakaguchi, while Square indeed had their "backs to the wall" during development, "anything that started with an F would have been fine for the title."
However, Sakaguchi debunked the rumors in a 2015 keynote address. In reality, Square always intended to give the first game in the series a name whose initials were "FF," as the Japanese pronunciation, エフ・エフ ("efu efu"), was considered pleasing to the ears. The developers' initial pick was Fighting Fantasy; however, it turned out that this name was already taken by a tabletop RPG series. Consequently, the title was changed to Final Fantasy. According to Sakaguchi, while Square indeed had their "backs to the wall" during development, "anything that started with an F would have been fine for the title."
Wired article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240412233806/https://www.wired.com/2009/07/final-fantasy/
Famitsu article (in Japanese):
https://web.archive.org/web/20150526221313/http://www.famitsu.com/news/201505/24079276.html
SoraNews24 article:
https://soranews24.com/2015/05/26/final-fantasy-creator-reveals-the-real-reason-behind-the-final-part-of-the-hit-series-title/
Kotaku article:
http://kotaku.com/debunking-the-final-fantasy-naming-myth-1707389344
Destructoid article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223125939/https://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-was-almost-called-fighting-fantasy-creator-explains-actual-reason-behind-the-name-292792.phtml
https://web.archive.org/web/20240412233806/https://www.wired.com/2009/07/final-fantasy/
Famitsu article (in Japanese):
https://web.archive.org/web/20150526221313/http://www.famitsu.com/news/201505/24079276.html
SoraNews24 article:
https://soranews24.com/2015/05/26/final-fantasy-creator-reveals-the-real-reason-behind-the-final-part-of-the-hit-series-title/
Kotaku article:
http://kotaku.com/debunking-the-final-fantasy-naming-myth-1707389344
Destructoid article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223125939/https://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-was-almost-called-fighting-fantasy-creator-explains-actual-reason-behind-the-name-292792.phtml
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One of the game's dual protagonists Yasuke, an African samurai, is the first main character in the Assassin's Creed series to be based on a real historical figure, but his real-life identity and status serving under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga has been the subject of a contentious debate among historians. There are few scholarly/historical resources available describing him and his life, as well as no known resources from the time he was alive that refer to him as a samurai, with the most common conclusion being his title was a retainer to Nobunaga.
His reveal as a main character in the game on May 15, 2024 caused polarizing reactions worldwide on social media. Fans critical of the decision claimed Ubisoft were going against the series' penchant for accurate historical backgrounds and misrepresented Japan, which had never been covered in-depth in the globally-spanning game series, by inflating Yasuke's role in history and not having both protagonists be Japanese (the other protagonist, Naoe, is Japanese), claiming that Yasuke was not actually a samurai. Fans in support of Yasuke's role claiming that he was actually a samurai called these objections racist and based on narrow-minded arguments and inferences, with some going so far as to claim that Asian samurai protagonists in media were oversaturated and that critics would give the same complaints if it were a game set in Africa starring an African protagonist. This intense fighting led to an edit war on Yasuke's English Wikipedia article, with administrators publicly calling the article's Talk page "a complete dumpster fire". As of May 30, the consensus that was reached on the Talk page appears to be that the available resources are inconclusive, and there is still no historical evidence confirming that Yasuke was or was not a samurai. Reflecting this, the article does not call him a samurai when covering his documented life.
The lack of clarity on his life allowed popular culture and media to take creative liberties in speculating who he was, often depicting him in adaptations as a high-ranking samurai, and Ubisoft seemed to be going in a similar direction. The advertising for the game at its announcement described Yasuke as a "samurai of historical legend", and a press release stated:
While the header for this section of the press release is called "Yasuke: A Real-Life Samurai", this description seems to be carefully worded to stop short of directly calling him a samurai, with the use of "historical legend" elsewhere suggesting that they were aware of the unconfirmed status and were fictionalizing Yasuke for the game.
In a set of developer interviews with Famitsu published on May 15, creative director Jonathan Dumont elaborated that they also chose Yasuke to fit with the game's story of a foreigner who fights off oppressing forces, like the Portuguese slave trade's effects on Japan, while exploring a country unknown to him alongside the player, stating that they were "first looking for "our samurai," someone who could be our non-Japanese eyes". The following day, the Famitsu article was edited to change developer quotes in the interviews that either directly or contextually referred to Yasuke as an "outsider" to being a "foreign-born samurai", and also removed the aforementioned Jonathan Dumont quote, for unknown reasons.
His reveal as a main character in the game on May 15, 2024 caused polarizing reactions worldwide on social media. Fans critical of the decision claimed Ubisoft were going against the series' penchant for accurate historical backgrounds and misrepresented Japan, which had never been covered in-depth in the globally-spanning game series, by inflating Yasuke's role in history and not having both protagonists be Japanese (the other protagonist, Naoe, is Japanese), claiming that Yasuke was not actually a samurai. Fans in support of Yasuke's role claiming that he was actually a samurai called these objections racist and based on narrow-minded arguments and inferences, with some going so far as to claim that Asian samurai protagonists in media were oversaturated and that critics would give the same complaints if it were a game set in Africa starring an African protagonist. This intense fighting led to an edit war on Yasuke's English Wikipedia article, with administrators publicly calling the article's Talk page "a complete dumpster fire". As of May 30, the consensus that was reached on the Talk page appears to be that the available resources are inconclusive, and there is still no historical evidence confirming that Yasuke was or was not a samurai. Reflecting this, the article does not call him a samurai when covering his documented life.
The lack of clarity on his life allowed popular culture and media to take creative liberties in speculating who he was, often depicting him in adaptations as a high-ranking samurai, and Ubisoft seemed to be going in a similar direction. The advertising for the game at its announcement described Yasuke as a "samurai of historical legend", and a press release stated:
"Ubisoft Quebec wanted to include a Samurai, and Yasuke's story was open-ended enough to allow for creativity; there are still plenty of questions and speculation surrounding him. The fascinating facts, though, were undisputable: of African origin, he arrived in Japan enslaved by the Portuguese; he impressed with size, strength, and wits; he served under the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga. There must have been something exceptional about Yasuke to succeed in the service of a personality like Nobunaga's, [...] and the goal has been to expound on this in Assassin's Creed Shadows through his curiosity, openness, respect for values and tradition, valor, warmth, and charisma."
While the header for this section of the press release is called "Yasuke: A Real-Life Samurai", this description seems to be carefully worded to stop short of directly calling him a samurai, with the use of "historical legend" elsewhere suggesting that they were aware of the unconfirmed status and were fictionalizing Yasuke for the game.
In a set of developer interviews with Famitsu published on May 15, creative director Jonathan Dumont elaborated that they also chose Yasuke to fit with the game's story of a foreigner who fights off oppressing forces, like the Portuguese slave trade's effects on Japan, while exploring a country unknown to him alongside the player, stating that they were "first looking for "our samurai," someone who could be our non-Japanese eyes". The following day, the Famitsu article was edited to change developer quotes in the interviews that either directly or contextually referred to Yasuke as an "outsider" to being a "foreign-born samurai", and also removed the aforementioned Jonathan Dumont quote, for unknown reasons.
Game website with "samurai of historical legend" quote:
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/shadows
Ubisoft press release:
https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/2LH4Ael4X1TlNJY3B3aYg5/assassins-creed-shadows-launches-november-15-features-dual-protagonists-in-feudal-japan
Ubisoft article with several videos explaining historical backgrounds behind previous Assassin's Creed games:
https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/6d4zQXyH0VF6z75Ab7jfss/discover-the-real-history-behind-every-assassins-creed
IGN articles:
https://www.ign.com/articles/when-and-where-is-assassins-creed-shadows-set
https://www.ign.com/articles/assassins-creed-shadows-yasuke-asian-protagonist
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/african-assassins-creed-shadows-controversy/
Time article:
https://time.com/6978997/assassins-creed-shadow-yasuke-controversy/
Forbes article mentioning Wikipedia edit war and international reactions:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2024/05/15/japanese-fans-are-puzzled-that-yasuke-is-in-assassins-creed-shadows/
Yasuke English Wikipedia article (Note: while much of this controversy occurred on English language Wikipedia, bear in mind that Wikipedia articles by themselves are not reliable sources for historical research, and the English article is not a uniform representation of the information on Yasuke across the different language versions of Wikipedia that have this article. There are varying primary, secondary, historical and pop culture sources suggested for and used in all of these articles either backing up verified information about him, or making different claims that may not be accurate.):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Yasuke
Wikipedia administrator discussion:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240518220622/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Talk:Yasuke_is_a_complete_dumpster_fire
Earliest archive of original Famitsu interview (in Japanese; English machine translations for all archives of this article compared between Google Translate and DeepL prior to publishing this submission. Deleted quote in Japanese is "まず“私たちの侍”、つまり日本人ではない私たちの目になれる人物を探していましたが、これは") (May 15):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240515185159/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
Archived edited interview (May 16):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240516194746/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
Latest archived edit (May 18):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240518034336/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/shadows
Ubisoft press release:
https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/2LH4Ael4X1TlNJY3B3aYg5/assassins-creed-shadows-launches-november-15-features-dual-protagonists-in-feudal-japan
Ubisoft article with several videos explaining historical backgrounds behind previous Assassin's Creed games:
https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/6d4zQXyH0VF6z75Ab7jfss/discover-the-real-history-behind-every-assassins-creed
IGN articles:
https://www.ign.com/articles/when-and-where-is-assassins-creed-shadows-set
https://www.ign.com/articles/assassins-creed-shadows-yasuke-asian-protagonist
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/african-assassins-creed-shadows-controversy/
Time article:
https://time.com/6978997/assassins-creed-shadow-yasuke-controversy/
Forbes article mentioning Wikipedia edit war and international reactions:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2024/05/15/japanese-fans-are-puzzled-that-yasuke-is-in-assassins-creed-shadows/
Yasuke English Wikipedia article (Note: while much of this controversy occurred on English language Wikipedia, bear in mind that Wikipedia articles by themselves are not reliable sources for historical research, and the English article is not a uniform representation of the information on Yasuke across the different language versions of Wikipedia that have this article. There are varying primary, secondary, historical and pop culture sources suggested for and used in all of these articles either backing up verified information about him, or making different claims that may not be accurate.):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Yasuke
Wikipedia administrator discussion:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240518220622/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Talk:Yasuke_is_a_complete_dumpster_fire
Earliest archive of original Famitsu interview (in Japanese; English machine translations for all archives of this article compared between Google Translate and DeepL prior to publishing this submission. Deleted quote in Japanese is "まず“私たちの侍”、つまり日本人ではない私たちの目になれる人物を探していましたが、これは") (May 15):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240515185159/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
Archived edited interview (May 16):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240516194746/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
Latest archived edit (May 18):
https://web.archive.org/web/20240518034336/https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/5194
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