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Final Fantasy XIV Online
Final Fantasy XIV Online (2013)
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Attachment In July 1999, the industrial metal band Powerman 5000 wrote and released the single "When Worlds Collide", which would become one of their signature songs.

On February 23, 2016, patch version 3.2 of the "Heavensward" expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online would be released, entitled "The Gears of Change". During the Containment Bay S1T7 trial, there is a boss fight against Sephirot, the Fiend, in two phases. The first phase's music is a rearranged version of "Battle to the Death", a boss theme originating from Final Fantasy VI where Fiend first appeared, while the second phase's music was an original song entitled "Fiend", composed and arranged by Masayoshi Soken with lyrics written by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. The same day, a thread was made on Square Enix's forums noting the similarities between "Fiend" and "When Worlds Collide".

Presumably, Powerman 5000 were informed of this and took to Facebook on February 24 to accuse the game's developers of ripping off "When Worlds Collide" while writing "Fiend", commenting:

"Really? Got to say that the level of unimaginative theft that was used in creating this music for #finalfantasyXIV is mind blowing! I mean, this is When Worlds Collide! Using something as inspiration is one thing but a straight up rip off is another! Did they really think no one would notice? […] To clarify, this is music from the game. If it was a song made by a fan, we wouldn't care."

After the story gained traction and several mixed responses were put against Square Enix and Powerman 5000, the band's frontman Spider One made another Facebook post on February 25 revealing that the band would not be taking legal action against Square Enix, while emphasizing that their original post was "Just an observation" about "a piece of music that was way too similar to be coincidence" and there was "no cry for attention or publicity", before briefly advertising their upcoming tour dates in March and April.

In response to the controversy, the game's producer/director Naoki Yoshida released a statement in the original forum thread that spurred the controversy explaining how they created "Fiend":

"Building upon the motif of Sephirot as a representation of the World Tree, to create this FINAL FANTASY XIV original track, we further incorporated story-driven themes of death and a warped obsession with life, all while utilizing a musical genre─industrial rock─which we believed would provide substantial emphasis to the message.

Industrial rock is a popular genre that can be further divided into numerous sub-genres. Countless songs from these genres have been released worldwide, and I have been made aware of an allegation regarding similarities between an existing track and the track created for the 2nd phase of Containment Bay S1T7. However, track composer Masayoshi Soken, has also stated to me that he was unaware of the track in question while working on this FINAL FANTASY track."
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Advertisement/Commercial, Bonus Content, Coincidence, Complaint, Development, Inspiration, Music, Plagiarism, Real Life, Similarities, Social Media
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month October 29, 2023
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Powerman 5000 - When Worlds Collide (1999):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsV500W4BHU

Final Fantasy XIV Online - Fiend (2016):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9f44iJftVM

Final Fantasy XIV Online - Battle to the Death Rearrangement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWNiVOpsZ0c

Final Fantasy XIV Online - The Gears of Change announcement trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yw4shsQsYk

First Powerman 5000 Facebook post (February 24):
https://web.archive.org/web/20170316063418/https://www.facebook.com/officialpowerman5000/posts/1163822686963071

Second Powerman 5000 Facebook post (February 25):
https://web.archive.org/web/20171006141827/https://www.facebook.com/officialpowerman5000/posts/1164522363559770

Naoki Yoshida Square Enix forum response (original thread post noting song similarities can be found by going to page 1 in this thread):
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/283311-Sephirot-Theme-%28-Phase-2-%29-sound-familiar?p=3589465&;viewfull=1#post3589465

News coverage of the controversy:
https://www.polygon.com/2016/2/25/11114168/final-fantasy-14-powerman-5000-song-ripoff
https://kotaku.com/band-says-new-final-fantasy-xiv-boss-battle-music-is-ri-1761120297
Assassin's Creed Mirage
Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)
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Attachment A cat can be found in the game who has a distinct fur pattern resembling the series emblem on his face. This was not just an Easter egg snuck in by developers, but was based on a real cat. According to a Reddit comment supposedly from the father of the person who caused this Easter egg to happen, the cat was named Master Chief and he belonged to a girl named Rebecca, the roommate of his daughter Alanna Sas. After the cat's passing, Sas commented on a Ubisoft or Assassin's Creed-related Facebook post asking the company to include the cat in the game in his memory, and if so she said she would reward the developers who included him with free coffee and Timbits from Tim Hortons. Upon players discovering the cat in the game, a moderator for the Assassin's Creed subreddit shared a screenshot of the Facebook comment revealing its origins.
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Development, Easter Egg, Inspiration, Real Life, Social Media, Suggested, Tribute
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month October 13, 2023
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Sonic Superstars
Sonic Superstars (2023)
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Attachment In June 2023, the character models for the game received complaints on Twitter by fan artist Rafa Knight, who noted that they resembled her own models of the characters that had been used for merchandise, even having the same minor imperfections as the toys. She claimed she had not been credited for her work either, instead being ignored by Sega and other related figures. In response, Katie Chrzanowski, the social media manager for Sega of America, apologized for the misunderstanding and explained that the models were custom-made for Sonic Superstars, and promised to privately email Knight with more details later on. It's unknown if any more developments in this controversy happened since.
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Censorship, Complaint, Fan Works, Plagiarism, Real Life, Social Media
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month September 19, 2023
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Raid: Shadow Legends
Raid: Shadow Legends (2018)
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Raid: Shadow Legends was criticized for its aggressive marketing campaign through sponsorships with YouTube channels, usually ones that lack demographic overlap with a high-fantasy Western RPG to the point where adverts for the game are considered "inescapable". Developers Plarium Games have tried to claim that they don't actually sponsor content creators, and that content creators are simply shouting out the game unpaid because of how much they like it, which is easily disproved by watching any of the sponsor segments, where the legal clarity precautions for sponsorships are consistently followed.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Complaint, Meme, Real Life, Social Media
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 12, 2023
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Crush Crush
Crush Crush (2016)
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The character Mio has an official VTuber Twitter, YouTube and Twitch channel, all run by developer Morgan Long.
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General, Real Life, Social Media
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month September 10, 2023
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Tails and the Music Maker
Tails and the Music Maker (1994)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sega Pico (Platform)
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Attachment On the OverClocked Remix website, the remix "Picolescence", based on Tails & The Music Maker, was created by user zircon in response to a tweet from Sega's official Twitter account jokingly calling out the site for not having any Sega Pico-related remixes.
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Fan Works, Music, Real Life, Social Media
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 7, 2023
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The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2023)
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The game's Steam page has a section titled "Canon or headcanon?", which reads as follows:

"You know what they say: everything is canon*.

*This is not a Sonic Team title, but we strongly believe in the power of headcanon!"

This is a reference to an infamous tweet made by the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account in response to a tweet from the Puyo Puyo Twitter account showing off art made to commemorate Sonic's inclusion in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, where the Sonic Twitter account claimed that "Everything is canon".
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Easter Egg, General, Real Life, Reference, Social Media
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month September 6, 2023
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Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (2021)
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Attachment In February 2019, a rumor spurred by YouTuber Shane Dawson and his experience at a local Chuck E. Cheese circulated in which he theorized that they recycled pizza from previous orders due to several pies having noticeably mismatched crusts and wrong or oddly-placed toppings. Steel Wool made reference to this incident in Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach in a message bag that can be found in one of the Superstar Daycare's side birthday rooms, saying:

"The pizza we ordered was weird. Some pieces were different sizes or didn't fit together. One slice even had different toppings. Did you recycle the old pizza from the trash? I am never coming back here unless I am given some sort of major discount." -Angry Mom
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Easter Egg, Real Life, Reference, Social Media
person Violett calendar_month September 6, 2023
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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (2021)
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When Garfield was released as a playable fighter in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Twitter user InsaneProtayto posted a viral tweet with a fake screenshot of an IGN news article claiming the cat couldn't be played as on Mondays, referencing one of his most well known catchphrases, "I hate mondays". This hoax ended up becoming so popular that publisher GameMill Entertainment responded on Twitter confirming that Garfield can in fact be played as on all days of the week.
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Hoax, Meme, Social Media
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 5, 2023
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Freddy in Space 2
Freddy in Space 2 (2019)
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For YouTube channel The Game Theorists' St. Jude Charity Livestream, the game Freddy in Space 2 was created. Scott Cawthon added a points counter to the game and pledged to donate money based on how many points were earned, up to a maximum of $500,000. Cawthon still donated the full $500,000 to the charity even though MatPat, with the aid of fellow YouTubers Dawko and Markiplier, would not be able to reach the goal in time before they needed to wrap up the stream.
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Charity, General, Livestreaming, Real Life, Social Media
person Violett calendar_month September 4, 2023
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Antonball Deluxe
Antonball Deluxe (2021)
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Attachment Inside the code of Antonball Deluxe is a small, barely-legible image file simply called "hi", depicting former US president Donald Trump riding a Green Shell in a fan-made remake of Super Mario 64. Tony Grayson, the creator of Antonball, posted a high resolution rendition of the image on Twitter a year before the game's launch.
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Easter Egg, Meme, Secret, Social Media, Unused Content, Unused Graphic
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 4, 2023
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Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact (2020)
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On February 7th, 2023, Tighnari's English voice actor Elliot Gindi announced on Twitter that he would be taking a break from his online activity to seek therapy, claiming that the "influx of fans and fame" he gained from his work in the game "really messed [him] up". The following day, two moderators for Gindi's fan Discord servers posted to Twitter alleged evidence of offenses that Gindi had conducted in private, ranging from emotional abuse, blackmail, sexism, and having sexual relations with underage fans, with other users also coming forward to accuse Gindi of further acts. Shortly after these documents were posted, Gindi posted a Twitlonger tweet confirming that most of the allegations were true, although he denied the allegations involving underage fans. On February 16th, the game's developer HoYoverse released an official statement revealing that Gindi would no longer be voicing Tighnari, with the official reason being a "breach of contract". They also confirmed that the character would be recast at a later date, and on April 11th, they revealed he would be replaced by American actor Zachary Gordon.
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Complaint, Development, General, Real Life, Social Media, Update Difference
person ProtoSnake calendar_month February 17, 2023
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Cool Spot
Cool Spot (1993)
subdirectory_arrow_right 7 Up (Franchise)
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Attachment In Cool Spot's manual, a promotional campaign was advertised where players could win a "Cool Prize" if they beat the game under certain circumstances. If you beat the game on any difficulty under Hard, use any of the six "UNCOLA" letters as a free continue, or fail to collect any of the letters at all, you will be greeted with a screen featuring a pair of Spots crying because you did not meet the requirements to win the contest. However, if you beat the game on Hard and have all six "UNCOLA" letters, then you will instead be greeted with a screen of a Spot holding a camera instructing the player to take a picture of the screen and mail it to the address in the game's manual, the headquarters of Virgin Games. This contest ended on December 31, 1993, roughly 8 months after the original Genesis version was released, and not even 4 months after the SNES version was released. According to a TV Tropes entry, the prize was allegedly a cheap plastic Spot toy, although there has been no official confirmation on what prizes were awarded to winners, if any.

One known "winner" of the contest years after the fact was YouTuber Jirard Khalil "The Completionist", who reviewed the game and instead of sending his screen to the now-defunct Virgin Games, he decided to tweet it out to 7 Up's official Twitter account in 2014. This caught their attention for being "crazy, old school and incredible", resulting in them messaging him and asking for his address to send him a prize. The following week, a bizarre PR stunt took place where two "7 Up Women" arrived at The Completionist's offices, bringing with them a pallet of assorted 7 Up, Diet 7 Up, Cherry 7 Up, Sunkist and Snapple drinks, as well as free sunglasses and loudspeakers. Khalil described the event: "They had no idea why they were there, I didn't know why they were there, it was an overall weird experience to say the least."
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Bonus Content, General, Real Life, Social Media, Sweepstakes
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month October 31, 2022
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The Completionist - Cool Spot episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WGMxS04HLg#t=800

TV Tropes entry with unproven claim of contest prize:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CoolSpot

7 Up tweet:
https://twitter.com/7up/status/541985561595375617

The Completionist - Rare picture of Jirard, Greg and the 7 Up Women:
https://imgur.com/Npz3rg8
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sledgehammer Games (Company)
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Attachment In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), during the "Scorched Earth" campaign mission in Berlin, hidden in an alcove immediately to the left after walking into the Trivo Buchhandlung ("Trivo Bookstore" in German) are a shelf and display of books adorned with the names of numerous developers who worked on the game. The most notable kind of book in the display however features the name Guy Beahm and a black and red circle with a pair of sunglasses and a mustache. Beahm is better known by his online alias Dr. DisRespect, a character known for his over-the-top personality and appearance, including the same sunglasses and mustache that appear on the book cover. Beahm was hired by Sledgehammer Games as a Community Manager in 2011, and the following year accepted a Level Designer position in the studio. He is listed in the designer credits of Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the latter of which it is confirmed he designed multiplayer maps for. Beahm left Sledgehammer in 2015; this Easter egg went largely unnoticed until 2022.
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Credits, Development, Easter Egg, General, Hidden Credit, Level Design, Real Life, Social Media
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month July 11, 2022
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Franchise: Mario
This trivia has been marked as "Not Safe for Work".
It may not be appropriate for all visitors and definitely isn't appropriate for work or school environments.
Click here to unhide it.
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Apology, General, Mistake, Real Life, Social Media
person GamerBen144 calendar_month May 20, 2022
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Celeste
Celeste (2018)
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Throughout the game, Theo frequently takes pictures of his trek for his "Instapix" (in-game replacement for Instagram) account called "TheoUnderStars". Ten months prior to the game's release, an actual Instagram account under this handle was created that posted pictures between April 4, 2017, and September 9, 2019, the release date of the Farewell DLC chapter. The account features artwork by concept artist Amora Bettany that took place before, during, and after the events of the game.
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Artwork/Illustration, Easter Egg, General, Real Life, Social Media
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month January 9, 2022
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Just Cause 3
Just Cause 3 (2015)
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Attachment In the city of Citate Di Ravello, you can find the logo of YouTube user NerdCubed graffitied on a wall.
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Easter Egg, Reference, Social Media
person Mass Distraction calendar_month April 21, 2017
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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
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An extension for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally known as URA Zelda was originally going to be released by Nintendo before it was ultimately cancelled. It may have been cancelled because it was planned to be released for the N64 Disc Drive, which was released late in the console's lifecycle and undersold in most markets. What was known, however, was that it would have added new features to the game, such as Link's footsteps appearing in sand, having damaged trees, having bushes and grass damaged for the entire game, and changing up dungeons.

In 2012, a YouTuber named ZethN64 said he was going to try and recreate URA Zelda. He and his team wanted to make their own new dungeons, story, and soundtrack for the game. It was unfortunately cancelled, as there were conflicts within the team as well as ZethN64 disappearing.
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Cancelled Release, Development, Social Media
person Arachnus calendar_month March 5, 2017
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Sid Meier's Civilization
Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sid Meier's Civilization II (Game), Sid Meier (Franchise)
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Attachment In 2012, TV Tropes user Tunafish edited the site's page for the Civilization series to claim that Gandhi can become the most aggressive character in the original game due to a rollover error. World leaders' aggression levels drop by two points upon adopting democracy; because Gandhi's aggression is set to 1, the lowest possible value, the pacification allegedly lowers it to -1, which defaults to 255, the highest possible value.

Despite the edit not providing any evidence, the claim nonetheless circulated online in subsequent years. Because leaders will vehemently pursue a nuclear weapons policy when their aggression is high enough, the claim spawned the "Nuclear Gandhi" meme among Civilization fans, poking fun at the apparent dissonance between the real Gandhi's pacifism and his fictional counterpart's apocalyptic jingoism. A KnowYourMeme page on the memes further distorted the rumors by claiming that the bug first appeared in Civilization II rather than the first game; as of March 2024, the page now acknowledges that the rumors are false.

The Nuclear Gandhi claim was eventually debunked by series creator Sid Meier in his 2020 autobiography, Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games. In the book, Meier revealed that Civilization and Civilization II are respectively programmed in C and C++, which are immune to the kinds of rollover errors that the urban legend describes. Consequently, Gandhi's aggression level remains at 1 after the adoption of democracy. Nevertheless, Meier admitted that he found the memes surrounding the urban legend funny.
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Glitch, Hoax, Meme, Real Life, Rumor, Social Media
person FUS RO DAH calendar_month October 26, 2013
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Catherine
Catherine (2011)
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Attachment In the "True Katherine" ending, Spoiler:Erica Anderson is revealed to be a transgender woman, with the credits revealing that she was originally raised under the name Eric. She is additionally referred to by her birth name in the Japanese version's manual, which lists her sex as male. This treatment of her generated controversy in the years since the game's release on whether or not it negated the positive elements of her "flawed but realistic" characterization.

Catherine: Full Body further stoked controversy both in and out of Japan regarding the character. The game's marketing highlighted a scene where Spoiler:Vincent reacts to the sight of Erica's naked body with shock, which drew criticisms of invoking a transphobic trope where men are disturbed by the sight of a transgender woman's genitals. Additionally, the game itself includes an alternate ending in which Spoiler:Catherine goes back in time and starts dating Vincent in high school, with a time-skip showing Erica pre-transition. Although the ending heavily implies that she will still transition later on, many audiences interpreted it as advocating that transgender people continue presenting as their assigned gender at birth.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Complaint, Ending, General, LGBTQ+, Manual, Remake, Social Media
person Hipserious calendar_month March 30, 2013
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