Tag Archives: secrets

Secrets/Extras

Overlooked: The Secret Room in Rayman 3’s Tower of the Leptys

2 Comments

You may have noticed by now, but I really like secret rooms in video games.  I love finding something I had never seen in previous playthroughs.  And I rather love bragging at people over things I have found that they haven’t.  Hey, when you’re like me, and you’ve managed to lose 100% of the matches against your friends in Super Smash Bros (honestly, what the heck), you need something, anything, to prove to them you’re still a proper gamer.  And I am, darn it.  I am a darn good gamer.

Confident in my excellent skills as a gamer, yes, excellent, I am fine with admitting to one secret room that remains barred to me to this day.  Yes, I, the Duck, great secret finder that I am (not really, but whose really going to argue?), has never been able to enter the secret room in the Tower of the Leptys (no, Globox, it’s not the Tower of the Tetris, you silly glute!) in Rayman 3. Continue reading Overlooked: The Secret Room in Rayman 3’s Tower of the Leptys →

General Commentary, Secrets/Extras

Why Some Mysteries Are Best Left Unsolved

Leave a comment
Image from Flickr User: MultiKute
Image from Flickr User: MultiKute

By now, there should be no secret that I love games with a sense of mystery, whether this mystery comes from unlocking secrets like the elusive Stop ‘n’ Swop or is simply a result of something that can and will never be explained, like, for example, Stop ‘n’ Swop.  (And I don’t mean in the context of the real world; I know that whole story well enough.  But, in the context of the game…it kind of gives me an idea for a fan fiction, it does.)

Anyway, one game I always thought had an immense sense of this mystery I so love was Vexx.  This game just has so many unique locations that defied explanation, or at the very least, left the player wondering…what’s the story behind this?  The tower behind the waterfall, the skeletal remains of a dragon, the former occupant of Tempest Peak Manor, not to mention the identity of the sages carved into the Summit of the Sages.  The game never had a sequel as originally planned, as Acclaim was bought by someone else, leaving me with so many questions I’d like answered.  Again, a fan fiction or several may be in order.  I owe the world my very valued and interesting thoughts and opinions on this most pressing of matters. Continue reading Why Some Mysteries Are Best Left Unsolved →

Collaborations and Projects

Gaming Secrets and Hoaxes: Can You Tell the Difference?

8 Comments
Screenshot by Flickr User: brondabailey
Screenshot by Flickr User: brondabailey

This month’s community challenge is a most fitting one for the month that is home to April Fools, revolving around the many secrets found in video games, from the ridiculous to the outright fake. I have encountered a good number of these secrets and have managed to unlock many of them, to feelings of great glee all around, while on the other end of the spectrum, I have experienced frustration and befuddlement as I attempted to unlock a secret I later found was all false. I’m sure we’ve all had this happen to us, so I decided to create a little quiz to see how good you are at distinguishing between hoaxes and the real thing. Whether or not you’ve heard of the game or the secret involved, try and guess which ones sound legitimate and which are merely pranks designed to trick the gullible gamer (myself included). Continue reading Gaming Secrets and Hoaxes: Can You Tell the Difference? →

Challenges, Collaborations and Projects

Six Favorite Gaming Secrets…Or Maybe Five?

10 Comments
Image by Flickr user Jason Devaun (CC)
Image by Flickr user Jason Devaun (CC)

All month long, United We Game is celebrating secrets, hoaxes, and trickery in games with a new writing challenge. Click here for the details and join in the fun!

I’m not much of an artist when it comes to discovering secrets in games. While it seems that some players are imbued with a magical honing beacon that guides them towards easter egg after easter egg, for me, the act of finding secrets has mostly been the equivalent of blindly stumbling around in the dark hoping that I don’t impale myself on something sharp. I don’t necessarily go searching for secrets in games, so happening upon a secret something-or-other is a pretty special feat. Over the years I’ve run into a fair share of extraordinary moments where I feel like Indiana Jones grabbing that golden idol. And the giant rolling boulder of Internet spoilers isn’t enough to make me feel any less superior at those times when I discover something I hadn’t before. Here’s a rundown of some six memorable secrets I’ve come across in the games I’ve played.

Continue reading Six Favorite Gaming Secrets…Or Maybe Five? →

Challenges, Collaborations and Projects

Gaming’s Best Foolery: Secrets and Hoaxes

5 Comments

We swear we’re not fooling around with a new community writing challenge, for it is with a little April Foolery in mind that we offer up a new topic this month about secrets, hoaxes, and general (yet fun) trickery in games!

It’s no secret that developers have been hiding some fun and frustrating secrets in games for decades, from warp whistles (Super Mario 3), to Reptile (Mortal Kombat), to the Scarab gun (Halo 2), and finding Mew (Pokemon) to name just a few. And it seems that for every handful of known secrets, no matter how difficult they are to find, there are a few that remain unknown or questionable in their legitimacy. With the rise of gaming secrets and easter eggs has also come the rise of gaming hoaxes. Some end up in the form of rumors – remember the ones about how you could supposedly keep Aerith alive in Final Fantasy VII? While others become full-blown ruses that lead players on wild goose chases, such as the one about being able to obtain the actual triforce in the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

As crazy as gaming secrets and hoaxes can be, they pepper landscape of video games with plenty of intrigue and have become “a way of life” in gaming, so to speak. With this months writing challenge, we invite you to write about your favorite or least favorite gaming secrets, tricks, and hoaxes. Are there any secrets you never found but want to one day? Are there any gaming hoaxes that you wish had been true? What’s the hardest easter egg you’ve ever found or longest you’ve ever spent trying to find a secret something-or-other? Maybe make up your own hoax or secret and see if the community can call you out on it (all in good fun, of course).

We’ll be sharing any posts we catch across our social media sites — tag your post with #UnitedWeGame or #UWG so we’ll be sure to see it. However you choose to run with this topic, have fun with it and spread the word! The challenge runs through Friday, May 1st, so there’s plenty of time to come up with something. The more posts there are, the more we’ll share. And check back here for posts of our own on gaming secrets and hoaxes!

Uncategorized

Overlooked: Pointless Giant Things in Ocarina of Time

2 Comments
Image by Flickr User: Wasfi Akab
Image by Flickr User: Wasfi Akab

In this particular series of posts, I like to write about strange things that can often be, well, overlooked by most gamers. Most of the things I write about are useful or, at the very least, mildly interesting.

This post is an exception. Continue reading Overlooked: Pointless Giant Things in Ocarina of Time →

Retro, Secrets/Extras

Overlooked: The Red Gems of Illusion of Gaia

6 Comments
Image from Flickr User: Shawn S
Image from Flickr User: Shawn S

One video game I absolutely love, that it seems no one has actually heard of, is “Illusion of Gaia” for the SNES. I adore this game, and it gives me no shortage of distress that it’s not available for download on the new Nintendo consoles. ‘Tis a huge shame. Good thing my SNES still works…. Well, in addition to having an interesting story and being a lot of fun to play, this game has its own secret, an extra level that is only unlocked once you collect all fifty red gems.

I have played this game countless times, but for many years, I was never able to get all the gems, and frankly, there was no excuse, considering the game actually came with a mini-guide that gave you tips on completing the game, not to mention the location of every red gem. Yes, some gems are impossible to obtain once you progress far enough into the game, but once again, if you just stick to the guide, you should have no trouble finding them. Continue reading Overlooked: The Red Gems of Illusion of Gaia →