# Things that only happen in video games (possible video game spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591 "2005-01-19T18:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/1 "2005-01-19T18:53:48Z")
I got Silent Hill 4 for Christmas, and it made an addict out of me. So much, in fact, that I’ve played and completed both Silent Hill 2 and 3 since then as well. Harborwolf and I were playing the other day, when it dawned on me that in all the SH games, your characters do horrible unspeakable things, and I’m not talking about the moster killing. When your character is low on life, you drink random, generic “health drinks” that you find _anywhere, anytime_ in the game. This includes _cemeteries, abandoned hospitals, haunted forests, abandoned prisons, etc._ What are some other seriously messed up things people do without a second thought in video games? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/2 "2005-01-19T19:31:49Z")
Well, I was playing the ole timer Gauntlet at ye olde locale arcade(e) and nothing satisfies the warriors in that game like a plate of food or large ham…found on the ground…in a crypt…with piles of bones around it…and ghosts…and cavemen/goblin/troll thingies…and ellipses… Mmmmmmm, mysterious haunted ham. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/3 "2005-01-19T19:32:26Z")
Looking in my desk drawer here at work, I see I have my W-2 form, some stamps, some paperclips, a spare stick of deodorant, a notepad, and some scissors. Now, if this was an office in a video game, instead of that, my drawer would probably have some health drink, either a sword or a gun (depending on setting), some money, and either a suit of armor or a kevlar vest. People keep all sorts of strange stuff in drawers and chests in video games. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/4 "2005-01-19T19:35:15Z")
Well I’m constantly reloading my weapon by taking single bullets out of my back up clips and loading them individually into the magazine I’m using in order to top it off. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/5 "2005-01-19T20:29:02Z")
I don’t know about the rest of you all, but I generally go around work and shoot crates and filing cabnets, just in case there’s an extra body armor or health potion in there. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/6 "2005-01-19T20:36:24Z")
Jump. Seriously, how much do you jump in a given day? If you had to get on top of a table, would you clamber up there, or would you just leap on up? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/7 "2005-01-19T20:42:00Z")
I don’t know what you’re talking about. When I was a kid, I could only run in a straight line. And there were usually boxes hanging in midair, and if I ran and jumped, I’d bonk my head on the boxes. Sometimes a coin would pop out with a “ding!” sound. Other times, a mushroomy thing would pop out, and I’d chase it down and grab it, and I’d suddenly grow to about twice my original size. But there were other mushroomy things that I preferred to stomp on, really hard, so they’d be flat and then disappear. When I did this, numbers would float up from where I landed. There were lots of turtles too. When I jumped on those, they’d roll over and just kinda fall off the world. Like, right through the ground. The area I grew up in was awfully industrial; there were pipes sticking up out of the ground all over the place. Sometimes, I’d slide down the pipes, and then things would REALLY get weird. After a childhood like that, today’s videogames seem awfully normal. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/8 "2005-01-19T20:44:55Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I don’t know what you’re talking about. > > When I was a kid, I could only run in a straight line. And there were usually boxes hanging in midair, and if I ran and jumped, I’d bonk my head on the boxes. Sometimes a coin would pop out with a “ding!” sound. Other times, a mushroomy thing would pop out, and I’d chase it down and grab it, and I’d suddenly grow to about twice my original size. But there were other mushroomy things that I preferred to stomp on, really hard, so they’d be flat and then disappear. When I did this, numbers would float up from where I landed. There were lots of turtles too. When I jumped on those, they’d roll over and just kinda fall off the world. Like, right through the ground. > > The area I grew up in was awfully industrial; there were pipes sticking up out of the ground all over the place. Sometimes, I’d slide down the pipes, and then things would REALLY get weird. > > After a childhood like that, today’s videogames seem awfully normal. And before anyone dismisses his story out of hand, look how well it holds together. Clearly, he’s eaten a lot of mushrooms. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/9 "2005-01-19T20:45:13Z")
Being able to carry 20 weapons at a time(including some kind of missle laucher), and a fair amount of ammunition for all them, despite having no backpack. Oh, and being able to bring any of them to bear withen a matter of seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/10 "2005-01-19T20:50:27Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > And before anyone dismisses his story out of hand, look how well it holds together. > > Clearly, he’s eaten a lot of mushrooms. 😃 \*\*Jenaroph \*\*looks more like Princess Toadstool than Mario. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/11 "2005-01-19T20:51:22Z")
In Nethack, it’s normal and expected to devour your fallen opponents for nourishment. Raw. Sometimes after having killed them with acid or poison. If I were questing in a dungeon, I’m not sure I could manage that. This goes double for monsters like ‘Yellow Mold’, which I find vaguely horrifying, but my Monk character finds delicious. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/12 "2005-01-19T20:55:45Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > \*\*Jenaroph \*\*looks more like Princess Toadstool than Mario. Oh, was I a gender offender? Was my noun more amateur than pro-? My mistake. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/13 "2005-01-19T21:04:54Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > And before anyone dismisses his story out of hand, look how well it holds together. > > Clearly, he’s eaten a lot of mushrooms. 😃 I’ve heard that one side makes you larger…and the other makes you smalll… ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/14 "2005-01-19T21:20:22Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > In Nethack, it’s normal and expected to devour your fallen opponents for nourishment. Raw. Sometimes after having killed them with acid or poison. Slight hijack, but in the newer versions of NetHack, if you kill a monster with poison, it leaves a “poisoned \ corpse” which are of course poisonous to eat. But if you’re talking “things that only happen in roguelikes,” Alphaman takes the cake. Yeah, just the other day I fixed up my arrows with a pencil sharpener, grew a third leg after eating a purple berry, but then got killed by Elvis’s belt buckle. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/15 "2005-01-19T21:30:08Z")
And of course, nobody really minds when you walk into their house and grab stuff out of their treasure chest, or just smash things up before you leave. They also tend to say one or two things, and that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/16 "2005-01-19T22:02:10Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > In Nethack, it’s normal and expected to devour your fallen opponents for nourishment. Raw. Sometimes after having killed them with acid or poison. If I were questing in a dungeon, I’m not sure I could manage that. This goes double for monsters like ‘Yellow Mold’, which I find vaguely horrifying, but my Monk character finds delicious. If you play a recent enough version of Nethack, you can even _tin_ the corpses! You have to be lucky enough to find both a tinning machine and a tin-opener, but when your character is hungry, just whip out that can… Mmm, canned jackal. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/17 "2005-01-19T22:26:47Z")
According to _San Andreas_ you can go into a burger joint, calmly shoot each patron in the head and walk out. If you turn around and go back in the place is full of customers again, business as usual. This hardly ever happens in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/18 "2005-01-19T22:28:43Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > According to _San Andreas_ you can go into a burger joint, calmly shoot each patron in the head and walk out. If you turn around and go back in the place is full of customers again, business as usual. This hardly ever happens in real life. Maybe the burgers are _really_ good. Not as good as haunted floor ham, but good enough to ignore murdered corpses. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/19 "2005-01-19T22:31:40Z")
The other day, a marine ran up to me, and shot me twelve or thirteen times. I beat him to death with my crowbar. It was all good, I still had, like, thirty health left. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591/20 "2005-01-19T22:46:22Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Oh, was I a gender offender? Was my noun more amateur than pro-? CandidGamera, you are…THEWEAKESTLINK! (Sorry…your post just begged for it.) Back to the OP… There’s the random larceny… And I hardly ever play card games with random people I run into on the street IRL. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-only-happen-in-video-games-possible-video-game-spoilers/285591.md?page=2)