Cirque du Strange
Exposing the freaks of PC gaming
Boobies know all
...at least in 1998’s Jurassic Park FPS spin-off Trespasser, which put you firmly in the head of its female lead, with no HUD, no icons, and no numbers to keep track of. Instead, you had to regularly glance down at your heaving breasts, where a big red heart tattoo usefully told you when you were about to go tits up.
Jeeves and Threepwood
Ever wondered where the name “Guybrush Threepwood” came from? The first part is pretty well known - it’s from Deluxe Paint, the app used by the Monkey Island artist: the sprites for the initially unnamed main character were simply known as the “guy brush.” The surname comes from codesigner Dave Grossman’s cousin’s role-playing character Reginald Threepwood, the cousin himself taking it from PG Wodehouse’s Lord Emsworth - patriarch of the Threepwood family. Who says games lack culture?
Dopefish Woz ’Ere
Dopefish: the gaming industry’s graffiti tag. The secret handshake between those that were there. This buck-toothed fish, designed by then id Software man Tom Hall, first appeared in the platform game Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy. Since then, developers have snuck it into (among others) Rise of the Triad, Wacky Wheels, all three Quakes, Jazz Jackrabbit, Descent, Battlezone, Daikatana, Anachronox, Max Payne, Hyperspace Delivery Boy, Hitman 2, Red Faction and SiN Episodes: Emergence. Truly, the Bruce Campbell of gratuitous cameos.
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