8 Video Games That Mocked Themselves
"Infinite ammo"
When in doubt, roll the self-deprecation out.
Believe it or not, this was a genuine piece of advice that a friend gave to me when I was struggling in the dating scene, and as equally shocking to learn that I was actually single at some point in my life, was the fact that there is actually a kernel of brilliance to this self-owning advice.
You see people relax around others that they feel are able to make fun of themselves, and presenting your own vulnerabilities can actually become a strength when it comes to breaking the ice, assuming you do it in a relaxed manner.
It seems that video games too love a bit of the old self-deprecation too as the examples on this list showcases developers who were more than happy to have a laugh about mistakes they’d made in the past or about the tropes of the genre they were attached to.
So let’s take a look at titles that referenced their shortcomings in hilarious and creative ways as these are 8 Video Games That Took The Piss Out Of Themselves.
8. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
While Nuts and Bolts tried to take the piss out of itself for the laughs, it ended up wetting its trousers and pointing to its own crotch, yelling “THIS IS FUN RIGHT GUYS?”
I’m speaking of course about the opening ten minutes of the game, which so horrendously mock the tropes that the franchise was known for at this time.
The idea was clearly to show the player that the devs were well aware of the “”collect-a-thon” gimmick fans had labeled Rare’s previous titles with, thanks to the sheer amount of items gamers were asked to hunt down, but did so in a way that was utterly obnoxious.
Filling the screen with so much shiny gold that even Smaug said “that’s a bit gaudy”, the Lord Of Games asks us how anyone found collecting things fun at all, seemingly forgetting that it’s not the object-collecting itself that’s fun but the level design and emergent puzzle-solving instead. It's a moment so on-the-nose, it bloody breaks it.