10 Cringiest Video Game Moments You Wish You Could Forget

Video games are filled with moments that let players live out all sorts of exciting power fantasies. Whether it's battling against impossibly large bosses or hurtling through city streets in expensive sports cars, a large part of a game's appeal is how stylish and fun it is.

Game announcements and trailers likewise focus on the spectacle of an upcoming release by highlighting how exhilarating it will be to play. While this tried and tested formula has been the basis for countless unforgettable and awe-inspiring gaming moments, there have also been plenty of awkward and cringe-inducing moments that players would rather forget about completely.

While the infamous DK Rap and "so bad they're good" cult favourites like Deadly Premonition possess a loveable charm that has been embraced by fans, there have been equally strange moments that are too uncomfortable to be redeemable.

From woefully executed story beats that miss their intended mark by miles to embarrassing mishaps during press conferences that become more memorable than the game being promoted, there has been no shortage of gaming blunders that have made players cringe uncontrollably over the years.

After the runaway success of the Nintendo Wii, there was a period in the late 2000s when motion controls looked to be the future of gaming. Every company was creating its own answer to Nintendo's console, with Microsoft's response being The Kinect.

Unveiled during Microsoft's 2009 E3 presentation under the name Project Natal, then-Senior Vice President Don Mattrick introduced the new hardware as a revolution in gaming that would allow the player to become the controller. A snazzy trailer and demo highlighting the innovative technology made for an interesting first impression.

However, events took a turn for the worst after creative director Kudo Tsunoda took the stage.

This part of the presentation was to show Project Natal working in a live demonstration. This was done by having Tsunoda's Xbox avatar mimic his real-life movements, with the presenter then asking, "Ever wonder what the bottom of an avatar's shoe looks like?" 

Instead of his onscreen counterpart copying his motions, the avatar distorted itself into an inhuman tangle of limbs. Making this moment even harder to watch was Tsunoda's overly enthusiastic "Bam!" that accompanied the blunder.

This embarrassing misstep would foreshadow just how disastrous Kinect's motion controls would be when the peripheral launched the following year.