10 Iconic Video Game Features That Were Invented By Accident

As a series that defined the horror genre, Silent Hill is one of those video game franchises that just screams ‘spooky’. Story and enemies aside, one of the most terrifying parts of the game, without shadow of a doubt, is the fog. The fog that constantly surrounds the world of Silent Hill has unnerved many a player in its time — not being able to fully see where you’re going, not knowing when an enemy will jump out at you, not knowing what the enemy will even be — but in actuality, this fog was never intentional.

The original PlayStation had its processing limitations, and the draw distance — the distance from the player at which assets appear on-screen — was one of them. In the original Silent Hill, developers wanted a way to mask this draw distance flaw, and as such created the mood-setting mist we know and love today.

The fog was created to cover up a constraint in the PlayStation’s power, but in doing so, made the atmosphere of the game that much more terrifying. Now begs the question: is this a happy accident? Or a horrifying one?