10 Times Video Games Freaked Us Out With Fake Glitches And Cheeky Tricks

Here it is: the glitch that sent countless players rushing to their computers and onto their favourite gaming forums to report that the new Batman game was broken. Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylum features a highly memorable glitch in which it really seems like your console or computer just died.

The Caped Crusader is walking along through the halls of the asylum when he begins to cough. The screen judders a little, and suddenly locks up entirely, complete with weird screen tearing effects and horrible white noise in the background.

Pretty much everyone who played the game was absolutely terrified at this stage, but that was the whole point. The glitch was the effect of the villainous Scarecrow's fear gas, which famously makes people hallucinate and see their worst fears brought to life. In faking a crash, the game essentially broke the fourth wall and gave players a little sniff of Scarecrow's toxic gas. Fortunately, if you wait just a few moments, the game bursts back to life.