10 Video Game Myths We All Stupidly Believed As Kids

5. Fighting Shen Long In Street Fighter II

Remember when we said the gaming magazines were highly reliable sources of information back in the 80s and 90s? Well, they were mostly reliable. Back in April of 1992, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) decided to play an April Fool's Day prank on its readers by declaring a secret character in the original Street Fighter II named Shen Long. Contributing to this myth was the fact that, since EGM was so reputable, other publications picked up on this story and republished it without fact or source checking. The myth exploded and, having been verified by a number of credible sources, was widely believed to be true as scores of gamers set out to fight the mystery fighter. The joke itself stems from confusion over one of Ryu's post-victory taunts "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." The declaration left many gamers wondering just who in Hades Sheng Long was. Sheng Long is the Chinese translation of Rising Dragon Punch, or the "Shoryuken" attack we've all tried to use with terrible results in real school yard fights. For some reason Street Fighter II was translated for Chinese before English and "Sheng Long" came along for the ride in localization. Capcom had never intended for there to be a character by the name, though the myth did have a hand in the creation of Akuma and Gouken.