8 Bits Of Science You Didn’t Know Ruin Iconic Video Game Scenes

It was the moment Call of Duty went big. With disturbing radio chatter about a live nuke in play and a downed pilot to rescue the tension was nigh unbearable. But no gamer would have believed what happened next, because Developers Infinity Ward carried through with the threat, leaving players staring in horror at the apocalyptic specter of a broiling mushroom cloud.

And yet, staring at the detonation is precisely the problem.

Because of the immense energies involved - in the case of a fusion weapon equal to the process that powers the Sun - the flash from a nuclear detonation is so intense that it causes Flash Blindness, overwhelming the retina’s ability to adjust to bright light and leaving the victim’s vision marred with a dazzling after-image that can last anywhere from a few seconds to as long as a few minutes.

But it gets worse.

Look directly at the fireball – as players do in-game – and all of that energy will physically burn the retina, leading to permanent scarring. Place that scarring over the central visual field and it’s lights out, permanently.

So, far from seeing a roiling fireball players should have seen a blazing white-out, if they saw anything at all. That would leave sound to carry the scene, and while an interesting idea would undoubtedly have been nowhere near as impactful.