Update: #1 of this article has been updated to reflect new and more accurate information.

Every so often, events that transpire in video games demand the attention of gamers, the media, and politicians everywhere. Sure some of these events stir up a bit of controversy, but others tell tales that we just marvel in, and become completely amazed that something like this could actually happen. Some of these events create frustration, while others create a feeling of unity and belonging. This is a list of 5 events that I reflect back upon and really consider that gamers have really understood the importance of creating experiences for themselves. Whether their good or bad, or even odd and just nearly unthinkable experiences.

5) Modern Warfare 2 Glitches

It probably isn’t necessary to go into the details as I’m sure most of us are aware, but at the time of Modern Warfare 2’s release, and sometime after, the online multiplayer was completely riddled with glitches. In a lot of ways these bugs made the game just completely unplayable. All one really needs to do, is take a look at this list to really get an idea. Though I suppose with the millions playing, some are bound to find out way to break the game in some form or another. Take the video below as an example. If you pay close attention to the player’s ammo, you’ll notice that he’s not expending any. However the gun continues to fire, and at the same rate continuously as long as the player is holding the trigger down. What’s happening here is that the game is not recognizing the players’ use of the gun, and at the same time, is not picking up on the different dynamics and firing rate of each gun. Each weapon as a result is fired as if it where an assault rifle, including the ac-130 the player gets half way through. The result is a total cluster-fuck of explosions that somehow ends up being just as awesome as it is terrible.

4) Corrupted Blood

In September 2005, what would be known as “The corrupted blood incident” in the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, a virtual plaque known as Corrupted Blood would spread like wildfire, easily killing lower leveled players, while doing a fair bit of damage to those at higher levels. The epidemic came as the result from a newly introduced dungeon Zul’Gurub, via the Dungeon’s end boss, Hakkar. If the player encountered Corrupted Blood in the dungeon, and proceeded to teleport out of the area, that player would carry the disease with him, and instantly spread the infestation to nearby players. Players of the MMORPG reacted in different ways, and even created a source of a viable study of what may happen in a real world epidemic. Some attempted to help each other with healing abilities or spreading word of the issue, while others would purposely spread the glitch for their own amusement. Even Blizzard attempted to create quarantine zones, but unfortunately that would not solve the issue in the short term. Visually, the result of Corrupted Blood came when areas throughout the game were covered with skeletal corpses, showing those who lost the battle to Corrupted Blood.

3) The Hot Coffee Minigame

The term “Hot Coffee” was given a whole new meaning when it was discovered that in 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a sex minigame that revolved around sexual intercourse with the characters in-game girlfriend resulted in the game getting recalled off of store shelves for months. Now typically, Hot Coffee was inaccessible within San Andreas, but a mod for the PC version of the game enabled the minigame, and sometime later it also became known that the assets were available in the console versions of the game as well. Later, players of the console versions realized they could even play the minigame using various hacking techniques. Originally Rockstar had claimed that the mod for the PC version involved completely altering the games code which resulted in the Hot Coffee minigame that we all remember. However, the man responsible for discovering the assets claimed that no heavy modding was necessary. All the sexual positions of the minigame were already there, and all he had to do was alter a small bit of code that in turn allowed players to actually view “hot coffee” in action. The media had a field day as a result, and it was motioned that the game rating should change to Adult. Because of this, Rockstar was essentially forced to re-call the game and remove the minigame so that San Andreas may retain its Mature rating.

2) The EVE Online Heist

In a September issue of PC Gamer, a story of virtual espionage grabbed hold of our imagination into just how far video games can go, and bringing a whole new meaning to the words “virtual crime.” In CCP Games MMO EVE Online, a year in the making scheme brought down one of the game’s biggest corporations Ubiqua Seraph, when an undercover agent from Guiding Hand made it all the way to the top to become second in command. After assassinating the corporation’s leader, the undercover player opened the floodgates, and within an hour of the climactic events, all of the corporation’s assets that came in at an estimated value of $16,500 real US dollars were gone. The corporation had been crippled from head to toe, and the best part of it all, rather than rollback the servers, CCP let it stand saying that the events that transpired were perfectly in the rules of the game. For a detailed account of the full events, click this link to see how it all went down. Of course, events such as this happen regularly in EVE Online, but never had it happened before at this magnitude.

1)  Handful Keep Halo 2 Alive

On April 15^th, Microsoft officially closed down Xbox Live support for the original Xbox. Most say that the support only lasted this long because of Halo 2, which still maintained a fairly active community of players. And if there was any proof of this, by April 30^th, 15 days after Microsoft shut down the servers, roughly a dozen players were still logged onto Halo 2. Now technically, even though Microsoft had shut down the servers, those connected beforehand remained so, as long as they didn’t log off. This meant that the slightest hiccup in the players connection would result in being disconnected for good. In order to maintain their connection then, the few left had to leave their consoles on around the clock. Throughout most of the event, players still logged in would live stream gameplay matches. Players still playing also claimed that the only thing that will get them to stop, would be either their consoles breaking, or being kick off by Microsoft. Eventually, the dozen left would become one, when APACHE N4SIR was the last one standing. By May 11^th, APACHE N4SIR would officially leave the game, and officially bring an end to Xbox Live support on the original Xbox. The few that remained throughout the whole ordeal received support and encouragement from Bungie, Microsoft, and gamers everywhere.

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