Memes have become an important part of our life, haven’t they? Whenever we want to express a certain feeling, we share a meme. There is so much diversity in memes, such that people even communicate through just sending each other memes. So, how did the meme culture begin? Memes originated back in the mid-90s and have since gotten very popular.
Moving forward, It all began with small clips to vines, then meme templates, and now TikTok as well. Furthermore, a critical source of memes is games. Have you ever played a video game with such weird actions that you couldn’t stop laughing? At times, certain actions of players in a game turn into memes, but have you ever wondered about the memes that originated due to certain dev choices? Just think about it, developers programming certain features into the game makes you think it’s a bug, but it’s not. Sounds hilarious, right? Here we will share some of the most popular memes that came to be due to specific dev choices.
The cake is a lie
Let’s begin with a classic meme of Portal, the cake is a lie. The catchphrase essentially became popular in 2007 at the launch of the game Portal. The game features a research facility, where you have to perform several tasks with the help of an AI called GlaDOS.
GlaDOS keeps mentioning the reward of a cake after the experiment to keep the players motivated for the tasks. However, as the game progresses, players notice certain warnings written on the walls by an old lab worker. Guess what the warning messages said? The cake is a lie. This is how the legendary meme gained its popularity. In the beginning, the joke was between Portal players only, but it took only a short period for people around the world to start using it casually. The popular phrase was used as an idiom to show how the person was chasing after an unattainable reward. So, what do you think about this dev choice? Pretty interesting, right?
Press X to Doubt
Up next, we have another classic meme that is still very much popular on the internet, press x to doubt. The meme first originated in the well-known detective game called L.A. Noire. The game features Detective Cole Phelps, who solves crimes and interrogates witnesses.
During interrogation, the witness makes a statement to which a player is given three options; Truth, doubt, or lie. The players are given the freedom to decide whether they believe the statement or doubt it, and this is where the meme was formed. A reaction image of Cole Phelps’ face with ‘doubt’ writing next to it was spread around and used by people all around the internet. It slowly gained popularity in 2013 and is still being used by many veteran players. The idea behind the “ (X) Doubt” meme is to express disbelief in someone’s statement and is specially used by Tumblr and Reddit users. A pretty useful meme, isn’t it?
An arrow to the knee
Have you ever played Skyrim before? Surely you must’ve heard about it at least? The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a popular role-playing game that was released back in 2011, and also gave birth to the legendary “An arrow to the knee” meme.
In Skyrim, there are countless town guards with a set number of lines that they often repeat, with one line being the most memorable of all “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.” Why is it so memorable? Because the line was so overused that people started using t as a reference in online forums, substituting the adventurer part with something else. This choice made by devs became so popular that a Skyrim-related fan site was named after it. However, the meme isn’t used as much anymore, which is a bummer considering how funny the meme is.
Noob Tube
Every now and then we come across an over-powered weapon or character in a game, and that is how this meme originated as well. Noob tube is a popular slang that refers to the grenade launcher, which is attachable to an assault rifle.
Why is it called Noob Tube? If you have played FPS games then you can understand the diversity, and difficulty of the gameplay, right? Attaching that grenade launcher makes it extremely easy to kill anyone and Is usually used by newbie players, hence the name Noob Tube. The slang first originated due to Halo 2 but gained more popularity when Call of duty was released. What’s more, the phrase is commonly used by COD 4: Modern Warfare players, as the game is quite famous and has a grenade launcher. Call of Duty is an outstanding game and is known for having some of the best memes. If you haven’t played it yet, then you should check it out right now! Sounds too hectic? Don’t worry! You can always buy a COD account from Eldorado at a low price.
Press F to pay respect
Last but not least we have the most popular meme at the moment, press F to pay respect. As the name suggests, the meme is about paying respect to something and is used in many different situations. However, it first originated due to a certain action in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
The FPS COD game was released back in 2014 and that’s when many players pointed out the meme. In the game, there is a funeral cut-scene where the player is given the option “Press F to pay respects”, which the players found to be a bit absurd and forceful as well. Nonetheless, the meme gained a surprising amount of popularity, especially in the last two years. The meme is used by people all around the world and not just by gamers or COD players. Although most people think it’s overused, I still find it very hilarious and use it as much as I can.