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    Meme Origin

    Concept »

    When the President wants to go for a burger, you know that all your cake is a lie.

    Short summary describing this concept.

    Meme Origin last edited by Sirkinsella98 on 02/05/24 11:42PM View full history

    Overview

    Games featured on this list were, or contained, inspiration for Internet Memes, concepts (typically phrases or visual jokes) which spread quickly throughout Internet culture. Memes can stem from theoretically anything, including a game featuring memorable moments, simply being popular, featuring broken English, being notoriously poorly received, or even just by pure chance. While many early video game memes tended to be limited to Internet communities with a focus on gaming, the reach of video game memes (and memes in general) has greatly increased, seeing mainstream use and recognition of many popular memes.

    Video Game Memes in Culture

    Ascended Memes

    Occasionally, creators of video games and gaming-related entertainment will take note of a popular meme and mention or feature it in later works. This type of meme can be referred to as an "ascended meme", as it ascended from the gaming community to the game itself.

    • The developers of Team Fortress 2 regularly ascend community memes, such as creating an official "Spycrab" taunt, based off of a popular glitch wherein crouching as the Spy and equipping the disguise kit would cause the Spy to perform a crab-like walk.
    • World of Warcraft and its spin-off, Hearthstone, regularly reference Leroy Jenkins.
    • The oft-heard and oft-mimicked Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage quote "Trouble with the trolley, eh?" later appeared in a trailer for Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
    • The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney quote "You're lying, dammit! And I can prove it!" gained note upon appearing in game trailers, but not the game itself. As a result, the line was added to the second game.
    • Capcom has referenced Resident Evil's ''You were almost a Jill sandwich'' line a number of times, such as Dead Rising's "Jill's Sandwiches" sandwich store, or as one of Barry Burton's melee attacks in Resident Evil 5's Mercenaries mode.
    • Following years of jokes about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's many ports, Bethesda Softworks eventually released a tongue-in-cheek Amazon Alexa port of the game, complete with a trailer referencing other common jokes about the game.

    Memes in Mainstream

    As previously mentioned, a few game-related memes have been recognized by mainstream media.

    • The opening cutscene for Zero Wing was briefly parodied by Weezer in their music video for "Pork and Beans", itself a pastiche of Internet memes.
    • Rumor has it that President Barack Obama privately made reference to "all your base..." during his presidential campaign.

    Prominent Examples

    In this section is a list of meme origins and the memes associated with them. As the list is incomplete, feel free to add any that have not been mentioned.

    The grammatically incorrect winning notification from Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.
    The grammatically incorrect winning notification from Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.
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