Top 10 Video Game Events That Brought The World Together

#10: GME Stock

GameStop has long been a struggling retailer seemingly always on the brink of bankruptcy as more and more people switch to buying games digitally. But in early 2021, the company underwent a brief renaissance when users on the subreddit “WallStreetBets” realized GameStop stock was being shorted by hedge funds betting on it going into financial ruin. To cut a long story short, the actions of Redditors meant that the price of GME Stock soared and hedge funds suffered a huge financial blow. Everybody united to see hedge funds fall in what was widely regarded as an act of revenge from those who grew up in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, with many able to finally buy houses.

#9: Notre-Dame

“Assassin’s Creed Unity” (2014)

In 2019, Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the most famous religious buildings in the world, suffered a catastrophic, accidental fire. Though work is underway to restore the cathedral by the mid-2020s, it turns out one game had already preserved the stunning monument in great detail: “Assassin’s Creed Unity”. Notre Dame was beautifully recreated in-game by level artist Caroline Miousse, and following the fire, Ubisoft actually made the game completely free to help preserve the church. “Unity” was then subject to a reverse review bombing, where players heaped praise on it; it’s an impressive comeback story for what was once a widely panned game. Ubisoft also pledged to donate money to the restoration effort.

#8: Hbomberguy’s Speedrun

“Donkey Kong 64” (1999)

In January 2019, British charity Mermaids, which provides invaluable resources to help children and their parents understand transgender issues, was given funding by the UK’s National Lottery. Following some high-profile criticism, however, the funding was “reviewed”, which motivated YouTuber Harry Brewis, or hbomberguy, to start his own funding drive for Mermaids. He launched a 57-hour 100% stream of “Donkey Kong 64”, an infamously frustrating game to 100%, and got a huge number of celebrities involved. Among them were Chelsea Manning, Adam Conover, John Romero, and even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. All in all, $347,000 were raised for this worthy cause, and hbomb finally beat “Donkey Kong 64” – something he’d failed to do as a kid.

#7: $299

The year was 1995. Everybody knew a Sony console was coming, but Sega and Nintendo were still the biggest players in the market. Up until the PlayStation was announced as having the criminally low price of $299 at E3 that year. To make matters worse for Sega, the Saturn was coming out that weekend and it cost $100 more – but they hadn’t warned retailers when it would go on sale. It was a perfect storm that became the death knell for Sega’s console business, as gamers united to buy the PS1 instead. To this day, Sony remains one of gaming’s biggest companies in terms of both first-party games and consoles.

#6: Lady D’s Debut

“Resident Evil Village” (2021)

After “Resident Evil 7” and two huge, celebrated remakes of “2” and “3”, people were definitely excited for the eighth mainline “RE” title. But nobody was expecting Capcom to reveal Lady Dimitrescu in one of the game’s trailers. People went wild for the character who was widely called “tall vampire lady” ahead of her actual name being revealed, primarily for her astonishing height; she’s over nine feet tall. And upon release, there were countless mods to increase her sex appeal even further, as well as plenty of memes about how Ethan Winters doesn’t actually want to escape Lady D’s taloned clutches.

#5: “Final Fantasy VII Remake” Reveal

“Final Fantasy VII Remake” (2020)

It’s regarded by many as one of the best, if not the best, “Final Fantasy” games; and even if it’s not your favorite, you probably still love it nonetheless. A giant remake from Square Enix was long rumored, but we finally got a glimpse at E3 2015. People were already pretty excited just seeing the train, but upon finally seeing the iconic setting Midgar rendered in this next-gen cinematic, people lost their minds. And then, finally, we saw Barrett, Cloud, and the iconic Buster Sword. Though we’d have to wait almost a full five years from this preview to the game’s release, anticipation over the remake never died – and we can’t wait for “Part 2”.

#4: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” (2020)

It was March 2020, and the entire world was still at the beginning of what was to become a long and difficult quarantine. But there was a light in all that darkness, the release of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”. With people unable to go outside, sales skyrocketed for Switch consoles and the game, so that people could have a taste of the outdoors and still hang out with their friends. Just a few months on and the same trick would be repeated with “Among Us” when that took off, and unlike “Animal Crossing”, you didn’t have to buy a console or expensive game to virtually hang out with your friends.

#3: Hating Sonic

“Sonic the Hedgehog” (2020)

We don’t always unite for a positive cause. In 2019, we got our first look at Sonic’s design in his live-action movie, and everyone unanimously hated it. Sonic was lambasted as being pure nightmare fuel thanks to his unsettling texture, spaced-apart eyes, and of course those freakish, human-like teeth. The outcry was so great that the movie was delayed and Sonic completely redesigned to look a lot more like how we’d expect. It wouldn’t be the last time a video game movie would receive pre-release backlash, however; in September 2021, gamers also rallied to criticize the decision to cast Chris Pratt as Mario while casting Mario’s actual voice actor, Charles Martinet, in cameo roles.

#2: Nintendo Wii’s Release

In 2006, motion controls were a novelty that hadn’t yet worn off. They truly felt like they’d be the future of gaming and that someday, everything would use them. That contributed to the insane excitement around the release of the Wii, a craze that controlled the entire world that holiday season. Nothing compared to the chaos in videos circulating of kids unwrapping a Wii that Christmas. Though Nintendo has more or less moved on from motion controls now, many will remember just how popular the Wii was at launch and how difficult it was to get your hands on one – all so you could play “Wii Sports” with your non-gaming families.

#1: “Pokémon Go” (2016)

Since the 90s, we’ve all dreamed of being Pokémon trainers, able to catch and battle Pokémon in the real world. In 2016, that finally became a reality with the release of the AR mobile game “Pokémon Go”. “Pokémon Go” took over the world almost instantly. Everybody was out exploring their neighborhoods, meeting new friends, and getting plenty of exercise as they caught, trained, and evolved their various Pokémon. It was a totally new and extremely fun way to experience this beloved franchise, and you’d struggle to find a single person who didn’t spend weeks playing it that summer. Even Hillary Clinton got involved, though most would rather she hadn’t.