My friend Alex Jaffe sent me a list of 47 video game titles. Without looking at the list, I stepped in front of a camera. Our producer CJ read the list one name at a time. I tried to describe what each game’s box looked like. This was a terrible idea. I loved it.
Of course, my friend Alex Jaffe didn’t want to just send me a list of classic fan-favourite video games. He had to send me a list that includes plenty of weird shovelware detritus. In many cases, all I had to go on was the faintest recollection outside the corner of my eye during a power-walk through a Target store, past the bargain electronics aisle.
In many cases, I had to flat-out guess.
While editing this video, I was surprised at how well I’d remembered the tiniest, most unremarkable details of video game box art.
Why did I remember that the PlayStation version of Tomb Raider had hieroglyphics on the wall behind Lara Croft, though the PC version didn’t? It turns out there’s an anecdote behind that.
It turns out, I can conjure an anecdote out of lots of things.
Conventional wisdom implores us to not judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop all of us from sometimes remembering a game’s box art more than we remember the game. If you watch this video, you’ll see that I am able to say plenty about just about any video game’s box art, even if I don’t actually remember anything about its box art.
See if you can surmise where I’m faking my conviction and where I actually confident in my possession of the facts. Post your assessment in the comments, so I can decide if I ever want to play poker with you.
You know what I’ve noticed, lately? The “weird flex” comment meme from earlier this year has mostly disappeared from the comments sections I hang out in. I think I figured out why: to put anything at all on the internet is a weird flex. Well, buddy, when the flexing gets weird, I flex the most. In summary: yes. I made this video.
By the way! If you personally liked, commented, and / or subscribed to our YouTube channel, that would definitely fuel my habit of making a lot more videos like this. I promise you might love it.
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