The role of a debugger is an important one in any kind of games development. These are the people who play through the games as they are being developed, pointing out any moment in which it goes wrong and crashes or lets the player do something that they shouldn't normally be able to. In years gone by, the debuggers had to record their gameplay sessions on tapes to catch any mistakes, before turning them into the development team who would then analyse and recode.
Some of these very tapes have now been acquired by the YouTube channel Hard4Games, who has tidied up the footage and put together a video on the findings therein.
The video covers bug tests for the N64, Game Boy, GameCube and Game Boy Advance, with footage showing early builds of popular titles across all of the consoles including Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin, GoldenEye, Pilotwings 64, Mario Kart Super Circuit and many more. Obviously, the footage focuses on the glitches alone, so if you wanted to get an idea of how these games were initially intended to run, then you won't find it here.
If, on the flip side, you wanted to see footage of James Bond uncontrollably moonwalking his way off of an aircraft carrier into the sky, or see the inside of Mario's head in Pilotwings, then this is definitely the video for you.
Aside from some serious nostalgia, it is interesting to see how diligent a process bug testing is. Nobody likes succumbing to a game-crashing glitch, but sniffing those slippery customers out is precisely the task of these testers.
Hard4Games has teased that there is also a tape dedicated solely to the PAL release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but says that it will be saving the contents for another video in the future. If there's one thing that could make that moon even scarier, it would be seeing the inside of its ever-staring head.
What is your biggest glitch memory? Let us know in the comments!
[source youtube.com]
Comments 9
One of, if not the worst, glitch I've ever had was in Tomb Raider: Revelations. That's the fifth and final game on the original Playstation. In the very last level, Lara makes her way Tom Clancy-style through a building to recover a stolen artifact. It's quite tough and requires stealth and some quick reflexes as well as tense moments in gas-trapped rooms. Only to finish off with a pretty awesome sprint back through the building chased by a helicopter firing multiple rounds smashing the window as you try to outpace the gunfire. That would clearly be the most epic end to any Tomb Raider game, if it wasn't for the fact that the game glitches out right at the end and makes it impossible to finish. A door that's meant to be open isn't. The game literally could not be finished because of it. Total let down. I think the PC version got a patch, but the Playstation was doomed and there were no post-release updates at the time for consoles.
That's cool! I'm at work right now but I'll certainly give this a watch later when I'm home.
Funny enough the Super Circuit Koopa Beach one is still in the final version of the game.
Reminder that there once were people paid to test games and release them in a better final state. Now there are people paying to test released games in a non-final state.
@LavaTwilight that's horrifying. I'm so sorry
I would absolutely hate working as a bug tester, which makes me appreciate the people who do it.
@Bobb Ha! No worries, it was a long time ago now. But thanks all the same.
@LavaTwilight Yes, I remember that! I believe TR: Chronicles was the 5th and final game on PS1, though.
@Troopage that was the game it was in... the one where she is missing since TR: Revelations and she's presumed dead so her friends tell stories of her adventures...
Edit: I see what I did there, you're right. Revelations was number 4, I meant Chronicles which is the 5th one.
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