Glitches have been present in games for as long as they have existed. They can range from being minor annoyances to being completely game-breaking. Certain gaming glitches can funny and entertaining, while others can be downright terrifying. Over time, a select few of these glitches have become rather well-known. In this article, I will therefore list some of the most infamous gaming glitches of all time, before outlining how to find them.
1. MissingNo.
MissingNo. is the name of an infamous glitch from Pokémon Red and Blue on the original Gameboy. This glitch was first documented in May 1999 by Nintendo Power. MissingNo. is a wild Pokémon that can be encountered by following a series of specific steps, appearing in the game due to a so-called ‘programming quirk’. It presents itself in a scrambled form that doesn’t resemble a Pokémon at all. Nevertheless, it is shown as number 000 in the pokedex and can be caught and used in battle. It is not recommended to catch MissingNo, however. Doing so can cause numerous other graphical glitches in the game. It can also cause the Pokémon hall of fame to become glitched. In some cases, the only way to resolve the glitch is then to restart the whole game.
The exact steps on how to find MissingNo. are a little complex. are shown in the video below.
2. Minus World
Minus World is a well-known glitch from the original Super Mario Bros. It can reached by performing a set of actions in world 1-2 of the game. In brief, the player must enter the left pipe of the world 1-2 warp zone in a very specific way. Once the world is reached, you will be presented with a level identical to world 7-2. The difference is that the minus world cannot be completed. This is because the pipe at the end takes the player back to the start every time.
3. Swingset Glitch
The Swingset Glitch appears in Grand Theft Auto IV. It has become one of the most infamous glitches in the whole franchise. If the player drives their vehicle into the swings in Liberty City, it will sometimes launch it into the air with a huge amount of force. This can result in massive damage to your car as well as in the player’s death. This glitch doesn’t come without some advantages however. It can be used to escape from the police in the game, for example. Besides that, it is entertaining just to activate in the first place, as you never know where you may end up after being launched.
4. Corrupted Blood Incident
The corrupted Blood Incident is another well-known glitch, this time from World of Warcraft. This glitch was caused by an in-game debuff that was spread from player to player. This debuff was supposed to be restricted to a boss area, but ended up spreading through the whole world of Azeroth due to a programming oversight. Before long, huge numbers of players were affected by this debuff. Reactions were varied, some players panicked and even de-activated their animal companions. At the same time, certain griefers intentionally caught it and tried to spread it to as many people as possible.
The developer, Blizzard Entertainment, was eventually forced to perform a hard reset on the game in order to resolve the issue. As far as gaming glitches go, this was definitely one of the biggest ones back in the day. It even gained the attention of disease researchers. Blizzard also went on to implement two intentional in-game epidemics following this bug.
5. The Far Lands
The far lands represent a very well-known glitch in Minecraft. The glitch occurs when the noise generators responsible for generating terrain stop working properly. As a result, players experiencing this glitch would encounter a spongy landmass. The far lands occur at precisely 12,550,821 blocks from the middle of the in-game world. They are therefore very difficult to reach, but this hasn’t stopped some very determined players from trying to walk all the way there without the help of mods
6. Spinning Guard Glitch
Last, but certainly not least, one must not forget the spinning guard glitch from Goldeneye 007. Being a classic Nintendo 64 title, Goldeneye 007 was first released on cartridge. It is in this context that this glitch came to be. In brief, the guards in the game would start spinning if you slightly pulled the cartridge out of the system. This is a very funny glitch to activate and is definitely a sight to behold. Super Mario 64 is another classic title in which pulling out the cartridge caused strange things to occur. In that game, doing this would cause sound glitches and make Mario fall into the floor.
