The Video Game Dialogue that Haunts My Subconscious

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Whenever I do something spectacularly stupid or self-defeating, which is about every 8 seconds or so, I hear a little voice in the back of my head that says “IDIOT!”

It says it in this slow, growly voice, like a drunk leprechaun: ID-EE-YUT!

This is because I have spent many aggregate months of my life playing Myth and Myth 2, which were real-time strategy games that Bungie did before Halo. They’re both truly great games, elegant and brutal, definitely in my top four or five all-time.

One of the units you control in Myth are dwarves. They’re useless hand-to-hand, but they carried explosive satchel charges that they could set as mines or throw like grenades, comme ca:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeGM_5miQ6U&fs=1&hl=en_US]

They’re crotchety little guys, and if you mis-handled your units and a dwarf took friendly fire (and it didn’t die instantly, because they were so insanely weak), the dwarf would get all indignant and say: ID-EE-YUT!!!

I heard that a lot. And even though I haven’t played Myth for years I hear it still.

And I hear other scraps from video games. Like whenever I hit my head I hear the unforgettable noise the prince makes in the old Mac game Beyond Dark Castle (you’ll find it below at 3:05):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISP9su7okHo&fs=1&hl=en_US]

It made me wonder: what other lines of video game dialogue are kicking around in other people’s subconsciouses?

(BTW the screenshot up top is from Myth III: The Wolf Age, which is only semi-canonical on account of it sucks, but it was a good image)