Just say what you see…

For many years now, I’ve been something of a parrot. I’m not talking just about my all cuttlefish diet, or even my beautiful plumage, though. What I’m talking about here is my tendency to pick up and re-use expressions and catchphrases from just about every source – movies, music, adverts, the works.

I’ve been referring to my friends as “dudes” ever since I saw Wayne’s World as a teenager – and that was a long time ago.

Of course, this tendency extends to “borrowing” from computer games too. With games getting more and more Hollywood, there tends to be more dialogue than ever before to pick up and use in daily conversation.

What I’ve noticed however, is that most of the gaming catchphrases and quotes I use tend to be somewhat more… ridiculous than the ones you pick up from television and movies. The best places for comedy gold tend to be Japanese games, as on the off-chance the dialogue has been correctly translated it is still invariably ludicrous.

The most famous example of this of all time, was the short-lived phenomenon of “All your base are belong to us”, a hilariously mistranslated line taken from the intro to the English language version of Japanese game Zero Wing. As I’m sure everyone who was on the internet a few years ago will remember, it was pretty popular at the time. In fact you’ll still see it used all over the internet, often in the generic form of “All your x are belong to y”…

Two of my personal favourite game quotes also came out of Japan, and more specifically from Japanese developers Koei. In my mind they are famous for two things. One; selling individual punters vast numbers of copies of the same “Dynasty Warriors” game (but with different coloured hats for the characters in each version). Two; writing unintentionally hilarious dialogue for cutscenes.

In one of the earlier Dynasty Warriors games, killing one thousand plebs enemy soldiers rewards you with the charming expression “You are a stalwart hero!” which has now become a standard expression in my house.

Them: “I did the washing up.” Me: “You are a stalwart hero!”

Them: “I got the beers in, and I got a couple of bags of crisps to share round the table.” Me: “You are a stalwart hero!”

Less useful in ordinary conversation is the equally bizarre uttering of Dynasty Warriors’ Liu Bei, who, when defeated, proclaims “I shall return… to the garden!”. The voice acting is so hammy that it’s probably not even suitable for Jewish people. As an expression, it does make a great alternative to goodbye, though.

Dynasty Warriors: Home to button bashing and comedy dialogue for over 700 versions

Now that I come to think of it, every one of my examples today originates from Japan. Mario’s hilariously over-the-top-a Italian accent in Mario Kart on the Gamecube perhaps inadvertently leads to his victory cry sounding rather too close to “I’m the weiner!”, which always gets a laugh in my house.

I’d love to hear any other gaming phrases which have become popular, as I’m sure there must be a boatload of them that I can’t think of right now.

So, before I end my post and return… to the garden, I’ll leave you with this final thought:

I have no idea what it is that Baby says at the start of a round in Super Monkey Ball, but it doesn’t half sound like “Suck my balls!” to me.