Gaming for N00bs: 5 video game in-jokes you need to know

“I used to [something], but then I took an arrow in the knee.” Skyrim is a pretty big deal lately. A lot of people are saying it’s the only game you'll ever need, but if you ask me, it’ll be even more notable as the game that spawned one of the most annoying in-jokes imaginable. Usually when people make this joke, it usually has nothing to do with anything (so, yes, your confusion is justified).

The joke emerged from the fact that many Skyrim non-player characters suffer this oddly specific fate. This game’s world is apparently overrun with former soldiers with Achilles knees, a fact that players found delightfully strange enough to turn into a meme. YouTube commenters, in their perpetual cleverness, have even made anti-arrow jokes a thing; getting rid of this meme: You’re doing it wrong. If you have to use it, at least get it right: It's "in the knee," not "to the knee” -- but please, don't use it; think of the children!

“The cake is a lie.” I heard this joke many, many times before I started playing games, and it never made any sense until some pals schooled me (a Google search would have helped too, but what do I know?). In Portal, you find yourself in Aperture Science Laboratories, facing a challenge: Make your way through the facilities by using a portal gun. The computer GlaDOS sees you through the process and promises you a delicious cake as a reward, but as you progress through the game -- particularly when you find writing on a wall that says, "The cake is a lie" -- you learn that there is no cake at all. Your world crumbles, as it should.

Proper implementation of this joke involves using “The cake is a lie" to warn others of potential deception, whether pastry-based or not, or let them know that their efforts in reaching a supposed goal will be fruitless. Other must-know Portal references include the companion cube and "Still Alive” (the latter just because it's awesome).

“Do a barrel roll.” Maybe I'm being a bit nerd-elitist, but when everyone discovered Google's barrel roll Easter egg, I couldn't help but do a barrel roll with my eyes. So many people were talking about how cool it was, yet they had no idea what the whole thing was about -- an accomplishment considering that Googling the phrase brought you to about a million results that reveal its origins.

"Do a barrel roll" specifically refers to Star Fox 64, a game that involves a lot of space dog fighting; one of the main characters, your teammate Peppy Hare, can ask you to perform a barrel roll maneuver during battle. It's more or less just a phrase that took on a life of its own and went viral. You'll often see this phrase paired with image macros and random photos on the Internet, but there are real-life applications as well: Use it to frustrate the kind of people that are always asking for advice if you never want to be asked for advice again. And if you're ever taking a stroll with a friend and they suddenly catch their foot on a crack and go tumbling to the ground, don't miss your chance to request that they barrel roll; depending on how nerdy and/or injured they are, they will either laugh or force you to do your own.

“All your base are belong to us.” This meme is an old one, but still pretty common. The phrase "All your base are belong to us" comes from an ancient side-scroller called Zero Wing. The translation of the game from Japanese came out, well, very low budget-looking, resulting in an opening cut scene that would go down in history (for whatever arbitrary reason). Really, that’s all you need to know.

Use "All your base" to declare ownership. Lord over your friends when you've forced them to mortgage all their properties in Monopoly or in a lighthearted ransom note (TNGG Boston does not advocate stealing or kidnapping; seriously, don't steal anything or kidnap anyone, please).

“Hey, listen!” You just thought your friends were really obnoxious, didn’t you? Nope -- next time you hear people crowing at each other to "Hey! Listen," you can thank good ol' Nintendo; they're referring to everyone's favorite fairy friend, Navi, from Ocarina of Time. Navi is your guide through your journey, and while she’s occasionally useful, she’s mostly annoying (Yes, Navi, a locked door cannot be opened without a key! What an astute observation you've made for the thousandth time, thank you!) to the point where you may start suffering PTSD-like flashbacks whenever you hear anyone shout at you for attention.

The perfect use for this one? Making everyone fake-grin while secretly hating you. Really, it works like a charm!

What are your favorite video game in-jokes? Which ones did you hear for a long time before learning the origins?

'Gaming for N00bs' is TNGG Boston's bi-weekly Sunday gaming column, written by Vanessa Formato.

About Vanessa -- Vanessa Formato is a 22-year-old Clark University graduate, freelance journalist, vegan cupcake enthusiast and video game aficionado. She blogs about body image and tweets about puppies. So awesome, even John Stamos is impressed.

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