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The best gaming memes and gifs of 2013: Xbox One, Kaz Hirai, and more
Check here for more from GamesBeat’s 12 Days of the Best and Worst of 2013
While gamers could have spent the last year celebrating new consoles and exciting developments in gaming, many decided to instead focus on the negative.
As it is wont to do, the gaming community decided to voice their criticisms and goofs with some silly images, gifs, and memes. We went back and looked through the last year to find the best and funniest and gathered them together for you.
We found that gamers love Sony boss Kaz Hirai. We learned that the Animal Crossing villager is a killer that feels nothing, and we all shrieked at the horror that was Joel McHale hosting the Spike VGX award show. Gaming fans also had a lot to say about the Xbox One’s early digital-rights management issues, Nintendo’s Wii U problems, and the busted launch of SimCity.
Join us as we take a look back at the best memes of 2013:
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime asking a question to every single one of us.
Earlier in the year, Electronic Arts released SimCity for the PC. The game required an online connection, and it was nearly completely busted for a few weeks. When it did start working, SimCity felt cramped and limited compared to previous installments.
SimCity was one of the last blemishes on John Riccitiello’s record before he stepped down as EA’s chief executive officer.
Nintendo released a new Animal Crossing for 3DS in 2013, and it also announced that the villager from the game will appear in the next Super Smash Bros. That helped some realize that the villager is actually kinda terrifying.
Spike held its annual video game show. This year, however, it was online only, and the channel called it VGX instead of the Video Game Awards. Comedian Joel McHale co-hosted the show with gaming personality Geoff Keighley. It was clear to anyone watching that McHale was not happy to host an online “gaming thing,” as he put it. The end result was an embarrassing show to watch.
Of course, 2013 was a big year for Sony and Microsoft. Unsurprisingly, most of the funniest and most memorable memes have to do with Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.
When Microsoft first revealed the Xbox One in May, it didn’t have a ton of games. Instead, the company focused on its multimedia capabilities. It did finish the show with Call of Duty: Ghosts, however, and that’s where Riley the Dog did his famous jaw-drop face.
At the time when Microsoft was introducing the world to it’s next-gen console, we were also learning that the U.S. National Security Agency was spying on just about everyone using Google, Microsoft, and other tech-company products. Naturally, gamers assumed Xbox One’s always-on Kinect camera and microphone would help the NSA creep on us in our living rooms.
We know that the Xbox One doesn’t require an Internet connection, but that wasn’t always the plan. Microsoft originally intended to require regular checks with a remote server and the Xbox One couldn’t play used games. While gamers hated these policies, Microsoft’s messaging was even worse.
Before Sony revealed the PlayStation 4, many thought the company would also try to end used games.
When the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show came in early June, Sony shocked everyone by revealing the PS4 would allow everything that the PS3 did in terms of used and rented games. They also announced that PS4 is $100 cheaper than Xbox One. This led to Sony fans throwing a bit of hero worship at Sony CEO Kaz Hirai.
OK, maybe it was more than just a bit of hero worship.
Sony fans really like Kaz.
They really, really like him.
One Kaz fan even runs a parody Twitter account based on the Sony boss. That account posted this complicated chart explaining why PlayStation 4 is better than Xbox One.
Microsoft fans, on the other hand, weren’t super happy with Don Mattrick. He actually left the company not long after E3 to join social-gaming company Zynga as its CEO.
While everyone was busy arguing about Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo got a bit lost in the shadows.
Finally, we have probably the best meme of 2013. We’ll never know if this is the GIF that made Microsoft change its mind and remove its online DRM and other policies for Xbox One, but that’s not gonna stop me from believing that is how it happened.
