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Thread: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

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    Cherry (Level 1) Veepa's Avatar
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    Default What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    I was playing Ninja Gaiden for NES earlier, and I asked myself: "Which one of these enemies is the most annoying?" Even though there are several extremely annoying wacked out Ninjas and dogs(I guess they're dogs), the answer was obvious. The birds! But it's not only this game that these birds annoy.. It's basically every platformer from '87-'96. I really don't get it. I've taken strolls through a forest, and I've seen birds.. they don't challenge innocent strangers to fight to the death! So why did video games paint such a bad picture of birds? Maybe every game ever designed after Super Mario Brothers was actually designed to be based on Hitchcock's The Birds, but at the last minute they lose the film rights or something, and in a panic they change all of the graphics.... but they leave the birds. Ooorr.... Maybe soon after Duck Hunt was released, bird activists(they exist!) demanded they remove the game from the shelves... but instead the bird activists made a secret deal with every game developer to compensate for the killing of ducks.. The birds get their revenge.. and then some. And this way the kids wouldn't go out shooting birds... they'd fear them.

    Not only are the birds incredibly annoying.. they're incredibly unrealistic. Imagine you're walking, and a bird decides that you're gonna die. So, he swoops down at you.. and just uh.. kind of.. crashes in to you. All you have to do is grab it and twist it's neck! It could crash onto you all day,.. you wouldn't die! Trust me! Try it out some time. Plus it's weight surely wouldn't obstruct your jump.. if say.. you're jumping from one platform to another... it wouldn't send you plummeting down.. uh... down.. ..So where exactly do you go if you fall down one of those holes in Super Mario Brothers? Hell? Nevermind.. that's a whole other pointless rant...

    I guess what I'm trying to say is... uh... leave me alone.
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    Great Puma (Level 12) NE146's Avatar
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    Default Re: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    Quote Originally Posted by Veepa
    Imagine you're walking, and a bird decides that you're gonna die. So, he swoops down at you.. and just uh.. kind of.. crashes in to you. All you have to do is grab it and twist it's neck! It could crash onto you all day,.. you wouldn't die! Trust me! Try it out some time.
    I think I'll pass. There are lots of birds that can do you plenty of hurt if they wanted... talons in tow :P

    But yeah I know what you mean

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    Default Re: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    Quote Originally Posted by Veepa

    Not only are the birds incredibly annoying.. they're incredibly unrealistic. Imagine you're walking, and a bird decides that you're gonna die. So, he swoops down at you.. and just uh.. kind of.. crashes in to you. All you have to do is grab it and twist it's neck! It could crash onto you all day,.. you wouldn't die! Trust me!
    Well... if you were in the middle of trying to clear a 20 foot gap with your kickass leap (like Ryu has) and a bird half your hight smacked into your face, I'd have to imagine that you'd fall to your doom.
    I go online sometimes, but ... everyone's spelling is really bad, and it's ... depressing.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Veepa's Avatar
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    Default Re: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    Quote Originally Posted by Xantan the Foul
    Quote Originally Posted by Veepa

    Not only are the birds incredibly annoying.. they're incredibly unrealistic. Imagine you're walking, and a bird decides that you're gonna die. So, he swoops down at you.. and just uh.. kind of.. crashes in to you. All you have to do is grab it and twist it's neck! It could crash onto you all day,.. you wouldn't die! Trust me!
    Well... if you were in the middle of trying to clear a 20 foot gap with your kickass leap (like Ryu has) and a bird half your hight smacked into your face, I'd have to imagine that you'd fall to your doom.
    Birds are incredibly light weight.. that's how they achieved flight! Ryu would just charge right through it.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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    "Eternal Popcorn" (Honestly?... This probably isn't worth clicking.)

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    Banana (Level 7) § Gideon §'s Avatar
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    Default

    Veepa's right! Though maybe, with all those early video games being Japanese, companies simply modeled their video game birds after common birds from the region--which are far deadlier than their American counterparts:


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    Strawberry (Level 2)
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    Didn't you read the manual!? Those aren't normal birds...they're EVIL birds, transformed due to an alien invasion/radioactivity/brainwashing/mad egg-shaped scientist turning them into cyborgs. That's why they're attacking you! As for the "killing you" bit...um...well, maybe they have super powers? From being super evil, naturally.

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    It could be that those birds are simply misguided... they're trying to pick you up and carry you to the end of the level, but they keep running into you instead.

    It's not just Ninja Gaiden, either... I was playing Vice: Project Doom the other day, and that game has the same annoying bird behavior.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) Immutable's Avatar
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    Default

    You use a friendly bird in Joust.

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    Ryu Hayabusa (Level 16) rbudrick's Avatar
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    Default r

    They use birds because there are no flying ninjas. Also, even if there were, there aren't many ninjas as big as a bird.

    Also, have you ever harmed a bluejay? If you do, you will suddenly have you ass being kicked by many of them.

    Hey, maybe the birds in NG et al are trained by their ninja masters to attack.

    Or something.

    -Rob
    The moral is, don't **** with Uncle Tim when he's been drinking!

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    ServBot (Level 11)
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    i remember nothing being more annoying than that condor in pitfall II, even that pushy rat thing. the condor is right there on screen 2, screwing up your drop into the caverns.

    i've noticed in modern games theres a trend of letting you blast away at background birds for no good reason.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) CreamSoda's Avatar
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    Default

    Birds in the NES game Kid Niki, another good example of how these flying things can ruin a perfectly good(Ninja killing) adventure.

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    drowning in medals Ed Oscuro's Avatar
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    Default Re: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    True...the first enemy I saw in Iga Ninden Gaoh (PC-Engine CD-ROM sidescroller) was a hawk. What is that all about?

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    Apple (Level 5) nik's Avatar
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    Default

    Revenge from Metroid Prime?

    At the first level you can peg them off if you look up

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    Keeper of the Terror Mask
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    Default Re: What the hell is up with birds in video games?

    Quote Originally Posted by Veepa
    So where exactly do you go if you fall down one of those holes in Super Mario Brothers?
    That's easy - Koopa Hell.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10)
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    real life birds aren't that innocent either
    http://www.fabioifc.com/fabio/fab_news.html

    I mean for god sakes they attacked the guy from iron sword 2

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    Strawberry (Level 2)
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    I think Flicky and the little birds he has to rescure are cute and fun. Did I say that out loud. I do love Flicky for the Gensis though. Possibly my favorite game in it's entire library.
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    Insert Coin (Level 0)
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    It's the age old struggle of man vs. bird ...still going on today!

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18/bir....ap/index.html

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    Pretzel (Level 4)
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    Ive been attacked by birds before! Sometimes if you walk by bushes they have nests in, blackbirds will dive-bomb you.
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    Strawberry (Level 2)
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    The worst is on the roof of MGS2 where raiden keeps slipping on the bird crap. Id rather be fighting the 3 metalgears than dodging that crap.

    I took pleasure in killing those evil little things, then the damn colonel codecs me. CANT YOU SEE IM KILLIN BIRDS! lol

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    Peach (Level 3)
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    I saw this thing where a mockingboird divebombed a guy on a bike that was going pretty fast and the dude woke up in a hospital all banged up with amnesia.

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