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Sometimes, one screenshot comes to define a games entire existence for better or for worse.
I’m not sure.
But let me give you some normal examples, before we get to my weird one.
ForSonic the Hedgehog, its the Blue Blur standing at the start of Green Hill Zone.
Some games have one image that instantly communicates, This is that game.
All I knew was that they looked exactly like former SNL star Fred Armisen.
Here’s a look at that character:
This has haunted me.
Did Bethesda design this character to look like Fred Armisen on purpose?
Is this just a strange coincidence?
For some more chronological context, Oblivion came about a year before Armisen started playing Barack Obama on SNL.
It’s really just from that specific angle and in that specific pose.
It has me thinking about whether screenshots are useful at all.
After all, we experience games in motion, and we experience them by playing them.
Players want to see what a game is like when it’s moving.
But this enlightening experience has not changed what I see in that screenshot.
Oblivion holds up surprisingly well, and a remake risks losing so much of its awkward, janky charm.
