Super Mario 64 Anti Piracy
Growing up in the early to late 2010's, i was a Nintendo kid through and through. I played the Wii every day after school and my favourite part about the Wii was definitely the Virtual Console.
I had hundreds of old video games on my wii. Mostly from consoles like the N64, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo. Most of the games i played back then now have a special place in my heart, especially since Virtual Console is just a thing of the past. You can still get the classic video games on the switch, but you need a Nintendo online account to do so.
Once i heard that Super Mario 64 was being re-released for Super Mario 3D All Stars, I got really excited. Mario 64 was my absolute favourite game to play on the Wii. Not only were the graphics impressive for 1996, but you could also do whatever you want in that game. Even if that was drowning Mario to death or harassing one of the toads.
Since i live in a significantly poor part of the country, there are many flea markets near and around my house. Most of the time. the markets sell pirated DVDs and bootleg VHS tapes. But occasionally they sell some of the old and new video games. I've been ripped off by these stores quite a few times.
Not to mention that there are hardly any new releases. and whenever there is something new the stores don't even advertise it. Which confuses me a lot! Once i was at one of these markets a few months ago, and i saw Super Mario 64 laying under a pile of dirty clothes.
The cartridge was in good condition. only difference being that it was a Nintendo switch cartridge. Which was strange, but i brought it anyway. Considering that i was short on cash at the time and the items being sold are usually free.
Many people around my suburb don't speak english either. A lot of them speak Japanese, while others speak either Thai or Portuguese. I ran off with the cartridge in my hand. The person who owned the store didn't really seem to give a shit.
Once i got home, i decided to do the laundry. Since there were a ton of dirty clothes waiting at my front porch with a note. Here's what was written on the note:
"Clean the clothes, stop playing those dumb video games for once - Mum"
My mum visits me every fortnight to see if i'm living like a normal adult. I do, but some of the rooms i use are fairly messy. So i constantly have to clean up after myself every single day. It's a very tiring job, especially if it's about 40 degrees outside.
Once that was done, i put the cartridge into my switch and began to play. I was going to have a gargantuan wave of nostalgia for the next few hours.
Or at least, that's what i thought was gonna happen.
The game opened up like usual. Mario's catchphrase "It's-a-me, Mario" Brought a smile to my face every time. I felt like i was 6 years old again, still living with my mum and dad.
But then, something weird happened.
The game would normally start off with a giant mario head on a blue background. You could twist and turn the head around if you didn't feel like playing the game.
But this time, there was a black screen. Which gave me the feeling of uneasiness and nervousness at the same time, maybe i might've gotten one of those crappy bootleg cartridges by mistake?
I could hear a weird noise. Bowser's menacing laugh could also be heard in the background. As his laugh finished, i was treated to a...rather odd screen.
It consisted of Mario sitting on the N64 logo looking very distraught, he looked like he was about to cry. He was staring at what seemed to be a blank N64 cartridge. The game over music played, but then it got progressively slower and eerie. As the game over music finished, the sound of a breeze through a forest followed by a door closing could also be heard. There was english and Japanese text that stated:
"It is a serious crime to copy video games according to copyright law, Please refer to your Nintendo game instruction booklet for further information"
The screen then cut to black.
I had no idea that this was a pirated cartridge! i thought that this was some sick prank made by one of my neighbours. So without hesitation, i cleaned the cartridge and put it back into my switch.
The anti piracy screen appeared once again, but this time i could hear various people whispering in the background followed by the sound of paper being scrunched up. Both of those sounds started to play in reverse and started to repeat. The screen was also red this time. Not blood red, just a very dark shade of red. I could also hear the sound of Mario screaming and crying. Eventually, the sound of Luigi crying started to fade in along with the sound of a man screaming in agony.
Curious as to what the whispering people were saying, i decided to record the sound with my 3DS and put it in reverse.
What they said, really creeped me out. They were chanting this following sentence:
"Life is a dream, life is hell"
Credited to DankLordX
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