Gaming

An Infamous Wrestling Promo Sneaks Into Valorant’s Patch Notes

Game developers have to put out patches in order to fix bugs, and with patches, come patch notes. This string of descriptions updates the user on what has been fixed, and while there may be exciting fixes for gamers, patch notes can be a bit dull.

Recently, Valorant released a new patch, and in its notes was a wrestling reference. No, it wasn’t a straight-up sentence saying, “Hulkamania is coming for you, brother!” Most casual wrestling fans may even miss this entirely.

“You can also surrender sooner now, for when it feels like your opponent has a 141 2/3% chance of winning,” the patch notes state. If you thought it was annoying when people talk about giving it 110%, how do you feel about 31 2/3% more added to that?

The numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for Samoa Joe at Sacrifice. If you’re not into the wild world of American professional wrestling–the country’s version of live-action anime–none of this makes any sense. Here’s a quick history lesson for where “141 2/3%” comes from.

In 2008, at Impact Wrestling, noted medieval armor and Oakley’s sunglasses enthusiast “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner was cutting a promo for his match against Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle at the PPV Sacrifice. Steiner went on a rant about numbers and math, and while none of it made any sense, it was poetic. Watch it below, and then, watch it again.

If you want a dramatic reading of this segment, check out the episode of GameSpot’s wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies titled “eFeds Are Wrestling’s Less Than Sexy Fan Fiction And Our Favorite Weddings.” TV Guide’s Keisha Hatchett comes on and reads Steiner’s lines to perfection–when she’s not taking breaks laughing through the read.

While the 141 2/3% bit isn’t in the actual patch notes themselves, just the introductory section leading into it, there really needs to be more fun stuff like this in all patch notes. As mentioned, they can be dull, and tossing in a “It’s me, Austin” into a sentence about silhouette rendering will really brighten my day.

I’m not asking for much. I just want to live in a world where developers work really hard on a game, then goof off by quoting Big E. I want a Where’s Waldo (Where’s Wally for the UK folk) situation where I am searching text for a “You just made the list” or a patch note post that closes with “And that’s the bottom line because Valorant said so.” It could be a nice addition to some of the bizarre wording that already exists in these notes, which The Strange Log documents on Twitter.

I may work on the entertainment side of things here at GameSpot, but I find myself happily talking about patch notes for a game I’ve never played. So obviously, Valorant and developer Riot Games are doing something right. Just give me more of this in the future. Thanks.

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Source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/an-infamous-wrestling-promo-sneaks-into-valorants-/1100-6479417/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f