Although video games can bring about high emotion through their storytelling, many games instead pride themselves on humor. Over gaming's long history a sub-culture has developed, bringing with it thousands of jokes for players of a particular series or games in general to enjoy.
In the online age, this gaming culture is personified by memes, which are pictures accompanied by text. If you don't understand them just yet, check out Tim's introduction to memes. Today, we're going to have some fun and find some places to get a few gaming laughs.
We've written plenty about Reddit before, including a guide for new users; it's one of the best places on the Web to find a community (subreddit) about nearly anything. It should come as no surprise, then, that Reddit is a perfect place to find all kinds of memes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG_RPWS_Fj8
Particular subreddits that you'll want to explore include:
- GamingMemes is self-explanatory, but unfortunately hasn't gotten many new submissions in quite some time. There's still a lot here to check out at first, but you'll want to find a different community after you've exhausted the existing content.
- Gaming isn't limited to just memes, but many submissions on this subreddit are meme-related or contain humorous images of games.
- Some games have subreddits devoted completely to memes, such as CoDMemes and DestinyMemes. To see if your favorite series has one, use a Google search or Reddit's built-in search function.
There's bound to be more, but these three will get you started with memes on Reddit. Not happy with any of these? Create your own subreddit and fill it to the brim with meme goodness.
Twitter And Facebook
Like Reddit, there are tons of interesting people to follow on Twitter. Even if you don't make an account, you can visit someone's page to view all of their tweets; perfect for getting your daily dose of memes in. Check these ones out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13nHKH1m-xA
- @GamerMemes is active and has been tweeting at least once a day. Sometimes they're regular memes with a game twist, and sometimes they're in-game images with humorous text.
- @VG_Memes is similar. You'll get gaming humor in bite-sized pieces, which is just what you're looking for!
- @GamePIay and @VideoGamesFacts are more popular and have a lot of content that isn't like your typical memes. Any gamer should have these accounts in their feed!
If you prefer Facebook over Twitter, most of these accounts are also on the social giant, and there's surely many more. Video Game Facts and Game Memes are two to start with.
Know Your Meme
Know Your Meme, which Justin covered a few years back, is a huge database of anything resembling a meme that occurs on the Internet. It has extensive information on a meme's origin, including the earliest known sighting of one, how it spread, and some notable examples or forms. Anything and everything is covered, from the best-known ones like Rickrolling to fringe occurrences that just started spreading. They even do videos for the most popular memes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJNM377JlIg
Search for "Video Games" on their main page and you'll have hundreds of entries to browse through. Some are more specific or well-researched than others, but you're sure to find some funny content. You can even comment or submit your own entry if you find one you really like!
Have a look for yourself: have you heard of the Xbox 360 Kid, brushed up on Video Game Logic, or realized that big game series' fans go through cycles? Get a meme education on Know Your Meme and you'll be an expert!
Memebase Video Games
Memebase, like Know Your Meme, is part of the Cheezburger network, but it's different than Know Your Meme. Here, you'll simply be able to scroll through pages and pages of memes that others have submitted, and they have a feed dedicated just to video games. We covered the best memes of 2013; perhaps you'll find one of 2014's best on your travels here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6PxRwgjzZw
Make Your Own!
If you've exhausted all of these great resources and still haven't found the gaming memes you're looking for, it's time to do it yourself.
We've covered a variety of meme-creating services on Android, or on iOS if you prefer. Dave has also unearthed five awesome meme generators on the Web for dead-simple macro creation. You're limited only by your imagination.
Laughing Yet?
Memes can be a great way to blow off some steam and have a few laughs, and with these resources you'll never run out of content. Remember that nobody can predict the next viral image, so if you find a funny picture, share it!
GIFs are often used for memes, but if you're sick of memes for now and are looking to use them in a less annoying way, check out Joshua's list of uses for GIFs.
What are your favorite gaming memes? Are there any other sites you frequent to get your dose of memes? Leave a comment and let us know!