Having read into some of Nintendo’s more interesting video gaming urban legends, we’ve acquired a taste for more. This time, we’re talking about the PlayStation’s most intriguing urban legends and the games that surround them.

The Sony PlayStation is now in its 26^th year on the market, and as a result, there are quite a few urban legends and myths that have made the rounds since the original PlayStation 1 days, and all the way up to the PlayStation 4. Did turning your PlayStation 1 upside down really help with broken games, was Lara Croft really nude, and did Iraq really purchase 4000 PlayStation 2’s to launch missiles?

As it turns out, there’s substance to my crazy fix. Who would’ve thunk?

Turning Your PlayStation 1 Upside Down Would Make it Work

I remember playing Tekken 3 on my PS1, playing a few matches with Gon, then switching over to Final Fantasy VIII, and then getting bored and loading up Tekken 3 again. Every now and then I would be confronted with the game freezing; this was due to scratched discs and, or maybe, my tendency to leave discs upside down to gather dust and what not.

When this situation arose, I would turn my PS1 upside down and, miraculously, the game would load past the point in which it failed to load in the first place. It was a strange fix and was not very popular for some reason, but it worked for me.

Legend debunked: According to research done by a blog called NTM’s Retro Gaming Blog, this did help the console. Turning the console upside down would decrease the space between the lens and the disc, improving the reading capability of the laser. This blog event takes that one step further by eliminating the need to turn it upside down via a permanent fix.

What? Did you think we’d include an image of nude Lara? We’re classier than that…

Tomb Raider Nude Code

Rumours started to spread that the original Tomb Raider that released on the PlayStation 1 included a nude code. Players who fell in love with Lara Croft wanted to take their relationship one step further, and pretty quickly the news of such a code spread.

There were pictures that surfaced showing the PlayStation 1 Lara Croft in the nude, and when these pictures surfaced, they broke the internet. It was way back when, so it’s not too hard to believe.

Legend debunked: There was no such thing as an official nude Lara Croft code for the original Tomb Raider. The pictures that emerged were from modders who created a mod that allowed you to play as naked Lara. Sorry boys, time to hit the cold showers.

In fact, the PS2 was a right pain to program for.

Iraq Purchased 4000 PS2’s to Launch Missiles

What would Saddam Hussein want with 4000 PlayStation 2’s? Well, back in the late 2000’s, reports started to emerge that the now dead Iraqi president was stockpiling PlayStation 2’s.

The PS2 had been on the market for a few months and a large shipment made its way to Iraq, more than 4000 consoles to be exact. This would be okay if Sony had a strong market there, but when reports surfaced that Saddam Hussein was actually stockpiling the PS2’s for their CPU chips, things reached a whole new level.

Legend debunked: It’s certainly possible to use the 128-bit processors to create a missile guidance system, but the issue is the decidedly difficult to program for hardware of the PS2. There were easier ways, we can assure you. 4000 happy gamers seems like a much more constructive use of the PS2’s

Simply throw it out of the window, that’ll kill it.

The PlayStation 3 included a “Kill Switch”

Sony could “apparently” remotely disable your PS3 if you did not conform to the Terms of Usage, attempt to jailbreak your console or do anything else with it that Sony frowned upon. This is according to a report that surfaced after the PS3 jailbreak was released.

The report states that “The amount of access Sony has to your machine is greater that you probably suspect. The company even has the means to irrevocably disable your console should it so wish, and if that happens, it will remain non-functional whether you’re online or offline.”

Legend not debunked: There was never a reported case in which any console was permanently disabled and unable to function, so it’s hard to nail this down as true or false. The absence of evidence, however, is not the evidence of absence. Sure, we’ve had waves of hardware malfunctions, but that is just the way hardware goes, or maybe it was Sony pulling the strings?

This is one creepy picture. Who’s going to have nightmares tonight. Us, that’s who.

Squall Died in Final Fantasy VIII

One of the greatest Final Fantasy titles just has to be Final Fantasy VIII. Along with its superb storyline and well-written characters, the game was also home to one of the biggest urban legends in PlayStation history. Did Squall die before the end of the first disc?

For those who don’t know, Squall was stabbed through the chest by an ice shard in the last battle on disc one. Squall then awakens at the beginning of disc two without a scratch nor does anyone make any mention of the near-fatal injury he suffered. To make matters worse, the game turns into more of an imaginative outtake to the story post disc one, which might suggest that Squall was actually a ghost imagining what was taking place, or perhaps he was in a coma.

Legend not debunked: Regardless of what happened at the end of disc one, the end of the game consists of flashbacks and past memories for Squall, so he really must be dead, shouldn’t he? Although there was never a confirmation of this theory from anyone over at Square Enix, then Square Soft, it’s still a big mystery.

We cried like babies during this scene. You did too.

Can Aerith be Revived?

Remember all those tears you shed for Aerith, also known as Aeris, as Cloud lowered her into the water in Final Fantasy VII? Well apparently they were for nothing as there were rumours that Aerith could actually be revived.

Legends say that there is an “Underwater Materia” that can be found in the game and used to revive her. This was sure to bring joy to all those over-emotional gamers out there.

Legend debunked: You cannot revive Aerith in Final Fantasy VII, not unless you’re willing to mod the game or use Gameshark. If you are still not over her death, best you seek professional guidance.

Did we miss any? Tell us which urban legends most caught your fancy, or that you believed. We’re always happy to discuss them, good memories or bad.