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15 weirdly poignant video game poems, auto-generated by Google

Features
By David Houghton published 18 October 2013

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Verses battle

Verses battle

If you haven't heard of Google Poetics, you need to go and check it out immediately. One of the coolest and most unexpected side-effects of modern internet use, the idea is that you drop a few carefully selected words into Google in the hope that the following lines of auto-suggestion will create an inadvertently poignant verse of poetry. It's a trial and error process, but when it works, it works unbelievably well.

So naturally, having become a big fan of the accidental art form, I thought I'd give it a go with video games. It took a good afternoon of furious typing, but eventually I got Google to compose these 15 beauties. All appear exactly as they came out of Google's search suggestions, with only slight tweaks to add punctuation and, in a couple of cases, combine several verses in order to create more affecting, longer-form works. I'm fully aware that Sonic comes up far more than he should, but for some reason his search terms turned out to be a never-ending source of quality material. Probably something to do with his disproportionate years of suffering.

Page 1 of 17
Page 1 of 17
Only a fool

Only a fool

Sonic always finishes first.
Sonic always ruins the moment.

Page 2 of 17
Page 2 of 17
It's not easy being green

It's not easy being green

Luigi is better than Mario.
Luigi is the pope.
Luigi is dead.
Luigi is gay.

Page 3 of 17
Page 3 of 17
Hero of darkness

Hero of darkness

Link is a girl.
Link is a womanizer.
Link is a jerk.

Link, is that your wang?
Link, that is not underlined.
Link, that is scary,
Link, in that e-mail.

Link is left-handed.
Link is hot.
Link is a girl.
Link is not ready.

Page 4 of 17
Page 4 of 17
Still waters

Still waters

What does Dhalsim say?
What does Dhalsim mean?

Page 5 of 17
Page 5 of 17
Existential breakdown in Los Santos

Existential breakdown in Los Santos

How does CJ die?
How does CJ pay?
How does CJ work?
How does CJ get a girlfriend?

Page 6 of 17
Page 6 of 17
The night before Christmas

The night before Christmas

Sonic was once lost.
Sonic, once upon a December.
Sonic, once upon a dream.

Page 7 of 17
Page 7 of 17
Tomb of the unknowing soldier

Tomb of the unknowing soldier

Snake wants answers.
Snake wants to eat owner.
Snake wants to eat me.
Snake wants to get out.

Page 8 of 17
Page 8 of 17
Playful propaganda

Playful propaganda

Science is awesome.
Science is fun.
Science is vital.
Science is not your enemy.

Page 9 of 17
Page 9 of 17
Think before you jump

Think before you jump

Goombas have souls too.
Goombas have souls.

Page 10 of 17
Page 10 of 17
History repeating

History repeating

Mario has the deepest lore.
Mario has gone missing.
Mario has a baby.
Mario has done it again.

Page 11 of 17
Page 11 of 17
Processed blast

Processed blast

Sonic runs.
Sonic runs away from Amy.
Sonic runs too fast.
Sonic runs, like an idiot.

Page 12 of 17
Page 12 of 17
Bolt from the blue

Bolt from the blue

Hadoken is powered by love.
Real Hadoken.

Page 13 of 17
Page 13 of 17
Training to be nothing

Training to be nothing

Why dont Pokemon die?
Why dont Pokemon exist?

Page 14 of 17
Page 14 of 17
Positive thinking

Positive thinking

Cant Shoryuken.
Shoryuken, they can control it.
Shoryuken, sure you can.

Page 15 of 17
Page 15 of 17
The lost world

The lost world

Sonic was never good.
Sonic was never about speed.
Sonic, never turn back.
Sonic, never too late.

Sonic, dont stop me now.
Sonic, dont stop the party.
Sonic, dont make me laugh.
Sonic, dont stop believing.

Page 16 of 17
Page 16 of 17
Further reading

Further reading

So that's what I came up with in a couple of hours. But how about you? Tried it yourself? If you've come up with anything particularly good, stick it in the comments for the rest of us to see.

And while you're here, check out some of our other creatively-minded content. May we recommend Video game characters' school report cards? And then maybe follow up with Video game characters' criminal records.

Page 17 of 17
Page 17 of 17
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David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.
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