Remembering 2023’s weirdest internet news moments

Remember 2023? The reply may be no. It was so much. Between a deluge of main video games — Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV, Baldur’s Gate 3, Armored Core 6, and Starfield, to call just a few — the eclipsing cultural second of Barbenheimer, the author and actor strikes, the morphing of Twitter into X, the multi-pronged authorized motion towards the Microsoft-Activision acquisition, and the rise of AI, the 12 months in Culture was a continuing drone of milestone moments.

Which may simply make you overlook every thing else that occurred. Below, please discover choose issues that basically significantly truly occurred over the past three hundred and sixty five days that nobody would choose you for forgetting.

The M&Ms had a spokescandy controversy that ended with a Super Bowl

The 12 months kicked off with the de-sexification of the inexperienced M&M, conservative pundits yelling about melt-in-your-mouth-not-your-hands sweet, after which a Super Bowl business that solely added to the chaos. 2023 promised to be a 12 months!

Shrek was rumored useless

Image: DreamWorks

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was a late-December 2022 shock, so we spent plenty of time occupied with what it meant for Shrek in January. Our main idea: Shrek died. Eventually we bought to ask the administrators for remark. Believe them if you happen to should.

Two dudes tried to steal $300,000 price of GenCon items and bought extraordinarily busted

We don’t condone theft however if you happen to have been gonna stroll into GenCon to pilfer a pallet of MTG playing cards, wouldn’t you put on a masks? Well, two New Yorkers who thought they have been the Danny Oceans of the collectible card recreation scene did… not do this.

E3 imploded

E3 2023 was a no-go, however at the very least in April 2023, the organizers believed there was hope for the legacy gaming occasion. But alas, by the autumn, E3 was 100% useless. Time to reminisce in regards to the very first E3!

Amouranth, Seinfeld, and the Pope all had an AI second.

Image: Twitch/Watchmeforever

Nothing could clarify the dizzying anything-goes second of AI instruments fairly just like the 14-day lifespan of the automated Seinfeld episode generator that — inevitably? — made a transphobic comment and wound up getting banned. But possibly good can come of the know-how: This seems like a troll, however truly Amouranth is all in, if just for the remaining. And then there was the puffer coat Pope… possibly essentially the most 2023 story of 2023.

BioWare apologized for a commemorative Commander Shepard corpse statue

“This statue was intended to be part of a series commemorating some of the key and most emotional moments in the series” — and it very a lot did.

Max introduced a 10-year-long Harry Potter TV collection

After the discharge of Hogwarts Legacy, everybody was dying for the promise of a decade extra Potter discourse, and Warner Bros. Discovery delivered.

Charles Martinet wrapped a legendary profession because the voice of Mario and all he bought was a cameo within the Mario film

The Super Mario Bros. Movie gave Martinent his due after changing him with Chris Pratt, and he nonetheless has a spot at Nintendo, but it surely all went down… in a shady means. At least the brand new man appears good.

The War Thunder Discord was one way or the other on the heart of one other categorised doc leak

The FBI arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira earlier this 12 months over leaking paperwork that contained details about Russia’s conflict on Ukraine, amongst different categorised matters. Note to all players: Git much less gud at leaking!!

Grimace shake, we shook

Image: McDonald’s/YouTube

It’s not too early to be nostalgic for easier instances, after we ordered purple milkshakes at McDonald’s and pretended to die on the ground.

People bought tremendous bizarre about Oppenheimer’s intercourse scene

The Barbenheimer double-feature reinvigorated movie-going, but just a few folks left the theater fearful that it was pointless for Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh to be bare with one another. C’mon of us, it was July and actually scorching exterior.

Post Malone purchased Magic the Gathering’s $2 million Lord of the Rings One Ring card

Shame on you for forgetting that our main rapper-turned-mana-caster swooped in to seize Wizard of the Coast’s golden ticket. (But geez, consider the taxes!)

Colleen Ballinger aka Miranda Sings carried out a ukulele track to reply to poisonous office allegations

There’s plenty of delicate materials on this report on Ballinger’s 12 months of controversy, however maybe essentially the most delicate factor is your ears as they hearken to a basic YouTube response vid backed by a small stringed instrument.

“Planet of the Bass” exploded as a listenable shitpost

Image: Kyle Gordon

Song of the summer time.

Kai Cenat incited a riot in New York City in tried PS5 giveaway

The streamer energy is actual, and as Cenat taught us all this 12 months, doubtlessly harmful if wielded with out a lot thought. Cenat specifically has turn into a topic of curiosity, and as we wrapped up the 12 months, was price exploring.

“You’re so Skibidi, so Fanum tax”

There’s no fast clarification right here, you might be both in or out.

Kojima did a Kojima factor simply earlier than calling it a 12 months

With a lot of the main recreation releases within the rearview mirror, Hideo Kojima took to The Game Awards to actually soften brains with the revealing of OD, a… recreation? Experience? Horror factor? Kojima and Jordan Peele babbled for a bit after airing a cryptic trailer and when it was throughout we collectively forgot every thing that occurred in 2023, thus this round-up.

Now, that is your second: What has the world collectively forgotten from the previous 12 months?