Communities
Some of the various communities and corruption-focused youtube/twitch channels of the world
https://redscientist.com/discord
Operating mostly from Discord, the RTC Dev Discord is currently the most active corruption-focused community and is where corruption research happens. This discord server is where all operations for Corruption Shows (for Vinesauce streams) and music corruptions for Chip Furnace take place.
https://www.youtube.com/@vinesauce
Vinesauce is a popular streamer on Twitch and YouTube, known for their corruptions, playing bad games and making funny voices. Most of the videos you see on their YouTube channel are cut and edited from their live streams. Vinny Vinesauce started doing corruptions using a tool called "Corrupt" which was extremely basic. The Vinesauce Rom Corruptor was then developed for them by Rikerz. Vinesauce exploded in popularity following the release of their "SNES Corruptions" video.
https://www.youtube.com/@Killysunt
Killysunt is a YouTuber and Twitch Streamer that uploads gameplay videos, mainly poorly translated games, corruptions and modded games. His corruption videos involve him playing a game while using the real-time corruptor. This style of video tends to be his most viewed, and the most viewed of which include corrupting a PlayStation 1 Bios, and various Wii games such as Wii Music and Wii Party.
https://www.youtube.com/@BradCorrupts
Brad Corrupts uses his homemade Python script to corrupt different games from various systems such as the NES, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, and TurboGrafx-16. The channel uploads videos in a consistent format, and in high quality with proper pixel aspect ratio. The channel also employs crash mitigation techniques that make the games last longer when corrupted, for some systems such as the Sega Genesis. The channel is also known for its strong anti-apple message.
https://www.youtube.com/@killgruz
Formarly known as "Killgruz", this channel is known for weird mario mods, hacks and game genie codes. Gruz makes videos where he corrupts mario games by adding multiple effects, intentionally, using game genie codes.
https://www.youtube.com/@MaskOfBrutality
This youtube channel publishes semi-regular corruptions videos and has been doing Nintendo 3DS corruptions well before it was possible to do it with RTC.
https://www.youtube.com/@Zer0ducksgiven
Formarly known as WelshGamer, Scott helped testing RTC while streaming, which often resulted in hilarious software crashes.
https://www.youtube.com/@scares009
Scares009, also known as cocoatwix, is a Corruptor from Canada who also developped their own corruptor, the Scares Scrambler. Scares gained fame with a YouTube video "Gamecube BIOS Corruptions" in 2017, inspired by ZeroDucksGiven. His content ranges from corruptions to essays, with separate YouTube and Twitch (Cocoatwix) communities. Despite university, he's active on Discord and makes videos at a slower pace.
https://www.youtube.com/@AvusWavus
Also known as "Mama Ava" on discord, is the author if the infamous Wii Bios corruption series. These series were so successful that it was almost impossible to dissociate the channel from corruptions for a certain period of time.
https://www.youtube.com/@digitaldoofus
Not a lot is publicly known about Digital Doofus but they mainly do Wii corruptions.
チートバグ : The Japanese scene
The Japanese Cheatbug scene is a fascinating subculture within the video game corruption community, where enthusiasts manipulate games to create glitch-filled videos. This article explores the origins, terminology, methods, and cross-cultural collaborations that make this scene unique.
Terminology and Origins:
- "cheatbug" : Japanese term for "Corruptions". Comes from the fact that corruptions in the cheatbug community are mainly created by modifying software using cheats (such as the Game Genie cheats)
- "Nishikigao" : Used when talking about corrupted faces created through cheats. Originated from a Famicom Captain Tsubasa game where a corruption made a character retain a funny face while saying "Nishikigaoka Koukou"
- "Kireboshi" : Originated from a FC Dragon Quest IV game cheat-bug video, where text saying "ばしゃと ききゅうが そとで まっております" (A carriage and a hot-air balloon wait outside) and "あ ながれぼし！" (Oh, a shooting star!) merged, resulting in "ばしゃと きれぼし！" (A carriage and kireboshi). "Kireboshi" didn't have a meaning, but since this was from an early cheat-bug, it became a tradition to meme it. It is now used as a community greeting.
- "Generation center" : A now-defunct website for generating cheat codes.
- "Seisei" (生成) : Originated from a Captain Tsubasa where the text turned into "sei sei sei". Means "Generating a coruption.
Methods and Tools:
- Standard Debuggers used: Code searching on PS2 with PCSX2, Cheat Engine and no$ emulator series.
- "CCCFR": Tool for generating cheat codes and exploring memory edits for DS.
The Enigma of "Hitman Respect":
- Hitemman Respect had a significant impact on the community.
- Hitemann apparently does not do corruption videos anymore (since 2012).
- There has been a problem with reuploaded videos using Hittemann Respect tags (See wiki for more info)
Interesting Facts:
- The cheatbug Discord community has about 200 members, indicating an active and engaged group of enthusiasts interested in video game corruptions.
- Cheatbug videos on Nico Nico Douga, a popular Japanese video sharing website, have garnered significant views, indicating a level of popularity and interest in the genre.
- The most popular cheatbug videos are the ones featuring JoJo's Bizarre Adventure games
- The japanese cheatbug community also has done Switch corruptions
- While cheatbug videos have gained popularity on platforms like Nico Nico Douga, the genre remains relatively niche within the gaming community, and there are discussions about its decreasing excitement in recent times.
- Like in the western corruptions community, the Japanese cheatbug scene also faces challenges in maintaining interest when corrupting the same games repeatedly.
- The cheatbug community utilizes various software and tools based on the hardware and games they are working with. For PlayStation 2 corruptions, the PCSX2 emulator with debugger functionality is employed, while older games might be debugged using the "no$" series of debugging emulators.
- Cheatbug videos often require extensive research and experimentation to achieve the desired glitched effects. The creators carefully manipulate graphics, memory, and code to produce glitch-filled content that captivates viewers.
- Certain terms like "Nishikigao" and "Kireboshi" originated from specific cheat-bug videos and have become widely adopted within the community, showcasing how memes and unique language have integrated into cheatbug culture. They are essentially the japanese equivalent of "SPEEN", "One note orchestra" and "Mario turns pink and dies"
- Besides memory-based corruptions, some cheatbug enthusiasts explore hardware-level modifications, like physically modifying consoles to achieve specific glitch effects, leading to unique and innovative approaches to video game corruptions.
The Japanese Cheatbug scene thrives on creativity, collaboration, and fascination with glitched video game content. Enthusiasts from different backgrounds come together, pushing the boundaries of video game corruptions. As this subculture evolves, it leaves an indelible mark on the gaming world, captivating fans and fostering a shared passion for the wonders of cheatbug creations.