Bizarre Pokemon Go glitch makes game look possessed by MissingNo
The Pokemon Company/NianticA Pokemon Go player’s game has corrupted visuals, reminding fans of the effects of MissingNo, the glitch Pokemon from Gen 1.
The original Pokemon games were notorious for glitches, a proud tradition that continues with the bug-filled Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. This is due to being developed by an inexperienced team tasked with packing a massive world into a tiny Game Boy cartridge.
By far the most famous of the Gen 1 glitches was MissingNo, a Pokemon composed of garbage data, which is often depicted with a sprite resembling a Tetromino. MissingNo was the source of many urban legends in its day, though its effects were more benign than fans realized.
While MissingNo isn’t an official Pokemon, it has left a stamp on the fandom, to the point where any glitch Pokemon or visual hiccup is attributed to the elusive gremlin.
A Pokemon Go player’s corrupted game evokes the spirit of MissingNo from Gen 1
A user on the Pokemon Go Reddit has shared images of glitched-out visuals in their game, causing the backgrounds and character models to be corrupted. Other users quickly evoked the name of MissingNo, blaming it for the problems.
“My guess? You did the MissingNo. encounter,” one user wrote, while another said, “Are you transferring glitch Pokémon from Gen 1 into the game or something?”
While it’s easy to blame the ghost of a nearly thirty-year-old Game Boy bug, other users in the thread have pointed to a more mundane issue, as the problem could result from hardware rather than anything in Pokemon Go itself.
“I’d get your phone in for a repair if it isn’t that old or Google the issue,” the user said, “This is a graphics chip issue and might need a repair. I’d make sure the phone’s firmware is also fully updated in case it is just a glitch.”
MissingNo was never a real Pokemon, and it only exists in certain versions of the Gen 1 titles, but it left an unforgettable mark on the franchise. Pokemon is nearing its thirtieth anniversary, but people will still blame MissingNo for glitches when it’s approaching its fiftieth anniversary, it’s just that scary.
