Mafia 3 by Hangar 13 is a video game that came out in 2016 and it is an incredible reproduction of New Bordeaux in the 1960s—a fictional New Orleans, to be precise. It came with the entire ambiance, a revenge saga with Lincoln Clay against the Italian mafia, an excellent music score with all the classic songs, and a location that really mirrored the racial problems of that time. However, if you were to ask most gamers what they will recall about Mafia 3 the answer could only be one thing: the video clip. You know which one. It is quite difficult to comprehend how a meme has virtually taken over the entire game. It is as if the whole ambitious project was reduced to one moment on the internet. It is a demonstration of how memes can dominate a game’s legacy, for better or for worse.
The footage is of a teenage player who is totally absorbed in the game of Mafia 3 and let’s just say, he had an accident. A big one. He was staring at the screen and suddenly he, uh made himself dirty. The whole thing was live. The sound is really what decides if it is good or bad depending on your level of tolerance. There is a voice off-camera, probably that of a parent, expressing concern saying “Poop is coming out of your ass hole!” and the child, without the slightest hesitation or diverting his attention from the game, just calmly, assertively replies “Not yet.” Such a moment has become instantly hilarious for the Internet because of pure and undivided dedication or perhaps just total lack of self-awareness. It is the video that has spawned thousands of reaction videos and is forever imprinted in the consciousness of everyone who has viewed it.
Online gamers’ responses have varied from total hysterical laughter to sincere concern. One user, OopsAllLies, expressed the disbelief in a tweet saying, “how tf you wanna play the game so bad you shit yourself 😂😂😂😂😂”. It is indeed the main question. What kind of engagement leads to such a thing? Another player, MohdHazimi, was the one who voiced the surprise that many felt when finding out the footage source: “What?? I never knew about this clip. I assume when people say the kid shitting himself, they meant it in game. Ewww.. that is nasty.” This points out the fact that the meme’s circulation is often disconnected from its source, with many not even being aware that it’s from a Mafia 3 stream.
The replies in the conversation took some interesting directions. A few users tried to go deeper and akuma1629 pointed out that the streamer is actually a disabled gamer, which provided some with a new layer of context and made others, like KJovian, say, “Ok now I feel bad for laughing…”. It is a reminder that brands of humor used in these viral moments are usually connected to real people. Meanwhile, the discussion also shook the actual quality of the game that is often overlooked. User Ats_Aem made a rather common comment, saying, “Good 60s era game just not a good mafia game.” Others expressed the same opinion about the repetitiveness in the gameplay, with jayjayjackob lamenting about “obligatory yet side missions, such as destroying property, just to push the story forward.”
On the flip side, players began to stand up for the game and highlight its good points. User 808_Yinzer said, while responding to another comment, “Agreed. Gameplay was a bit basic, but it was fine. Story, soundtrack, and especially setting were absolutely amazing”. And xdepo_ynx lauded the cinematic ambiance, asserting, “Here are some scenes that are underrated af, it was like a movie, especially the last scene”. It is clear that beneath the meme there is a game that had plenty of desire and a few modest highpoints, mainly in telling stories and creating worlds. It broached tough issues, and as user ZacharyMil89406 pointed out, “Got kicked out of so many restaurants in that game for being black,” highlighting the game’s candidness regarding the racism of the time.
It is really funny, and a bit tragic, how one, totally bizarre incident can turn into the defining trait of something much bigger. Mafia 3, despite its rocky development, mixed reviews, and a fanbase that was dedicated to the story and setting, was not really known by most of the internet, except for the kid, the chair, and the very unfortunate decision of not pausing the game. The power of the video is such that even user rando_use_ has confessed, “Sometimes during my dull work day, my brain plays back the dumbest things I’ve ever seen… this tweet will pop in my mind now and then.” It has become a part of the cultural lexicon.
So, that is the saga of Mafia 3. A game that wanted to be a serious, narrative-driven crime epic will, however, be the one to thank for a moment of pure, unscripted chaos. It is a reminder that in the gaming world the legacy is not always what you had hoped it would be. Sometimes, it is just what is most memorable, for better or well, for worse in this case. The game itself is a remnant of the late 2010s gaming scene, but what about the video? The video is there to stay. And to be truthful, it is a more memorable legacy than that of most games released in that year. Mafia 3 is a fantastic game, crazy legacy. The internet was never boring.
