I have horrible vision, so in a way, before I don my glasses in the morning, it's a little bit like being blindfolded. But honestly, I don't attempt anything much more complex than sneaking off for a pee or refilling a water glass. I certainly don't game it up without proper vision (and even then, I admittedly am not exactly well-versed or good). However, Speedrunner PangaeaPanga beat Super Mario World in 23 minutes while blindfolded, setting a new world record. If he could do that without any vision remotely, surely I could learn to operate the coffee pot sans specs...right?
As it turns out, blindfolds have a function outside of weird first dates and sex things. They're apparently used for a major test of gaming intuition, which is a challenge I can hardly begin to fathom. There must be such a high level of skill present in the competition. However, to be real, I did finally beat my boyfriend's 7-year-old at Super Smash Bros. recently, and I might as well have been blind during that since I kept forgetting which Bowser was me and used tactics such as mashing all the buttons in a circular motion. I don't expect to repeat similar luck. Anyway, clearly Speedrunner PangaeaPanga isn't relying on chance.
He gets into it with deliberate purpose. Like, he's about to rock this classic game inside and out from beneath an airplane eye mask.
There's a Bowser I'd wager that's hard to miss even when blindfolded.
But boy, ain't victory sweet? See the whole adventure below:
Images: Getty Images; YouTube(3)
