Do They Know They're in a Game?

[DuelMark]

Okay, this is just me thinking harder than I should be... but...
If this is a fantasy world, then how do they know what an A button or a Wii remote is? This is like that video for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force game on PS2 where Shake acknowledges using the X button and Carl goes "What's an X button?"
Of course they're just explaining how to play the game, but from the perspective of Link I'd probably go "What's a Wii remote?"

What do you think? Am I asking an interesting question or did I overthink to bring up something amusing?

 

[Ventus]

You overthought to bring something amusing up, but who cares; it's discussion all the same

I'd say that, in-game, they aren't actually saying "Wii Remote", "A button" etc. Remember that we are reading text boxes in English, while the majority of NPCs in Zelda happen to speak Hylian. SO, we could be reading a translation and translations typically have errors here and there. Granted, Wii Remote is a pretty deliberate error, but even so I'd say that's the more likely case.

 

[Locke]

imo it's just bad game design. LA broke the fourth wall fairly well with the boys explaining the controls. In general, I think control explanations should be kept to the manual, and the game itself should assume you know the controls. If a game has to explain how to deliver your intentions to the game world, it breaks immersion. And Zelda is certainly meant to be an immersive game.

 

[Kirino]

It's called breaking the fourth wall.

Fourth wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Games, and pretty much all forms of entertainment, do this often, especially Metal Gear Solid, where in one game the Colonel tells Raiden to turn off the game console. It's pretty common.

 

[RegalBryant]

Reminds me of Super Paper Mario... "press the A to flip!...whats a A, you ask? Doesnt matter. [the one watching over you or something like that] understands."

What Vent said sounds right.

 

[Hero of Time]

tbh I find it somewhat annoying when NPCs talk as if it's a game like that. Though I don't mind if the specific controls pop up as text on the screen; I just don't like when the characters explain controls.

 

[DarkestLink]

Yes, but did you know you're in a game?

 

[Hylian_Monolith]

I've always had a really, incredibly weird theory on that. They don't know they're in a game, but they do know that they move and act like that. They can see text boxes if they focus on one person or a conversation if they focus on a group. They know that focusing on something is called Z-targeting, because shmancy names are nice, and that you can also do stuff. Action=A= pressing the A-button. It's a saying.
It's actually quite common that new people are unfamiliar with the way things work, and they will often remind you, in a offhand way. It's almost like if I were to tell you that you have a visitor message. "You can click on the notifications guy to read them," I say. It's weird, but that's how they are. They move by moving the joystick. They swing a sword by swinging the remote. They roll by pressing A while in motion. It's not all just metaphors, but it's what they do. It's how it's done.
This is difficult to explain and probably harder still to follow. I'm sorry. It's worth noting that I had a weird dream once in which Hena was sitting on a couch with a Wiimote, and she flicked it at the screen to go fishing, like they were all players. We just substitute Link, or something like that.

See? Now we're all being too literal.

 

[MonkeyFightSquad]

I wouldn't say it's a bad game design. I do think we could love without it though

 

[RegalBryant]

Yes, but did you know you're in a game?

By the way, press the a button when you're done reading the post.

 

[Castle]

If a character in the context of the game has to inform the player of what buttons do what then the game is already broken. Go home. In fact, if the game has to mention at all what button opens a door then... you get the picture.

Some games try to be cute with this, like Metal Gear or Link's Awakening, but I despite fourth wall breaking commentary in fiction; especially for the sake of a sick chuckle. Like a lot of writers think they're so cleaver for putting not-so-subtle inside jokes and real-world cultural references in their sweeping sci-fi or fantasy epics. It's tacky.

 

[Dragoncat]

It's called breaking the fourth wall.

Fourth wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Games, and pretty much all forms of entertainment, do this often, especially Metal Gear Solid, where in one game the Colonel tells Raiden to turn off the game console. It's pretty common.

This.

 

[ChainLink15]

You know what? The way i see it. Everybody except Link knows they're in a game.

 

[windwaker101]

You overthought to bring something amusing up, but who cares; it's discussion all the same

I'd say that, in-game, they aren't actually saying "Wii Remote", "A button" etc. Remember that we are reading text boxes in English, while the majority of NPCs in Zelda happen to speak Hylian. SO, we could be reading a translation and translations typically have errors here and there. Granted, Wii Remote is a pretty deliberate error, but even so I'd say that's the more likely case.

This seems to me like the most believable theory.

 

[HatredHazard]

Haha, I love it when games deliberately break the forth wall, it's a kind of inside-joke-humor you can only do with video games. Anyways, that's what you call it, the forth wall. I don't make up any theories about it, at some point, you just accept that it's a game and all of the characters are actually mindless and programmed...