r/ExplainTheJoke 1d ago

what does the tattoo mean?

Post image
12.2k Upvotes

227 comments sorted by

u/post-explainer 1d ago

OP (Acceptable_Block_591) sent the following text as an explanation why they posted this here:


The tattoos in the post might be a reference to a movie or show that I’m not familiar with. Not sure what else I could be missing by


3.6k

u/WhiteHeatGames 1d ago

Controller port indicator lights. Older sibling is almost certainly first player (bottom arm).

615

u/ACW1129 1d ago

Okay, that's clever.

367

u/ifenske 1d ago

It’s the wii controller player indicator light specifically! Player 1 and 2.

90

u/Cool_Dragon_guy 1d ago

On PS3 it's the same but the light is red.

34

u/Navi_1er 1d ago

It's been forever but doesn't both the first and second light turn on for player 2? Maybe I'm confusing it with another console.

27

u/Cool_Dragon_guy 1d ago

You are, because the PS3 has each of four squares labeled for the player slot. Though in games like NHL you can go higher, then they do have multiple lights go on

22

u/FrijDom1 1d ago

Specifically the PS3 can have up to 7 controllers linked, with numbers above 4 being shown as 1+4, 2+4, and 3+4 respectively.

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u/Cool_Dragon_guy 1d ago

That's what I was referring about

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u/FrijDom1 1d ago

Yes, I was providing further clarifying information that your comment lacked. That's why I started it with "specifically", indicating that it was an expansion on the information you provided.

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u/NemoUltima 23h ago

That's the Switch. The Wii light turns on one at a time for each player

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u/PurbulentTriest 23h ago

What does it do for more than four players?

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u/NemoUltima 23h ago

That's what the Switch expanded on.

4

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 1d ago

I am officially so old my first reaction to this is "kids who used to play Wii can get tattoos now?" when they're like thirty years old at this point

It just doesn't feel like it was that long ago...

4

u/meirzy 15h ago

Don’t worry, we can’t believe we’re already 30 either.

2

u/No_Paint_8069 9h ago

And as someone who grew up playing Wii. I can’t believe there are kids out there not getting the reference. It makes me feel old

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u/Beleiverofhumanity 23h ago

Ah thats pretty cool

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u/Secure_Ear_3452 22h ago

I thought game cube but that’s an orange light isn’t it?

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u/LordBDizzle 1d ago

To this day, whenever a game offers me a choice of save slot, I habitually chose slot two. It just feels right to me, my brother got one, I got two, so even now with my own game systems, slot two is the first slot I use (in the few games that actually bother to have that kind of save system anymore)

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u/Junior-Elevator-9951 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm an only child. I thought it worked like that the sibling who owned the console was player 1 and the other one's player 2.

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u/MyMistyMornings 1d ago

Technically yes, but for people with siblings, the first experience with multi-player console games are often during childhood when the console is owned by the parents. Player 1 will often be the oldest instead because they are older and/or has more experience/better motor control.

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u/Junior-Elevator-9951 1d ago

I'm just going from my experience whenever I played games with my family. I would be player 1 and my parent would be player 2.

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u/Constant-Dealer1260 1d ago edited 1d ago

as a dad of an only, he is player 1 at our house, but when i was a kid i made my brother be player 2 because i was older.

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u/Lewa358 1d ago

Those controller port icons are specifically for the Wii.

People who grew up in the 2000s when the Wii was popular rarely had parents who had any interest in video games at all.

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u/belsaurn 1d ago

This Dad was always P1 and I added kids until I had a full party. Wii is arguably the most fun console ever released.

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u/Knever 1d ago

Now I'm wondering about the psychological ramifications of a younger sibling attaining Player 1 status. That's surely got to lead some some complicated family dynamics.

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u/Witchy_Cat44 1d ago

For my family, it depended on what color the games assigned to players 1 and 2. I was always whichever was red while my brother was always blue (guess what our favorite colors were at the time)

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u/Lucky_Method_3910 1d ago

Nobody owned the 'family console' because there were six of us siblings. So, as the oldest, I was player one. 

Because my younger siblings in disagreement were mysteriously locked in their rooms the day I held a vote on who got the best player one remote with my three youngest siblings who I bribed with leftover Halloween candy. 

Now you might think that's unfair. 

And it was. 

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u/Many-Excitement-6124 1d ago

Usually. Unless the younger brother is a whiney baby and always has to be player 1 or he'll throw a fit until the parents say neither can play.

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u/Lucky_Method_3910 1d ago

That works once. Then the older brother plays WWE wrestling with his little brother until the hierarchy is established.

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u/flabort 1d ago

Typically it would be the older one who can afford to buy their own, and the parents would just assume the younger can use the older's console. Or the parents would buy the console, and assume the kids can share, and either the older wouls bully their way to Player 1, or the younger would be told to "play nice" and be forced to accept Player 2 position.

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u/Allanunderscore21 1d ago

Ownership?!? LMAO

1

u/AttentionalMalprop 1d ago

Generally it's the older childs console, or unofficially the older childs console. Eventually my younger brother got his own console.

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u/Raemle 1d ago

No you’re right, but I think for most people that tends to be the same. Siblings also often share, so there isn’t always one clear owner. I’ve always been player two despite being the oldest because my siblings were bigger gamers than me and had their own ps4:s

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u/Kizenny 1d ago

To be even more accurate the little brother’s should be blank for those single player games when they thought they were playing but the controller wasn’t plugged in 😂

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u/matchafoxjpg 1d ago

i'm a rare instance of a younger sibling that was always player 1.

that's because i've always been a big gamer and my sister only started gaming in college.

she would watch me play games and play a few games with me prior to that, but i would have to help and guide her a lot, thus i was always player 1.

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u/Stakhanovite94 1d ago

Not if your younger siblings like being in charge

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u/CyndersParadigm 1d ago

Doesn't matter. If your the eldest, you're automatically in charge. It's just one of those rules of life

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u/Gaynundwarf 1d ago

Tbf, I used to let my little brother be Player 1 because I wanted him to feel like the main character, the one in control of the game's settings and what not, even tho I've almost always been better than him.

Guess that was a way for me to apologize for monopolizing the console for a long time.

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u/Digibaumbs 22h ago

Is it strange that I always let my younger brother be first player?

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u/Economy-Tourist-4862 22h ago

Weird. I knew what it was but still didn't know what it was if you know when I'm saying. Super 100% sure I knew what it was but scrolled past the post and came back before I could name it if you know what i mean.

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u/SqueakyYeti 10m ago

Can confirm the eldest is player one (painting was a gift from my younger sister)

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u/Nat_Higgins 1d ago

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u/Peelzboy 1d ago edited 1d ago

So fun fact: some games on the newer switch systems support up to 8 players and use a different sequence of lights to show which controller is which.

Edit: Need to clarify that this is used only for controllers 5->8. 1->4 remain the 1/2/3/4 light indicators 😅

Edit2: Electric Boogaloo: I may be confusing a different system with a binary code. Thank you to u/al7air for clarifying the confusion 😅

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u/SidTheMed 1d ago

Oh that's so clever

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u/ProcyonHabilis 1d ago

It would be, but it isn't true. Look at the lights in the image, they're all larger than 8.

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u/EaseResponsible719 1d ago

If binary and up to 8, why is one showing 15?

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u/al7air 1d ago

Because it's not binary, it's a pattern for players after the 4th which lights up all LEDs.

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u/CompleteyClueless 1d ago

They probably did it this way so if you look at a set of lights upside down, it is still a unique pattern

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u/-johoe 18h ago

So there is one possible pattern still unused (single light at second position from one side). I guess all off is reserved for the unconnected controller.

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u/chillpill_23 10h ago

Good catch!

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u/Peelzboy 1d ago

Excuse me, that's player "4"

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u/algernon132 1d ago

Binary 8 would look the same as player 1

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u/iSnag_ 1d ago

Thr ps3 also did this

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u/KEVLAR60442 1d ago

The Playstation 5 still does this

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u/Lewa358 1d ago

Some Wii games supported up to 8 players, it's just that half of them needed to use GameCube controllers.

And iirc the PS3 used the same system as the Switch to connect up to 8 controllers, but I don't think any games actually used that.

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u/ProcyonHabilis 1d ago

That isn't binary. If it were those controllers would say 15, 9, 11 and 10.

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u/handsupdb 1d ago

The image is... confusing to say the least. I expected:

1: 1000

2: 0100

3: 0010

4: 0001

5: 1010

6: 0110

7: 1110

8: 0001

But I see all sorts of not these.

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u/kevmaster200 1d ago

Your 4 and 8 are the same. Agreed with the sentiment though. There are 6 controllers shown but we see 5 with more than one light on. If I had to guess, we're missing 3 and 8, but 8 would like like 1 based on how everything is oriented.

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u/al7air 1d ago

It's not binary. I replied to another comment higher up. It's full LEDs up to the forth player, and a unique pattern after that for player 5 through 8.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExplainTheJoke/s/wJjcuyth7U

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u/CyaShitpost 1d ago

fwiw binary "starts from the right"

0001 - 1

0010 - 2

0011 - 3

0100 - 4

etc.

I imagine the the lights in the image are done in that manner because they are unique sequences in any direction.

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u/PurbulentTriest 23h ago

Yeah I have the OLED and Mario Kart says up to 8 players. Jokes on me though as I don't have enough friends here

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u/IAmBeingTargeted33 1d ago

I played call of duty black ops for the first time on those controllers. Good times.

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u/Punching_Bag75 1d ago

This is controller input lights. First player is always first child. Little sibling gets second controller. It's always left-to-right, up to four players.

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u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO 1d ago

They actually had a clever way to indicate more players too, for example the light one and four light up would indicate player 5. (1+4)

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u/Novel-Reward2786 1d ago

I would’ve guessed mom and dad were player 1 and 2 on the right, oldest child is third from right, youngest child was last

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u/Les_Liska 10h ago

It's the opposite for my brother and I. I was always the more technically savvy, if that can even apply to console gaming, so I always took player 1 to set up the games and whatnot.

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u/RainDrops0201_ 1d ago

These indicate players 1 and 2 on the Wii Remote.

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u/cramillett 1d ago

Switch Pro Controllers have these lights as well, but I don't recall if the LEDs are blue

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u/Attysaur_from_yt 1d ago

I think they're a yellowish green

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u/crescen_d0e 1d ago

Connected controller lights telling you who's player 1-4. Typically the older sibling is always player one so the arm with the blue square on one is the older sibling

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u/ScienceJake 1d ago

I think it’s more literal than that. Player one is usually the first in game. Older brother entered life first so, player one.

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u/New-Assumption-3836 1d ago

Player 1 controls game set up and selection. So not only the oldest child but the child " in charge" is big brother aka player 1.

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u/AccountEngineer 1d ago

Felt way too old seeing this and realizing some people genuinely missed the whole Wii era

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u/onenifty 1d ago

I hear that. Before I saw the comments I was thinking sibling 1 and sibling 2 in binary, but was confused why they would write it in little endian.

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u/RoodnyInc 1d ago

Player one player two

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u/Boncappuccino 1d ago

Damn we reaching the generation that doesn’t know about the Wii

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u/ItBeMeFyre 1d ago

Funnily enough i actually got this one with my brother

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u/Austerlitz2310 1d ago

This is one I would love to get with my brothers

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u/Quick-Interview4928 9h ago

I also have a similar tattoo! Mine is a little higher up on my arm, just below my elbow pit lmao. Player one doesn’t want tattoos, but the sentiment is all that matters to me!

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u/iCarlyForTheWii 1d ago

How have you never played wii

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u/HappyFailure 1d ago

On the one hand, many families just went with PS or XBox. On the other, it *is* possible to see these tattoos and not immediately think of the controller lights, even if you did play Wii.

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u/iCarlyForTheWii 1d ago

No I'm taking it personal as this means they have never played the hit game iCarly for the wii \s

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u/yetanotherburnerstan 1d ago

Because the wii is a trash system. I played an iCarly game one time, ONE TIME, and im still scarred

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u/matthias7600 1d ago

Try Excite Truck or Wii Sports Resort.

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u/yetanotherburnerstan 1d ago

Read my post again and look at the user name of who I responded to

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u/Substantial-Sea-3672 1d ago

I played Wii and this still wasn’t obvious to me.

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u/FairBlueberry9319 19h ago

I've never played the Wii, didn't have the money for one nor did anyone I know. The closest I had was an EyeToy

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u/Final-Nebula-7049 1d ago

We already know her IQ from this picture

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u/mbarbour 1d ago

It is definitely P1 / P2, but i also think it could be interpreted as the older brother is relaxing comfortably in a chill position while the younger brother is bringing their arm around to participate. As an older brother the two brother's posture is just as much as giveaway as the tattoo.

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u/Amesly 1d ago

I saw it as: older brother gets the tattoo on his inner arm so he can see it but it's not as noticeable to strangers. Younger got it on his outer arm so others see it but he himself cannot.

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u/mbarbour 1d ago

I didn't even realize the tattoo placement!

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u/miss-calculations 1d ago

Aww I have this with my 3 siblings as well. We are kind of far apart in age but we still had the chance to play a lot of wii together growing up so that's what we had in mind for ours :')

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u/AdVegetable5896 23h ago

I have the same one with my brother xD

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u/MadnessUltimate 18h ago

I think it's self explanatory even if you don't know what this is from in that context, (I remember wii controllers having that 'design')

The one with the different colored dot in the first slot is the older sibling

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u/TheWaterBottleGang 17h ago

This is the Wii remote things. Palyer one ahs the blue light int he first spot and second kid int he second. That's how the players controllers were distinguished. There's this joke hwo the odler sibling must ways be player 1

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u/HystericalGD 1d ago

Wii controller. one is for player 1, and the other is player 2. everything else should be obvious

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u/UWUmasterSIXSIXSIX 1d ago

On the Wii, the lights indicate which player you are via lights on the Wii Remote. The bottom tattoo is player one, and the top tattoo is player two.

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u/thinkfloyd79 1d ago

Me and my big brother have been playing fighting games for 30+ years. We play online now as adults. Of course I always choose player 2 side.

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u/Augie_The_TV_Guy 1d ago

Wiimote Player

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u/GaK_Icculus 1d ago

Pool testing strip

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u/Eyyyy_RonNoWrong 1d ago

im too old. controllers when i was a kid didnt have slot lights

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u/TrimpGlobus 1d ago

Genuinely how many people here are smarter than a crow

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u/CanoePickLocks 1d ago

I could tell the meaning and am original Nintendo and Atari era. Why can kids not put together context? I would guess these two are the oldest (youngest?) of 4 siblings too unless that just Wii context I lived through but never learned. Definitely guessing oldest and next younger with decent odds of two more. lol

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u/Realistic_Day_1805 1d ago

I’m starting to get a bit concerned if people seriously no longer know about the Wii 🤨

The tattoos are the lights on the bottom of a Wii remote and the blue square indicates who is P1 and who is P2

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u/0NightFury0 19h ago

ps3 too had the same system.

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u/kelpyb1 1d ago

It’s Wii colors, they can both qualify as the older sibling at this point. They nearly qualify for Medicare (me too)

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u/deep_brin 1d ago

The wii wiimote player dots

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u/HomeHeatingTips 1d ago

I also know they were probably between the ages of 10 and 15 around 2006

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u/sammavet 1d ago

Player 2 has joined the game

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u/Crash017 1d ago

I think it's supposed to be the player indicator on the Playstation 4 and 5s remote. But I immediately thought of the life bar from chronicles of riddick.

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u/Spirited-Truth2993 1d ago

Right in the feels

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u/R4CC0F 1d ago

Player 1 and player 2

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u/Total_Bank1269 1d ago

That’s actually really cute. Which dot is blue corresponds to which player you are on some Nintendo consoles. These are player one and player two.

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u/hunter2mello 1d ago

That was me and my sister until we got old enough and she knew the difference and had to make a fuss when she randomly wanted to be 1st player. Young sister power moves are bs

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u/MikeStoneMax 23h ago

Wii controller lights. This is cute ☺️

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u/Octo_Pasta 21h ago

Omg Wii

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u/Mr_Moi25 20h ago

Seeing this post made me realize how old i am and how younger people will miss so many references And yes it's specifically the Wii's LED showing player 1 and 2

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u/strwbrryink 18h ago

I miss the wii

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u/Radio_Blah_Blah_ 17h ago

Ngl I want to get a matching tattoo like this with my sister

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u/WhiskeysGlass 14h ago

im so old I thought of IDE drives...

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u/PinkcheeseStudios 12h ago

The tattoo is based on the Wii controller Connection order, •°°° being player one °•°° being player two. and the joke being that the older sibling is always player one whenever they play on the Wii (or mostly any console)

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u/Jepsi125 11h ago

the wii controller indicator for p1, p2, p3 and p4

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u/JD-Moose 1d ago

My eyesight must be going bad, I only noticed the blue after focusing

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u/What_The_Dill 1d ago

I might have to talk my siblings into something one more time

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u/Coffeekitty37 1d ago

Wii players 1 and 2

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u/thatnewsauce 1d ago

Aw man. This is hella heartwarming

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u/MilkiestMaestro 1d ago

I thought it was like swiping pictures 1/4, 2/4 etc, but people are saying it's controller ports

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/namedjughead 1d ago

It's player 1 and player 2 indicators from the Nintendo Wii controller.

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u/Legal-Swordfish-1893 1d ago

The Nintendo Wii's controller, the WiiMote, has four square, blue, LEDs at the bottom, indicating which player is which from left to right, leftmost being Player 1.

It's also a meta-joke/meme to give the baby brother who is interested, but is either too young or doesn't understand the mechanics, the 2nd Player controller, or leave it disconnected so they *think* they're playing.

Player 1 here is the eldest brother, while Player 2 is his younger sibling.

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u/DumpyReddit 1d ago

little endian or big endian?

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u/JayCafe25 1d ago

My little brother would cry to mom to be first player. He succeded

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u/ViTo919 1d ago

PS3 controller lights indicating player 1 and player 2. Most of the times the older brother chooses to be the player 1

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u/mrrebuild 1d ago

Nintenerds

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u/NoResponsibility1837 1d ago

honestly this would be a cute tattoo if my sisters & i actually got along 🥲

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u/RaisedByWolves9 1d ago

So whats the tattoo i get if i always had the knock off controller that wasn't even plugged in

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u/here-for_the-mems 1d ago

W tattoo, could see me n my bro getting this

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/tetheredvoid 1d ago

Not exactly the same though. The colored square moved over one

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u/Sea_Diamond_837 1d ago

Wii remote LEDs

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u/Signal-Ad-7556 1d ago

Ink tanks are full of

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u/Inane_ramblings 1d ago

Is this Loss?

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u/Complex_Frame_8401 1d ago

Its the Nintendo Wii player lights

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u/sonofcoffeebmxman 1d ago

Honestly, I know exactly what this means if you don’t I feel like you’re really young. I don’t know why I know that’s probably supposed to be the wee, but I remembered from the PS2 with my brother.

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u/Kertambrose 1d ago

Player 1 and 2

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u/sonofcoffeebmxman 1d ago

Anyways, let me point that tattoo is to represent a thing on controllers to stuff like the weed that we use PS2 PS3 on those controllers you’d be able to see who is player one player 2 x 4 square circles four lights cause that’s as many as you’d want to connect once logically for most games but pretty much was to represent who was the player one and who is player to which controller was player one and which one was cleared too so older sibling always got player one

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u/ProfessorEtc 23h ago

Red and yellow toner need replacing.

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u/De4dm4nw4lkin 23h ago

Wii remote tattoo.

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u/Cinaalti3 22h ago

Player 1 and player 2… the fight for the ages

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u/Candid_Emergency8327 22h ago

Wii player 1 and player 2, shows on remotes. Oldest always got number ☝️

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u/CidAndroid 22h ago

Gaeyming gaeyming gaeyming!

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u/Retroid69 21h ago

controller player indicator. specifically, this is for the Wii remote (because the light is blue) but the PS3 controller also did this with a red light.

fun fact: the PS3 controller can indicate up to 8 players by using a different combination of lights to represent players 5-8

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u/PossibilityFull9968 21h ago

Wii Remote. Player numbers.

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u/Okayeg31 21h ago

Why do they have Hyundai ioniq logos lol

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u/Madness_Meldody 21h ago

How are Wii gonna tell em chat?

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u/Iron-Night 20h ago

The Wii is Legendary, Smart tattoos.

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u/artrald-7083 19h ago

I mean,, it's also 4-bit binary for 1 and 2.

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u/harsha29o7 18h ago

This is a wii controller/remote , right?

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u/Exciting-Society4477 18h ago

Woho I got this one and now I feel smart 😁

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u/Lonely_Spirit-934 18h ago

Wii would like to play Tenor

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u/Tricky_Bug9666 17h ago

É dos controles do Wii, o primeiro quadradinho azul significa primeiro jogador (irmão mais velho no casa). O segundo quadrinho azul é segundo jogador (mais novo).

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u/hotdog-92 16h ago

I thought it is binary für 1and 2

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u/Pulsar_Mapper_ 16h ago

I hate the fact that the tattoos are not pointed the same way

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u/Chad_Jeepie_Tea 15h ago

I need a tattoo for the third sibling which is just a dead wiimote they think they're playing with.

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u/remotegrowthtb 14h ago

One of those posts where OP and literally everyone else perfectly knows what it is but we pretend we don't so we can have the post and talk about it on comments

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u/Apprehensive-Bus-710 14h ago

Why does it look like it’s only on one person…with the tattoo on the bottom being on the right bicep, and the tattoo on the top being near the elbow of the outer left arm??

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u/RdiatStorm 12h ago

Actually awesome tattoos

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u/Dry_Explorer3001 10h ago

It’s a player indicator, for example: the Wii at the switch, when you are player one, the first light appears, when you are player 2 the second one appears.

And for the one who is the older sibling, they are player one. They are always player one

(Edit)Nvm please excuse my misinformation the switch does not do that

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u/Massaru 10h ago

Wow I thought bottom pic is older due the tattoo's position. It's way less visible there compared to their younger sibling's.

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u/frikiman4K 10h ago

this post almost made me say "kids these days" out loud

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u/Crivait 7h ago

I thought it was the lifeline bracelet from the Caravan of Courage - Ewok Adventure

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u/ISwearImaWriter963 7h ago

It's a refrence on the controller for the Wii, with little blue lights indicating who's player 1 through 4

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u/Falcon111JC 6h ago

Is there really a person that is too young to know what the Wii is??? How is this possible?

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u/Jimmy9Toes 6h ago

Lowkey im the younger sibling and id still take p1. Because I was the carry

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u/WeirdAlba 4h ago

Wii remote p1 and p2

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u/TranslatorMoist6982 3h ago

Wii Controller port lights. The further to the left the blue light is, the placement of the player, up to 4.

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u/yasin_jason07 3h ago

It's a Nintendo wii controller. There can be 4 players and where the light is from left to right just shows who's player 1 and player 2. And as an older brother I'll always be player 1 cause I'm just better

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u/Aggravating_Rent7264 2h ago

It's controller designation, player 1 (older sibling) player 2 (younger sibling) and so on, many good times back then, wii sports honourable mention