The Onion releases a video portraying Crash Bandicoot as a game exploring the life of a Vietnam War veteran struggling with PTSD and substance abuse problems.

The Onion, the satiracle website which paints fictitious news developments as actual news, has gone and done it again. This time, the faux-news website has taken the unsuspecting title character of Crash Bandicoot, and produced a video examining how everyone's favorite bandicoot is actually portraying the adventures of a veteran from Vietnam struggling with substance abuse problems. The video goes on to explain that Crash is navigating "a world he doesn't understand," poking fun at the playful level design from the game.

The video technically comes from Clickhole, which is The Onion's full-time impersonation of Buzzfeed. The video applauds the producers of Crash Bandicoot for acknowledging the traumas of war instead of glamorizing them, and goes on to explain that the bandicoot's penchant for eating Wumpa fruit is actually just imagery for a much more serious substance abuse problem. As Crash jumps around in the video, the narrator goes on to draw parallels between the 'shirtless wandering character' and actual PTSD-stricken veterans from the Second Indochina War.

Gamers can take a look at the video below, which really puts a heavy weight of the typically upbeat adventure in Crash Bandicoot:

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Rumors about a potential Crash Bandicoot comeback have been ramping up over the last few months ever since Sony's Middle Eastern arm posted a Crash-based teaser out of the blue two months ago. Gamers everywhere expected a similar tease to come other Sony channels, but so far the corporation hasn't followed up with the seemingly random tweet. Before the dust could settle from that, a NECA toys executive casually mentioned that Sony was bringing the franchise back, only for another NECA representative to later say his comments were 'misunderstood'.

Even prior to the tweet-based drama, SCEA President Shawn Layden made an appearance at PSX last year wearing a Crash Bandicoot shirt, which makes us believe the long-awaited return of Crash Bandicoot may really be on the horizon – though we expect whatever game Sony eventually cooks up will have little to do with the mental tole of seeing combat in Vietnam.

Videogames as a medium have actually been used to help those with post-traumatic stress disorder before, and that includes the latest virtual reality headsets. The Oculus Rift has been used to treat Iraqi war veterans coping with the mental illness, and a recent study posted on Psychological Science has reportedly discovered that playing Tetris right after a flashback can help interfere with the power of traumatic memories.

What do you think about The Onion's Crash Bandicoot video, Ranters?

Source: Clickhole