Metroid, Justin Bailey and the Need for Meaning in a Chaotic Universe

This past August, the fortieth anniversary of Metroid came and went with little notice from Nintendo. But because this site has become a place where I write about urban legends in video games, I thought I’d write about the mysterious Justin Bailey, who also turned forty, whether or not he actually exists. Whatever you heard about him back in the day was probably wrong, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t larger lessons that Justin Bailey can still teach us, all these years later.In true urban legend style, I must have learned about Justin Bailey via word of mouth, because I think it pre-dated my subscription to Nintendo Power or any other gaming magazine. But in case you don’t know, entering JUSTIN BAILEY on the first two lines of the password input screen in the original Metroid (and then a series of hyphens below) allowed even the most unskilled player to discover Samus’ secret: This adventurous spaceman was actually a spacewoman, with long, flowing locks and a costume that wouldn’t…