In a public conversation on Bluesky, former Volition developer Elizabeth Zelle, alongside videogame preservationists Andrew Borman and Phil Salvadore, highlighted the existence of Skinballs, a surreal Saints Row test NPC who, through an accident of history, will be forever preserved for future generations in the Strong Museum of Play.
Responding to an article by IGN reporter Rebekah Valentine about the videogame Love and Deepspace’s failure to account for nonwhite characters when lighting scenes, Zelle highlighted how Volition handled that challenge in Saints Row: The Third, Skinballs. Skinballs was made up of four spheres, each textured in a different flesh tone and used by artists to ensure scenes were properly lit for characters of all potential skin colors.
Borman, the director of digital preservation at the Strong, expressed his own appreciation for Skinballs, and noted that it’s become a bit of a memetic delight in various mod communities, sort of like that purple checkerboard missing texture pattern you see in Source engine games. This prompted Zelle and Salvatore to realize and celebrate that Skinballs is now part of a museum collection.
The Strong preserves and showcases important material from the history of toys and videogames. Back in April, GamesHub reported that former staff from defunct Saints Row developer Volition had donated a significant trove of material related to the studio’s games, including “thousands of game builds, some source material, documentation, awards, and props.”
Thus, included among the Volition collection at the Strong are the little flesh spheres that could, the globular GOAT, Skinballs. Skinballs may not be front and center in the Strong’s public-facing exhibits, but Volition’s fleshy orbs will nonetheless be kept for the appreciation of generations to come.
