One enjoyable aspect of video games‘ widespread popularity is the ability to imagine fundamental gaming ideas and apply them to various other forms of media, such as storylines or structural elements.
If fictional games from our favorite TV shows or movies are significant enough, we often recall their details and gameplay mechanics just as vividly as if we had played those actual video games ourselves.
As a gamer, I’ve noticed that some games serve as standalone elements to propel a storyline within an episode, while others are entire universes on their own, sometimes even incorporating the ‘stuck in another world’ trope.
10. Bonestorm
The Simpsons
In the Simpsons episode titled “Marge Doesn’t Want to Know,” Bart comes across an advertisement for the latest rage in fighting games: Bonestorm. The promotional material is quite aggressive, featuring towering, Goro-like fighters brutally attacking each other against a backdrop of exploding volcanoes. The message was clear: Purchase it or risk eternal damnation.
In Springfield, every child is clamoring for this particular game, with Bart being no exception. However, Marge firmly objects to it, believing it’s both excessively violent and costly.
As a dedicated gamer, I can’t help but be captivated the moment I input my name into this game. It seems there’s a restriction of only eight characters, something I discovered when I tried to use “Thrillho,” my usual handle.
Despite the buzz surrounding it, Bonestorm didn’t appear to hold people’s interest for very long. Milhouse lost interest in it rather swiftly, moving on to a simple cup-and-ball game instead. If only they had chosen Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge instead.
9. Sugar Rush
Wreck-It Ralph
In the game Wreck-It Ralph, the main character, who’s known for causing trouble in his own arcade machine, embarks on a quest to discover a different game where he can earn a medal for being a hero instead.
Following the theft of a medal from Hero’s Duty, an unexpected ejection occurred, propelling him out of the cabinet through an emergency pod, only to land inside another cabinet – this one themed around the sugar-infused racing game, Sugar Rush.
As a gamer diving into Sugar Rush, it feels like another classic arcade racer, not unlike Fast & Furious or Cruis’n. You select your character and zoom through tracks smothered in candy. But the gameplay isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Each character needs to shell out some coins just to take part, and these coins can only be earned by winning races.
In this scenario, Sugar Rush’s monarch is King Candy, whom we discover later isn’t a real figure. Instead, he’s Turbo, previously known from TurboTime, who managed to infiltrate the machine and manipulate it to establish himself as ruler by hacking it.
It wasn’t smart of Turbo, as he could have simply contacted the distributor to discover that his game contained an unexpected character.
Turbo should have reached out to the distributor instead of going ahead with his plan; doing so would have revealed that his game included a character it shouldn’t.
Or:
It wasn’t prudent for Turbo to proceed as he did, since all he needed was a phone call to the distributor to learn that his game had an unintended character.
8. Space Paranoids
Tron
Before the happenings portrayed in the initial Tron movie, Kevin Flynn initially worked for the technology firm ENCOM as a software developer and game creator.
Among his creations, it were particularly a few of his video games that ultimately propelled ENCOM into prominence; one of the most remarkable among these was Space Paranoids.
In the movie, for a moment we watch as Flynn engages with a Space Paranoids arcade machine. The objective is to destroy incoming Recognizers using a stationary turret. This game seems to be one of ENCOM’s top sellers, which makes Flynn all the more upset due to their theft of his code and its subsequent release without his approval.
It seems that the features of the game Space Paranoids were merged into ENCOM’s computer system’s digital universe. As a result, the MCP’s troops are maneuvering through the air in Recognizers, apprehending and bullying other software programs.
In Space Paranoids, a significant portion of its original code was deeply ingrained within the ENCOM system. Remarkably, the version that surfaced in Kingdom Hearts 2 maintains the identical data, symbols, and even retains its original name.
7. OASIS
Ready Player One
In the dystopian sci-fi setting of the novel and movie Ready Player One, everything is just… awful.
Our main character, Wade, dwells in a stack of mobile homes, you’ve got it right. It’s a world that would make anyone long for an exit, and fortunately, there’s one: The Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation, more commonly referred to as OASIS. In simpler terms, Wade lives in a mobile home stack, and his way out is the immersive virtual reality world called OASIS.
As an avid gamer, I’d say OASIS is like stepping into a limitless virtual world where dreams become reality. Here, you scale the loftiest peaks, square off against fearsome dragons, risk my hard-earned cash at high stakes games, and start it all over again tomorrow – living the adventure all over!
You can look however you want, fight whoever you want, and be whoever you want.
One charming aspect of OASIS lies in its abundant references to a vast array of films, television series, video games, and other forms of media throughout history.
It’s puzzling how this game manages to pull off such feats without triggering the biggest copyright disputes imaginable. However, it’s likely that all other licensees and publishers approved once they understood its unprecedented popularity as the undisputed phenomenon on earth.
6. Roy: A Life Well Lived
Rick and Morty
In the “Mortynight Run” episode of Rick and Morty, our title characters drop by their grandpa’s preferred cosmic arcade, Blips and Chitz. And what do you know, they just happened to have sold a risky weapon to an assassin before that. That’s just how things roll sometimes!
Not long after stepping inside, Rick casually seats Morty in a haphazardly chosen video game and initiates play, leading to an unexpected scenario where Morty experiences the entire lifespan of a boy known as Roy.
Instead of saying: “This is an arcade game named ‘Roy: A Life Well Lived’, which is the most literal life simulator ever created. Thanks to time manipulation tricks and memory erasure, you can experience Roy’s entire life from childhood to his last moments within approximately 15 minutes. And best of all, you get tickets for it!”
“The arcade game ‘Roy: A Life Well Lived’ is a realistic simulation of a person’s lifespan, compressed into just 15 minutes through time-bending and memory wipe techniques. You even earn tickets by playing it!
It seems that Rick is quite fond of this particular game and has become skilled at playing it. He’s capable of conversing with Morty during gameplay, effectively keeping Roy out of the picture, and overall preserves his individuality while doing so.
He’s hidden away an unofficial copy of it titled “Troy: A Life Lived” in his garage, and you have the chance to experience it on your own within the virtual world of Virtual Rick-Ality.
5. Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online
At the onset of the initial Sword Art Online series, FullDive virtual reality technology had already been solidified as a scientific fact, yet it was still in its infancy.
The significant hype surrounding the debut of SAO stemmed from the fact that it represented the inaugural FullDive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and it coincided with the launch of the second-generation Argus NerveGear.
In SAO and the NerveGear, you can immerse yourself completely into an imaginary fantasy realm that feels incredibly lifelike, thanks to your five senses being activated just as they would in reality. The game shares many characteristics of a standard MMO, but with FullDive VR technology, it becomes an even more immersive and spectacular experience.
If its creator hadn’t lost his mind and confined the original players without any clear purpose, Sword Art Online might have been an extraordinary experience for everyone involved.
It’s remarkable that people were ready to return to virtual reality gaming following this event, yet it appears that tragic incidents such as mass murders are often what drives the enactment of consumer protection laws.
4. The Amazing Digital Circus
The Amazing Digital Circus
Have you ever reminisced about those mini-games on the computer from your childhood, the ones that were relatively simple, sometimes featuring a whimsical, almost cartoonish style? Ever dreamt of residing within one of those virtual worlds?
No? Well, too bad. Welcome to the Amazing Digital Circus, sucker.
The main location in the game series called “The Amazing Digital Circus” is similar to real-life children’s play areas, featuring a versatile activity center. Players embark on a range of vibrant and whimsical journeys through this digital world, some of which could potentially offer educational benefits, although this isn’t always the case.
As an ardent admirer, I can’t help but ponder about the intriguing backstory of The Amazing Digital Circus. At this moment, we remain in the dark regarding certain aspects, such as the reasons behind its virtual reality format and the captivating pull it exerts on its players, drawing them into its mesmerizing world.
The only thing that’s definite about it is that it carries an E-rating for Everyone, implying there should be no profanity involved. Emotional trauma might still occur, but explicit language is strictly prohibited.
3. Chinpokomon
South Park
In simpler terms, the “Chinpokomon” episode from South Park was a clear satire or joke about the Pokémon craze that swept through the late 90s. If you’re old enough to recall, you’d understand how intensely we desired to collect all those Pokémon back then.
Initially, Pokemon originated from a video game and later branched out into anime, trading cards, and various merchandise. However, in the world of South Park, this sequence was reversed.
In South Park, Chinpokomon initially appears as an animated show, expands into collectible action figures, and eventually transforms into a video game. Interestingly, it’s only playable on the exclusive Chinpokomon gaming console using specialized Chinpokomon game controllers.
The game under discussion appears unrelated to the Chinpokomon creatures, as it primarily functions as a depiction of military aircraft attacking Pearl Harbor, not the creatures themselves.
This is due to the fact that the whole Chinpokomon franchise served as a complex deception intended to condition children into, in essence, attacking Pearl Harbor.
2. Riddle Of The Minotaur
Batman: The Animated Series
In the original Batman comic books, Edward Nygma adopted the role of the Riddler not because he enjoyed swindling people at carnival booths, but instead found a greater thrill in posing puzzles to the Dark Knight.
In Batman: The Animated Series, however, Nygma’s backstory is given a bit more depth, focusing on a video game he created called “The Riddle of the Minotaur.”
The Animated Series, we get to delve deeper into Nygma’s past, with a storyline revolving around a video game he invented, titled “The Riddle of the Minotaur.
In “The Riddle of the Minotaur,” you take on the role of a Greek soldier navigating through the intricate labyrinth of the Minotaur. Along your journey, you encounter numerous trivia challenges that must be answered correctly to proceed further. If you get an answer wrong, the Hand of Fate swiftly moves you to a different part of the maze at random.
Nygma masterminded the creation of this game and its triumph, but a dispute over contracts led to his dismissal from the publishing firm. Consequently, he transformed into the Riddler as a means of retribution against his ex-boss. Engaging in mental battles with Batman was an unexpected perk.
1. Global Thermonuclear War
WarGames
Back in the early ’80s, computer games were quite different from what we have now, which required a bit of extra creativity on your part.
In the film “WarGames”, our main character David explores what he believes to be a software development company under the pretense of hacking. He discovers a variety of games there, such as familiar ones like chess and backgammon, along with complex games like the potential for Global Thermonuclear War.
David launches the game, assuming control over the Soviet Union during a fictional nuclear showdown with the U.S. The game interface primarily consists of a global map and missile paths, yet it mirrors actual missile sites and military strategies surprisingly well, given its basic design.
David is unaware that this “game” isn’t meant for general use. It serves as a training tool for the AI named WOPR, which inadvertently connects to the NORAD systems and almost initiates a real global thermonuclear war.
Thankfully, the simulator omitted the stalemate scenario, thus allowing David to introduce it during the movie’s climactic moment, thereby educating WOPR on the crucial principle of mutual assured destruction.
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2025-04-03 17:41