Classic gaming appearances on TV shows

[Cornelius]

I've been watching Stargate SG-1 lately, and on an episode I just watched they were using NES zappers as guns! Pretty out of the blue. I was positive that's what they were, but to prove it to my wife I had to bring one up from the basement. Looks like they lopped the ends off to make them a little more stubby. This apparently is well-known enough that is is mentioned on IMDB, but I though this crowd might like to know about it (didn't find it with a search).

I ripped the entire section where the zappers appear. Sorry for the poor quality, but the scenes are really dark to begin with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIqjamkPxeM

Any other appearances of classic games or gear you've come across on TV shows?

search terms: Nintendo, zapper, light gun, amini

[theChad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1dkR4WaaX8

Vectrex on Charles in Charge

[Gameguy]

There was an entire episode of Newsradio that involved around the arcade game Stargate Defender. Check the credits, Eugene Jarvis was "Delivery Guy #3". Pretty funny episode. LOL

The entire episode is on youtube;

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSkh4iBVPVo

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-32_MwrS3vY

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9gcDF6DRv0

[otoko]

Okay, those are cool and all... but have any of you actually found a clip in a major television show that reused old video game controllers for props?

[Gameguy]

Okay, those are cool and all... but have any of you actually found a clip in a major television show that reused old video game controllers for props?
Yes, I remember an episode of Ghostwriter that had a scene in an arcade. The machine was a prop made specifically for the show, and had Genesis controllers mounted to the control panel(looked ridiculous). Now I'm going to look up episodes, I haven't watched the show in years. So 90's.

Skip to 0:54 and watch from there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No3JEJRWCuI&feature=related

[Blitzwing256]

there was an episode of macgyver that used the transformer shockwave as a gun, not technically the same thing, but felt I should share :-)

[Dangerboy]

An episode of Alias used the X-Arcade controller.

I recall a show / movie used part of the Steel Battalion controller for something.

PS2 controller in the MIB movie as a steering wheel.

Ghostbusters 2 used an NES advantage to control the Statue of Liberty.

Infamous scene in Enemy of the State using the Turbo Express.

Jackie Chan handed a game-less Game Gear (with Tetris sounds effects) to a child in a movie.

Some old made for tv special with the little black guy from Different Strokes had secret information on a 2600 cartridge.

X-Men's first movie had a PC joystick as the flight stick.

Danny Devito had a NES tucked away inhis desk in the War of the Roses movie.

KITT of the original Knight Rider allowed Michael to play the Intellivision Auto Racing game (with an Atari 2600 joystick) on his dashboard. The same episode Kitt was taken over with a C64 and an Atari Joystick...by a kid. :)

Bunch of Data East arcade games in Robocop 2...

"The Wizard" - Duh ;)

In the 40 Year Old Virgin, there's a ton of N64 / PS2 / Prima Guide books in his entertainment center...

Wall-E - Pong :D

Among others...

[Famidrive-16]

That Tim Allen movie Jungle 2 Jungle had a weird Game Boy appearance, some kid was playing a regular Game Boy but it had this random peripheral attached. It was hella huge and looked like some kind of lighting device. I don't know why he was using it in a well lit area...

[Blitzwing256]

police academy 6 had gameboys with and without games in them (the moscow movie) sometimes they wre on and sometimes they were off, really bad continuty from what i recall.

[otoko]

police academy 6 had gameboys with and without games in them (the moscow movie) sometimes they wre on and sometimes they were off, really bad continuty from what i recall.

Those movies had continuity to begin with?!

[Steve W]

Okay, those are cool and all... but have any of you actually found a clip in a major television show that reused old video game controllers for props?
In the second season of SeaQuest DSV, one of the crew had been captured by an evil government and was put into some kind of device for execution. The guard was about to push the button to fry him, but was stopped for whatever reason. The button he was about to push? It wasn't a button at all, it was an Atari 5200 trackball that had been bolted to a wall. I don't remember if the trackball was the original color or if it was red to make it look more button-like.

There was an episode of Married With Children that took place in Bud's upstairs bedroom, and I could swear that on a shelf in the background was an Atari 7800. I never got a good enough look at it to confirm it, however.

[Nebagram]

Captain Kirk's Commodore PET in Star Trek 3 is another famous example (even if Shatner confuses it for a 64 in the commentary).

[e4g]

An episode of Seinfeld involved George's attempts to transport a Frogger arcade machine while trying to keep it powered (in order to save his high score).

[Wookie]

An episode of the old Clark & Lois show used a Lights Out handheld game as a bomb detonator.

[Gunface]

An episode of Seinfeld involved George's attempts to transport a Frogger arcade machine while trying to keep it powered (in order to save his high score).

A classic episode! And he reenacts the frogger gameplay in the street at the end.

[Tron 2.0]

Surf Ninjas:Man if any thing i swear the movie used the game gear,and it's game as a promotion tool ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4mgIWUp9is

War Games:Has a scene with galaga in it.

I know there from movies but that's all i could think of.

[Gunface]

There was an episode of ER where everyone was playing Doom 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oRIToWkRA

Also, I ended up watching the whole News Radio episode. A great episode and series!

[Sonicwolf]

I never understood the use of the TurboExpress in the movie Enemy of the State. It was obscure so I guess they thought they could get it past everyone in 1998 and pass it off as some video carrier or player. It was well beyond dead here in North America by then.

[Dan Iacovelli]

my 2 dads : 7800 pole position 2
Weird Science(tv show): Atari Jaguar and Lynx
Chuck: missile command(arcade)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Not QUITE classics but noteworthy -

Jerry Ferrara AKA "Turtle" uses an X-Arcade joystick to play Fight Night Round 3 on an XBOX in an episode of Entourage.

They've also featured PSP, PS2, PS3 and lots of other contemporary video games throughout the run of the show ... usually just as background action.

Dr. House has played GBA, GBASP, DS and PSP on various episodes of "House M.D.".

One episode featured him playing one of the GBA Metroid games on a GBA SP, and another had him playing one of the Sony ATV games on a PSP.

[CelticJobber]

The old Nickelodeon show "You Can't Do That On Televison" featured kids playing at an arcade on almost every episode, but I think they were just generic cabinets with fictional titles, and Atari 2600 Pac-Man sound effects. And I think an actual 2600 was featured in atleast one episode.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" featured a Karate Champ arcade machine in one scene.

"Can't Buy Me Love" featured a scene at an arcade with one of the "nerd" characters playing Hang On. I think there were a few other Sega arcade games like Afterburner, around also.

The horrible Chevy Chase movie "Man of the House" featured an extended scene of someone playing Virtua Fighter at an arcade.

[slapdash]

I'd swear that in the later seasons of Sliders, the control box was based on a Genesis controller.

[The 1 2 P]

I made a similar thread awhile ago and it may have alot of what you're looking for: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1421430#post1421430

[Draven]

Marty McFly played a game in Back to the Future 2. Was that Wild Gunman?

[joshnickerson]

Marty McFly played a game in Back to the Future 2. Was that Wild Gunman?

What, you gotta use your hands?

[Zebbe]

I think the kids in Home Improvement played some video game, I guess something 16-bit.

[StakeRaiser]

I believe it was in the first season of the Sopranos

Tony sits down with A.J. to play a game of Mario Kart Nintendo 64.

[Frogger49]

In 3 Ninjas, I remember the boys playing through part of World 5-1 in Super Mario Brothers 3 right before the stupid surfer dude minions showed up to attempt to "capture them."

[Astrosmash]

I believe it was in the first season of the Sopranos

Tony sits down with A.J. to play a game of Mario Kart Nintendo 64.

I also remember a different episode (same season) where AJ can be seen playing Blast Corps.

[Astrosmash]

Marty McFly played a game in Back to the Future 2. Was that Wild Gunman?


What, you gotta use your hands?

That's like a baby's toy!

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Has anybody ever noticed that no matter what game is being played/depicted on TV or in Movies that they almost always use sound effects from the Atari 2600 Pac-Man and Donkey Kong?

I know that most TV production uses a standard repository or sound effect "libraries" yet I find it amazing that for over 20 years that THOSE games have remained the standard in those libraries.

[Gunface]

Has anybody ever noticed that no matter what game is being played/depicted on TV or in Movies that they almost always use sound effects from the Atari 2600 Pac-Man and Donkey Kong?

I know that most TV production uses a standard repository or sound effect "libraries" yet I find it amazing that for over 20 years that THOSE games have remained the standard in those libraries.

Yeah it's funny, but I also get a little irritated :D

I've seen so many shows where someone is playing PS2 with those sound effects. I guess they must be playing one of those classic collections of 2600 games. :P

[Famidrive-16]

Kinda random but I remember this awful TV movie with Frankie Muniz once where he was playing F-1 Grand Prix on the Dreamcast throughout the movie. It blew my mind at the time when I was younger because I was playing that game at that time too, on the 64 anyways.

[Atarileaf]

Wall-E - Pong :D



The weird thing is Wall-E was playing a 2600 but the screen showed the arcade pong. :D

Anyone mention "King of Queens"? There was an Atari 7800 in one episode.

[Astrocade]

Anyone mention "King of Queens"? There was an Atari 7800 in one episode.

I never saw that one, but the PS2 (box and slim) appears numerous times.

The Drew Carey show had a Saturn in almost every episode, then later a Dreamcast.

The Saturn also appears in Black Mask, Mallrats, First Kid, Dead Man on Campus, and several installments of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

On The Simpsons Bart has played various cartoon interpretations of the 2600, NES, Genesis, Playstation, and Gameboy. The XBox was referenced in one episode, though not shown. My favorite reference is the cabinet of Polybius in the background of an arcade scene.

In Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Corey Feldman is playing Zaxxon on what I think is the C64. I can't remember off the top of my head.

Arcade cab of Pac Man in an episode of the A Team.

Karate Champ appears in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, with the ever-present Pac Man sound effects.

Tabletop Donkey Kong in the first Gremlins movie.

An NES playing Duck Hunt in Boyz in the Hood.

An episode of Full House featured them playing a Spper Nintendo with an NES Max controller. I guess Bob Saget modded it.

I seem to recall an episode of Family Matters where they were playing an NES.

[Astrocade]

Doublepost.

[Leo_A]

I think the kids in Home Improvement played some video game, I guess something 16-bit.

Zaxxon, they get in a fight with a bully in the arcade of a bowling alley over setting the high score on the machine. A Lady Bug machine is also visible, along with others I never could quite make out. I'll have to pause it next time I see it and try to identify a few more. They also compete briefly for the high score on a linked GameBoy game in another episode, while sounds from Pac-Man on the 2600 are played (I believe, its been a while since I've seen this episode, it might've been Donkey Kong).

I don't see it mentioned, but Murdock has a arcade machine in the nut house they always break him out of on The A-Team. Been too long for me to remember which one it was, but I'm thinking its a Missile Command.

And on the awful Three's Company show, theres a episode where they're playing the 2600. Of course, it was brand new and not classic gaming back then.

Edit - Maybe it was Pac-Man on A-Team like I see someone had already mentioned. Its visible on multiple episodes and played more than once.

Also just remembered a sad episode of Highway to Heaven where a young couple as they fall in love are competing for the high score on a Pole Position upright in a pizza cafe.

Also, a little boy is playing and drops a PSP after bumping into someone in the Poseidon remake from a couple of years ago.

This is stretching it a bit, but theres a old drivers ed video that probably a lot of you have had to watch that uses a Outrun machine throughout to keep it interesting.

[Tron 2.0]

Another heh jackie chan parody of SFII in city hunter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA_ATLFxIA4
That one is still a classic cracks me up still.

[Blitzwing256]

several episodes of growing pains had a nes and atari.
DARRYL had the robot kid getting an imposisbly high speed in pole position (they fast forwarded the video)

[Soviet Conscript]

In Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Corey Feldman is playing Zaxxon on what I think is the C64. I can't remember off the top of my head.


i was acually going to bring this up. its been awhile since i saw this one but i remember puzzeling over what he was playing it on. it certainly didn't look like a C64 from what i remember. but then again its been awhile.

[Astrocade]

Here's some more:

This one is really obscure, but in the fifth grade we had to watch a documentary about drugs, done up in an "afterschool special" style. One kid was trying to get the other kid to smoke a joint that he stole from his older brother (the joint was really yellow- why did all the textbooks and movies make joints look like they were dipped in pee?) and he's telling his hesitant friend that it makes everything feel like you're in a video game. The "good" kid instead goes home and turns on his Atari 5200 and starts playing some Frogger with a 2600 joystick.

On Rosanne DJ can often be seen playing a SNES, and I think Super Mario World was one of the games they featured sound effects from.

There was a kid playing the Game Boy on Matlock, and Jackie Chan gives his neighbor his old Game Gear in Rumble in the Bronx.

There was the skit on SNL waaay back when that was a "mockumentary" about young kids addicted to arcade games. Pretty much every big game up until 1980 was visible throughout the skit.

Various 2600 appearances: Miami Vice, Taxi, Get a Life, The Gary Shandling Show, and Who's the Boss.