The 50 Best Video Game Easter Eggs

Every spring, people love trotting out their lists of favorite Easter eggs in video games: ten here, seven there, generally always pulled from the same 20 or so well-known eggs. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that.

But programmers have been putting secrets into games for more than 30 years, (yes, THIRTY) so we had to compile a countdown that took into account the vast numbers of games published during that timespan. And there's also the fact that we hate doing anything with the rest of the crowd, so waiting until next April simply wasn't an option.

With that in mind, we're pleased to hatch our hidden gem, the 50 Best Video Game Easter Eggs. From shooters to puzzlers, from Atari to PS3, these are what we think are the funniest, toughest, and just straight-up inexplicablest (yes, inexplicablest) hidden treats in gaming history. And you don't even need a cheat code to read it!