The 50 Coolest Video Game Moments in Movies And TV
Laugh, cry and cheer for the sheer awesomeness.
Image via Complex Original
Given that video games have been integrated so deeply into pop culture, it's no longer a shock to catch a reference in a television show or movie like back in the days. Believe it or not, there was a time when video games were only the butt of jokes like the wildly funny "Alan: Portrait of a Video Junkie" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1982 where gamers were portrayed as uncontrolled losers. Then you had movies like Hackers and Wargames that painted video game enthusiasts as anti-social geeks searching for a way out of reality. As times have changed and along with them the views on video game culture, there has been a maturing of the gaming world. Video games have extended beyond comedy and is now integrated into dramas like Law & Order: SVU and even horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street. The diversity of gamers has increased a lot but as one would expect, some things remain the same.
We've compiled a killer list of video game moments in both TV and film that made us laugh, face palm and cheer the tributes and cameos to our favorite games. These are the 50 Greatest Video Game Moments In TV And Film.
50. The Greatest Game Never Played
Movie/tv Show: Rumble In The Bronx
Year: 1995
In a hilarious scene, we see a wheelchair bound kid goin in on Sega Game Gear device. The only problem is that there's no game in it. Could it be that the Game Gear could download titles from cloud even before the cloud was available to consumers? Probably not.
49. "Asteroids" Attracts Aliens
Movie/tv Show: The Thing
Year: 1982
Granted, when trapped in the Arctic tundra with a murderous alien, maybe you wanna try and break your high score in Asteroids before your face gets eaten.
48. "Zelda" Theme Music Makes The Moment
Movie/tv Show: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Year: 2010
This one is a no brainer, but the Fairy Fountain song does make a cameo during one of Michael Cera's dream sequence.
47. Impending Doom
Movie/tv Show: Grosse Pointe Blank
Year: 1997
We don't remember an arcade edition of Doom II, but there it is. Right before John Cusak has a 7-11 explode on his head.
46. The Machines Had It Coming
Movie/tv Show: Terminator 2
Year: 1991
Foreshadowing abounds as a young John Conner destroys the cabinet on one quarter. T-1000 murder fest to follow. Dude was a pro gamer before it became cool.
45. Pac Man On The Map
Movie/tv Show: The Tron
Year: 1982
An easter egg shows Pac-Man hidden on the map screen of Sark's cruiser. No surpise that you've never heard of this one. Peep it, it's hilarious.
44. Practice Makes Perfect
Movie/tv Show: The Hurt Locker
Year: 2008
Marines need to blow off steam same as anyone. Blowing apart Locust soldiers in Gears of War is as good idea as any.
43. Get 'Em Granny
Movie/tv Show: True Blood
Year: 2009
The Wii makes makes more cameos in this show than trans-gender dimension hopping warlocks. This granny goes nuts when she gets her hands on Dead Space makes a great argument as to why every nursing home should have a Wii on deck.
42. Jim Drags The Team Down
Movie/tv Show: The Office
Year: 2006
Jim gets to participate in some team building exercises but gets clowned for not pulling his weight in a team deathmatch. It seems that noobs aren't safe anywhere.
41. Drifting Done The Mob Way
Movie/tv Show: The Sopranos
Year: 1999
Talk about a time and a place. A young Anthony Soprano Jr. works on his Mario Kart 64 drifting on the classic N64 console. While ignoring Tony's demand for him to go to bed, he gets an in-game thrashing as a lesson.
40. Evan Gets Distracted By The Getaway
Movie/tv Show: Superbad
Year: 2007
We've all been there. You're trying to have a conversation (usually about something trivial) and play a video game at the same time. Evan makes the same attempt and winds up sounding exactly the same way we all do. A string of somewhat comprehensive sentences that mean nothing. Good try buddy, that's why all games can be paused.
39. Shaun Of The "Timesplitters"
Movie/tv Show: Shaun of the Dead
Year: 2004
Why didn't this cameo generate enough nerd-rage to get another Time Splitters title off the ground?
38. Fred Savage Plays Hardball!!
Movie/tv Show: The Princess Bride
Year: 1987
Fred Savage makes the list twice. This time going in hard in the classic Hardball baseball game from way back when. It's not too often you see sports games in movies much less baseball. It goes to show that not all gamers are into shooters alone.
37. Monster Smokes A Motherducker
Movie/tv Show: Boyz n the Hood
Year: 1991
Hey that doesn't look like the stock zapper that comes with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Anyway, we see Trey's homie about to peel a victim's cap back and eventually find out it's one of those pesky fowls from Duck Hunt.
36. Gears Of Product Placement
Movie/tv Show: Noobz
Year: 2012
Although it wasn't the best movie made, Gears of War 3 appeared throughout the entire movie in the form of gameplay and merchandising. Gears fanboy and girls really got their money's worth.
35. Karate Champs Are No Joke
Movie/tv Show: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Year: 1986
Gamers aren't punks as we found out when school principal Ed Rooney rolled up on who he thought was Ferris ditching class. After taking a straw full of soda to the face, he realizes that things could've gotten much worse had she shown her Karate Champ skills in person.
34. Bart And Lisa's Bodies Are Ready
Movie/tv Show: The Simpsons
Year: 2010
An obvious parody of the Wii craze, Bart and Lisa use the hottest system out, a Funtendo Zii and wind up beating each other with the Zii motes. Add that to the list of funny fail videos.
33. Ms. Pac Man Makes A Friend Out Of "Friends"
Movie/tv Show: Friends
Year: 2002
We all know how addictive the Pac Man franchise is and the characters on friends were reminded of that when a full-scale arcade version of Ms. Pac Man is introduced. As soon as we saw it, our hearts filled with jealousy of running the maze without running out of quarters.
32. The Super Mario Battle
Movie/tv Show: The Wizard
Year: 1989
Essentially a 90 minute long product placement for Nintendo. We get it but during a time when Mario was bigger than Mickey Mouse, we were more than welcoming to the homage of our favorite video game in a tournament at that!
31. Doctors Of "Doom 2"
Movie/tv Show: ER
Year: 1995
The ER staff slayed tons of demons in Doom 2 when not hooking up with each other or saving the lives of adorable children. Maybe all the gore prepared them for what they'd see in the operating rooms.
30. The O.G. "Tron" Machine Comes Back
Movie/tv Show: Tron: Legacy
Year: 2010
The arcade version of Tron. makes a brief appearance in Flynn's arcade right before Sam gets sucked into the world of neon and hot women in skin-tight clothing. A nice nod to the old school with this one.
29. Cops Are About That "Second Life"
Movie/tv Show: Law & Order: SVU
Year: 2007
The "Avatar" episode brought us many laughs as the crew investigated the kidnapping of a woman who led an alternative life in the virtual world of Youniverse. It looks like someone on Dick Wolf's writing team may have been all into the brief Second Life craze. Oh the drama!
28. Sega Sponsors A Rave
Movie/tv Show: House of the Dead
Year: 2003
Video game companies can throw some really cool parties but none as wild as the rave sponsored by Sega in House of the Dead.
27. Virtual Gretzky Haters
Movie/tv Show: Swingers
Year: 1996
One of the greatest lines in the movie, "I'm gonna make Wayne Gretzky's head bleed for super-fan #99 over here." This scene came at a time when hockey video games became as awesome as the real thing.
26. Shadow Therapy
Movie/tv Show: Reign Over Me
Year: 2007
Adam Sandler's character uses the Shadow of the Colossus game to tackle his inner demons after losing his family in the 9/11 attack. Thematically relevant, but a bit of a downer.
25. "Galaga" To The Rescue
Movie/tv Show: Wargames
Year: 1983
Sure, you can hack the North American Aerospace Defense Command and defeat a sentient defense system by practicing on an old Galaga arcade machine. Only in a movie.
24. Marty McFly The Sharp Shooter
Movie/tv Show: Back to the Future 2
Year: 1989
Michael J. Fox is still a crack shot on the Wild Gunman arcade game even when he's traveled to the far off year of 2015. We're all getting hover boards by next year, right?
23. Bishop Can't Play Street Fighter In Peace
Movie/tv Show: Juice
Year: 1992
All Bishop wanted to do was let off some stress with the most popular fighting franchise ever. On three seperate occasions, Tupac's character Bishop gets interrupted: Once by a police raid, then by rival thugs and then by the arcade machine shutting down on him.Pour out a little liquor for all those quarters lost in the game.
22. Every Gamer's Fantasy Come True
Movie/tv Show: The Last Starfighter
Year: 1984
We've always imagined that some shadowy agency was secretly watching us play games to see if we had what it takes to save the universe. We're ready and waiting for the men in black to show up and beg for us to use our elite skills for good.
21. The Gaming Chair We All Wanted
Movie/tv Show: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Year: 2005
Steve Carell's character had the sickest video gaming chair we've ever seen in our lives at the time. The work of nerdy art had built-in surround sound, controllers attached to the arm rests and probably automatically ordered pizza when it read signs of hunger. His boys put it to good use repping Mortal Kombat: Deception and increased our jealousy level several times fold. We've searched all over for a place to get one but failed miserably. The hunt continues.
20. Decisions, Decisions
Movie/tv Show: Mallrats
Year: 1995
Given the choice between hooking up with Shannon Doherty and playing NHL Hocky All Stars? We'll have to get back to you on this one. To the characters in this classic film, the puck won out.
19. "Grand Theft Auto" Made Me Do It
Movie/tv Show: Law & Order: SVU
Year: 2005
In the series' "Game" episode, Team SUV takes on the video game world again with their investigation of the the controversial Intensity title. A woman gets run down by a car, beaten to death and then robbed. The culprit? You guessed it, some guy who has been playing too much of the fictional Grand Theft Auto video game. The only thing that would've made this episode more epic was if stars appeared at the top right of the screen.
18. Sheldon Plays Rockband With Leonard's Mom
Movie/tv Show: Big Bang Theory
Year: 2009
After a long conversation with Leonard's mom, Sheldon becomes infatuated with her brilliant mind. Likewise, mom takes to Sheldon which prompts what we believe to be a quick fling. Instead when Leonard comes home, he finds his mom and Sheldon playing Rockband. By far one of the funniest moments of the series.
17. The NES Advantage Controls The Statue Of Liberty
Movie/tv Show: Ghostbusters 2
Year: 1989
New York's favorite apparition eliminators took control of the Statue of Liberty by dousing it with ghost slime and hooking it up to an NES Advantage controller. Imagine that happening today with a PS4 Dualshock 4 controller and that's what the excitement would be like. What's even crazier is that the Advantage got more camera time than Bobby Brown.
16. Freddy Krueger Plays With Power
Movie/tv Show: Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Year: 1991
As the Nightmare on Elm Street movies left its true horror roots and became comedy, Freddy Krueger's kills became more cartoonish with one of them having him wear a modified Nintendo Power Glove. Freddy took control of a victim and had the poor soul bounce up and down until he fell down a flight of stairs and through the floor into a pit. Game over.
15. "Final Fantasy 9" Characters Prefer Coca-Cola
Movie/tv Show: Commercial
Year: 2000
At the height of Final Fantasy's success, Coca-Cola in Japan cut a rare commercial using characters from the game. If only we were so lucky to see another one of these on our side of the ocean.
14. Dance Dance Revolution Love Conquers All
Movie/tv Show: King Of The Hill
Year: 1997
On a trip to Japan with his grandfather, Bobby meets a girl while at an arcade playing a version of Dance Dance Revolution. The couple run into a cultural hardships that split them up but at the end they reunite and dance the closing credits away to Cheryl Lynn's "To Be Real."
13. "Chinpokomon" Takes Over The Globe
Movie/tv Show: South Park
Year: 1999
Talk about art imitating life. The geniuses over at South Park took on the Pokemon craze with their own "Chinpokomon" twist where the children of the world became obsessed with the fictional creatures all in a plot to destroy the U.S.
If it wasn't for good old American fickleness, who knows what havoc the developers of the evil game would've unleashed on us all.
12. Castanza Plays Real-Life "Frogger"
Movie/tv Show: Seinfeld
Year: 1998
George Castanza gets his hands on a Frogger arcade game but has no way to get it to his apartment. When he takes a look at the traffic, he imagines himself as the frog in the game and attempts to move it himself across the street. How many of you can say that you've never thought of doing the same?
11. Lucas The Original Gaming Douchebag
Movie/tv Show: The Wizard
Year: 1995
Everyone who has seen this movie should remember Lucas the arrogant little snot who had the hottest video game accessory ever imagined at the time. Since the time we've seen Lucas wield the power of Nintendo's glove, our hatred of him has settled but there's still a little bit of animosity in the back of our minds for how much of a show-off he was.
10. A perfect video game movie
Movie/tv Show: Wreck it Ralph
Year: 2012
This one is sort of cheating since it is a video game movie about a video game character starring other video game characters. Every scene from this film makes the list because it was awesome. Can you blame us?
9. Milhouse Gets Revenge
Movie/tv Show: The Simpsons
Year: 2007
Nintendo's Power Glove makes its way into yet another pop culture favorite. On an episode of The Simpons, Marge tells the "Revenge of the Geek" tale which puts the often picked on Milhouse in a position of dominance when he finds a glove that allows him to get revenge on everyone that wronged him.
8. Ghosts Try To Cheer Up Pac Man
Movie/tv Show: Family Guy
Year: 1999
Pac Man sits in a chair depressed and broken-hearted that Ms. Pac Man left him. Instead of trying to take advantage while he's vulnerable, the benevolent ghosts turn themselves blue and offer Pac Man a chance to eat them. When that doesn't work, they change back to their normal colors and leave to hang out with Q-Bert. Just like a friend.
7. Grandma Lily Beats "Demonik"
Movie/tv Show: Grandma's Boy
Year: 2006
When the spastic video game developer J.P. gets accused of ripping of the idea for the Demonik game, Grandma Lily steps into to prove that her grandson was the brain-parent. Lily goes badass on the game and finishes it proving that she had played the game before thus driving J.P. to neurosis.
6. Spaced was one of the greats
Movie/tv Show: Spaced
Year: 1999
Before Simon Pegg was a household name, he was part of the wildly underrated Spaced. He hullicantes from an all night RE2 session, which we're suprised doesn't happen more often.
5. Journey To The Center Of Hawkthorne
Movie/tv Show: Community
Year: 2012
Chevy Chase's character Pierce goes on the hunt for his father's inheritance and comes across his half-brother who zaps him and the rest of the Greendale gang into the 8-bit Journey To The Center Of Hawkthorne video game. Even more amazing is that the game actually exists, you can give it a spin right here.
4. Erogenous Zone Cheat
Movie/tv Show: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Year: 2010
Right before Scott is about to get beaten to a pulp by Ramona's ex-girlfriend Roxie, Ramona tells him to touch the back of Roxie's knee. When he does, she becomes overwhelmed with enough pleasure to make her literally explode into coins.
3. Kenny Saves The World
Movie/tv Show: South Park
Year: 2005
It's ironic that the character that is so death prone would be selected by the heavenly order to save the world from Satan's minions. Using a sacred PSP, Kenny fights his way through the Heaven vs. Hell video game past level 60 and ultimately wins a golden statue of Keanu Reeves.
2. Peter Fights Mr. Washee Washee
Movie/tv Show: Family Guy
Year: 2011
In his continued beef with a dry cleaner over a shirt, Peter fights as Ken from Street Fighter and Mr. Washee Washee takes the role of E. Honda. Even after a leg sweep, a hadouken and shouryuken, Washee Washee takes Peter out with a bear hug and barage of palm strikes.
1. Saturday Night Live Investigates Video Game Junkies
Movie/tv Show: Saturday Night Live
Year: 1982
This classic sketch from the earlier days of SNL dives deep into the life of "Alan" and a number of children who are addicted to video games. They shuffle through the streets begging for quarters to play games like Donkey Kong and Ms. Pacman. Even today, SNL hasn't come up with a sketch on video games funny enough to top this one.