Video Game Appearances In Film - A Community Compilation Project

I thought it would be fun to start compiling a list of games that you see in movies. It could be a console sighting, an arcade cabinet, whatever.

I'll start with a couple that I have seen recently and managed to grab screen captures of. Screenshots aren't necessary to add your game sighting, but it would make the thread much cooler if you had them.

Let's just start listing them now, and maybe we can do something with the collected data a few months down the road.

If you notice posts where people don't provide screenshots and you have access to them, please PM me and I will edit them in to others' posts for you.

In Mallrats   the guy was playing on a hocky game but i wouldent be able to name the actual game. Ive noticed that in film and TV that  they tend to use fake games (as in ones that dont exist) such as in Reaper they were playing a 2d FPS on the wii, i guess that would be so they dont neet to play copywrite  

Wow damn, I just watched both terminators last night and was thinking "Dayum I miss noisy arcades"

Dont have any pics right now, but I know I can up some House goodness when I get home, I know he's seen playing Metroid (fusion?) on a GBA, and later something on a DS (Metroid again I think, hunters this time) and then something miscellaneous on PSP, followed by Ninja Gaiden II on 360 in the first episode of the latest season.

Edit: Also, Kevin Smith rules (as does Jason Lee!) so this thread has my full support :D

There are several references to video games in Tron, Pacman appears behind Sark after Flynn escapes the lightcycles arena, and there's some old arcade machines early on in the movie but I'm not sure whether they're authentic. I'm at work so I don't have access to the film at the moment, but it's such an obvious call I'm sure someone else will offer some screen grabs.

Also, Dougal and his friend (Father Damien) are seen playing "The old video games there" in an episode of Father Ted, they are playing (a version of) Street Fighter II. Again cant find a screencap and the youtube clip is unavailable in my area :\

House played ATV Offroad Fury Blazin' Trails. (PSP)
and Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

Guilty Gear is played in Grandma's Boy

Super Mario Bros. 3 is played in 3 ninjas

gears of war was played in Live free or die hard

thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I'll post more as I think of them. Also couldn't find any screen shots.

Would Hitman being played in the film Hitman count?

It's a fictional game, but in The Wrestler, there's a scene where Mickey Rourke's character is playing 'Wrestle Jam' with some kid. It's this old 8-bit wrestling game on the NES, which stars himself during his prime.



Kotaku actually had a really nice article written about it.

As for other things, i recall in TANG that the Double Dragon movie featured an arcade machine with the game running on it, which of course some dude then got thrown into.

There's always the Wipeout prototype in Hackers(1995)

Sorry, I can't contribute any pictures, but I did find a very comprehensive list of arcade games in movies.

List of Arcade Games in Movies

At the start of the movie, In the movie 'The Princess Bride' (1987) the kid is playing 'Hardball' for the Commodore 64 or the Atari 8-Bit.

In Kangaroo Jack they were playing some version of Madden,

An X360 was in transformers constantly

In an episode of The Simpsons where Lisa is pretending to be sick to miss school you can see her playing a parody of Crash Bandicoot called Dash Dingo.

The movie Better off Dead had Punch Out! in it, I'm pretty sure. Funny movie if you've never seen it.

I'm ashamed to say it, but in the first Charlie's Angels movie  some kids are playing Final Fantasy VIII.

This is technically television, but Dr. House has been seen playing Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360. Specifically, Metroid: Zero Mission in Season 1, Episode 3. EDIT: Just noticed that House was already mentioned, but here's a few screenshots anyway.

House plays NJ2 in a ep.

World of Warcraft was in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

In Charlie Bartlett, the main character and some kid that tried to kill himself or some shit play Killzone.

Timesplitters 2 in Shaun of the Dead.

If I remember correctly, the opening of Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a massive amount of arcade games, as well as throughout the film. I believe it might be Pacman and Missle Command.

hitman in hitman : )

Mario Kart 64 in "Fanboys"

I believe Galaga was in WarGames, but it could have been a similar space shootery thingy. I'll double check tomorrow.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was shown in Crank: High Voltage.

I remember in the beginning of Live Free or Die Hard there were people playing Gears of War, sadly I can not find photographic evidence.

Oh yeah, there was a very funny scene in Swingers where they were all playing an old NHL game on the Genesis...

Hahaha, good call on The Wizard.  Didn't the kid have an awesome game playing glove or something?

I swear I've seen Twisted Metal being played on something... any ideas?

In an episode of Two And A Half Men, Charlie takes Jake to a video game store so he can get a Final Fantasy game. Many games are visible in the store, such as Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain

Just so.  Well done, sir.

I like this topic.

In Superbad, Evan (Michael Cera) is playing The Getaway: Black Monday, and sucks at it. He is commenting on how impossible it is to beat the game. That was an awkward scene for a seasoned game player because the way he held the controller was a bit strange. Remember the "Acceptance" video for the Wizards and Cyborgs thing that was on the site? Yeah, like that.

I have been looking for a pic but can't find one unfortunately :(

Here are a couple of obvious ones.

continuing the ones in house, watching a new episode ( here anyway) and he is playing ninja gaiden 2 on a xbox 360

In Snakes On A Plane, some kids can been seen playing with a DS and some adults are playing a PSP.

Guitar Hero (or Rock Band, I don't know for sure) in Paul Blart: Mall Cop