South Park's 9 best gaming moments

Eleven years and over 170 episodes already? South Park's been slaughtering Americana's sacred cows since we were still playing the PSX, eviscerating all manner of politics, entertainment and religion. So with the effortless vigor Trey and Matt have taken the piss out of Paris Hilton, Mormons and Al Gore - what hope does the frail and sensitive gamer ego have?

We kid. Given that the series revolves around four pop-culture savvy eight-year-olds, how could they avoid addressing game culture? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that our favorite episodes revolve around skewering this hobby o’ ours, so we thought it apt to chronicle our favorite South Park moments for all the internet to bitch about.

Biased? Perhaps. But who cares?! Most of the episodes here make top ten lists encompassing the entire series, plus it's a novel excuse to combine two of our favorite pastimes. You know the ones.

Oh and if you think talking about South Park is a bit tangential for a gaming website, your chance to win free DVDs, South Park Swag, and a Guitar Hero III bundle for the console of your choice resides at the end of the article. We thought that’d shut you up.

Above: Ooooo, what could the prizes be?! Click on to find out 

And a special shout out to SouthParkStudios.com, home to many of the pictures we’ve taken without permission, and where you may now watch entire episodes of the show free of charge.

Tooth Fairy Tats 2000
Episode 402
Original Airdate: April 5, 2000
Watch the full episode free

As real as the Tooth Fairy may be for some of us, South Park used its podium to pull the lid off of the pillow-to-dollar racket. The boys take on a scam involving the theft, manipulation and control of the Tooth Fairy trade. Pure genius, if you ask us. Like the Lufthansa heist in Goodfellas, only with baby teeth. So why would the boys risk the wrath of parents, a pre-teen crime syndicate, and the American Dental Association?

Damn right: The Sega Dreamcast. Quit giggling! The $200 dollar Console That Couldn’t might be readily available in bargain bins everywhere, but for us old farts the Dreamcast was just as sought after as your new fangled PSWiis. As one of the first video game system referenced specifically we can't help but wonder if the producers were trying to push the shitty and full-priced trivia game, Chef's Luv Shack, which premiered on that very console.

Above: Current Market Value = 1 used copy of NCAA Football ’04 or 1/5 of Halo 3 

Unfortunately, our conspiratorial theories are a bit dashed, since Trey Parker and Matt Stone have loudly gone on record stating they hate all the South Park videogames just as much as the rest of us, and would likely never take part in such a transparent shill.

Imaginationland
Episode 1110, 1111, 1112
Original Airdates: October 17, 2007, October 24, 2007, October 31, 2007
Watch Uncensored Director’s Cut Now!

The three-part saga Imagination Land isn’t as steeped in videogame themes as most of the other episodes on our list. But it makes up for that slight with several million nods to the bestest fictional characters of all time. Thundercats vs Aliens? Care Bears vs Predator? Mario vs Freddy Kruger?! F**k yes - that happened!

The plot concerned terrorists seizing control of our imaginations, and Cartman’s gentlemanly wager with Kyle involving of sucking his balls. But it lands on our list simply for the numerous blink-and-you’ll-miss-it number of cameos by gaming’s biggest celebrities.

Good Times With Weapons
Episode 801
Original Airdate: March 17, 2004
Watch the full episode free

Anyone who remembers the episode where the boys' ninja-centric imaginations take center stage will no doubt recall what a remarkably kick ass ordeal it all was. Not technically a video game moment, you say? Well sure, it's mostly a spot-on parody of Japanese animation, complete with a rousing Engrish anthem. We could easily justify its placement by drawing a long winded comparison about Anime's influence on games, and vice versa, blah blah Naruto, blah blah. But lucky for us, and you, we needn't bother.

Eagle-eyed gamers probably know what we're getting at. Given that the extensive character designs brought the Season 8 opener well over its usual one week production schedule, so you can’t blame the artists for drawing inspiration from some of our favorite fighters, can you? The guys bear a striking resemblance to certain characters from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, just to name a few.

Of course, it's all fun and games until Butters loses an eye. And because we just wouldn't be your friend if we didn't include it, here's grammar deficient, J-pop theme. “Whet's fighting wuuuv.”