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Beautiful Katamari


Console Cameos

We track down the real-world systems that hide in your virtual playground

Words: Brett Elston, GamesRadar US

Most of us play games to escape reality. For a few brief moments, the trials of the material world trickle away and your only concern is how many goddamn gold coins you can collect in an hour. Then, out of nowhere, a friggin' Xbox 360 console shows up in the actual game and all your suspended disbelief goes right out the window. And it happens more often than you'd think. So often, in fact, that we had little trouble in amassing a large collection of these sneaky console cameos. Here are the best examples, from zombie-blasting Dreamcasts to a DS floating in space.

Game: Typing of the Dead

Console cameo: Dreamcast

Zombies have infested an entire city. Decaying bodies are lying in every nook and cranny. What's the weapon of choice to combat the undying legions of hell? A Dreamcast/keyboard combo strapped to your torso!

And look, all your friends thought ahead and brought theirs too. Well, this situation's totally in hand now. Type away, fellas!

Game: Shenmue

Console cameo: Saturn

With the taste of Saturn's death still in our mouths in 2000, it's weird that Sega didn't opt to put a Dreamcast in this slow-burning adventure. Instead, there's a Saturn neatly tucked away in a forgotten drawer under the TV. Wow, no love even in Sega's own universe.

Game: No More Heroes

Console cameo: Nintendo 64

Given the state of his cluttered room, you can tell Travis Touchdown is a massive nerd. Robot models, posters of anime moe witches... yeah, that qualifies. Hidden on a shelf by the fridge lies an out of use N64, facing the wall in what appears to be eternal shame for ending Nintendo's reign of console supremacy. We can't even see what game's in there!

Game: Mario Kart DS

Console Cameo: Nintendo DS

Always ready to push multiplayer boundaries, Mario Kart dares to be different with a level consisting of a DS in deep space. You haven't tossed a banana peel until you've done it while peeling out on a 50-foot touch screen... IN SPACE.

The cameos don't stop with a giant DS though - we've even got ROB the robot in a pre-Brawl appearance. Strange how that thing went from Nintendo's Trojan horse to garage sale standby to misty-eyed memory of our youth. The reality? That robot sucked as a controller. Hard.


 
13 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
Burn  - 1 year 15 days ago 
Hmm... Not a big deal, but Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow features a SNES in your room. Oh and in the file select screen for Banjo Kazooie - Banjo is playing a GameBoy. Yippee...
KirbyCupcake  - 1 year 9 days ago 
^ Adding on to the comment, in Pokemon Diamond (suppose in Pearl too) you have a Wii in your room, and so does your friend.:D
KirbyCupcake  - 1 year 9 days ago 
Oh sorry, didn't see you already mentioned it..*blush*
Scoob1.0  - 1 year 5 days ago 
and lets not forget the Nintendo 64 in the lady's house where u save your game in Donkey Kong Country 3 I believe it was... shes even playing the system during some saves.
Xplosive59  - 11 months 29 days ago 
MGS4 has a ps3 on the table, sunny plays a PSP and snake controles the mk2/mk3 with a playstation controller
MoChilla  - 9 months 9 days ago 
They Replace the PSP in Home with a PDA.
CH3BURASHKA  - 3 months 13 days ago 
Grand Theft Auto needs some console cameos - perhaps a mission around stealing the new thing from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo R&D labs.
CruzDude  - 3 months 13 days ago 
If you turn the language to Japanese in Melee, there will be a virtual boy in the collection
rezapoc  - 3 months 12 days ago 
Dont forget the dreamcasts mounted on the back of the robots in virtual on: ot.
jokerdog  - 3 months 12 days ago 
Don't forget the three gamecubes in REmake used to free Chris/Jill from the chamber.
BarryNomad  - 2 months 7 days ago 
Here are some more:

Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram: Dreamcast and Xbox 360 versions have Dreamcast's attached to the mech's backs.

Sonic Adventure: The boss E-105 Zeta has a body made up of Dreamcasts

Rent a Hero no. 1: The hero's computer is the SECA CREAMCAST, looks like a creamy white Dreamcast.

SEGAGAGA: Every SEGA console cameos numerous times including in the final battle.
faceofmonkey  - 1 month 19 days ago 
In the beginning of Rachet and Clack 3, Rachet is playing a Jak&Daxter, Rachet and Clank, and Rachet and Clank 2 on a PS2
camelfro  - 1 day 4 hours ago 
kul article shin megami tensei ds had a ds as the main plot device
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