Console Cameos

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

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

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.

Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.