T Welcome to Respawning’s Film & TV Club! The purpose of this is to get a bunch of us together every Wednesday and allow us the chance to chat shit about whatever takes our fancy in the world of Films & TV!
In anticipation of our excitement for ‘Ready Player One’ we’re talking about favourite video game cameos in movies!

Will

Cameos can be cheap, a lot of the time. Not a joke, not a serious part of the movie, just a way to artificially add a memorable moment to a film without earning it through good writing, acting, etc.

But there’s one simple Video Game cameo that I love to bits-

“That man is playing Galaga!” from ‘The Avengers’ (2012).

Far from simply being a hidden reference in the background, this cameo takes center stage to not only be a part of a gag, but also a vital part of making us sympathize with S.H.I.E.L.D as an organization, making us buy into their flawed existence. They’re only human after all- and even when you’re an organization that literally forms teams of superheroes, it’s refreshing to know that people still procrastinate at their desks. Hell, I’m playing Hearthstone right now and I’m supposed to be teaching myself Javascript.

Salman

Image result for freddy krueger power glove

Ah man so many times in movie whenever I would see a video game I’d be way more interested in seeing the game rather than what’s going on in the movie. It was just like a huge novelty at the time, now that let’s plays are a thing you can literally just watch someone play a game so the effect is lost on me.

But I remember when I was marathon-ing the Nightmare on Elm Street films I don’t remember which one but there was a scene where Freddy trapped someone in a video game. Specifically, in an NES. And he ends up controlling his victim with the accessory to end all accessories the god damn Power Glove. Hell, it didn’t even look like a Power Glove but we knew. We all knew.

I would say that The Wizard is the greatest movie for video game cameos but I feel like that is cheating since that movie is just an over glorified Nintendo commercial anyways.

Javier

At first my mind went straight to Wreck it Ralph, I bloody loved the little AA meeting between the characters and loved the idea of game characters being trapped in this world waiting to be spawned in to their games, I hope for more of this in the second.

My favourite and one that really springs to mind is Scott Pilgrim, not only is it a fucking fantastic movie but it’s chock full of gaming cameos. Zelda sounds, pac man speak, and even a riff from final fantasy 2. It also just relates to gaming as whole, the way the fights are set out as if were a beat-em-up, the negative Scott, the extra life and people bursting are all amazing little touches. This movie got gaming references right!

I also love it when you see absolute dudes playing games in movies, such 40 year old virgin, Sean of the dead and Wayne’s world. Excellent!!