Best portrayal of video games in other media

[l3o2828]

I've actually made a game to track down every time Dance Dance Revolution pops up in media.
And seeing wether everything is alright or not. The Game itself, The Song with The Stepchart, The Character, The Animations, Difficulty with Stepchart (Like a stream of un ending arrows in Beginner or Basic).
I don't remember many out of the top of my head but...Jim Carrey's Yes Man DDR bit was pretty damn accuarate.

 

[daviomaron]

I counter with Community and the time they played a videogame with Pierce to get his fortune.

 

[tigermilk]

Spaced (Channel 4). Instead of video games being central scenes/episodes they are generally presented as part of everyday life. On occasion they are more explicitly acknowledged in a scene but only to reflect a part of the post-modern aesthetic based on blurring reality and cultural references.

Secondly any TV show/film that when shows people playing a computer game any footage of gameplay looks as if someone is actually playing the game.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I think it's a very well known fact that on average, the portrayal of video games in other mediums tends to be lacking at very best and facepalm worthy at very worst. However, every once in awhile, there are some that manage to slip through the cracks.

I give you Breaking Bad, where they have a scene where they talk about zombie games.

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Admittedly they're a little stupid when they talk about it, but I put that down to them being two stoners that are high off their ass. Hey, at least they're talking about games that actually exist. Also something I find very funny is that this season came out in 2011, but Resident Evil 5 came out in 2009. That means that the creators ignored 5 and went back to 4 and talked about that one. It seems that Yahtzee isn't the only one that prefers that one.

So, any other examples that you can think of?

That settles it, I'm gong to start watching Breaking Bad...

OT: Hmm, maybe Yahtzee's books... Erm, maybe that one bit in Family Guy where Peter plays CoD? No, actually, that episode of South Park about WoW is the best and they have som,e neat gaming references in other episodes too like saying all L.A. Noire is is pressing X...

 

[Grottnikk]

I think the South Park WoW episode was pretty funny and some of the banter between Cartman and the other kids while they are playing (calling out for buffs and such) was right on .

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

Spaced (Channel 4). Instead of video games being central scenes/episodes they are generally presented as part of everyday life. On occasion they are more explicitly acknowledged in a scene but only to reflect a part of the post-modern aesthetic based on blurring reality and cultural references.

Secondly any TV show/film that when shows people playing a computer game any footage of gameplay looks as if someone is actually playing the game.

Yeah, Spaced did the video game thing pretty well. Not just having the right game on the right system, but actually looking like they were playing the game instead of just pressing all buttons frantically at once like they do in some shows. To go further with the Simon Pegg media, Shaun of the Dead when they were playing Timesplitters.

 

[ProtoChimp]

I'm gonna go with, "Community". Funnily enough, they also are one of maybe 3 shows to portray D+D decently. Whats impressive about Community is that the entire episode is in video game format, and with allowances for the over the top world that is community, actually feels like a video game. Plus, all the little touches like killing the shop owner, pierce's ineptitude, leveling and the like really make it feel like a good natured rib by a fellow gamer, not a wildly inaccurate guess at a foreign pop culture phenomena.

What is community? I don't see it on any british channel and I've only just seen these clips and I am confused.

 

[Shinsei-J]

NCIS writers are terrible.

They're not terrible, just often misinformed.

Spoiler: McGamer makes a funny

As for community, it's not video games but table top that they hit the nail on the head for.

Spoiler: El Tigre at DnD

 

[Xanadu84]

I'm gonna go with, "Community". Funnily enough, they also are one of maybe 3 shows to portray D+D decently. Whats impressive about Community is that the entire episode is in video game format, and with allowances for the over the top world that is community, actually feels like a video game. Plus, all the little touches like killing the shop owner, pierce's ineptitude, leveling and the like really make it feel like a good natured rib by a fellow gamer, not a wildly inaccurate guess at a foreign pop culture phenomena.

What is community? I don't see it on any british channel and I've only just seen these clips and I am confused.

http://www.hulu.com/search?q=Community

One of the most clever sitcoms in recent years. Digital Estate Planning is the video game episode.

 

[EeviStev]

Good: Spaced- Tim plays Resident Evil 2
He handles a controller as if he's actually held one before (I don't doubt he has), the gameplay and sound effects shown make sense. Yes, he later knocks out a transvestite he mistakes for a zombie, but it's because he chucked an all-nighter on some cheap speed (drugs and videogames don't mix, kids).

Bad: Scrubs- Various characters play Halo.
"Warthogs" and "Jackals" are mentioned, but there's single-player gameplay on the screen while the characters play co-op, and said players just mash both (both!) triggers and waggle the thumbsticks continuously.

 

[lechat]

dammit ninja'ed about a billion times for community
OK seriously anyone who hasn't seen community go watch it fucking now!!!
that episode ranks as one of the greatest in tv show history and is a must for any 8 bit or rpg fans

ok guess i'll go with futurama and the "what if real life was like a video game" episode
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=535_1189897817

 

[The_Lost_King]

I'm gonna go with, "Community". Funnily enough, they also are one of maybe 3 shows to portray D+D decently. Whats impressive about Community is that the entire episode is in video game format, and with allowances for the over the top world that is community, actually feels like a video game. Plus, all the little touches like killing the shop owner, pierce's ineptitude, leveling and the like really make it feel like a good natured rib by a fellow gamer, not a wildly inaccurate guess at a foreign pop culture phenomena.

What is community? I don't see it on any british channel and I've only just seen these clips and I am confused.

It's a show about a guy who had to go to community college for one reason or another and he met funny peope and it is about their daily life at community college.

Rizzoli and Isles portrayed it fairly well. There was no high scores and I can't think of anything bad they did.

 

[darlarosa]

Ya know what....King of the Hill did a pretty good job in the first episode of it I ever actuall watchedd
"Returning Japanese"

It's a cute little love story kind of thing. Despite Bobby not speaking Japanese he bonds with this girl over DDR...its actually very cute.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I know it's not exactly a popular show around here, but the episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon winds up playing Mario 64 on his laptop via emulator was pretty accurate. Both in the way it showed him playing the game, and in the frustration he had at emulating it (because N64 emulation seriously sucks. It's not a well emulated system.) The show usually handles gaming at least decently, but that episode in particular sticks out in my mind as the best example of real life gaming I've ever seen in a prime time TV show[footnote]Those of you who have seen the episode probably have some nitpicks about the circumstances that caused him to use the emulator, but remember: the joke there was about how Sheldon, the resident weirdo, had to play the game at a specific time, which conflicted with Leonard's date. It wasn't about playing the game period. Of course now we're getting into the territory of "this is offensive to people with autism" instead of "this is offensive to gamers," but that's a whole 'nother subject.[/footnote].

 

[Vault101]

There is only one that has truly captured what it is to play games.

Only one that has come so close it was almost like I was there myself.

I saw thing on TV....I was lost for words

the women is clearly a timelord

 

[00slash00]

well ive always found that the mainstream media, especially fox news, consistently portrays video games fairly and accurately

 

[Saladfork]

well ive always found that the mainstream media, especially fox news, consistently portrays video games fairly and accurately

I know, right? I was personally very thankful that they let everyone know about how much of a blatent sex sim Mass Effect was. Did you know that not a single one of the game reviewers even mentioned that? As usual, it falls to Fox to get the important information out there.

 

[Cyrus Hanley]

I know it's not exactly a popular show around here, but the episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon winds up playing Mario 64 on his laptop via emulator was pretty accurate. Both in the way it showed him playing the game, and in the frustration he had at emulating it (because N64 emulation seriously sucks. It's not a well emulated system.) The show usually handles gaming at least decently, but that episode in particular sticks out in my mind as the best example of real life gaming I've ever seen in a prime time TV show[footnote]Those of you who have seen the episode probably have some nitpicks about the circumstances that caused him to use the emulator, but remember: the joke there was about how Sheldon, the resident weirdo, had to play the game at a specific time, which conflicted with Leonard's date. It wasn't about playing the game period. Of course now we're getting into the territory of "this is offensive to people with autism" instead of "this is offensive to gamers," but that's a whole 'nother subject.[/footnote].

Also the sound effects for the game.

The sound Mario makes when he jumps, the sound when Sheldon pauses the game (and then unpauses), etc. As far as I was concerned he could have well been playing the actual game.

 

[MrBenSampson]

It has been mentioned many times already, but I loved the Digital Estate Planning episode of Community. It made my day when I learned that someone made a working version of the game they were playing. http://projecthawkthorne.com/

Spoiler

 

[Oinodaemon]

UM.

GRANDMA'S BOY