The loading tips that give you fluff information (about clans, the settings, vampires, etc) are quotes from the core rulebook for Vampire the Masquerade.
If you go to Arthur Kilpatrik, use the computer and look up "Moore, C" his entry mentions Red Asphalt and Arcanum. Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is another game from Troika (also, it's awesome). And Chad Moore is a former developer who worked on both Arcanum and Bloodlines.
The vending machines in the game, all two kinds of them, are a yellow one with a giant 13 on it, and a purple one of Liquid DemonSeed. The 13 may be a reference to the World of Darkness - it has a minor prominence there - the 13 clans of vampires and the 13 tribes of werewolves (12 in the core book, and one tribe that left them). Or it could just be used because it's 13 - bad luck and all. Anyway, DemonSeed, however, is definitely a reference - it's the name of something of a bogeyman that stalks the Internet. The technological equivalent of the Bloody Mary - not the one that involves tomato juice, but the one with the mirrors.
Your neighbour that lives right across from the first haven is called Marianne Murietta. Might be a reference to the LA by Night book, since there was a Joaqin Murietta in there. It's very unlikely the two are related at all but still, it doesn't sound like a usual enough surname to be put there by accident.
Nines Rodrigez. Well, his name is interesting. And he uses guns. "Nines" is an Anarch game of sorts. It's like paintball but with live ammo, the name derives from "nine millimetre tag". Just an extra tidbid about Mr. Rodrigez.
The arcades on the Pier feature Pitfall arcade game and a Call of Duty pinball one. Both of these are Activision games, like Bloodlines.
The ghost hotel is reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining. Not totally, but there are some throwbacks.
Similarly, the Elizabeth Dane is reminiscent of the Dracula but even more. Whether it's intentional (in-universe) I don't know, but there is a derelict ship, with all the crew dead, and which carried the sarcophagus/coffin of a (likely) powerful vampire. Crew started disappearing slowly but steadily until only the captain remained. Definitely a reference there.
Brother Kanker - "kanker" is Dutch for "cancer". Rather fitting. OK, I could have seen that even beforehand but I didn't :/ Only relatively recently did I come across the Dutch thing.
Jezebel Locke - for a while now I thought there was some significance to the name - it didn't sound random enough, especially with brother Kanker there. And recently I finally looked it up...OK I stumbled upon it, really. Here is what I found "Jezebel - Hebrew biblical name of the evil wife of King Ahab, meaning impure, unexalted She was eaten by dogs as prophesied by Elijah."
If you go to the computer in Ground 0 and check on "Revolta, Jim", it says that the information is removed due to a request from the Church of Solicitology. It's a not-too-subtle jab at John Travolta and the Church of Scientology.
Romero at the cemetery. OK, this is a bit hard to be missed but still - for completeness: there is a guy called Romero who is dealing with the zombies. Unless you've lived under a rock for the past few decades, you'd recognise the reference to George Romero - the guy who basically kickstarted the whole shambling zombie apocalypse movie premise. Made funnier when you ask him why do zombies rise - he rattles off some explanations that were used in these movies (toxic waste, for example). Also, the fact that he's good with firearms suggests another reference - to John Romero, considered the father of the FPS genre.
About the horror tape quest: go here
http://ohinternet.com/Creepypasta/Mediocre
and then scroll to "Moonlight Films". Yes, really, really similar to the whole tape thing. I don't know which one was first - Bloodlines or the creepypasta (or something else that inspired the creepypasta), but it's kind of obvious one derives from the other.
Mitnick. It's not hard to find out about Kevin Mitnick - one of the most (in)famous hackers. Mitnick in the game is a homage to the RL one. As a side note: RL Mitnick is an interesting guy, go look him up. And you can get his books, if you wish - they are about social engineering and are a fun read, even for a non-technical people.
Imalia wants you to use the password "cleopatra" in her quest. It happens that "cleopatra" is a term for (mostly female) Nosferatu who were former beauties and were Embraced for their looks. Like Imalia.
One of the ads on the radio is for a new game called "Frankenstein: Breadlust" (somebody made it into a video ad: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/450741 =D). Now, although it's just humour, it happens that White Wolf made a vaguely similar RPG called Promethian: the Created, and yes, it features Frankenstein monsters, among others types. I'm guessing that it's just a coincidence, though.
The Tal'mahe'Ra blade is...interesting, to say the least. I'll try to make this as short as possible - the Sabbat do fight against the Antediluvians and to prevent Gehenna. The Tal'mahe'Ra are a secret group within the Sabbat that has the exact opposite goals - they want to help the Antes, hoping that they'll earn their right to unlive when they rise. There was an accident (let's call it that) and most were wiped out. The existence of this blade in the game has some interesting implications in this case - is there a double agent in the local Sabbat? Did Andrei sniff them out and destroy them? Is Andrei the double agent? Or is it merely a souvenir from after an agent of the Tal'mahe'Ra disappeared?
