Video Game

Video games were a popular form of entertainment on Earth Bet and Earth Aleph, and later Earth Gimel, as in real life.

Earth Bet

Popular video game franchises included many that exist in the real world, including Mario, Grant Theft Auto,<ref>Leet and Über glared at him.  Their entire schtick was a video game theme.  With every escapade, they picked a different video game or series, designing their costumes and crimes around it.  One day it would be Leet in a Mario costume throwing fireballs while Über was dressed up as Bowser, the two of them breaking into a mint to collect ‘coins'.  Then a week later, they would have a Grand Theft Auto theme, and they would be driving through the city in a souped up car, ripping off the ABB and beating up hookers. - Shell 4.5</ref> Bomberman,<ref>"Fuck me, the game their costumes were from… Bomberman?" - Shell 4.6</ref> Legend of Zelda,<ref>Glaring at us, he reached behind his back again and withdrew a sword.

"Link's sword?" Regent taunted him, "That's not even from the right game.  You're breaking theme." - Shell 4.6</ref> and possibly Portal.<ref>“This statement is false,” I told it.

“I’ll go with true. There, that was easy,” Azazel replied.

Damn. Wouldn’t be able to shut it down with paradox. Dragon apparently had a sense of humor. The reply sounded canned, a recitation. Or she had a liking for popular culture I wasn’t aware of. - Monarch 16.6

This is the same response given by Wheatley in Portal 2, so Taylor may be correct that Dragon was making a pop-culture reference. Portal 2 released in April 2011 in our world.</ref>

The Undersiders owned half a dozen video game consoles in their lair.<ref>Below the television set were a half dozen video game consoles, a DVD player and one or two machines I didn't recognize.  I supposed they might have a TiVo, though I'd never seen one.  Speakers larger than the TVs my dad and I had at home sat on either side of the whole setup. - Insinuation 2.7</ref>

Über and Leet's entire career was themed around "the noble and underrated art form that is video games".<ref>"Our mission is worth it," Leet raised his chin – inasmuch as he had one – a notch.

"Right," Tattletale said, "Spreading the word about the noble and underrated art form that is video games.  That's from your website, word for word.  People don't watch your show because they think you're righteous.  They watch because you're so lame it's funny."

Leet took a step forward, fists clenched, but Über called out, "She's provoking you." - Shell 4.6</ref>

Video Games About Parahumans

Many video games existed featuring superheroes. Some were sold in PRT gift shops.<ref>The building housing the local Parahuman Response Team division didn't really stand out. [...] Those entering the lobby would find [...] the gift shop that would be thick with youths when school ended, sporting a selection of action figures, posters, video games and clothing.  Four-foot tall pictures of the various Protectorate and Wards team members were placed at regular intervals around the lobby, each backed by bright colors. - Interlude 3</ref>

Some PRT trading cards, known as "swipe cards", could be swiped through a video game controller; allowing the player to summon the hero on the card or provide a "support" effect based on their powers. These cards featured both PRT heroes and PRT-affiliated teams such as New Wave. Panacea was a rare and popular support card that provided healing (even though it was less dramatic than her real power), Optics was another support card, while Glory Girl was a summonable helper who fought alongside the player.<ref>“I spent most of my childhood watching my mom balance the books, I did the events, the photoshoots, the merchandising as a PRT-acknowledged team. I have something of a sense of what you’re probably going for.”

“Ah, the merchandising. I think I have your PRT trading card from that time period in a binder in my office.”

I smiled. “Which one? I had one that was holographic, which you could swipe through the controller for the video game to have me as a polygon-rendered helper, and the higher quality one that had the bio on the back.” - Flare 2.1</ref><ref>“More old team stuff, see? I had an Optics trading card.”

“A swipe card,” I said.

“Yes! You know about swipe cards! That’s cool.”

“Can I?”

“Yes, for sure.”

She seemed happy, enthusiastic. The card was framed, but the frame was attached to the wall with a string, and it could be flipped around to show the back. The stats were on it, along with the ability. People who played on console would have the cards at hand, being able to swipe the card like one might a credit or debit card, summoning an ally or generating an effect.

“I was a support card. Not a lot of people used me because I couldn’t be summoned into a fight,” Kenzie said. “Kind of a bummer.”

Amy had been a support card for that game, I was pretty sure. The effect had been downplayed a lot, but her card had still been popular, because there weren’t that many heals. Most of what I knew had come from Dean, Chris, and Dennis talking. Gallant, Kid Win, and Clockblocker.

“I have one too,” I said. “Mine wasn’t anything special, despite my being popular-ish at the time.” - Torch 7.10</ref> Some video games re-released regularly with updated rosters and regional variations (similarly to sports-team games in real life). The game "Seasoned Heroes Northeast" was one of them, which prominently featured Armsmaster.<ref name=":0">“Cool. I can barely remember the times before my parents died, but I had some Armsmaster stuff. I had one of the video games, but I never got past the first level. I read about the bad guys in the manual and I was too scared to go fight them. I mostly just ran around as Armsmaster.”

I smiled. “Which one?”

“Seasoned Heroes Northeast.”

One of the games that was re-released every ‘season’, with slightly different content each time, with variations for every major region. I had never understood the appeal of a game like that, when they could have run it all online and patched it instead. Money and lots of kids willing to pay, I supposed. - From Within 16.7</ref>

Some games even featured the Endbringers.<ref>"Come on.  Give me a chance.  Let me know what it takes to get one night of your company.  Tell me to bring you a star in the palm of my hand, or slay a dreaded Endbringer, and I'll get it done."

"You'd just find some loophole and bring me a plastic star or kill an Endbringer in a video game, which would only give you an excuse to harass me further." - Interlude 12.5</ref> The "bad guys" described in the Seasoned Heroes Northeast manual scared Chicken Little too much as a young child to play past the first level.<ref name=":0" />

References

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