What computer games feature the offices of the game developer inside the game?
July 31, 2009 1:48 PM Subscribe
What computer games feature the offices of the game developer inside the game?
I'm assembling a list of games that, as part of the game, actually feature the game developer's offices inside the game. The two examples I can think of are:
* Roadwar 2000 - You get a bunch of buffs if you visit SSI headquarters in San Jose.
* Fallout 3 - Bethesda Ruins are the former offices of Bethesda Softworks (though I don't know if they're actually based in Washington, DC)
What others can you think of?
I'm assembling a list of games that, as part of the game, actually feature the game developer's offices inside the game. The two examples I can think of are:
* Roadwar 2000 - You get a bunch of buffs if you visit SSI headquarters in San Jose.
* Fallout 3 - Bethesda Ruins are the former offices of Bethesda Softworks (though I don't know if they're actually based in Washington, DC)
What others can you think of?
How about Postal 2.
It featured the offices of the game creators. I think the player character was even supposed to work there.
posted by Iax at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2009
It featured the offices of the game creators. I think the player character was even supposed to work there.
posted by Iax at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2009
The Developer's Office is an easter egg is Final Fantasy IV.
posted by Hargrimm at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by Hargrimm at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2009
* Fallout 3 - Bethesda Ruins are the former offices of Bethesda Softworks (though I don't know if they're actually based in Washington, DC)
They're based in Bethesda, which is a suburb(? or neighborhood?) of DC.
I seem to recall that in Spider-Man 2, there's a building with a Treyarch sign that is, presumably, their fictional headquarters. I really doubt they actually own a skyscraper, though.
posted by Netzapper at 1:56 PM on July 31, 2009
They're based in Bethesda, which is a suburb(? or neighborhood?) of DC.
I seem to recall that in Spider-Man 2, there's a building with a Treyarch sign that is, presumably, their fictional headquarters. I really doubt they actually own a skyscraper, though.
posted by Netzapper at 1:56 PM on July 31, 2009
I can't remember the name of it. Late 1980's or early 1990's there was a strange video-based adventure game for PC and Mac, using Quicktime technology, about a human soldier on an alien planet. He and all his squad mates had to wear special pressure suits because the enemy would take over their minds without them. He loses his pressure suit, and finds out that the suit was actually creating illusions for him. The planet, and the people, are not what he thinks. With the suit he thinks he's fighting against insects. Without it, he discovers that they look like humans, and the planet is a lot more lush and green than he had thought.
Most of the characters in it were real people filmed in front of green-screen, matted into rendered backgrounds.
The was particularly strange because at the beginning there's a kind of montage of different images, and if you clicked on that montage at different points, there were alternative parallel stories that got told, entirely different. One of them featured a count down on the suit's self-destruct. In one of them it turned out the original story about the aliens was really true after all; they really were insects and the planet really was a wasteland. In one of them the protagonist was on earth and had been in a car wreck. In one he was confined to an insane asylum. And one of those stories was about the developers of the game.
The game is semi-famous because it features one human actress (on film) wearing angel wings. She was one of the aliens. I remember that one of the game review magazines at the time awarded her a prize that year because of her performance, even though the game itself was generally considered to be trash.
I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I don't have a clue now.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
Most of the characters in it were real people filmed in front of green-screen, matted into rendered backgrounds.
The was particularly strange because at the beginning there's a kind of montage of different images, and if you clicked on that montage at different points, there were alternative parallel stories that got told, entirely different. One of them featured a count down on the suit's self-destruct. In one of them it turned out the original story about the aliens was really true after all; they really were insects and the planet really was a wasteland. In one of them the protagonist was on earth and had been in a car wreck. In one he was confined to an insane asylum. And one of those stories was about the developers of the game.
The game is semi-famous because it features one human actress (on film) wearing angel wings. She was one of the aliens. I remember that one of the game review magazines at the time awarded her a prize that year because of her performance, even though the game itself was generally considered to be trash.
I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I don't have a clue now.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
At the end of Space Quest III you go through a black hole and end up at Sierra's headquarters. You only see the outside of the building and the parking lot, though.
posted by jedicus at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by jedicus at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009
NBA Jam (for PS2 at least) had an unlockable court on the roof of the game developer (Acclaim)'s building in Austin.
posted by indiebass at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by indiebass at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2009
In Postal 2, one of the missions (IIRC) is for your character to pick up his last paycheck at the game developers' offices. While you're there, protesters violently assault the place and you have to help the devs fight them off.
posted by neckro23 at 2:05 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by neckro23 at 2:05 PM on July 31, 2009
I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I don't have a clue now.
Sounds like one of the Journeyman Project games.
posted by trevyn at 2:10 PM on July 31, 2009
Sounds like one of the Journeyman Project games.
posted by trevyn at 2:10 PM on July 31, 2009
Sacred 2 has a well-hidden side quest in which you find the developers' offices, and then have to talk to around a hundred NPCs (named after the developers) all around the world to convince them to get back to work on the sequel.
posted by robt at 2:12 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by robt at 2:12 PM on July 31, 2009
Secret of Monkey Island 2 has a bit where you can call the LucasArts hint line within the game; the phone conversation is shown as a split screen with the hint line operator sitting in the LucasArts office on one side.
posted by phoenixy at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by phoenixy at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
In the original Pokemon, one of the cities had Game Freak studios as an explorable building.
posted by hellojed at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by hellojed at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
Max Payne features an easter egg that is somewhat related.
posted by googly at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by googly at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2009
Saints Row 2 has the empty volition offices, and an SNES RPG, terranigma, has the offices of quintet in neotokyo.
posted by Teira at 2:45 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by Teira at 2:45 PM on July 31, 2009
SimCity 3000 had the Maxis headquarters in Walnut Creek, California as one of the "landmark" buildings you could place. I believe it was called "California Plaza" in-game.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:17 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by Rhaomi at 3:17 PM on July 31, 2009
Sounds like one of the Journeyman Project games.
I think that's correct.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:56 PM on July 31, 2009
I think that's correct.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:56 PM on July 31, 2009
The soon-to-be-released game Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, is offering as a pre-order bonus from GameStop a special level that resembles the Insomniac Games' office layout. So not in the game proper, and may not be an exact replica, but seems close enough for your question.
posted by EatenByAGrue at 4:14 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by EatenByAGrue at 4:14 PM on July 31, 2009
Leisure Suit Larry III.
posted by Kirklander at 4:23 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by Kirklander at 4:23 PM on July 31, 2009
City of Villains had an empty dev office buried deep under Grandville. I can't remember whether or not it was removed after the IP sale to NCSoft, though.
posted by Yoshi Ayarane at 4:58 PM on July 31, 2009
posted by Yoshi Ayarane at 4:58 PM on July 31, 2009
it was long long ago but i seem to remember one of the Doom levels being a cubicle farm and that one of the offices had the severed head of one of the developers stuck on a pike
can't remember whether it was part of the original game or a wad...
posted by jammy at 5:27 AM on August 1, 2009
can't remember whether it was part of the original game or a wad...
posted by jammy at 5:27 AM on August 1, 2009
It's probably too loose a connection for your uses, but Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (GBA) has a level located in Troy, NY, a city right next to Vicarious Vision's location.
posted by miragliuolo at 9:04 AM on August 1, 2009
posted by miragliuolo at 9:04 AM on August 1, 2009
Also a little further afield, one of the Vegas crime bosses in the seminal game Wasteland was named Faran Brygo, a barely-disguised anagram of Bryan Fargo, one of the game's developers.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:58 AM on August 1, 2009
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:58 AM on August 1, 2009
This may or may not help you, but I worked at Ubisoft Montreal about a decade ago, and in a promo screenshot for Splinter Cell Conviction, I recognized the loft-style offices in them, and the familiar Montreal "skyline" of Mile-End (the neighbourhood they reside in) rooftops. Keep in mind, though, that this is a screenshot released a couple of years ago, before Ubisoft went dark about the project and re-imagined it. I don't know if the Ubi offices made the migration to the new version of the game.
posted by Sully at 2:09 PM on August 1, 2009
posted by Sully at 2:09 PM on August 1, 2009
Insomniac Games "Insomniac Museum" was featured in both Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando and Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal.
posted by Rangeboy at 4:16 AM on August 2, 2009
posted by Rangeboy at 4:16 AM on August 2, 2009
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posted by restless_nomad at 1:49 PM on July 31, 2009