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Gamebox 1.0 (2004) - Easter Eggs
Rory Joscelyne • Feb 01, 2024
VGMP: Cops don't even stop for references 'round here.
Gamebox 1.0 is an odd 2004 movie starring the guy who played Harvey in Sabrina the Teenage Witch. You could technically call it a dramatic horror, if any of it was dramatic or a horror. As you can see from the shot above, the details were so vital to this film that there's a guy at "work" just staring at a blank screen.
Regardless of the low budget nature of the film, there are still a surprising number of references hidden in this movie.
XBOX CONTROLLER & GAMES
Like a strange homage to the TV Series "24", which started in 2001, the intro of the film does this 4-way split of gaming and intro credits.
We'll go into the games a bit more later, but the top right of the screen first showcases footage from the original Halo game, then Riddle of the Sphinx, while Test Drive plays in the bottom right. All of these are original Xbox games - with an OG Xbox Controller S shown in the top left.
MIDTOWN MADNESS 3, NFL FEVER 2003, RALLISPORT CHALLENGE
Advertising Posters for Xbox games;
- A poster is seen in a young man's bedroom at the start of the movie, advertising Midtown Madness 3. This poster is seen at other times of the movie, and it is never particularly clear. However comparing it to the original boxart makes it clear that it is this title.
- We also see that he has a poster for NFL Fever 2003 - a popular American Football game of the time.
- On his bedside is the box and manual for Rallisport Challenge on the original Xbox.
LIVING ROOM REFERENCES
There's quite a lot of gaming references visible in the main character's flat. They're littered around and obscured by other items such as VHS tapes and picture frames, but each picture includes the following;
- As he sits playing an OG Xbox with an XBox Controller S, we can see a box for an OG Xbox to the right of the screen, and an unknown Xbox game atop the TV.
- From behind him, we can see a slimline Playstation One console, the boxart for Test Drive (Platinum Hits version) under and Xbox controller and another unknown Xbox game under the PS1 controller.
- There's a poster on his front door that says High Speed Gaming Arena and shows what appears to be American Football players armed with lightsabers. I do not know what game this could be.
- Finally, as we look from a top-down view from the TV we can see a large sized PC Box for a LucasArts game.
BRUTE FORCE and UNKNOWN PAUSE SCREEN
Gamebox 1.0 frequently showcases a pause screen across multiple games the main character is shown to be playing. I have tried for a long while, as I feel I recognise it, but cannot seem to find a match. Any ideas?
There's also a poster in his room for Brute Force of the OG Xbox.
HALO POSTER
A poster for the original Halo is seen on the wall of the main character's workplace (on the right). This looks like a special render, not often used in promotional art of the era.
CONCEPT ART
The main character is shown to work for a video game company, and there's loads of concept art strewn across the kitchen. These are all quite high quality and in various different styles, which would suggest they are legitimate concept art from different games. Can you guys recognise any?
XBOX NEON SIGN, CONTROLLERS
In his workplace, we can see an array of TVs (usually playing original Halo, and other video clips that are repeated throughout the movie). There are multiple posters here, including repeats of the Midtown Madness 3 poster, NFL Fever 2003 and also a new one for Blinx. There are also Playstation and Xbox controllers visible in these shots.
SNOWBOARDING AND ATARI
Behind this guy is a screen that appears to show a snowboarding game? Below that TV are two stacks of Atari 2600 games. I can't make all of them out but the ones I can discern are;
- Asteroids
- Sea Battle
- Horse Racing
- NFL Football
STAR WARS - REBEL ASSAULT
A stack of PC games are on this desk, including a copy of Star Wars Rebel Assault. There's several Star Wars games in the pile, but most are hard to make out.
SHADOWDOME WARRIOR
The top right corner of this shot includes the title on a poster for Shadowdome Warrior. I looked up this game online but could find no evidence of it. Is this a game that was cancelled? It could be invented for the movie, but considering everything else is legitimate, it seems unlikely.
GAMEBOY ADVANCE SP and MARIO KART SP
The main character is seen playing Mario Kart on a Gameboy Advance SP at the diner. This is the only time Nintendo products make an appearance in this movie.
HALO MULTIPLAYER
The time before Halo had online gaming, the original Halo had a split-screen multiplayer mode. It was also a little unfair in 3 player, as Player 1 would have twice the screen width to play in.
MEGA DRIVE / GENESIS CONTROLLER
Only visible in this shot, a Mega Drive controller is on the top shelf of this metal racking. This is an oddity as there is no other Sega paraphanlia in the entire movie.
BOSS' OFFICE
Across this boss' office includes a book on PGA Golf, a copy of PC Gamer on his desk (by his laptop) and what appears to be Tekken artwork on the unit by the door. As the camera moves around, an Xbox Controller S is still in it's blister packaging near the PGA Golf. Then behind the boss, we can see the legs of a large scale Halo standee.
BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
Among the artworks in the Boss' office includes an image from the Ubisoft title Beyond Good and Evil in the bottom left. We also get a closer look at the Brute Force poster above.
RAINBOW SIX 3
A poster for Rainbow Six 3 is visible in the work kitchen late into the movie.
MEGAMAN X2, METROID and MORE
The kitchen has a lot of artwork from various games, including Megaman X2 behind the main character's head, and Samus from Metroid Prime to the right. There are also other character artworks to the left and above Megaman X2 which I was unable to identify.
TEST DRIVE
Because I'm insane, I got frustrated at not being able to identify the driving game on the Xbox - considering there were so few. Eventually I was able to get a close approximation in Test Drive, but the image stretching and cut off of information still made it difficult. I took a screengrab and used Photoshop to match the discolouration with the clip from the movie.
And that's everything I caught in Gamebox 1.0!
What do you think of these? Did you spot these when you watched the movie? Are you a fan of the movie? Join our Discord on the link below and let us know!
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