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Joysticks (1983) - Easter Eggs
Rory Joscelyne • Feb 03, 2024
VGMP: I am half the reference you think I am!
The first appearance of Jon Gries in a video game culture movie, and he would return in Noobz (2012) to steal yet another movie. Joysticks is an awful comedy movie, attempting to cash in on cheap teen humour of the time with a big dose of objectifying women. But to it's credit, it does showcase a lot of great arcade cabinets from 1983, and all in fantastic condition too!
These screengrabs are ripped from the limited-run Blu-Ray release of the movie, which represents the best this film has ever looked. However this was a relatively low budget feature of it's time, so don't expect prestine visuals.
ARCADE GAME FOOTAGE
Joysticks generally sticks to footage of the two challenge games (seen later in this blog) and the live action shenanigans of the movie. However there are a few insert shots of games being played, and the intro sequence is a montage of a young girl playing arcade games (in an arcade we never see again) and the footage of multiple games being played. The only game in this list that is not from the intro is the original Pac-Man footage.
Worth noting, the game Jungle King was released in 1982 but had to be recalled for a name change to Jungle Hunt, due to litigation suggesting the main character was too close to the character Tarzan. This game was also later re-released with a pirate theme as Pirate Pete, with only minor graphical changes.
- Pole Position (1982 - Namco) [There is a TV Series adapted from this game]
- Moon Patrol (1982 - Williams Electronics/Irem)
- Gorf (1981 - Midway)
- Naughty Boy (1982 - Jaleco)
- Ms Pac-Man (1982 - Namco/Midway)
- Defender II Stargate (1981 - Atari)
- Millipede (1982 - Atari)
- Pooyan (1982 - Konami)
- Scramble (1981 - Konami)
- Jungle King / Jungle Hunt (1982 - Atari/Taito)
- Frontline (1982 - Taito)
- Pac-Man (1980 - Namco/Midway)
INTRO ARCADE
As mentioned above, the intro sequence is filmed in a completely different arcade to the rest of the movie, with a young woman playing the games who is never seen again. It is possible this footage was recorded as a proof-of-concept to gain funding for the full feature, which is why it never connects to the main narrative, and only serves as an intro point.
Behind the woman playing we can see a Pac-Man pinball machine to camera left, a Centipede machine to far camera-right and a Ms Pac-Man standee mounted to the wall behind her. When she whips her hair back (which she seems to do more than actually play the game) a pink ghost is seen behind her head.
INTRO ARCADE CABINETS
In a shot from behind the girl, we see four arcade cabinets - including the on she is playing. The intro montages footage of her gaming with game footage, she's clearly shown in live action to be playing Solar Fox - but Solar Fox's gameplay never makes an appearance on-screen.
- Moon Patrol (1982 - Williams Electronics/Irem)
- Solar Fox (1981 - Midway)
- Burgertime (1982 - Data East)
- Galaga (1981 - Namco/Sega/Majesco)
MAIN ARCADE
Now we arrive in the main location of the film - the Joysticks Arcade. On the platform is Pac-Man, Deluxe Space Invaders and (off-camera right) Qix.
On the main floor, in the background, we can see Defender and LeMans just behind that. To the left is Night Driver (more visible later) and Zarzon largely obscured by audiences.
- Pac-Man (1980 - Namco/Midway)
- Deluxe Space Invaders (1979 - Taito)
- Qix (1981 - Taito)
- Defender (1981 - Atari)
- LeMans (1976 - Atari)
- Night Driver (1976 - Atari)
- Zarzon (1981 - Taito)
From another angle of the arcade, we see more machines. Battlezone to the far left, Wizard of Wor next to it. Then in the background we can see Bezerk, Defender (again) and Centipede. The machine to the right of Centipede is Night Driver, visible in the prior screengrab.
- Battlezone (1980 - Atari)
- Wizard of Wor (1980 - Midway)
- Berzerk (1980 - Atari)
- Defender (1981 - Atari)
- Centipede (1981 - Atari)
When King Vidiot first arrives in the arcade, we can see a few more arcade cabinets closer to the main camera position. Galaga is to the far bottom-left, with an arcade cabinet of Carnival next to it (with the red and white cabinet). Behind Carnival is a cabinet I don't fully recognise. The artwork is similar to Battlezone's but the cabinet is sloped on the top (Battlezone isn't).
- Battlezone (1980 - Atari)
- Wizard of Wor (1980 - Midway)
- Centipede (1981 - Atari)
- Night Driver (1976 - Atari)
- Zarzon (1981 - Taito)
- LeMans (1976 - Atari)
- Defender (1981 - Atari)
- Pac-Man (1980 - Namco/Midway)
- Deluxe Space Invaders (1979 - Taito)
- Galaga (1981 - Namco/Sega)
- Carnival (1980 - Sega)
An additional part of the arcade (not truly sure where this is in relation to the rest of it) with three additional arcade games. Gorf will play an integral part to the end of the story by convincing the Mayor to allow the arcade to remain open. Space Dungeon is the only one which never sees any screentime in the movie.
- Ms Pac-Man (1981 - Namco/Atari/Midway)
- Space Dungeon (1981 - Taito)
- Gorf (1981 - Midway)
During the theft of the arcade machines, we get to see a game that never otherwise gets seen in the movie - Hustle. This was a 1977 arcade game by Gremlin Industries (Later Sega/Gremlin) and it is essentially the first ever version of the game Snake. Sadly we never get to see it in use.
- Defender (1981 - Atari)
- Hustle (1977 - Sega/Gremlin)
There is a section of the Arcade that is only ever shown twice, and includes a completely different array of arcade cabinets to the rest of the location. Sadly, most of these are obscured, with the only one that shows up clearly being StarCastle (the second from the left). It's possible the tallest cabinet to the camera-right is Battlezone, which would place these easily into the arcade. I was able to recognise Tempest and Missile Command from their cabinet decals.
- Tempest (1981 - Atari)
- StarCastle (1980 - Cinematronics)
- Missile Command (1980 - Atari)
- Battlezone (1981 - Atari)
The final shot of arcade machines is this flashback of the main character sleeping with his ex-girlfriend (nudity censored for obvious reasons). In the background of the shots you can see Pac-Man, Deluxe Space Invaders and Qix - a rare full shot of Qix's cabinet.
- Pac-Man (1980 - Namco/Midway)
- Deluxe Space Invaders (1979 - Taito)
- Qix (1981 - Taito)
CLOSE UPS OF ARCADES
Just for additional fun, in some distance shots there are various arcades that are hard to make out, but are given close-ups to help us identify them. This is a small selection of photos to showcase the remaining arcades we see.
- Defender (1981 - Atari)
- Centipede (1981 - Atari)
- Night Driver (1976 - Atari)
- Zarzon (1981 - Taito)
- Super Speed Race V (1978 - Taito)
- LeMans (1976 - Atari)
- Qix (1981 - Taito)
PAC-MAN SCENE TRANSITIONS
An interesting, but seldom used, scene transition occurs about 3 times in the movie. Pac-Man goes across the screen to wipe from one scene to another. There seems to be little rhyme of reason behind the transitions chosen, but it's a cool additional nonetheless.
AMERICANA ARCADE CABINET
An oddity in the movie, as I can't find evidence of this arcade cabinet existing. Americana is shown in action during the film - the main character uses it to strip girls he brings back to his bedroom (again, not a classy movie at all). It was impossible to snap a good shot of the cabinet that didn't also include nudity, but this is essentially a half-sized arcade unit, complete with unique decals. The gameplay itself appears to be a Pac-Man clone, however no such arcade seems to exist online. A 1958 physical arcade game shows up, but not this one.
Does anyone know if this cabinet was real, or was it invented for the movie?
SPRITE WALL ARTWORK
While a common feature on Etsy now, in 1983 having wallart in the style of pixels was not common. The Joysticks arcade appears to include several, including a Pac-Man one. These are just small background details, but definitely an interesting addition.
PAC-MAN - COLECO TABLETOP
The main character has to train for the finale battle using this portable copy of Pac-Man. It is seen in his bedroom, and briefly in this Mayor "court-room" scene. It is not used here, so it is an odd inclusion, but is used later.
SATAN'S HOLLOW
The filmmakers asked Midway for an as-yet unreleased Arcade game to showcase in this film. They were given Satan's Hollow. This is used in the first competition between King Vidiot and the grossout character of McDorfus. Unfortunately, by the time released in 1983, Satan's Hollow had already been released in 1982.
- Satan's Hollow (1982 - Midway)
SUPER PAC-MAN
The final battle between King Vidiot and main character Jeff is on Super Pac-Man, an update to the classic Pac-Man formula with locked doorways, keys and scaling of Pac-Man's sprite between different sizes. Here's a few stills of that game in action.
- Super Pac-Man (1982 - Namco)
And that's everything I caught in Joysticks!
What do you think of these? Did you spot these when you watched the movie?
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