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Video Game Earth Force (2006) - Easter Eggs
Rory Joscelyne • Feb 01, 2024
VGMP: They're references from the olden days.
The Controller / Video Game Earth Force, is a terrible film from 2006 with graphics that make the PS1 look like Advent Children.
Starring Bob Rue as William Fence, this film has become infamous within VGMP as it is the film that nearly caused Jamie to leave the show.
XBOX CONTROLLER
This movie is akin to Gamebox 1.0 and the later Noobz in that it has Microsoft support, so it is chock-full of Xbox references. The irony being that the Xbox 360 was already out by 2006, making all the game footage obsolete before the movie came out. As you can see above, the actor is using an original Xbox Controller S rather than anything Xbox 360 related.
XBOX HEADSET
The original Xbox headset is shown throughout the movie.
XBOX CONSOLE and FAKE XBOX GAME
While the game is fake, the boxart design is akin to authentic games of the period, and the original Xbox is on show underneath the TV.
KNARF37's BASEMENT
There are several non-gaming related media in the basement, including;
- Jay and Silent Bob figurines on the table.
- Buzz Lightyear figurine
- Yoda figurine
- Transformers Figurines, in box, below the TV.
ULTIMATE GAMER CHAIR
Never heard of this brand before, but with how low effort everything else is in this movie, I don't believe it's a made-up brand. However it doesn't seem to be going anymore, and it's hard to find any information on it as the brand name is so generic that it just brings up more contemporary gaming chairs.
KNARF'S DRINKS MACHINE
Okay, not necessarily gaming related. But, like Noobz (2012) this movie has managed a promo deal with PepsiCo and their Mountain Dew range of drinks. How are these low budget movies always securing this stuff with big brands?
SOUTH PARK PLUSHIES
A variety of late 90's South Park plushies from Seasons 1 and 2 are visible in a few shots of Knarf37's basement. Not gaming related per se, but an interesting inclusion.
XBOX 360 WEBSITE
As stated, the film constantly shows off original Xbox hardware despite being released in 2006. The Xbox 360 was released in the US in November 2005. The only reference to this comes from an over-the-shoulder view of the official Xbox 360 website of the era in this one scene. Because all of the "main cast" were filmed in separate locations, it is possible there was a large span of time between recorded sequences. This would make the Athena scenes among the last to be filmed.
And that's everything I caught in the Controller / Video Game Earth Force! As a final good gesture, check out Bob Rue's awful socks in the screengrab below.
What do you think of these? Did you spot these when you watched the movie? Do you own any socks worse than these? Join our Discord on the link below and let us know!
We look into all the Easter Eggs in the Paramount+ series of Knuckles (2024)
Also known as Sonic the Movie, the Japanese OVA was actually a run at a possible series that never materialised, instead leaving us with two episodes hastily stitched into a "feature". And boy, did they push taste and decency for some of this. Other than Robotnik chasing underage skirt, it's largely inoffensive. But unfortunately that story angle wound up kick-starting a long running VGMP joke of Sonic adaptations having to reference breast milk (which the 2020 Sonic movie also references).
I love The Wizard. It's so bad. The first major disagreement between Rory and Jamie in VGMP, Rory fully recommended The Wizard as a movie, whereas Jamie fully rejected it. It's not hard to see why this movie caused such a rift of opinion - it genuinely tries to be a deeper and emotional story, but it's still a Nintendo marketing product (and an out of date one, at that). One thing The Wizard does have, is a lot of videogame references.
The House of the Dead movie brings together two major events in film. It's the first foray by Uwe Boll into video game adaptations - the start of a terrible career. And it was the last ever movie to use the turn-table technique for 360 degree shots, as it was too dangerous to keep using - much like allowing Uwe Boll to have a film career. This film doesn't have many proper references, instead lazily throwing in random micro-shorts from the first three House of the Dead games (in no particular order, for some reason).
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.
Tron is an undisputed 1982 classic that had a major impact on 80's culture and gaming aesthetics as a whole. And yet, when we reviewed it, it turns out the movie itself is a big bag of style over substance. The main videogame the movie revolves around is Space Paranoids, and it is not a real game. Several videogames were later made of Tron, but none of those appear in this movie.
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.
Noobz is an attempt to create an edgy comedy akin to Adam Sandler in his prime. Sadly it lacks the comedic timing, the writing and the production values to pull off such a feat. In the screenshot above you can see the pathetic attempt to add sex appeal to a movie by hastily taking a pair of scissors to the poor actress' tanktop. It's not even a clean line! Released for a limited blu-ray run in Germany (of all places), Noobz still somehow manages to pack in references from (and sponsorship by) the following video game (and video game related) companies; CBS Interactive Microsoft Corporation Epic Games Inc Triforce Sales LLC Apple Inc GAEMS CompuExpert Game Informer Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc Play N Trade Majesco Entertainment Company Square Enix Penny Arcade Lucasfilm Ltd Digital Interactive Systems Corp. Konami Midway Mortal Kombat Warner Bros Entertainment Inc Final Fantasy Tomb Raider Let's go through all the references shown visually in Noobz!
Before Adam Sandler got his pizza-cheese encrusted fingers on the property, PIXELS existed as an experimental French independent film. While set in Manhattan, this movie stars some very European-centric videogame references. For those who wish to watch the short, you can do so for free here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB7iK-BZ7iM&pp=ygULcGl4ZWxzIDIwMTA%3D
You'll be hooked on the brothers! UH! Super Mario Bros 93 was the first major Hollywood production based on a single existing game franchise, and it gained a reputation that tainted video game adaptations for the next 30 years! Many negatives thrown at the film were the tech-noir aesthetic, adapting the cutesy games into such a hardened sci-fi (and even not sticking the landing with that) and - largely - the lack of game references the film includes. Many took the film at face value and failed to notice just how SMB 93 is dripping in references to the Mario franchise. So join us on a journey, as we showcase all the confirmed connections to the game series. If you want to see more connections, you can visit the official fansite for the movie here; https://www.smbmovie.com/SMBArchive/specials/references.htm
