# Inside jokes you'd like to see in video games **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496 "2006-02-08T03:08:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/1 "2006-02-08T03:08:10Z")
I’m playing my copy of Gran Turismo 3 on my PS2, currently driving the DeLorean DMC-12, and it got me thinking of little inside jokes i’d love to see in this game… things like going into the tune shop for the DMC and seeing under “Other”; Flux Capacitor Mr. Fusion Home Energy System Nuclear Reactor with cooling vents Time Circuitry HoverConversion for the Dodge Charger; a special Hemi Orange paintjob with a big “01” on the side, a General Lee flag on the roof, custom “General” rims, and a horn that plays the first few notes of Dixie Dodge Viper; add in weaponry and transformation circuitry Pontiac; add in a Trans Am in the “Classics”, add “Bowling Ball” hubcaps and in “Other” have a red scanner that moves back and forth, and “snooty, smartass AI voice” Volkswagen; a paintjob for the Beetle , white with a racing stripe and a “53” Lotus; Esprit Turbo; all the toys “Q” developed for it Aston Martin; Vanquish; same as above what inside jokes would you like to see in video games? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/2 "2006-02-08T12:36:58Z")
I think this is a better fit for Cafe Society. I’ll move it for you. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/3 "2006-02-08T15:58:54Z")
I’d like to see a console RPG poke fun at their own cliches. Like have a character get killed in a cutscene, then someone uses a life potion to bring them back. Or have a character get shot in a cutscene but not killed, just a little damage number pops up. Basically anything from RPG world in an actual RPG. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/4 "2006-02-08T17:34:45Z")
> [@c\_goat](#): > > I’d like to see a console RPG poke fun at their own cliches. Like have a character get killed in a cutscene, then someone uses a life potion to bring them back. Or have a character get shot in a cutscene but not killed, just a little damage number pops up. Basically anything from RPG world in an actual RPG. I hear ya! One of my favorite running gags in RPGs was the old yarn, “You know there are sure a lot more monsters out in the countryside lately…” They should tie this into a side plot. Like you do a side quest and find out the townspeople were poaching and wrecking the food chain in their area. Another thing that would be hilarious would be a house in town- not EVERY house, just one. If you go in, the inhabitants express legitimate shock, then a family member runs off to tell the guards, and you wind up spending a couple nights in the pokey for burglary 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/5 "2006-02-08T17:46:05Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > I hear ya! One of my favorite running gags in RPGs was the old yarn, “You know there are sure a lot more monsters out in the countryside lately…” They should tie this into a side plot. Like you do a side quest and find out the townspeople were poaching and wrecking the food chain in their area. > > Another thing that would be hilarious would be a house in town- not EVERY house, just one. If you go in, the inhabitants express legitimate shock, then a family member runs off to tell the guards, and you wind up spending a couple nights in the pokey for burglary 😃 All of these things are present in the recent version of **The Bard’s Tale** for PS2 and X-box. It’s one of the things that really made me like the game - besides being permeated with a Monty Python-esque sense of humor, the game spends quite a bit of time making fun of RPG cliches. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/6 "2006-02-08T18:26:21Z")
I’d like to see a game where, after you take control of the character in the opening level, you realize that the controls are Resident Evil style. Then, as soon as you leave the room you started in, the character says “Waaaait a minute…”, and the game switches to a cutscene where the character goes to the airport, travels to Capcom headquarters, finds the guy responsible for making Resident Evil style controls, beats him about the head and shoulders with a hockey stick, lights him on fire, throws him out a 10th story window, flies back to the town he started in, and says “There we go.” The game then resumes with a control scheme a human player can actually potentially use. Whaddaya mean it’s not an inside joke? Regardless, I’d still like to see it… ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/7 "2006-02-08T18:40:14Z")
Speaking of which, I’ve been playing through the latest Splinter Cell game and at one point you have to open up a missile case. \
“Should I get a crowbar?” \ “Crowbars are for geeks. Go hack the computer.” ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/8 "2006-02-08T18:45:08Z")
> [@c\_goat](#): > > I’d like to see a console RPG poke fun at their own cliches. Like have a character get killed in a cutscene, then someone uses a life potion to bring them back. Or have a character get shot in a cutscene but not killed, just a little damage number pops up. Basically anything from RPG world in an actual RPG. I think they _might_ have had some of this stuff in the original Super Mario RPG. But they might not have, I don’t remember too well. Earthbound had some jokes about breaking the fourth wall, like “The screen-- oops, I mean the world around you, will turn green” ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/9 "2006-02-08T18:53:40Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > All of these things are present in the recent version of **The Bard’s Tale** for PS2 and X-box. It’s one of the things that really made me like the game - besides being permeated with a Monty Python-esque sense of humor, the game spends quite a bit of time making fun of RPG cliches. Bards Tale is an awesome game, I was laughing so hard playing that I nearly cried. The dialogue between the bard and the narrator was just great, as was the constant poking fun at RPG cliches. Russell ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/10 "2006-02-08T18:58:14Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Another thing that would be hilarious would be a house in town- not EVERY house, just one. If you go in, the inhabitants express legitimate shock, then a family member runs off to tell the guards, and you wind up spending a couple nights in the pokey for burglary 😃 This happened in Baldur’s Gate for the PC. Some inhabitants would attack you, others would run away and return with guards. You could prevent this by killing them before they ran away. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/11 "2006-02-08T19:00:27Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > This happened in Baldur’s Gate for the PC. Some inhabitants would attack you, others would run away and return with guards. You could prevent this by killing them before they ran away. Just like real life! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/12 "2006-02-08T19:02:01Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > This happened in Baldur’s Gate for the PC. Some inhabitants would attack you, others would run away and return with guards. You could prevent this by killing them before they ran away. Baldur’s Gate (and other D&D games) are pretty good with this stuff. There’s somebody who, when you click on him, says “Hey, don’t click on me, pal. I don’t want to get involved.” Another one will occasionally say “stop _clicking_ on me!!!” In Neverwinter Nights, occasionally Deeking will say “Why we always run everywhere? Everywhere we go, run, run, run…” I’d like to see, in Morrowind, when you finally get to the volcano at the middle of the map, if you drop a ring of invisibility in, you get a big prize… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/13 "2006-02-08T20:50:29Z")
I know this isn’t quite what you mean, but I’m playing Call of Duty 2 right now, and I noticed that sometimes the other soldiers say funny things, such as: “I have a bad feelnig about this.” And, “There’s too many of them.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/14 "2006-02-08T22:20:47Z")
In Final Fantasy VII there’s a part where Cloud can play his theme song (the overworld song) on a piano. Afterwards he thinks to himself, “I swear I’ve heard that song before…” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/15 "2006-02-08T22:54:45Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Baldur’s Gate (and other D&D games) are pretty good with this stuff. There’s somebody who, when you click on him, says “Hey, don’t click on me, pal. I don’t want to get involved.” > > Another one will occasionally say "stop _clicking_ on me!!! Let’s not forget in BG2 where you farm out a mission to a bunch of low-level morons. When they return, they try to attack you and get slaughtered…and then **they** reload and simply deliver the item to you. ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/16 "2006-02-08T23:07:47Z")
In Dragon Quest 8 for the PS2, there’s a book in the first town that contains advice something like “There are treasure chests scattered throughout the countryside. Who put them there and why? Who cares. Just open them up to find treasure.” ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/17 "2006-02-08T23:09:45Z")
There’s always the one in the old text-adventure _Planetfall_ where, when you save your game, your sidekick says “Are we going to try something dangerous now?” ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/18 "2006-02-09T02:10:52Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > for the Dodge Charger; > a special Hemi Orange paintjob with a big “01” on the side, a General Lee flag on the roof, custom “General” rims, and a horn that plays the first few notes of Dixie Given the current political climate for video games with questionable content, I’m sure their legal department is glad not to have that particular mod. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/19 "2006-02-09T03:25:01Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I’m playing my copy of Gran Turismo 3 on my PS2, currently driving the DeLorean DMC-12, and it got me thinking of little inside jokes i’d love to see in this game… > > things like going into the tune shop for the DMC and seeing under “Other”; > Flux Capacitor > Mr. Fusion Home Energy System > Nuclear Reactor with cooling vents > Time Circuitry > HoverConversion > > for the Dodge Charger; > a special Hemi Orange paintjob with a big “01” on the side, a General Lee flag on the roof, custom “General” rims, and a horn that plays the first few notes of Dixie > > Dodge Viper; add in weaponry and transformation circuitry > > Pontiac; > add in a Trans Am in the “Classics”, add “Bowling Ball” hubcaps and in “Other” have a red scanner that moves back and forth, and “snooty, smartass AI voice” > > Volkswagen; > a paintjob for the Beetle , white with a racing stripe and a “53” > > Lotus; > Esprit Turbo; all the toys “Q” developed for it > Aston Martin; > Vanquish; same as above > > what inside jokes would you like to see in video games? How about a semi that transforms into Optimus Prime? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496/20 "2006-02-09T07:14:26Z")
> [@c\_goat](#): > > I’d like to see a console RPG poke fun at their own cliches. I swear I remember one where the wise old man gives the hero the standard speech about his great destiny and how he alone can save the world, pauses . . . then says “Had you going there, didn’t I ?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-youd-like-to-see-in-video-games/343496.md?page=2)