Rockstar and The Number 69
If you’re a big fan of all things Grand Theft Auto, then you will notice many running gags over the years. Yet, did you know that the number 69 has been a recurring number throughout the series?
You can see this number in games such as Grand Theft Auto III, where there is a play being advertised everywhere called “69th street.” You can find more examples in Vice City where you’ll see the number as badges on Bloodring Bangers, cars used for demolition derbies. Players might find this reference aplenty in San Andreas where the military base in Bone County is called Area 69, or with the professional football team, the San Fierro 69ers. This tradition has continued all the way up to GTA 5 where players can find a store called, “Sessanta Nove,” on Portola Drive. The name of the store is Italian for 69 and is just one of the many ways that Rockstar hides this references in their games.
The Rare Cow
Think back to your childhood and how much you might have loved cows. Ever wonder why that happened? It could be because you love nature for what it is and how cows are important to our society. Or the development team over at Rare has put cows in all your childhood games and you have been taught to associate good memories with them.
That’s right ladies, gents, and everyone in between, you can see the first cow in Conker’s Pocket Tales. The lovely mammal goes on to appear in many other games made by Rare, crossing platforms from the Game Boy Color to the Game Boy Advance. Sometimes the cow would make a physical appearance in the games or just be a drawing on the walls. To find it in Conker’s Pocket Tales, you would need to get through Vulture Ville, and then head towards the town cemetery. Travel off the path and you’ll find a secret path that loops around the cemetery and to a sandy area with two cows.
While Banjo and Kazooie fans have had an easier time finding the cow, since all they have to do is make it to the fourth world and head over to the beach, Donkey Kong fans don’t get off so easy. In order to find the cow in that game you would have to have found the bonus barrel in Slip Slide Ride, which was also hidden. Once the the barrel had been located, players could find the cow behind a course of suspended ropes.
Lego Disco Party
You could be battling off evil forces, saving the world or even the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have time to party.
You’ll find plenty of parties across the LEGO game, starting up from Mordor and traveling to outer space. Some of the parties are easily found rewards to the players, such as in Marvel Super Heroes, where completing all 15 story mode levels will unlock the party at Stark Tower. Then there are instances like Star Wars Episode 2, where the party comes along with an achievement called Disco King, which requires you find three broken discos and fix them.
Blizzard Really Likes Cows Too
Just like all good cake, the cow level is a lie. Or at least, it started as one.
When the original Diablo came out, there were rumors that you could get access to a special level by clicking on a cow. The cow would open a portal and give you access to a special cow level. Turns out Diablo had no cow level, but fans have since tried to find a secret bovine level of some sort in every Blizzard game.
Blizzard eventually responded to the efforts with, “There is no cow level.” Yet, there would be hidden references in their games still. Their statement turned up as a cheat code in StarCraft, and in Call of Duty along with the sequel, you can enable cheats by accessing the command console and changing ‘ThereisaCow‘ into 1337.
There was eventually an official cow level in Diablo 3 known as the Moo Moo Farm, which required players beat the game and then use certain items to create a portal to this level.
Lucasarts and the Chainsaw Mystery
Back when Lucasarts was Lucasfilm Games, they came out with a graphical adventure game called Maniac Mansion, which released in 1987. The game broke ground with its multiple endings, but it was also well-known for having a weapon that players could never use. Once players entered the mansion’s kitchen, they would stumble upon a chainsaw and if they tried to use it, they learned that it needed gas to work. Players could look for gas throughout Maniac Mansion, but would never find it as there was none – at least not in this game.
Fast forward a year later to when Lucasfilm Games released Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, a graphic adventure also using the SCUMM engine made popular by Maniac Mansion. Once players reached Mars in Zak McKracken they would find fuel used only for chainsaws. If the player tried picking it up the message, “I don’t need it, it’s for a different game,” would pop up.
A fan-made Maniac Mansion remake years later brought the chainsaw gas gag back once more, as players could find a Zak McKracken poster in-game that read, “I wonder what was the use of the gas can on Mars?”
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