L.A. Noire/Trivia


 * Actor Allusion: In "The Consul's Car", Valdez angrily calls Cole a madman (the actor playing Cole stars in Mad Men).
 * Author Existence Failure: On October 5, 2011, in the wake of an employee working conditions scandal and facing bankruptcy, Team Bondi closed its doors.
 * Creator Killer: Team Bondi shuttered months after release. Though the game was a critical and commercial success, Team Bondi's founder clearly considered it his Magnum Opus and terrible working conditions and endless delays resulted. It destroyed the relationship with Rockstar and ensured they would never get another publisher.
 * Defictionalization: Hey kids, you now can get your very own L.A. Noire notebook, now go get cracking on those cases!
 * Development Hell: Beyond the obvious fact that the game took over seven years to make, there's a literal example here. Team Bondi was by all accounts... a shitty place to work. Plus, studio head Brendan McNamara was charitably described as "a tyrant" by most of the workers. It Got Worse when Team Bondi was liquidated. Most of their employees still haven't received their back pay.
 * Fake Nationality: Elsa Lichtman's actually played by an Australian actress. Possibly also in-game. Judging by her German dialect (where she rolls R's and has overall a very slavic expression of words - "Untersturrmfurrer"), she may in fact be Sudeten-German (or the such).
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Ken Cosgrove interrogates fellow Sterling Cooper coworkers Harry Crane, Paul Kinsey, Pete Campbell and client comedian Jimmy Barrett. Dr. Wayne has also became a coroner.
 * Matt Parkman is a suspect in a case.
 * Harbinger has ASSUMED DIRECT CONTROL of an arson investigator.
 * Perhaps its fitting then that you meet and partner up with the Burned Man at the arson desk. Joss Whedon fans will figure out he's Daniel Holtz. He and Connor actually have a reunion, only most people will probably attribute the latter to his role in Mad Men more.
 * Walter Bishop is a shady real estate magnate! Splendid!
 * His fate after the game was that he doused himself in oil and jumped off a ledge while on fire.
 * Zachariah is still a smarmy dick, even in 1947 Los Angeles.
 * Garrus shows up in Los Angeles, too, having left C-Sec to work as a Burglary detective. If the Burglary desk had made it into the final release, he even would've been your partner!
 * If you keep your eyes peeled, you'll spot Tom around town.
 * Karofsky is a firefighter.
 * Leo owns a wine store.
 * Daisy A.K.A. Period blood girl is a wife you have to interview at one point. See if you can hazard a guess what other show she appeared on.
 * Carl the bartender is still a bartender. In a Mexican bar. So... Carlos?
 * Honestly, it seems like the only people from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce who don't show up are Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce.
 * Lesley Arzt (and father of one of the above others) is now providing a different kind of education.
 * After he fails to handle the Joker, Detective Stephen quits GCPD to work in Arson in L.A.
 * Principal Flutie is a bartender in The Studio Secretary Murder case.
 * Isn't Richard Coombs supposed to lie to us and kiss our butts?
 * Denny is now in the illegal numbers business.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Guess Doctor Kyne got himself an arson desk job, with a little narrating on the side.
 * Name's the Same: Amusingly, this is the second major story-driven action game set in the 1940's/1950's era with a Big Bad named.
 * No Export for You: A free Play Station 3-exclusive DLC Case isn't available outside North America, for the Xbox 360 or the Play Station 3.
 * Real Life Relative: Aaron Staton and Connie Fletcher, who are married in real life, play in-game couple Cole and Marie Phelps.
 * Saved From Development Hell: Trailers were running for this game for at least four years before its release, and judging from the increase in "Rockstarisms" in the later trailers, it underwent many design changes.