Pac-Man Fever: Difference between revisions

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This trope has many root causes. Most important of all is that high quality game graphics/sounds/music competes for screen time and viewer's attention — similar to the cause of [[Stylistic Suck]]. Plus the music in particular may ruin the overall tone. The second reason would be money. While it wouldn't be hard to toss in some footage and sound from a modern game, it may cost quite a bit to get the rights to do so, and it would definitely cost quite a bit to make something original. Last of all, since [[Most Writers Are Adults]], they may not be avid gamers, either knowing only the 8-bit glory they grew up with or came of age before video games.

If you're too young to remember what ''[[Pac-Man]]'' was like on the 2600, check [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL2p2ANFlQ4 this] out. And [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juH2qHYX9aI this] for good measure. And, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzI1RBdK2_g\] is ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' on the same system. These two games probably account for the vast, vast majority of [[Arcade Sounds]] used on TV. Ironically, the 2600 port of ''[[Pac-Man]]'' was so [[Porting Disaster|notoriously bad]] that it's commonly accounted as one of the two games (together with ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)|ET the Extra Terrestrial]]'') which brought in [[The Great Video Game Crash of 1983]].

If you're too young to remember what ''[[Pac-Man]]'' was like on the 2600, check [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL2p2ANFlQ4 this] out. And [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juH2qHYX9aI this] for good measure. And, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzI1RBdK2_g\] is ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' on the same system. These two games probably account for the vast, vast majority of [[Arcade Sounds]] used on TV. Ironically, the 2600 port of ''[[Pac-Man]]'' was so [[Porting Disaster|notoriously bad]] that it's commonly accounted as one of the two games (together with ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'') which brought in [[The Great Video Game Crash of 1983]].

This may be a [[Discredited Trope]] before long. [[Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000]] seems to be replacing it as a result of the [[Moral Guardians]] whining about violent games. [[Product Placement]] is also becoming more common.

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** Played straight in "The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever", Blossom seeks out the other two after a long-since abandoned game of hide-and-seek and finds them using N64 controllers to play... ''[[Pitfall]]''.

** In one scene a TV screen displayed a picture and played noise that was more or less pulled directly from one of the TV's in the GameCube release of ''[[Animal Crossing]]''.

* In ''[[~~Re Boot~~]]'', the games that periodically threatened the characters were generally believable and fairly current for the time, though they generally used [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] versions.

* In ''[[ReBoot]]'', the games that periodically threatened the characters were generally believable and fairly current for the time, though they generally used [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] versions.

* ''[[Fanboy and Chum Chum]]'' does use [[Arcade Sounds]], but surprisingly, it's [[Justified Trope]]; the only video games or other forms of interactive electronic entertainment seen in the series (so far) are a virtual pet and an arcade game. The latter's status as a homage to old-school ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' makes its use of Atari 2600 ''Donkey Kong'' sound effects even more appropriate.

* ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius|The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius]]'' once featured an episode about a machine that allows people to enter inside a game of their choice, so Sheen obviously gets inside an ''[[Show Within a Show|Ultra Lord]]'' game. While the episode took some liberties for [[Rule of Cool]], it actually manages to look like a real game of the time, including the portrayed life bars which get special effects as the characters power up, floating words pointing out P1 and P2 and even a start screen complete with "Start Game / Options".

* One episode of ''[[Doug]]'' features Judy talking in an online avatar-based chatroom similar to IMVU, accurately predicting technology that ''would not ~~exist~~ until many years later.''

* One episode of ''[[Doug]]'' features Judy talking in an online avatar-based chatroom similar to IMVU, accurately predicting technology that ''would not be widely available until many years later.'' (That technology did exist at the time, albeit in a very primitive form.)

** Actually that technology DID exist at the time, albeit very primitive.

* Largely averted in ''[[Code Lyoko]]''. This is not surprising, since the relationship between kids and video games is [[Word of God|a big inspiration for the series]]. The fictional video games discussed in the show are realistic for modern games (though rarely seen on-screen). However, the "penguin cup-and-ball" game played by Jean-Pierre Delmas do use ''Pac-Man'' music — but here it's more of a shout-out.

** One episode featured Odd playing ''Tetris'' on what clearly looked like a Game Boy. It's even mentioned by name! It comes back later in the episode as an actual part of the plot.