The Video Game Soda Machine Project
Obsessively Cataloging Video Game "Pop" Culture
Natsuki Crisis Battle for the Super Famicon is the kind of game that makes you wonder, “Is that a poorly rendered 16-bit shadow, or is she doing a side kick while levitating over an open manhole?” Maybe it’s best not to think about it and focus instead on the soda machine.
Help yourself to a soda or coffee from the cafeteria vending machines in Zerø: The 4th Unit Act.4, an adventure game for the PC-88!
Here’s the same scene from the FM Towns version…
Hakufu pauses in front of a pair of soda machines in Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist, a brawler for the PlayStation Portable!
You’ll need some caffeine if you want to stay up late enough for Midnight Bowling 3D, a 2006 mobile game. [Source]
Dead Maze is a post-apocalyptic MMO set in a world overrun by zombies. Did you ever stop to wonder who exactly restocks the soda machines after the apocalypse?
Colors is an unreleased game for the failed Gizmondo that would have tapped into the handheld’s GPS functionality to allow the player to (magically?) play in his or her real-life location. During development, it apparently shifted from a first-person shooter to a GTA-inspired third-person shooter. Soda machines appeared in both incarnations. [Source]
Sorry about the quality of the second screenshot; it’s difficult to track down clear images of unreleased games on handheld systems nobody owned. 😉 [Source]
This soda machine from Spot Goes To Hollywood for the PlayStation 1 showcases everyone’s favorite 7 Up mascot! Click below to see it in action as part of the game’s surprisingly well-executed opening cinematic.
Advanced V.G. 2 is a PlayStation fighting game in which all the combatants are waitresses. Luckily, this bar is outfitted with a soda machine in case your server is too busy delivering knuckle sandwiches to deliver your drink.
The Unsolved is a FMV adventure game for the Sega Saturn with a definite X-Files vibe. The protagonist is investigating a murder involving a victim who *squints at notes* had all her organs, er, sucked out… through, um, her rectum? Hey, at least there’s a soda machine!
The second level of Bakushō: Yoshimoto no Shinkigeki, a platformer for the TurboGrafx CD based on a Japanese comedy show, kicks off with this fine-looking soda machine!