Obsessively Cataloging Video Game "Pop" Culture
I’m supposed to be solving a murder in Hankou Shashin: Shibarareta Shōjotachi no Mita Mono wa? for the Sega Saturn, but the real mystery is why there’s a soda machine smack in the middle of this otherwise unassuming parlor. Also, why is everyone acting so sketchy around it?
Bandai released Jungle Park, a delightfully weird point-and-click adventure game, across several platforms in 1996. This autumnal screenshot, featuring a pair of soda machines and the intriguing promise of “Throt Raceing,” is from the Macintosh version. [Source]
Treasure hunter Tiko considers a vending machine’s fruity offerings in retro platformer Juiced!
Jelysa uses these E-Bolt vending machines as checkpoints as she tidies her way through Amoeba Labs in SlimeTrials, a platforming clean-’em-up. Thanks for the screenshot, Renoki!
Yes! It’s a pair of Coke vending machines from Mizuiro, a visual novel for PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast.
Vacation season is just around the corner, and Summer Resort Mogul has all your beverage needs covered with a pair of soda machines over at the hot dog stand.
Someone is out to sabotage the Battle of the Bands, and its up to Barbie to crack the case in The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery for PC. And where better to launch her investigation than the school’s vending machines? [Source]
Meanwhile, I did some detective work of my own and discovered several sound files from The Barbie Diaries tucked away in a folder on the CD-ROM. Allow me to introduce The Video Game Soda Machine Project’s first Soda Machine Soundscape…
Are you not entertained? Well, what if I threw in a screenshot of some vending machines from the Game Boy Advance port of The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery?
If you’re searching for true joy in Clover Heart’s: Looking for Happiness for the PlayStation 2, might I recommend those soda machines in the background? [Source]
For a visual novel about a not-so-distant future where Earth is on the verge of societal collapse due to decreased birthrates, Gakuen Utopia: Manabi Straight! – Kirakira Happy Festa! for the PlayStation 2 certainly has a cheerful title. Oh, and a soda machine too! [Source]
Continuing the Video Game Soda Machine Project’s recent deep dive into Japanese visual novels, these soda machines are from Triangle Again, a musical adventure for the PlayStation 2. [Source]
There’s a drink machine outside your family’s liquor store in 6 Inch My Darling for the Sega Saturn. The game is called 6 Inch My Darling because it stars a tiny fairy named Etosera. No other reason.
Fizzy Frenzy, a browser game where you play as a robot working at a soda factory, goes with a vending machine aesthetic for its main menu.
You’ve washed ashore with amnesia in ISLAND, a visual novel for PC and PS4. Maybe a little caffeine will jog your memory. [Source]
Genius physicist Yuria Tokogu gleefully speeds past a soda machine in Tokyo Chronos, a VR mystery set in a deserted, frozen-in-time Shibuya. I wish she’d pay closer attention to the road.
I just can’t stay mad at Togoku. [Source]
Wow, look at all the UI on this screenshot from Cybernetic Hi-School Part 3: Gunbuster for the PC-98. I almost missed the soda machine. [Source]