Obsessively Cataloging Video Game "Pop" Culture
vSide was a Second Life-style virtual world that launched in 2006, perhaps best known for featuring occasional visits from celebrities like Tyra Banks and the Pussycat Dolls. Luckily, someone preserved this soda machine before vSide was shut down a few years ago.
If I’ve learned anything under the tutelage of the Ramen Sensei, it’s that no noodle shop is complete without at least one soda machine and a bunch of ATMs.
EA launched Motor City Online, a massively multiplayer online racing game, in 2001 and eventually shut it down in 2003 to focus on The Sims Online. Luckily, Lazy Game Reviews was able to recover this “lost” Foster Soda machine using offline patches. Nice work, LGR!
Logan Kart 8 is a slightly janky Mario Kart fan game that features an entire track set inside a soda machine. I’m not an expert in Logan Kart lore, so it’s difficult to say whether the racers have been shrunk or if it’s just a really big soda machine. Ask Waluigi.
Just for fun, here’s a video of me racing a lap around the Waluigi Vending Machine map.
If you expect to run a decent zoo in Wild Park Manager, you’re going to need at least a 2:1 guest-vending machine ratio.
I’m just driving around on a rainy night in Need for Speed (2015) and admiring EA’s commitment to brand synergy. Frostbite Cola originally appeared in Battlefield Hardline, while Sun Cola is a caffeinated fixture in the Dead Space series.
I may be on the run from the cops for doing 165 in a 55 mph zone, but there’s always time to stop and admire a soda machine in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
Brain parasites from Uranus, werewolves from Arcturus-7, guests from another dimension, and multiple soda machine options — what more could a girl-turned-hideous-space-creature possibly want in I’m Not a Monster?
This funky green vending machine from Club Penguin Island sells all the essentials: drinks, snacks, fireworks, glow sticks, piñatas, fire hydrants. Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
When life feels a little strange, reach for the effervescent certainty of an ice-cold soda. Thanks for the screenshot, Sarcasm Pizza Cat!