
This vending machine from retro RPG CrossCode dispenses a selection of snacks and beverages, but curiously enough, no balls.
Obsessively Cataloging Video Game "Pop" Culture

This vending machine from retro RPG CrossCode dispenses a selection of snacks and beverages, but curiously enough, no balls.

The Cola Crusader, Paragon City’s latest and greatest superhero, chills out in front of some vending machines in City of Heroes! I captured this screenshot using Paragon Chat, a chat client that allows players to create characters and explore the City of Heroes game world.

Guess what I found in The Matrix Online! This is another entry that wouldn’t have been possible without fans dedicating their time to preserve a game that shut down almost a decade ago. In this case, I used The Matrix Online Server Emulator, which allowed me to freely explore the game world and (eventually) find a soda machine in a random pawn shop. Click below to see my character, the enigmatic SodaPop, celebrating her discovery.

Not long after The Sims launched, Maxis partnered with Pepsi to deliver this soda machine as free DLC. This entry wouldn’t have been possible without fan-driven efforts to preserve the Pepsi machine DLC and patch the game’s launcher for Windows 10. Thanks, everyone!

It’s not easy choosing the perfect soda for a grimdark edgelord in Hatred.


I’m not sure I have the timeline correct, but the 2009 version of Bionic Commando seems to have launched with Pepsi product placement, which later switched to a generic soda machine.

Perhaps a contract expired?

Keanu can’t reasonably expect to fight off a demonic invasion of Earth in Constantine unless he’s properly caffeinated.

Frederic Chopin is back from the dead in Frederic: Resurrection of Music, and he’s battling musicians around the globe! Also, there’s a soda machine.

This sumo wrestler from Katamari Forever needs to bulk up—and fast! It’s a good thing he’s rolled up on a row of soda machines.

The party assembles in front of a pair of soda machines in The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki for the PSP!

Be sure to buy a drink from the vending machine when you visit Morton’s Sundries in Dark Cloud 2 (a.k.a. Dark Chronicle)!

Drink right with Do Not Fall, a platformer about a rabbity adventuerer who lives inside a soda machine!


I hope someone evacuates these soda machines from Bomber Hehhe!, a building demolition sim for the Sega Dreamcast.

Sometimes, the soda machine screenshots you need are already available online. Other times, you have to play Bratz: Rock Angelz for the Game Boy Advance.

I’m disappointed that Sentimental Graffiti 2 for the Dreamcast isn’t actually a game about graffiti art, but this soda machine makes up for it!