Adventure - Warren Robinett
While it's nothing spectacular, it gets nods as the original video game Easter egg. Now whether or not this is true, this secret room that says "Created by: Warren Robinett" is credited as the first. In a game where you play as a dot escaping from a duck looking dragon (the original Pokemon?), I guess this could have been seen as a cool bonus. But at this point in gaming, its kind of...well...whatever?
Portal - The Cake May Not Have Been A Lie
We all know the meme. The cake is a lie. Thanks to the amazing experience of Portal, that has been hammered into the heads of gamers since it's release. However, after escaping from the test chambers, there's a screen with scrolling yellow text. Upon looking at it carefully and overlooking the computer gibberish, you can find a recipe for a Black Forest cake with ingredients hidden in it.
While I'm not sure if it should be considered an Easter egg instead of a glitch, it's something I would slap myself for not including as the mythical Minus World in the original Super Mario Bros. Many strive to see this level in which you swim, and swim, and swim but only few would actually see. At least, until later on when it became common knowledge of getting there in World 1-2 after jumping backwards while crouched and going down a pipe. Not the greatest Easter egg, because games where you swim are rarely fun.
Grand Theft Auto: No Easter Egg
The people at Rockstar do love their Easter eggs. So much so that they will actually include an Easter egg...as an Easter egg. This however is probably my favorite. The image says it all.
Halo: Combat Evolved - MEGG
Some people try to immortalize their love for one another by taking pictures, recording videos, writing poems, etc. In the case of Jamie Griesemer, a level designer for Halo: Combat Evolved, he decided to add the love of his life, Meg Pallor, into the game. In doing so, it caused frustration to Halo players as a damn near impossible Easter egg to reach. But in doing so, you get to see a bloody heart with a bullet-hole letter M in the middle of it. Unfortunately, after seeing this, you are treated to a gruesome death at the hands of some Invulnerable Marines. Was it worth it?
Super Mario RPG - Link, Samus, and F-Zero
Super Mario RPG broke away from the normal platforming that made the Mario games great and went a different route in an RPG game. It worked, and worked well. While the Final Fantasy influence from Culex will usually be mentioned first, Nintendo also wanted to include some of their own franchises to the mix with nice nods. Thus, you can find both Samus and Link taking naps in the game (Samus in Peach's castle and Link in Rose Town) and F-Zero model cars in Hinopio's shop. Some may say Smash Bros was the game to bring it all together, but...
Just Cause 2 - Lost
Remember Just Cause 2? That game you ran around and blew things up because the story was completely forgettable? Well, this is one of those reasons it's such a great game. While I could have posted the mechanical shark or the beached whale, instead the game gets it's due with the island from Lost. Approach it with a plane and watch it get shot down. Escape before it blows and witness the weather change and see strange stuff on the island. Besides a plane wreckage with an SOS type message, there is also a chance to run into a monster of sorts...
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - The End
Hideo Kojima thinks outside the box. That was evident enough in Metal Gear Solid especially during the Psycho Mantis fight. He does a similar thing here with the villain The End in Snake Eater but in a slightly different way. See, The End is a pain in the ass. For an old man, he is fast and sneaky and caused much more frustration with me than I thought possible. Had I known there were two other methods to beat him, I would have been fine. One included sniping him from afar when you see him at the warehouse, or the more Kojima way, save during the battle and turning the system off. When you come back a week later or move your date settings forward a week, The End will have died of old age during battle. I applaud you Kojima.
Batman: Arkham Asylum - Arkham City
Rocksteady sure knows how to hide them. Before Arkham City was ever announced, they had an Easter egg hidden in Arkham Asylum hinting at what a sequel would entail. While most collapsible walls were shown in detective vision, one room in particular didn't. This is a secret room in the Mansion that Batman has to use the explosive gel on three times before it will be discovered. On the wall is a poster showing a Arkham stamp over part of Gotham City. With Rocksteady saying the biggest secret in Arkham City hasn't been discovered yet, it makes me wonder what that could possibly be and when we will find it...
Saints Row 2 - I don't want to see those Easter eggs...
The craziness in Saints Row 3 isn't completely out of nowhere. If you want to put a little effort getting to a specific location, you can see a giant bunny rise out of the water. I'm not sure exactly what it's purpose is, but Saints Row 3 did follow up on it as they have the captured bunny on a boat in the game as well.
There are a ton of Easter eggs in games, some somewhat lame, others really cool and interesting. I've always had an interest in these as they are fun to find especially if they are more off-the-wall once you see them. I hope developers continue to add these to their game, because they are nice to find and talk about with other players not to mention extend the longevity of the game trying to discover them.
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