Trivia Browser

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic & Knuckles (Game)
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Attachment The game was meant to be longer, but due to time constraints, the high manufacturing costs of a 34 megabit cartridge with NVRAM, and Sega's commitment to a major McDonald's Happy Meal promotion featuring a sweepstakes to win a copy of the game, the decision was made to split the game into two games, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. Evidence of this split can be found in the level select menu (sound test), where levels from the second game (such as Flying Battery, Mushroom Vally, and Sandopolis) can be found.
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Bonus Content, Development, Early Idea, General, Merchandise, Music, Sweepstakes, Technology
person gamemaster1991 calendar_month May 6, 2013
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Franchise: Mario
subdirectory_arrow_right Nintendo (Company)
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Lexibook, a company infamous for low-quality unlicensed NES-based consoles (or "Famiclones") featuring plagiarized content from a variety of sources including Nintendo games, entered an official agreement with Nintendo in 2020 to license various Nintendo IPs including Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, and Mario.
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General, Merchandise, Plagiarism, Real Life
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 4, 2023
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Pac-Man
Pac-Man (1980)
subdirectory_arrow_right Pac-Man (Franchise), Takara Tomy (Company)
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Attachment The first appearance of a yellow, spherical character named "Puck-Man" with a ravenous appetite was a 1974 bank toy by Tomy, which came in a variety of colors including yellow. It is unknown if the video game character was plagiarized or Pac-Man's design similarities are all a bizarre coincidence, with game creator Toru Iwatani claiming in an unrelated court hearing to have not heard of the toy until after the release of the game. No legal action was taken by Tomy, and the 1970's Tomy Puck-Man toys would be rebranded with Namco's Pac-Man after the success of the game.
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Development, Merchandise, Plagiarism, Real Life, Similarities
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 7, 2023
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Youtooz Presents: Five Nights at Freddy's
Youtooz Presents: Five Nights at Freddy's (2024)
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This game was created by Youtooz to coincide with the release of their Security Breach wave of Five Nights at Freddy's figures.
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General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month September 7, 2023
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Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005)
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Attachment When going to meet Rosa at the City Library, in the first room on the left after the objective begins, you can find a desk hidden behind a shelf. On the desk is a TV displaying an image of a detective badge, and connected to it is an Xbox 360 with a custom skin based on Condemned: Criminal Origins. Turning off the TV will unlock the Xbox Achievement "Silver Detective Badge". It's unknown if this skin mock-up was actually intended to be produced and released as a real product.
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Bonus Content, Easter Egg, Merchandise, Secret
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month September 18, 2023
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Infamous: Second Son
Infamous: Second Son (2014)
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Attachment In Italy, pre-order bonus items included two cans of Red Bull and Infamous: Second Son branded glow-in-the-dark condoms.
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Merchandise, Pre-Order, Regional Difference
person Dazz calendar_month September 24, 2023
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Kingdom Hearts III
Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
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Attachment Grand Chef, the Ratatouille keyblade in Kingdom Hearts III, has two bottles of champagne attached to its handles. While the artwork on these bottles originates from a poster briefly seen in the movie, it is more commonly associated with a controversial cancelled Ratatouille-branded wine that was intended to be sold in Costco in 2007, but was pulled before it could hit shelves due to concerns relating to underaged drinking. While the iteration in the movie shows red wine, the iteration on the wine bottle shows an olive tone of wine. The Grand Chef keyblade features both colors for the wine.
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Censorship, Complaint, Early Idea, Merchandise, Real Life, Reference, Unreleased Content
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 25, 2023
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Collection: Mappy
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Attachment Being a family-friendly franchise, the Mappy series typically does not feature usage or possession of firearms from either Mappy or the Mewkies gang, despite the police and crime theme.

There are two exceptions to this, both being Mappy franchise projects released in the 21st century and aimed at an older audience. One is the merchandising for Mappy Park, a pachinko gambling game that is considered lost, so it is unknown whether guns actually appear in the game. However, a promotional cigarette lighter was made for the game shaped like a pistol. The other exception is the ShiftyLook Mappy: The Beat webtoon series where both Mappy and Goro use guns.
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General, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 27, 2023
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History of Mappy webpage:
http://www.fourhman.com/mappy/scrapbook.htm

Mappy Park - 2002 promo:
https://youtu.be/5RYyx3-Hs5U

Mappy: The Beat - Episode 1:
https://youtu.be/wBCP_dFhp-k?t=276

Mappy: The Beat - Episode 7:
https://youtu.be/x8ZnKC0002U?t=293
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
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Attachment A promotional cookie was included in press kits for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in 2004. It was a white, round cookie with the game's logo printed in the middle and covered with small black rocks, which are possibly crystallized sugar or another candy. Its flavor is unknown, as is who baked them. One of these cookies, still in its wrapper, was placed up for auction on eBay for $129.99 USD in 2011, although by that point it is reasonable to assume that this cookie was no longer edible, and no other such cookies have surfaced online.
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Merchandise, Real Life
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month September 29, 2023
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Soft & Cuddly
Soft & Cuddly (1987)
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Attachment To promote its graphic imagery, Soft & Cuddly was sold at trade shows with a barf bag.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Merchandise
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 7, 2023
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Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (1981)
subdirectory_arrow_right Mario (Franchise)
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Attachment In 1983, an album was released on vinyl by Kid Stuff Records titled Donkey Kong (alternatively called Donkey Kong Goes Home), retelling the story of the video game of the same name. It is notable for not only potentially being the first time Mario was voiced (having an unknown release date in 1983, which was also the debut year of Saturday Supercade), but also giving Mario a stereotypical Italian accent with an "-a-" verbal tic as opposed to the gruff Italian-American accent that would be used in multimedia projects for the rest of the 80s (including Saturday Supercade), predating Charles Martinet's debut as Mario in Mario Teaches Typing by 8 years. According to Kid Stuff Mario voice actor Pat McBride, the reasoning for this voice direction was

"He was Mario, he had that Italian background, we knew what his occupation was, and we knew he was a really good guy, in my brain, if there were kids in the neighborhood, he’d always pat them on the head and say hi. He’d look out for everyone, so he became the real good guy."

Nintendo never gave the team behind Donkey Kong Goes Home any form of guidance for the project, and did not give any word - positive or negative - about the finished album beyond approving it.
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Coincidence, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Voice Acting
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 11, 2023
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Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap (1999)
subdirectory_arrow_right Pokémon (Franchise)
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Attachment Early in the Pokémon franchise's life, the Poliwhirl line recieved a major push in marketing, comparable to that of series mascot Pikachu.

Mascot costumes were made of Poliwhirl for promotional events, the Pokémon Adventures manga featured Poliwhirl as one of Red's Pokémon, Poliwag was placed closely to Pikachu on the box art of Pokémon Snap, food and toy lines would near-consistently feature a member of the Poliwhirl line alongside Pikachu even when the pool of Pokémon was as limited as 3 or 4 (with exceptions primarily being ones that also lacked Pikachu), and, most famously, Poliwhirl appeared on the center of the cover of TIME Magazine's issue adressing the popularity of Pokémon.

This could be related to Poliwag being Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's favourite of the original 151 Kanto species.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Mascot, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 19, 2023
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Comedic video about bizarre Pokémon merchandise showing off many instances of Poliwhirl and Poliwrath merchandise - the nature of Poliwhirl's "mascot" status is discussed at the 13:06 mark:
https://youtu.be/Gri7-XW3no8

ResetEra thread about Poliwhirl that opens with multiple images of Poliwhirl memorabilia:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/pokemons-bygone-mascot.763622/

Video from a Kellogg's fan channel featuring box scans and commercials for Pokémon cereal with Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/4kEnxp0ihPI

Pop Tarts commercial featuring Poliwrath toys:
https://youtu.be/oKw6l1Skglc

Kraft Mac & Cheese advert featuring Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/Sj5lfgEz_bU

Video featuring a photo of a Poliwhirl mascot:
https://youtu.be/KR5oKvYi_PQ

KFC and Heinz commercials for promotions featuring neither, Poliwhirl nor Pikachu:
https://youtu.be/9HCDPTQGmrI
https://youtu.be/nNc1xl8uoMA

Tajiri talks Poliwag:
https://youtu.be/gplIo-J9Ttc?si=vXRHECazu6kGu4IQ&t=433
Among Us
Among Us (2018)
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The Airship update for Among Us partially took so long to come out because of talks with lawyers about circumventing bootleg Among Us merchandise.

Among Us creator Marcus Bromander would claim two years later in an interview with YouTubers LS Mark and Veronicaandjelly that he felt that taking legal action against fake Among Us products was a "losing battle" and that he ultimately just found them funny and thought of them as free promotion.
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Corporate Affairs, Development, Meme, Merchandise, Plagiarism, Real Life
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 25, 2023
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (2020)
subdirectory_arrow_right Crash Team Rumble (Game)
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Attachment Crash Team Rumble had been teased officially as far back as Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time's release date in 2020 - first in It's About Time! where, after 106% completing the game, the player could return to the start of the game and spin Crash's TV multiple times to show a mysterious Wumpa Fruit symbol. This would shortly be followed by a cross promotional video for Uncharted, where the symbol could be seen again on a banner with the words "Wumpa League".

Later in 2021, a Game Designers Conference talk with Toys for Bob studio head Paul Yan would show two hints towards the game's existence: one on a graphic made to show the game's goals with a set of green "this game is..." post-it notes (such as "new vehicles" or "cartoony animation" and red "this game isn't..." post-it notes (such as "beat 'em up" and "open world") with Wumpa League put in the middle as a yellow "might be", obscured by another note; and a second where the screen very briefly flashes to concept art of "Wumpa League". Crash content creators and game journalists would soon receive Wumpa Fruit-shaped pinatas with the Wumpa League branding and colors, which was then followed by a set of meme tweets on the Crash Twitter account relating to Wumpa Fruit, one of which being a play on the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pepe Silvia conspiracy board meme. Toys for Bob would later release a Crash anniversary celebration video showing the Wumpa League logo again along with a Gem variant. The Wumpa League logos would show once more in the background of a PlayStation crossover commercial. The final tease of 2021 would be in a Christmas package sent to the press which had the Gem sticker placed on the side of the box.

In 2022, the hints started rolling in again on St. Patrick's Day, when Toys for Bob posted a piece of concept art for Crash 4 edited to have four-leaf clovers littered throughout, asking players to find the seasonal hidden objects. However, the Wumpa League symbol was hidden alongside the clovers. Later, the press and Crash fandom would recieve another package, this time an Aku-Aku-branded pizza box promoting Crash 4's release on Steam, with "HUNGRY FOR MORE? TRY OUR NEW WUMPA PIZZA FOR $12.08!" written on the side - the price translating into the date of August 12, which was the date of the Game Awards, which is ultimately where Crash Team Rumble would be revealed.
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100% Completion, Advertisement/Commercial, Alternate Reality Game, Awards/Awards Show, Cameo, Development, Meme, Merchandise, Name Change, Real Life, Teaser, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 26, 2023
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Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox Adventures (2002)
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Attachment Star Fox Adventures had a Circuit City-exclusive "survival kit" pre-order bonus which contained "Fox Fuel" soda, a door hanger, an air freshener for cars, temporary tattoos, and most unusual of all, toilet paper with tips for the game written on it.
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Merchandise, Pre-Order
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 29, 2023
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iCarly 2: iJoin the Click
iCarly 2: iJoin the Click (2010)
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To promote the game's release, a line of six iCarly-themed toys from Playmates with in-game codes for exclusive collectible items was released.
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Bonus Content, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 3, 2023
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Poppy Playtime
Poppy Playtime (2021)
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In December 2021, Mob Entertainment announced a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the in-game posters. This was quickly met with backlash and negative reviews from the community (with some even requesting refunds), accusing the devs of hiding lore for the game behind a paywall. The announcement post was eventually deleted, but could not remove the NFTs as well due to the contact that had been signed, forcing them to wait until it expired.

On May 3, 2022, Mob Entertainment CEO Zach Belanger revealed in a statement on Twitter that all profits made from the NFTs would be donated to the Clean Air Task Force organization.
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Backstory/Lore, Complaint, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 9, 2023
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Disney Infinity
Disney Infinity (2013)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Muppets (Franchise)
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Attachment In 2013, around the launch of Disney Infinity, Disney merchandise artist Jim Valeri posted a set of images to his portfolio of angular figures, resembling the character models from Disney Infinity, of Muppets Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Animal, Beaker, and Fozzie Bear, mentioning that they were made a year ago and he had no clue what they were for or if they would be released. While not explicitly stated, it seems heavily likely from the timing and aesthetic that these were intended as characters for Disney Infinity who never saw the light of day, possibly due to the financial failure of the 2014 film Muppets Most Wanted.
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Adaptation, Merchandise, Theory, Unreleased Content, Unused Character, Unused Content
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 19, 2023
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Poppy Playtime
Poppy Playtime (2021)
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In November 2022, the sale of Huggy Wuggy plush toys was banned and all stocks recalled by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, who stated that the toys "do not meet the requirements of the Toy Safety Regulation." The Ministry of Family and Social Services also determined that the toys "had a negative effect on the psychosocial development of children."
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Complaint, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 23, 2023
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Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (2022)
subdirectory_arrow_right Swordquest: Waterworld (Game), Swordquest: Fireworld (Game), SwordQuest: AirWorld (Game), Swordquest: Earthworld (Game), Swordquest (Collection)
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Attachment The SwordQuest series was a series of 4 games developed by Atari, each one having an associated contest to win a one-of-a-kind item from the game made of real gold by finding clues in the game and using them to uncover hidden messages in the attached comic book, then coming to Atari headquarters to compete in a contest version of the respective game. The advertised prizes were:

•Talisman of Penultimate Truth, Earthworld's prize
•Chalice of Light, Fireworld's prize
•Crown of Life, Waterworld's prize
•The Philosopher's Stone, Airworld's prize
•The Sword of Ultimate Sorcery, the grand prize

Halfway through the series, the video game crash of 1983 hit, and it was put to a halt, leaving Airworld, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery unreleased. The Chalice of Light is the only item known to still exist, with all others being believed to have been melted down at some point.

In Atari 50, a game based on Airworld would see release, though it was not based on the work done for the game back in the 1980s.
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Alternate Reality Game, Cancelled Release, Magazine, Merchandise, Remake, Sweepstakes, Unreleased Content, Unsolved Mystery, Unused Items
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 26, 2023
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