High Moon Studios pitched the project to Hasbro by sliding a picture of their depiction of Bumblebee across the table during a conference and saying "What do you think?". However, while they were seemingly confident in their more "adult and realistic" take on the franchise, internally for them it was extremely nerve-racking with Jim Daley (Lead Designer) saying it was like "George Lucas looking at [someone] redesigning Luke Skywalker". Hasbro as it turns out really liked the idea and were excited to see the intense Cybertronian war fleshed out more.
In the "Disco" Arcade mode map, a record can be found on the mixing desk featuring the artist "Norgatious G". This is both a reference to the band Tenacious D as well as TimeSplitters' series composer Graeme Norgate.
The internal name for the Alaska level on the game disc is "05_GREENLAND". this suggests that the level was originally going to be themed around and take place in the Dutch-owned island of Greenland instead of the U.S. state of Alaska.
Also, internal file names for the Pacific Island level ("07_EASTERISLAND") reveal that it was possibly supposed to be Easter Island (Rapa Nui).
Michael Jackson's cameo appearance in Space Channel 5 under the name "Space Michael" originated from when he was shown a near-finished version of the game by Sega staff member Shuji Utsumi, and immediately wanted to be featured in it. The game's creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi received the call about Jackson's wishes only one month before the game's completion, and initially wanted to turn him down due to these time constraints. However, he and the rest of the team eventually conceded and wanted to include him, having been inspired by his music videos during development. They ultimately added him into the game by substituting a Morolian-controlled NPC character for a model based on him and added moves based on his famous dance moves, initially expecting him to dislike it. Jackson, fully realizing the pressures the team were facing, approved the appearance and provided voice lines for his character. Mizuguchi recalled Jackson's reaction in a 2009 Den-fami Nico Game interview following his death:
Mizuguchi: "I could only do this much, so I wondered if Michael would refuse. Then ... (Mr. Mizuguchi imitating Michael's voice) 'Oh, OK!' …… Because!"
Jackson would reprise the role of Space Michael in an expanded capacity in Space Channel 5: Part 2.
Most of the voice cast from the original 80s Transformers show and its movie reprise their roles, some of them after decades, including Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Frank Welker (Megatron and Soundwave), Dan Gilvezan (Bumblebee), Michael Bell (Sideswipe and Scrapper), and Gregg Berger (Grimlock and Long Haul) among others.
The developers at Platinum Games, who were huge Transformers fans since childhood, decided on the Generation 1 aesthetic of this game. In order to modernize it, in addition to the 80s G1 cartoon, they also took inspiration from the G1-themed Transformers comics by IDW as well as the Transformer: Generations toyline, which is also based on the original 80s designs.
The ace of spades playing card used in the opening cutscene is based on the design used for real-life Nintendo-branded Western playing cards, a nod to one of Nintendo's earliest business ventures.
In the home console release, the clock in the Clock Tower stage is linked to the console's own internal clock and therefore shows the actual real-world time during matches.
Around Peter Quill's room and house there are many seemingly fictional things that are actually homages to 1980's pop culture media, but with the names, concepts or brands slightly changed or parodied:
•Prouix Calculator Wristwatch Advertisement - Based on real calculator wristwatches sold by companies like Casio.
•"The Lost Starwalker" Film Poster - A spoof of the film "The Last Starfighter" and its poster.
•"Caves & Creatures" Table-top RPG - Based on table-top RPGs popular in the 1980's such as the Dungeons & Dragons series.
•"Furthings" Monster Film Poster - Parody of the film "Gremlins".
•A banana figurine playing the guitar - Resembles the old McDonald's mascot "Mac Tonight".
•"Nukegames" - a take on the film "WarGames", the plotline of which involves nuclear warfare.
•"Deathtrap Dungeon" book - An homage to "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.
•"Robot Within" newspaper ad - The poster's imagery and film's concept is a callback to the sci-fi horror film "They Live".
•"Animal Graveyard" novel - An homage to Stephen King's novel "Pet Semetary".
•"VROOM!" Show TV magazine ad - A reference to popular 80s action show "Knight Rider".
A special PlayStation Portable port of the game was planned called "Transformers: 2nd Strike", but was cancelled by Atari due to the Transformers video game publishing license being given to Activision by Hasbro after the Transformers live-action film was announced.
According to the consumer marketing director at The Pokemon Company JC Smith, one of the big hurdles that Game Freak and other Pokemon devs have to endure is the balance between massive fan demand and the developers' own specific vision for each game.
“...there’s also a vision for what the creators want to provide, and it’s [a matter of] finding that delicate balance throughout. We have a group of creators and professionals working at the Pokémon Company that have been through a lot – seen, heard [a lot]. They have thicker skin than many people do because they’ve heard it.”
Smith also revealed that the company does listen to fan demands of wanting a grander and more sophisticated game in the series, but he also revealed that Game Freak very much strives to make future games extremely accessible at their cores as well.
According to Terence J. Rotolo, the series voice actor for Frank West, he was not asked by Capcom Vancouver to reprise his role for the eighth installment in the series due to Dead Rising's asset manager, Trant Lee-Aimes, changing Frank West's character development. Lee-Aimes was asked by fans regarding the lack of Rotolo's involvement within the game, to which he responded in a fan Q&A:
"We wanted to work with someone to provide a more grizzled, older take on Frank at this stage. It's no disrespect to history or previous actors--TJ Rotolo has done a bang-up job."
Rotolo shared a Change.org petition made by fans through social media to have him return back for this game, but to no avail.
Santus was originally going to be named Benedict. The name was changed when, coincidently, Pope Benedict was elected in real life during the early development of the game.
At the end of the credits after completing the game for the first time, an audio clip of Obi-Wan's voice will play, in which he recites a line-for-line parody of a monologue originally performed by Ewan McGregor from the opening scene of the 1996 film "Trainspotting":
"Choose the Force. Choose a job. Choose the Dark Side. Choose the Council. Choose a flubbing big lightsaber. Choose protocol droids, holoprojectors, and R2 units. Choose Watto, Tatooine and Alderaan. Choose fixed-interest credit payments to Sebulba. Choose a Corellian freighter that did the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. Choose a Wookiee. Choose sitting in Jabba's throne room, watching mind-numbing dancers, stuffing green chubas into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, disappearing into thin air, nothing more than an embarrassment to the whiny kid you trained on the way to Alderaan. Choose your destiny. Choose the Force. But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose the Dark Side. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got a lightsaber?"
The sound of an activating lightsaber can then be heard before the game returns to the main menu. This secret message cannot be triggered again when replaying the final level. This line choice is also likely a reference to Ewan McGregor being the actor for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
In 2021, a widely undocumented Easter egg during the "Enter the Battle Dome" mission in "The Umpire Strikes Out" level in the Rocket Channel was uploaded to YouTube. When the player reaches the purple energy tower, you will need to climb the tower up to the square platform area with two air tanks on it. Just to the right of those air tanks, an invisible path marked by vague star textures and small red lights will appear in view once reached, leading to a hidden area with a floating metallic cube featuring a photo of programmer Evan Wells behind a blue background. Like the production baby cameo found in the same level, the object will slowly spin around showing the photo on each side, can be jumped on, and can be destroyed with Gex's attacks.
In 2020, a widely undocumented Easter egg near the start of "The Umpire Strikes Out" level in the Rocket Channel was uploaded to YouTube. From the level's checkpoint, there is a platforming section consisting of floating metallic walkways. If the player karate kicks from the second walkway into the abyss, you should land on a mostly invisible platform, only marked with vague star textures and small red lights. Going south of the platform will lead the player back to the start of the level. If the player goes north, mindful that you jump over a hole in the platform on the way there, a small area can be found that contains an oxygen tank, some crates, two Green Fly TVs, and a floating metallic cube with an image of a newborn's face on two sides. The cube will spin in place slowly unless the player destroys it with Gex's attacks. The cube even has some collision that allows the player to jump on top of it. It's unknown who this infant is, but it is presumably a production baby raised by one of the game's developers.
According to the game's character designer, Hiroyuki Nara, the model for Dante was repurposed data for Trish from Devil May Cry 2.
"The characters' speed in the backup data was completely different from how it was in the retail release. The final motions had also been programmed in separately by the software guys, so in order to replicate them, I had to place a television running the original game next to my work monitor and eyeball it. (laughs) So the Dante in "DMC 3" was actually made using Trish's data from "DMC 2". (laughs) We had all sorts of problems with that damn backup data from "DMC 1"... "
According to character designer, Daigo Ikeno, Lady's school girl outfit was inspired by 'the black-haired Julia Volkova' of the duo t.A.T.u.
"The inspiration for Lady's image is the black-haired Julia Volkova of the Russian girl group t.A.T.u. (laughs) This is a woman who sets off to kill demons all by herself, so we equipped her with weaponry that can get the job done. She had to look like a capable fighter, but... Japanese players just love school uniforms. (laughs) All the time, the members of t.A.T.u were known for their uniform-style fashion, so we designed Lady's outfit to look like a uniform too. The thing around her waist looks like a skirt at first glance, but it's actually made up of customized weaponry pouches. The hard pouches are wrapped around her waist and filled with gun magazines, but then they're decorated with a plaid pattern reminiscent of school uniforms. It's hard to say whether she custom-ordered them or made them herself. (laughs) Then there's her white button-up shirt, which feels very fresh and clean. I came up with a number of other battle-oriented designs, but in the end, the uniform look was very important. Itsuno had a big say in it, too. I may have chosen a look more suitable to fighting if it had been up to me. (laughs)"
According to the weapons modeler, Jun Ikawa, while working on the Cerberus weapon, the team filed a patent for the concept of a three-handled nunchaku called a "Sanchaku".
In the "Disco" Arcade mode map, a record can be found on the mixing desk featuring the artist "Norgatious G". This is both a reference to the band Tenacious D as well as TimeSplitters' series composer Graeme Norgate.
Michael Jackson's cameo appearance in Space Channel 5 under the name "Space Michael" originated from when he was shown a near-finished version of the game by Sega staff member Shuji Utsumi, and immediately wanted to be featured in it. The game's creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi received the call about Jackson's wishes only one month before the game's completion, and initially wanted to turn him down due to these time constraints. However, he and the rest of the team eventually conceded and wanted to include him, having been inspired by his music videos during development. They ultimately added him into the game by substituting a Morolian-controlled NPC character for a model based on him and added moves based on his famous dance moves, initially expecting him to dislike it. Jackson, fully realizing the pressures the team were facing, approved the appearance and provided voice lines for his character. Mizuguchi recalled Jackson's reaction in a 2009 Den-fami Nico Game interview following his death:
The ace of spades playing card used in the opening cutscene is based on the design used for real-life Nintendo-branded Western playing cards, a nod to one of Nintendo's earliest business ventures.
A special PlayStation Portable port of the game was planned called "Transformers: 2nd Strike", but was cancelled by Atari due to the Transformers video game publishing license being given to Activision by Hasbro after the Transformers live-action film was announced.
In 2021, a widely undocumented Easter egg during the "Enter the Battle Dome" mission in "The Umpire Strikes Out" level in the Rocket Channel was uploaded to YouTube. When the player reaches the purple energy tower, you will need to climb the tower up to the square platform area with two air tanks on it. Just to the right of those air tanks, an invisible path marked by vague star textures and small red lights will appear in view once reached, leading to a hidden area with a floating metallic cube featuring a photo of programmer Evan Wells behind a blue background. Like the production baby cameo found in the same level, the object will slowly spin around showing the photo on each side, can be jumped on, and can be destroyed with Gex's attacks.
In 2020, a widely undocumented Easter egg near the start of "The Umpire Strikes Out" level in the Rocket Channel was uploaded to YouTube. From the level's checkpoint, there is a platforming section consisting of floating metallic walkways. If the player karate kicks from the second walkway into the abyss, you should land on a mostly invisible platform, only marked with vague star textures and small red lights. Going south of the platform will lead the player back to the start of the level. If the player goes north, mindful that you jump over a hole in the platform on the way there, a small area can be found that contains an oxygen tank, some crates, two Green Fly TVs, and a floating metallic cube with an image of a newborn's face on two sides. The cube will spin in place slowly unless the player destroys it with Gex's attacks. The cube even has some collision that allows the player to jump on top of it. It's unknown who this infant is, but it is presumably a production baby raised by one of the game's developers.
