History HarsherInHindsight / VideoGames

* Try playing the other ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' games after finding out in ''Shattered Soldier'' that [[spoiler:the aliens invaded Earth because [[WellIntentionedExtremist the Triumvirate had secretly stolen a sacred relic from them]], and that Lance Bean became a WellIntentionedExtremist himself by trying to overthrow the Triumvirate.]] And try playing ''Shattered Soldier'' after [[spoiler:seeing Lucia become one of the members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad that must be defeated]]. And try playing ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' after ''Shattered Soldier'' [[spoiler:if you interpret Bahamut and Leviathan as Bill and Lance]].

* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest 2'' when you hit pause you get a screen saying that every cop needs a break now and then. The unpause option on the screen? The words: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_roll Let's roll]]!" It doesn't seem like much until you happen to pause the game as you try to defeat the terrorists on the airplane.

* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest 2'', an easy source of money early in the game is to sell off the sidearms for those officers you don't intend to immediately send off on call. [[GoodBadBugs Funny then]]... less so when the LAPD's SWAT team was investigated for doing essentially the same thing.

* The pre-War issues in the Fallout franchise have a lot in common with real-world issues in the early 2020's:

* Another case that involved the death of Creator/LiamNeeson's wife: the character he voiced for the game ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' loses his wife in the intro sequence.

--> '''Carlov:''' Ah, well, no worries one way or the other. We've been losing members due to our lack of "gimmicky attractions"...but we don't worry. True fans know we're the coolest.

* [[Characters/TouhouProject Utsuho Reiuji]], a character from the Touhou series, is a nuclear raven girl inspired by Chernobyl. [[http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/03/japans-nuclear-meltdown.html Now that Japan had a nuclear crisis itself]], let's just say don't be surprised if she is claimed by ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. It doesn't help that one of Tenshi's victory quotes against her in the fighting games is, "Say, you're not related to the earthquake on the surface, right? Right?" For that matter, Tenshi herself has come under fire for this, as she had stated she wanted to set off a massive earthquake on the surface world.

* Meta-example from ''VideoGame/YoKaiWatch'': When promoting ''Yo-Kai Watch 2'' at E3 2016, Akihiro Hino suggested that [[TemptingFate the games would follow the same pattern as they did in Japan]], and that the series would "bloom like a flower" in a year's time. Fast-forward a year, and the sequels not only wound up selling significantly less than they did in Japan; [[http://nintendoeverything.com/level-5-ceo-on-current-state-of-the-yo-kai-watch-series-wants-to-bring-back-older-players/ but the series also experienced a decline in popularity there that has caused Hino to reconsider the future of the series.]]

*** In the fourth case of ''Part 2: Resolve'', Ryunosuke and Susato take a picture with the newly arrived in England Yujin Mikotoba and Judge Seishiro Jigoku as a commemorative pohoto. It's a sweet moment, even if Ryunosuke's pose is a bit stiff and Seishiro's suitcase kind of sticks out. Fast forward to next chapter, and it's revealed that [[spoiler:Seishiro's suitcase has Gregson's dead body inside]]. Yup, they're taking a picture with [[spoiler:a dead body]], and yup they let [[spoiler:a criminal carry a dead body in and out of a hotel just like that]]. Not exactly a commemorative photo anyone wants to keep anymore, isn't it?

*** Many people in places Dhoulmagus attacks end up repeating his Catchphrase, "Such a pity". It turns out this is something much more sinister than just Got Me Doing It...

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'': As seen in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'' distant sequel ''Caravan Hearts'' (which takes place 200 years later), Moonbrooke lies in ruins. This either means that the Princess was unable to restore her castle; or she restored the castle and it was destroyed again. Though, oddly, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'' directly contradicts this, stating that the reconstruction of Moonbrooke is, as far as the Builder and Lulu knows, proceeding apace, which comes up concerning certain story beats in that game.

* ''VideoGame/LiberalCrimeSquad'' by Tarn Adams (of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' fame) was made in the 2000s as a political satire in which conservatives, Republicans in particular, are portrayed as comically evil fascists who, if they win, will enact a discriminatory police state with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan as GodEmperor, as an obvious parody to the idea of 'liberal = inherently good' and 'conservative = inherently evil'. Skip forward to post-2016 America and some Republican politicians have been associating with the fascistically aligned Alt-Right, openly conservative media like Fox News got even more rabidly right-wing, right-wing extremist violence has risen, and in 2021 the supporters of [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump a Republican president]] tried (and failed) in a political coup to reinstate him after he lost the election.

* ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptunia'', a game where you play as several goddesses of Console anthromorphisms out to fight Majiquone (an AnthropomorphicPersonification of [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil Flashcarts and Custom Firmware]]) was launched on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3. Just a month later, hackers broke into the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork, forcing the service to shut down for months.

* In ''VideoGame/GhostRecon'', released in 2002 and set in 2008, a war between NATO and an Ultranationalist Russia starts off with the Russians backing Georgian separatists in an invasion of Georgia. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Osetia_war Fast forward to 2008 and]]...

* ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'': Let's just say that RunningGag about Youmu Konpaku idolizing Sakuya Izayoi as her OneeSama to ridiculous proportions gets less meaning or could be unfunny as Youmu gets included in ''Touhou 13'' without Sakuya, who's more probably [[GreenEyedMonster jealous like hell]]. Then again, Sakuya did say that she was just a maid and that the role was for... something. It was in the dialogue for one of the games.

* ''VideoGame/LiberalCrimeSquad'' by Tarn Adams (of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' fame) was made in the 2000s as a political satire in which conservatives, Republicans in particular, are portrayed as comically evil fascists who, if they win, will enact a discriminatory police state with Ronald Reagan as GodEmperor, as an obvious parody to the idea of 'liberal = inherently good' and 'conservative = inherently evil'. Skip forward to post-2016 America and some Republican politicians have been associating with the fascistically aligned Alt-Right, openly conservative media like Fox News got even more rabidly right-wing, right-wing extremist violence has risen, and in 2021 the supporters of a Republican president tried (and failed) in a political coup to reinstate him after he lost the election.

* Try playing the other ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' games after finding out in ''Shattered Soldier'' that [[spoiler:the aliens invaded Earth because [[WellIntentionedExtremist the Triumvirate had secretly stolen a sacred relic from them]], and that Lance Bean became a WellIntentionedExtremist himself by trying to overthrow the Triumvirate.]] And try playing ''Shattered Soldier'' after [[spoiler:seeing Lucia become one of the members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad that must be defeated]].

* In ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings'', Ninten can sometimes get a cold (a damage-over-time status ailment that can be cured by using Mouthwash or going to the doctor) just by talking to various [=NPCs=]. This mechanic, while realistic, is not very well-liked, since this game and its sequels have plenty of colorful [=NPCs=] with interesting things to say, and it adds an unnecessary level of risk to NPC interactions. The COVID-19 outbreak forced people to take part in social distancing to curtail the spread of the virus, which can spread through close contact. As a result, many people had to give up many face-to-face social interactions with friends and family that they'd taken for granted.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Lisa}}: The Joyful'', wearing a mask is essential to protect yourself from a population of men ready to rape you at first sight. In real life, wearing a mask has become essential to protect yourself from coronavirus.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the boss Hakkar used the debuff Corrupted Blood, which spreads to other players nearby the player who has that debuff. Then griefers immediately found out and started intentionally killing major cities with it, resulting in faction cities having corpses everywhere. Now, in early 2020, it's happening in real life with the Coronavirus/COVID-19, which has been blamed for nearly 350,000 deaths. The virus is also contagious like Corrupted Blood.

* In the first level of the forgotten NES game ''Tetrastar: The Fighter'', aliens destroy the Statue of Liberty and then go for the World Trade Center, whose destruction the player can prevent.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII,'' one comes at the beginning of Act II. The Viscount of Kirkwall is becoming exasperated over the growing problems with the Qunari, and humorously grumbles, "I really should spend more time with my son. This life is just too short." [[spoiler:They're both dead by the end of the Act. Too short indeed.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', [[GenreSavvy Varric]] gets annoyed with Hawke for TemptingFate while [[spoiler:in the Fade.]] A funny little exchange between [[HeterosexualLifePartners two extremely]] [[PlatonicLifePartners close friends]] [[spoiler:that comes about five minutes before a situation where Hawke (potentially) pulls a HeroicSacrifice to allow the others to escape]].
** In a similar vein, Varric also has a few banters with [[{{Fangirl}} Cassandra]] where they talk about his books. In one such banters, he explains how he likes to [[spoiler:make his characters suffer, and even "throw in a [[HeroicSacrifice heroic death]]"]].

* Two in ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario Super Sluggers]]'', both relating to the "close play" feature. At third base and home plate, if a fielder receives the ball just as a baserunner approaches, the runner can attack the fielder thereby jarring the ball loose. Since the game was released, UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball instituted two rule changes, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks both unpopular with fans]]. In the 2014 season, MLB brought in the Posey rule which prevents catchers from blocking the plate unless they have the ball. Two seasons later, a rule was added prohibiting takeout slides unless the baserunner makes contact with the bag.

* The arcade game ''VideoGame/MichaelJacksonsMoonwalker'' might be [[WidgetSeries weird enough]], but it just gets creepier ([[HilariousInHindsight or sillier]]) each year: You ''touch kids'' to gain points and powerups, or touch Bubbles the Chimp to get a super cyborg transformation. One of the attacks is Michael grabbing his crotch. And then there's the dance attack: Jackson does his moonwalker gig, and it wipes out all the enemies on the screen. WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd lampshaded it during in his review of the game.

* The first ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' game already failed to see a Japanese release because of 9/11, but then a remake of the game set for April, 2022 was indefinitely delayed worldwide because the first mission of the first game involved a fictitious version of Russia attempting to launch a world invasion, similar to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.

** The Kanto region also features an abandoned and ruined power plant, in about the same spot where the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant exists in RealLife. ''Tokai was one of the plants which faced meltdown after the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami.'' Since Pokémon is implied to occur in a parallel universe, It makes one wonder where Pokémon [[AfterTheEnd really]] [[NuclearMutant came]] [[FridgeHorror from]], [[RagnarokProofing and how long the ruins have been there]]...

** Previously in CT, during Bang's story, when he met Litchi trying to converse with Arakune, he immediately thinks she's a DistressedDamsel that Arakune is trying to brainwash. This scene is PlayedForLaughs. Then in CS, per with the first aneurysm moment above, [[spoiler:Litchi became a {{Deconstruction}} of DistressedDamsel, a damsel pleading for help to those that can help her (Kokonoe) and flat out refused, thus [[ForcedIntoEvil forcing her to take the offer to join NOL because she's the only one who can save herself when everyone else turned her pleas down]]. Even more tragically, she's the type of not wanting to burden her friends with her problem, while this is noble, this made Bang, whom you can bet your ass will try to help if he knew the problem, become unaware of her distress to make a save.]] Damn.