History VideoGame / PennAndTellersSmokeAndMirrors

* DevelopersForesight: Thought you could cheat your way through Desert Bus by holding down the A button with something? Too bad the bus constantly veers to the right to stop this.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Thought you could cheat your way through Desert Bus by holding down the A button with something? Too bad the bus constantly veers to the right to stop this.

* ''Desert Bus'': The most well-known among the minigames, where you must drive 360 miles from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas on a desolate highway, without being able to go faster than 45 MPH, and with the steering bus pulling slightly to the right to prevent you from simply putting a weight on the drive button to keep it moving. Has been a subject of ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun's'' ''WebVideo/DesertBusForHope'' charity drive, and has also been ported to [=iOS=] and Android devices with proceeds going towards Child's Play.

* EyeBeams: In ''Smoke and Mirror'', the Impossible difficulty setting has the player run into Creator/LouReed after one screen, who will shoot beams from his eyes at the player, who in turn is instantly killed.

* BladderOfSteel: The pause function is disabled during Desert Bus. This was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the developers.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In reality, the highway from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas, NV is [[https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tucson,+AZ/Las+Vegas,+NV/@34.0699704,-114.8157409,7z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x86d665410b2ced2b:0x73c32d384d16c715!2m2!1d-110.926479!2d32.2217429!1m5!1m1!1s0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3!2m2!1d-115.1398296!2d36.1699412 more than 360 miles long and is not a straight line.]]
** Also, it goes through Phoenix.

* TakeThat: Several, including buzzwords like "blast processing" (''Sun Scorcher'' with "thermographics") and perceptions of "realistic" video games (''Desert Bus'')

--> "This is the Impossible difficulty, boys. Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the Sun."

* UnwinnableJokeGame: In ''Smoke and Mirrors'', hyperbole is not in any way involved in the naming of the "Impossible" difficulty level; Music/LouReed appears and kills the duo, then tells the player, "Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the Sun."

* ''Desert Bus'': The most well-known among the minigames, where you must drive 360 miles from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas on a desolate highway, without being able to go faster than 45 MPH, and with the steering bus pulling slightly to the right. Has been a subject of ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun's'' ''WebVideo/DesertBusForHope'' charity drive, and has also been ported to [=iOS=] and Android devices with proceeds going towards Child's Play.

* DrivingGame: The infamous ''Desert Bus'' minigame simulating an eight-hour drive from Tucson to Las Vegas -- in real time, with no pause button, in a bus with a top speed of 45 mph and a tendency for the steering to drift (which meant that you couldn't just leave it running unattended or the bus would crash -- whereupon it would be towed back to Tucson, still in real time, and you'd have to start again).

* TheDevTeamThoughtOfEverything: Thought you could cheat your way through Desert Bus by holding down the A button with something? Too bad the bus constantly veers to the right to stop this.

* DrivingGame: The famous ''Desert Bus'' minigame simulating an eight-hour drive from Tucson to Las Vegas -- in real time, with no pause button, in a bus with a top speed of 45 mph and a tendency for the steering to drift (which meant that you couldn't just leave it running unattended or the bus would crash -- whereupon it would be towed back to Tucson, still in real time, and you'd have to start again).

* UnwinnableJokeGame: In ''Smoke and Mirrors'', hyperbole is not in any way involved in the naming of the "Impossible" difficulty level; Lou Reed appears and kills the duo, then tells the player, "Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the Sun."

* AllThereInTheManual: The elements of the game are not immediately obvious to those who just catch a glimpse at the game. The manual is designed so the owner can set up the tricks in order to fool his friends.

'''''Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors''''' is a 1995 game featuring illusionist duo Creator/PennAndTeller. It was made for the [[SegaGenesis Sega CD]]. Although the game was completed, it was unreleased when its publisher, Absolute Games, went bankrupt, although the game had appeared in gaming publications beforehand. It resurfaced years later when an owner to a website that documents unreleased games received a copy from an initial reviewer.

'''''Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors''''' is a 1995 game featuring illusionist duo Creator/PennAndTeller. I was made for the [[SegaGenesis Sega CD]]. Although the game was completed, it was unreleased when its publisher, Absolute Games, went bankrupt, although the game had appeared in gaming publications beforehand. It resurfaced years later when an owner to a website that documents unreleased games received a copy from an initial reviewer.

''Creator/PennAndTeller's Smoke and Mirrors'' was a 1995 game made for [[SegaGenesis Sega CD]]. Although the game was completed, it was unreleased when its publisher, Absolute Games, went bankrupt, although the game had appeared in gaming publications beforehand. It resurfaced years later when an owner to a website that documents unreleased games received a copy from an initial reviewer.

The Mini-Games are as follows:
* ''Desert Bus'': The most well-known among the minigames, where you must drive 360 miles from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas on a desolate highway, without going anywhere beyond 45 MPH. Has been a subject of LoadingReadyRun's DesertBusForHope charity drive, and is also ported to [=iOS=] and Android devices with proceeds going towards Child's Play.
* ''Mofo the Psychic Gorilla'': A gorilla claims to have psychic powers and asks questions to predict the card a player draws from the deck. [[spoiler:The trick to it takes practice for the owner, and involves knowing the card the player pulls out. The player then secretly enters a code and then the exact card.]]
* ''Buzz Bombers'': Claims to be a demo for an "upcoming" two-player arcade shooter. [[spoiler:The trick is that no matter what happens, player one (the owner) always gets a higher score and wins. There are also codes and cheats that player one has in case player two gets suspicious and for instance wishes to trade controllers.]]
* ''What's Your Sign'': Penn & Teller uses the Personometer to determine the player's sign as well as his/her birthday. [[spoiler:The trick is that the owner enters the birthdate in advance; in the same secret menu, the duo makes their views on Astrology known]]
* ''Sun Scorcher'': A space shooter which involves the use of "thermographics", as well as unskippable disclaimers that such features make the screen dangerous to touch. [[spoiler:The trick is for the owner to enter a code which enables the television to give an appearance of going static after the third "thermographic" burst, coupled with tricking the unwary player into thinking that such thing is indeed dangerous (ie the owner touches the screen at the right moment just before it goes static)]]

!!The mini-games contain examples of:

* EyeBeams: Lou Reed in ''Smoke and Mirror'''s Impossible difficulty.
* FullMotionVideo: Particularly as it's made late in the Sega CD's run and unreleased.

* UnwinnableByDesign[=/=]UnwinnableJokeGame: In ''Smoke and Mirrors'', hyperbole is not in any way involved in the naming of the "Impossible" difficulty level; Lou Reed appears and kills the duo, then tells the player, "Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the Sun."

* TakeThat: Several, including buzzwords like "blast processing", perceptions of "realistic" video games

* ''Desert Bus'': The most well-known among the minigames, where you must drive 360 miles from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas on a desolate highway, without going anywhere beyond 45 MPH. Has been a subject of LoadingReadyRun's annual charity drive, and is also ported to [=iOS=] and Android devices with proceeds going towards Child's Play.

* ''Mofo the Psychic Gorilla'': A gorilla claims to have psychic powers and asks questions to predict the card a player draws from the deck. [[spoiler:The trick to it takes practice for the owner, and involves knowing the card the player pulls out in advance. The player then secretly enters a code and then the exact card.]]