History AluminumChristmasTrees / VideoGames

** Speaking of the lottery in Nipton, a radio broadcast mentions that the [[TheDragon Legate Lanius]] has instituted a form of punishment for [[YouHaveFailedMe "underperforming" units]] where after executing the officers, he orders nine-tenths of the unit to beat the remaining tenth to death. This may sound like a typical example of post-apocalyptic brutality, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army) this was a real practice in the Roman army]], from which modern English speakers get the word "decimation", with the unfortunate tenth determined by drawing lots.

** Speaking of the lottery in Nipton, a radio broadcast mentions that the brutal Legate Lanius has instituted a form of punishment where he divided a group of Legionares into groups of ten, and had the tenth man beaten to death by the other nine. This may sound like a typical example of post-apocalyptic brutality, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army) this was a real practice in the Roman army]], from which modern English speakers get the word "decimation", with the unfortunate tenth man determined by drawing lots.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Doctor Eggman's real name is "Ivo Robotnik" and it isn't just a fake PunnyName. "Robotnik" is an actual Eastern European, specifically Polish and Slovak, word which translates to "worker". Even his first name, "Ivo", is Slavic.

* At the start of [[VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest The 11th Hour]], Carl Denning is shipped a small, laptop-like handheld device called the [=GameBook=], which he has no idea how to use. The prop he uses in the live action cutscenes is actually a Palmtop PC, similar to the [[Atari Portfolio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Portfolio]], which were somewhat common in the 90's when the game was released, and were the predecessors to cell phones and [=PDAs=]. Doesn't quite explain how Henry Stauf and [[MissionControl Samantha Ford]] can directly communicate with Carl through it, though.

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series has a RunningGag of making FunWithAcronyms {{exp|y}}ies of real life police forces, such as [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV N.O.O.S.E]], so you'd be forgiven for thinking that [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas C.R.A.S.H.]] is another silly Rockstar joke. Not only was it a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources_Against_Street_Hoodlums very real]] former spec ops division of the LAPD, but ''San Andreas''' BigBad, Officer Tenpenny and the leader of C.R.A.S.H. in the game, is an Expy of [[DirtyCop Rafael Antonio Pérez]], one of the real-life C.R.A.S.H.'s most notorious members. Amusingly, if anything, the ''GTA'' version of C.R.A.S.H. is ''less'' corrupt and over-the-top than the real organization was; the real group had more than 70 proven corrupt officers, whereas the ''SA'' C.R.A.S.H. is limited to two corrupt officers and one less-than-willing accomplice.

** The antlions depicted in ''SimAnt'', however, were shown perfectly accurately.
** Another appearance by antlions is in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''-- the Trapinch line are based on them.
*** Many a Pokemon fan complained about Trapinch's seemingly random evolution from a small, orange, big-headed bug into a green dragonfly-like creature, not realizing that it's based on the actual life cycle of the antlion.

** The majority of fans don't realise that "Master Chief" (or, more formally, Master Chief Petty Officer) is an actual rank in the US Navy. This has been exacerbated from the rank's use in fiction being heavily subject to the OneMarioLimit, and other Master Chiefs in fiction tend ot have their rank glossed over and/or only referred to by the "MCPO" abbreviation.

** The ocarina, featured in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', was a real musical instrument, present in many world cultures, sometimes for millennia. The model as seen in the game was developed mid-19th century. Not only is the ocarina a real instrument, there was a real version of the ocarina from the game made and sold. It looks exactly like the one in the game and is playable. Unfortunately, you can't toggle night/day with it, nor can you use it to teleport yourself.
** The rupee is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupee real currency]], used in places like India and Pakistan. Although, real rupees are represented by coins and bills like most other modern forms of currency, not colorful gems.

* The CopyProtection of ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry5PassionatePattiDoesALittleUndercoverWork'' (the Aerodork pamphlet) includes many destinations that sound fake, being [[UnfortunateNames overtly sexual]] (Intercourse, PA; Spread Eagle, WI; Loveladies, NJ; etc.) All of these towns/cities are real.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' had singing sand imported from Nariko, Japan. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_sand Singing sand exists, as it can be found all of the world, and it does make a squeaking noise when stepped on]]. However, there is no Nariko sand.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Doctor Eggman's real name is "Ivo Robotnik" and it isn't just a fake PunnyName. It's an actual Eastern European, specifically Polish and Slovak, word which translates to "worker". Even his first name, "Ivo", is Slavic.

* Certain ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' games show the local PD employing some six-digit exotics to chase down lawbreakers that most taxpayers would probably vote against in real life. However some law enforcement agencies (particularly in Europe) really do have some very nice wheels, such as a Lamborghini Gallardo that currently serves in an Italian police force interception squad. Some British police forces have adopted the Subaru Impreza WRX or Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popular cars in the RealLife tuner scene, for motorway policing duties on the grounds that it takes one to catch one.

* The [[UsefulNotes/MuramasaAndMasamune Masamune and Muramasa's]] status as {{Public Domain Artifact}}s and their frequent appearances in [=JRPGs=] like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' may lead some gamers to assume that they are mythical swords, like Gram or Excalibur. In fact, they're real-life masterworks more akin to a Stradivarius instrument. Not only were Masamune and Muramasa historically real swordsmiths, there wasn't even "the" Masamune or Muramasa blade; several specimens of both still exist today in museums and private collections, and they occasionally appear at auction for the sufficiently lucky and/or wealthy collector to obtain. (That said, "the" Masamune is often considered the suitably storied (and suitably lost) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masamune#Honj%C5%8D_Masamune Honjo Masamune]].)

* At one point in ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', nutbar conspiracy theorist Steven Heck asks the protagonist, à propos of nothing, if he knew the CIA once wired a live cat with radio equipment back in the 60s. Operation Acoustic Kitty [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty really]] [[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB54/st27.pdf happened]].

* The [[MascotMook Big Daddy Bouncer]] from ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' is actually based on a real-life diving suit, specifically the French [[http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Bouncer?file=Carmagnolle_001.jpg Carmagnolle]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' features a lot of crazy weapon concepts: [[GatlingGood Belt-fed Gatling assault rifles,]] [[UpToEleven and rocket launchers]], weapons that get more accurate with sustained fire, weapons that are [[ThrowAwayGuns thrown away instead of reloading them]]... Among these, [[TestosteronePoisoning Torgue]] guns [[AbnormalAmmo shooting miniature missiles]] seem like another crazy invention of the development team, but no. Those are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet Gyrojets]], and those did exist.

* Among the many issues fans take in regard to historical accuracy in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWWII'' is that there are a number of Soviet-made weapons being used by Wehrmacht in both the multiplayer and single player modes. However, the Wehrmacht ''did'' field a number of Soviet weapons in their arsenal. Following the first successful months of Operation Barbarossa, the German military acquired so much Soviet material that they issued them to second-line troops. Among the most popular of these were the [=PPSh-41=] Sub-Machinegun and the [=SVT-40=] semi-automatic rifle; the latter was in such widespread use that the Germans issued field manuals for them. In addition, the period in which the campaign takes place is towards the end of the war, when the desperate Germans were issuing whatever they had in storage to front-line troops in the face of the Allied bombing campaign's destruction of their industrial infrastructure.

* ''VideoGame/CrimsonSkies'' (The DieselPunk TropeCodifier of VideoGames) has [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld Zeppelins]] that [[FlyingAircraftCarrier carry]] most of the [[CoolPlane planes]] and deploy and dock them mid-air using a trapeze hook. Seems unrealistic but it is a real technique for operating aircraft from [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/F9C-2_Sparrowhawk_fighter.jpg zeppelins.]] Want to shoot one down? [[MadeOfExplodium Easy right?]] Not in this game. This is surprisingly realistic, since many of the airships of the time were either helium-filled or using a hydrogen/helium double-cell system, and even pure-hydrogen rigid-frame zeppelins are surprisingly hard to ignite without incendiary/explosive rounds. ''Rockets'', on the other hand...
* The "Cadaver Synod" global event that pops up in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'' whenever a Pope with the "Wicked Priest" dies, in which his successor digs up his corpse and puts him on trial for his crimes posthumously, is sometimes assumed to be yet another of Paradox's tongue-in-cheek gags by new players -- but the inspiration is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaver_Synod entirely historical]].
* In ''[[VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans Destroy All Humans 2]]'', while in the Takoshima map (Japan's FictionalCounterpart), reading the mind of some of the male residents will reveal that they want to become geishas. They will then challenge the player to look up the fact that the [[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/04/the-secret-world-of-male-geishas.html first geishas were men]].

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** [[MascotMook Mud Crabs]] are an [[GiantEnemyCrab aggressive, roughly tortoise-sized crab species]] found in many varieties throughout Tamriel. You'd be easily forgiven for thinking they're fictional, but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scylla_serrata you'd be wrong]]. (The ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' variety even looks somewhat like the real thing.)
** Ebony is a series' staple of a high-tier {{Fantasy Metal|s}}, functioning somewhat like Obsidian and theorized to be the petrified blood of the mortal world's [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]]. Ebony does exist in real life, however, it is not a stone. It is actually a dense black wood taken from ebony trees found in India and parts of Africa. It's so dense it sinks in water, and is mainly used for ornamental stuff like chess pieces and piano keys.
** Wherever they appear in the series', Tamriel's native Sabre Cats have large, stocky, bear-like bodies as opposed to the sleeker, more slender appearance of modern real-life big cats. This understandably gives players the impression that Sabre Cats are are fantastic hybrid animals, like a griffon or a manticore. They are actually pretty much one-to-one copies of the genus ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilodon Smilodon]]''.

* One of ''F/A-18 Hornet'''s final missions, "Hole in One", has you destroy a nuclear shell-firing "supergun" built on the side of a mountain. One of these was actually partially constructed as part of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon Project Babylon]].
* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': In this game, there's a whole underhanded power struggle between various nations, between surface and the Neath, where diplomats, spies and agents of all sorts clash. Calling it "The Great Game" seems a little odd, perhaps a bit of dark humor considering who the pawns are in here, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game there was an actual Great Game, and it included most of the involved nations]].

** The Fat Man portable nuclear catapult? [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29 It's a real thing.]] The [=M-29 Davy Crockett Weapons System=], also known as the [[CuteAsABouncingBetty "Little Feller" project]], used a mortar-style launch system rather than a mechanical catapult, but the mininuke projectiles look virtually identical down to the paintjob. The project was even canceled for a reason that most players quickly realize shortly after first using a Fat Man: NuclearWeaponsTaboo aside, it is a '''Very Bad Idea[[TradeSnark ™]]''' to be standing anywhere ''near'' the potential blast radius of a small nuclear missile with unfortunate accuracy issues and no "abort" option once fired. The device is a bit different thing than its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man in-game namesake]], however, which was far larger.

** [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} Raven Rock]] is a real [[http://whitehouse.gov1.info/raven-rock/ underground military command center]]. You could be forgiven for thinking it was a [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]] reference. In fact, the location in Morrowind was named after the real-life complex in Maryland, not too far geographically from the physical location of Bethesda Game Studios.

** Some of the ways mutation and exposure to nuclear fallout affect things in the games aren't too far off from what would happen in reality. As outlandish as Brahmin seem, two headed cattle happen from time to time, even without nuclear fallout involved. The Yao Guai in ''3'' (not the giant ones in ''New Vegas'') are basically just black bears that lost most of their hair. The idea of mutated animals like this forming new species isn't outlandish either, nuclear testing in the pacific did the same thing with sharks.

*** Most of the towns and settlements in the game are real. New Vegas is obvious, and Primm and Boulder City slightly less so, but Goodsprings, Nipton, Sloan, and Nelson are all real towns near the California-Nevada border (though all are ''very'' sparsely populated today, with Nipton being the most populous with around ''60'' inhabitants).

*** NCR Correctional Facility's real life counterpart is the now-defunct Southern Nevada Correctional Center.
*** The real world Whiskey Pete's Casino in Primm houses the exhibit of Bonnie & Clyde's death car, who were the basis for the Fallout verse's Vikki & Vance and the casino of that name.

*** The Helios One power plant is present in the real world as Nevada Solar One.

*** Sarsaparilla really does have a history of health scares and sensationalist reporting- the sarsaparilla plant was mixed with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras Sassafras]] in many traditional root beer recipes...until it was discovered that a major component of sassafras oil, Safrole, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safrole#Toxicity is both carcinogenic and has multiple adverse metabolic effects]]. While sarsaparilla itself is fine, the link has lead to periodically resurfacing urban legends {{misblam|ed}}ing sarsaparilla as the toxic component thanks to confusion between "sarsaparilla the alternate name for root beer" and "sarsaparilla the plant".

** Far Harbor from the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' expansion of the same name is based on a real town, Bar Harbor, on Maine's Mt. Desert Island, and Acadia, the synth settlement, is the real-life name of the national park there.

*** Speaking of Sanctuary Hills, one might think that the houses in this neighborhood are merely a result of the developer's imagination. However, they're actually a very accurate reproduction of Lustron Homes - a style of house that was assembled, rather than built, from 1948-1950. The largest remaining collection of such homes exist on the U.S. Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, and thanks to their porcelain coated steel plating, look very much like they did when they were first built.
*** The quest "Trouble Brewin'" has you recover a beer-brewing robot named Drinking Buddy. Two years before the game's release, a team of North Irish beer craftsmen, with the aid of Kickstarter, developed a real automatic brewing machine, appropriately named [[http://www.brewbot.io/ Brewbot]].

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series has a RunningGag of making FunWithAcronyms {{exp|y}}ies of real life police forces, such as [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV N.O.O.S.E]], so you'd be forgiven for thinking that [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas C.R.A.S.H.]] is another silly Rockstar joke. Not only was it a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources_Against_Street_Hoodlums very real]] former spec ops division of the LAPD, but ''San Andreas''' BigBad, Officer Tenpenny and the leader of C.R.A.S.H. in the game, is an Expy of [[DirtyCop Rafael Antonio Pérez]], one of the real-life C.R.A.S.H.'s most notorious members.

*** Many a Pokemon fan complained about Trapinch's seemingly random evolution from a small, orange, big-headed bug into a green dragonfly-like creature, not realizing that it's based on the actual life cycle of the Ant Lion.

** The majority of fans don't realise that "Master Chief" (or, more formally, Master Chief Petty Officer) is an actual rank in the US Navy. This has been exacerbated from the rank's use in fiction being heavily subject to the OneMarioLimit.
** Many of the UNSC weapons in the series are based on real life weapons, such as the shotgun with its strange, top-loading feature being based on the South African Neostead 2000. The development team actually had to cut some of the odder features of the real guns, like the Neostead working by pumping forward instead of backwards, or the SMG's original reloading animation, which would had included pushing a 'stick' of caseless ammunition into the feed port, then breaking it off to avert OneBulletClips. For extra fun, the Assault Rifle of [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved the first game]] was designed as a concept of what a futuristic bullpup assault rifle would look like, but between nailing down the design and releasing the game, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_F2000 F2000]] was released, and ended up heavily featured in [[VideoGame/SplinterCell another popular Xbox game]] just a year later.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' has Sea Salt Ice Cream, which is a favorite of many a character from the second game on. It sounds too weird to exist and if it did, the salt would lower the freezing point of the mixture, making it difficult to maintain a solid form in the real world. Not only does this stuff exist, it's sold in Tokyo Disneyland, where the creator of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' tried it and loved it so much he put in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''.

** Though the milk bars found in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' may sound like they're just child friendly versions of a real bar, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_bar milk bars do exist in real life]]. Unlike the milk bars found in games, the real milk bars served other drinks besides milk based ones and they don't serve alcoholic milk (which is what the Chateau Romani implies). Speaking of alcoholic milk, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis they actually exist]].

* When ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorWarfighter'' came out, many people made fun of the subtitle, not realizing that Warfighter is a [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/warfighter real life Military term]].
* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':
** The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series is what the world would be like if the fringe military research projects actually worked. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA Mind control]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project psychic soldiers]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomological_warfare weaponized animals]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_ground_vehicle robot assassins]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative space lasers]], and most of the rest of it have all been given serious research dollars at one time or another.

*** This may have been the case in terms of the weaponry, since they sounded and looked exotic enough to a lot of gamers first exposed to them. Every weapon is real, except the Nikita (though the concept is in missiles such as the TOW) and personal chaff grenades (chaff is usually an aircraft thing). Since then, these weapons introduced in the series have become staples of video game arsenals, in some cases moreso than in reality (the SOCOM pistol and FAMAS rifle having since dropped by the wayside due to issues with weight, performance, and/or budget).
*** The Ear Pull event that Vulcan Raven mentions [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_pull is a very much real event]] designed to test endurance, although some Arctic Sports communities have banned it due to the squeamishness of their audience and the inherent danger it poses to the competitors (bleeding, stitches and the like). The Stick Pull and Four Man Carry events mentioned in ''The Twin Snakes'' are also real events in the Eskimo-Indian Olympics. Even [[http://www.weio.org/mm_videos/index.php?VidCat=2001&VidID=2001MuktukEatingContest&PHPSESSID=bff5291976721a438b9a4dd40862aa31 the Muktuk Eating Contest]] mentioned in the PSX version mentioned is a real event, meaning Snake wasn't just being snarky about Raven's size.

* The bar "plastic model" shown in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' really exists. It's the favorite place of Suda51.

* The [[UsefulNotes/MuramasaAndMasamune Masamune and Muramasa's]] status as {{Public Domain Artifact}}s and their frequent appearances in [=JRPGs=] like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' may lead some gamers to assume that they are mythical swords, like Gram or Excalibur. In fact, they're real-life masterworks more akin to a Stradivarius instrument. Not only were Masamune and Muramasa historically real swordsmiths, there wasn't even "the" Masamune or Muramasa blade; several specimens of both still exist today in museums and private collections, and they occasionally appear at auction for the lucky. (That said, "the" Masamune is often considered the suitably storied (and suitably lost) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masamune#Honj%C5%8D_Masamune Honjo Masamune]].)

* The [[UsefulNotes/MuramasaAndMasamune Masamune and Muramasa's]] status as {{Public Domain Artifact}}s and their frequent appearances in [=JRPGs=] like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' may lead some gamers to assume that they are mythical swords, like Gram or Excalibur. In fact, they're real-life masterworks more akin to a Stradivarius instrument. Not only were Masamune and Muramasa historically real swordsmiths, there wasn't even "the" Masamune or Muramasa blade; several specimens of both still exist today in museums and private collections, and they occasionally appear at auction for the lucky (and/or [[CrackIsCheaper sufficiently-wealthy]]) enthusiast to buy. (That said, "the" Masamune is often considered the suitably storied (and suitably lost) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masamune#Honj%C5%8D_Masamune Honjo Masamune]].)

* The famous GoodBadTranslation from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets". This is a BlindIdiotTranslation that happens to be funny, right? No, that's an excerpt from French novelist André Malraux's 1967 autobiography ''[[https://legendsoflocalization.com/lets-investigate-a-miserable-pile-of-secrets/ Antimémoires]]''.

** Ditto for the nuclear cars, too. The idea was actually explored with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon Ford Nucleon]], but (thankfully) never put into production.

* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo'''s mechanic of inserting a tampon into a bullet wound as emergency care received much derision from professional reviewers despite the developer's insistence that their consultant told them (and as some independent investigations [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tampons-to-the-rescue/ have concluded]]) this is something some real armed combatants actually do.

** Although the regions might seem like a fictional world, several mentioned places like Tunguska in Russia are recognised as real places. The Kanto region is named after a part of Japan, and several of the towns correspond to real cities in the area (for instance, Vermillion City is based on Yokohama, and Saffron City and Celadon City are supposed to represent different parts of Tokyo). Even the Cycling Road is based off [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Bay_Aqua-Line a real bridge]], which was being built in Tokyo Bay during the game's production.

** Although the regions might seem like a fictional world, several mentioned places like Tunguska in Russia are recognised as real places. The Kanto region is named after a part of Japan.

** The ocarina, featured in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', was a real musical instrument, present in many world cultures, sometimes for millennia. The model as seen in the game was developed mid-19-century. Not only is the ocarina a real instrument, there was a real version of the ocarina from the game made and sold. It looks exactly like the one in the game and is playable. Unfortunately, you can't toggle night/day with it, nor can you use it to teleport yourself.

** Also, [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]] on aircraft for direct offensive purposes sounds completely science-fiction, especially considering the weird airplane it's mounted to that literally opens up to aim the laser in the games... but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1 lasers were actually considered as a method for intercepting ICBMs]]. Only problem was that they were completely impractical at it for various reasons (primarily for the reason that if one was within the range to shoot down an enemy ICMB, the enemy probably wasn't exactly in a state where they would ''want'' to), which even the series itself lampshades when the actual YAL-1 shows up for a mission in ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'' to shoot down a missile... and gets shot down itself before it can do anything.

* Among the many issues fans take in regard to historical accuracy in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWWII'' is that there are a number of Soviet-made weapons being used by Wehrmacht in both the multiplayer and single player modes. However, the Wehrmacht ''did'' field a number of Soviet weapons in their arsenal. Following the first successful months of Operation Barbarossa, the German military acquired so much Soviet material that they issued them to second-line troops. Among the most popular of these were the [=PPSh-41=] Sub-Machinegun and the [=SVT-40=] semi-automatic rifle, the later in such widespread use that the Germans issued field manuals for them. In addition, the period in which the campaign takes place is towards the end of the war, when the desperate Germans were issuing whatever they had in storage to front-line troops in the face of the Allied bombing campaign's destruction of their industrial infrastructure.

** There is a real [[http://robertpope.net/ Robert Pope & Associates]] architectural firm in Chicago, and a [[www.callaghanconstruction.com Callaghan Construction Corp.]] in the greater New York City area.

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'''s [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer cavernous storm drains]] are modeled after Tokyo's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Area_Outer_Underground_Discharge_Channel Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel]], whose immense size is to handle typhoon and tsunami flooding.