History Main / ProductionThrowback

** Similarly, the Pizza Planet delivery van in every film since ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1''.

** Mike from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' appears swimming during the credits of ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''.

* Telltale's first game, ''Telltale Texas Hold'Em'' featured a mustached character named "Boris Krinkle", in which one possible line of dialogue has the character of Grandma telling him that he looks more like a 'Leonard Steakcharmer'." Naturally, when you first meet Leonard, sans mustache, in Telltale's ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' episode ''The Mole, The Mob, and The Meatball'', you get the option to say he looks more like a Boris Krinkle.
* Creator/HideoKojima has a habit of inserting references to his previous works in his newer works, beginning with ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', which included references to ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' (such as Gillian's robotic companion modeled after the Metal Gear mecha), and then with ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' (which referenced the Snatcher Project and canonized Dr. Pettrovich's surname as "Madnar"), ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'' (which included plenty of ''Metal Gear'' and ''Snatcher'' references), and the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial Drama Series'' (which included several ''Policenauts'' and ''Metal Gear Solid'' references). The most popular example is the {{transplant}} of Meryl Silverburgh, originally a ''Policenauts'' character, into ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.
** According to the artbook, Snake's long hair in the briefing sequence in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is supposed to be the same hairstyle as Jonathan from ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''. His ImportantHaircut is a joke signaling to the player that they should forget about ''Policenauts'', because it's time for ''Metal Gear Solid'' now.
** There was a strange RunningGag across Metal Gear's non-canonical stories with the mention of someone called "Dr. Koppelthorn". Mei Ling tries to quote this person in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' but is always cut off by Snake, and they're mentioned again in the same game in the ShowWithinAShow "[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5". Then, in External Gazer (one of the bonus stories in [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty MGS2]]: [[UpdatedRerelease Substance]]), a device called the Koppelthorn engine kickstarts the plot. Finally, VideoGame/MetalGearAcid2 introduced a Doctor Thomas Koppelthorn as a prominent character and one of the main antagonists.
* Before creating ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', Team Asymmetric created a game called Krakrox the Barbarian. At least one item from that game appears in Kol, the Ring of Half-Assed Regeneration.
** And there's also [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Empty_agua_de_vida_bottle an item]] that lets you play ''as'' Krakrox for a few adventures.
** And now Krakrox's Loincloth, "originally owned by the famous barbarian adventurer Krakrox," is part of the Seal Clubber's Legendary Regalia.
* The arcade version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' features the red sports car from Data East's ''VideoGame/RoadBlaster'' inside Billy and Jimmy's garage, as well as a billboard advertising ''[[VideoGame/KunioKun Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun]]'' (the Japanese version of ''Renegade'') just before the first boss battle. Both were games previously directed by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the director of ''Double Dragon''. In the arcade version of ''Double Dragon II'', the helicopter from ''Cobra Command'' (Kishimoto's other FMV game he did for Data East) appears in the garage at the beginning as well.
** The [=WayForward=]-developed ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls'' has a reversed situation by incorporating various ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' characters owned by Arc System Works, most notably the Lee brothers, Marian and Abobo, who are all clearly the ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon Neon]]'' incarnations of them since [=WayForward=] developed that game. [[spoiler:It even includes an appearance by its main villain Skullmageddon, still voiced by that game's director Sean Velasco.]]
* As mentioned on the ProductionForeshadowing page, ''VideoGame/{{Madworld}}'' has an ad in the subway for The Gates of Hell, the bar from ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', which was still in development at that time. Then, in ''Bayonetta'', ''Madworld'' receives a CallBack, at The Gates of Hell coincidentally.
--> '''Rodin''': No matter how much you ask, I'm not strapping a chainsaw to your arm. [[note]]''Madworld'''s protagonist, Jack, has a chainsaw attached to his arm.[[/note]]

* Creator/TobyFox has included remixes of his song "Megalovania" in various projects of his, most notably video games. First appearing as the final boss theme for ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'', it later appeared in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' (which he contributed music to), and its latest appearance being ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', where it plays during the boss fight with [[spoiler: Sans, during the Genocide route.]] ''Undertale'', particularly the endings and final bosses of its multiple routes, contains plenty of references to ''The Halloween Hack'', including [[spoiler:the Game Over screen during the Flowey boss fight being similar to Dr. Andonuts's, Sans claiming he's simply leaving when you mortally wound him being exactly what Andonuts did, and the final set of minibosses being called Amalgamates]].
* Creator/MasahiroSakurai was the man responsible for both ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', and both franchises have referenced each other from the start. Master Hand, the traditional FinalBoss of the latter series, was based on Wham Bam Rock from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', and even appeared alongside Crazy Hand from ''Melee'' in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' as the ninth boss. The remake of ''Super Star'', acknowledging the roots of Master Hand, made Wham Bam Rock a TrickBoss in one of the new modes while introducing Wham Bam Jewel, a nod to Crazy Hand.
* The ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'', made by Vicarious Visions as a remake of the original Naughty Dog trilogy, contains a musical reference to the VV-made ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2NTranced'' in the fight with Dr. Nefarious Tropy in the remake of the third game. Near the beginning of his battle theme, three repeating notes get emphasized more than in the original - the same notes that were repeated throughout most of Tropy's battle theme in ''N-Tranced''.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'':
** While the game largely cut back on Square-Enix characters beyond the Moogles, one notable exception was made. As the devs for the Gummi sections were from the team that made ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', that game's penultimate boss, Schwartzgeist, makes a return as the Gummi superboss, complete with its ClippedWingAngel form Monitor and a remix of [[BattleThemeMusic Thermosphere]]. As an EasterEgg, [[spoiler:if you find the hidden Endymion blueprint and fight Schwartzgeist with it, the original version of Thermosphere plays instead.]]
** The GameWithinAGame ''Verum Rex'' is a pretty blatant knockoff of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', of which ''Kingdom Hearts'' series director Creator/TetsuyaNomura was working on when it was still known as ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII''. The main character is even named "Yozora", whose meaning is identical to "Noctis", "night sky". [[spoiler:The endings of both the main game and ''Re Mind'' double down on the ''Versus XIII'' references, with the Secret Ending track "Secrets of the Night" having a MusicalNod to "Somnus" (both composed by Yoko Shimomura) and the Limitcut Episode ending being an almost-perfect shot-for-shot recreation of the opening of ''Versus XIII''[='s=] 2011 trailer.]]

* The movie-themed floor in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' has a gallery of pictures referencing games that its developer Creator/NextLevelGames has previously worked on, including [[VideoGame/PunchOut one of Little Mac]] and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioStrikers Mario kicking a ball]].
* ''VideoGame/YookaLayleeAndTheImpossibleLair'' makes use of a remix of "Jungle Challenge", a music track originally made for the ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' kickstarter pitch but never added to the actual game, as its menu theme.

** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' so far takes the crown; it makes ''countless'' little references to past Disney films, some less obvious than others. Given that the film itself was made with the intention of being a throwback to many of these films in the first place, it's quite fitting.

** The cover art for ''Music/ADayAtTheRaces'' is a redrawn version of that for ''Music/ANightAtTheOpera'' the previous year. Among other things, the white background is changed to black and the figures are in different poses (some more noticeable than others).

* Anders Sandberg, one of the big contributors to ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' has worked on several rpgs in the past, including BigIdeasGrandVision. Every human colony from this game has been transplanted into ''Orion's Arm'', after being suitably altered to fit in with the new setting.