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ZombieAladdin Thar be flabbergasting! Since: Nov, 2010
Thar be flabbergasting!
Dec 30th 2023 at 10:34:33 AM •••

I just found out about this game reading this page, but I came across a mention of "flying toasters." I don't know where in the game they're found, but I noticed it wasn't on the Shout-Out list. Flying Toasters was a briefly popular computer screen saver during the early- to mid-90s developed and sold by Berkeley Systems. It depicted exactly that: standard brick-type toasters would fly diagonally across the screen, with wings on their sides, as their anthem plays.

I don't know if this is an intentional reference or not, but I thought it was worth a mention. I grew up with Flying Toasters and its three sequels and have tracked its legacy since—they live on through the Jackbox series, as one of the other screen savers accompanying one of them was an interactive quiz show game called You Don't Know Jack.

Edited by ZombieAladdin Hide / Show Replies
Malady (Not-So-Newbie)
Dec 30th 2023 at 11:19:21 AM •••

Do you have a copy of the game? Sounds like it might be in an early game area, with the first alarm enemy, IIRC.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
ZombieAladdin Since: Nov, 2010
Dec 30th 2023 at 12:53:04 PM •••

Nope, I just found out about this not long after I typed that. I saw that "Flying Toasters" was listed under Animate Inanimate Object.

Malady (Not-So-Newbie)
Dec 30th 2023 at 1:49:06 PM •••

Found it, yep, it's in Lamar's section. https://youtu.be/vhuvCC0YQ4E?t=1190

Does it look like a reference?

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ZombieAladdin Since: Nov, 2010
Dec 31st 2023 at 1:08:43 AM •••

Thank you for the link! No, it looks like a coincidence.

The wings on the ones in this game seem to both come out from the same side and have a Nazca lines look, whereas the Berkeley Systems Flying Toasters are on the two opposite flat sides (making the side with the lever to lower the toast the "face" of those toasters) and are the stereotypical feathery angel wings.

That being said, if the enemy name is literally "Flying Toaster," that may itself have been a reference, but with the design changed to avoid copyright issues, as it could've easily been called "Winged Toaster" or "Angelic Toaster" or something else. "Flying Toasters" is currently owned by Comcast/Universal (albeit they're not using this property at the moment), a company an indie game studio would need to tread carefully around.

For reference, the Wikipedia page on the After Dark screen savers, which "Flying Toasters" originated from, has a screenshot of "Flying Toasters" at the top of the article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Dark_%28software%29

Edited by ZombieAladdin
Malady (Not-So-Newbie)
Dec 31st 2023 at 6:51:02 AM •••

Yep, it's literally called Flying Toaster. Just needed to advance one second on, heh. Gonna put it on Shout-Out then.

https://youtu.be/vhuvCC0YQ4E?t=1191

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
ZombieAladdin Since: Nov, 2010
Dec 31st 2023 at 10:36:55 AM •••

Thanks—even with the video, I wasn't sure if it would count as a Shout-Out.

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