The latest season of Charlie Brooker's superbly subversive Black Mirror has recently gone live on Netflix, and one episode in particular will be of interest to gaming fans: Plaything.
In it, murder suspect Cameron Walker, a former video game reviewer, reveals that he has been "playing" an unreleased life simulation game from the genius programmer Colin Ritman for many years, with the aim of revolutionising human life as we know it.
The episode is as dark and thought-provoking as you'd expect, but what really took us by surprise is the sheer number of video game references. This shouldn't come as a massive shock, as Brooker is a seasoned gamer himself, but the real question is: Did you spot them all?
We've listed all of the references we could find below, and we've no doubt missed others. Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment if you've found something not mentioned below.
First up, the store Walker attempts to shoplift from at the beginning has a sign for "PlayStation 6" in the window — Image: NetflixWalker's lair is filled with tech, but you can spot a PS1 fixed upside-down to the upper part of the rig — Image: NetflixThe young Walker is shown playing networked Doom II in the PC Zone office — Image: NetflixWalker's overbearing editor drops the latest issue of PC Zone onto his desk. Those of you old enough will know this was a real magazine; Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror's creator, actually worked for PC Zone in the 1990s — Image: NetflixBullfrog's legendary Magic Carpet is shown, and a box for Doom II is also present on Walker's desk — Image: NetflixThe posters on Tuckersoft's walls reference two other episodes of Black Mirror. Tuckersoft, too, is a throwback to the Bandersnatch episode of the show, which references Imagine Software's failed "mega game" of the same name, which was eventually released as Brataccas — Image: NetflixWalker and his house guest Lump unwind to a spot of Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES — Image: NetflixThere's an Atari Jaguar poster on Walker's bedroom wall — Image: NetflixComputer Exchange—now known as CeX—started out as the Tottenham Court Road Computer Exchange and was close to the PC Zone office in London. Charlie Brooker produced advertisements for the store in its early years as it branched out into selling imported video games — Image: NetflixThere's a Gremlin Graphics poster on Walker's wall. Gremlin was one of the most successful British game studios of the '80s and '90s — Image: NetflixLump is later seen playing Road Rash on the Mega Drive. Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) posters on the back wall could be seen as another video game reference; the West Midlands 'grebo' band were featured in the PS1 title Loaded, and their cover art and logo were created by The Designers Republic, who also gave WipEout its iconic look. There's also an Alien Storm (Master System) box on the shelf, alongside an Ocean Software game — Image: NetflixThe "CeX montage" contains many video game references; consoles, games and more. How many did you spot? — Image: Netflix
