South Park's Homages To Gaming

No high-profile series on television spoofs (and pays tribute to) the gaming industry quite as much as South Park.

No high-profile series on television spoofs (and pays tribute to) the gaming industry quite as much as South Park. Take a look at some of the most memorable gaming references seen on the show.

Note: Click the episode titles to watch the full episode at southparkstudios.com. Obviously, these all include adult content.

Episode: “ Chinpoko Mon”
Air Date: November 3, 1999

This early episode was one of the first to feature numerous video game references. When a new fad sweeps through South Park, every kid in school becomes obsessed with the obvious parody of Pokemon. It seems innocent enough, until all the dolls and video games are revealed to be a Japanese plot to get American kids to turn against their country and bomb Pearl Harbor.

Episode: “ Towelie”
Air date: August 8, 2001

While this episode is is most notorious for introducing everyone’s favorite pot-smoking towel, its story revolves around the kids’ pursuit of their stolen Okama Gamesphere console. The “Gamesphere” name is likely a play off of the Gamecube, which launched a few months after this episode aired.

Episode: “ Red Hot Catholic Love”
Air Date: July 3rd, 2002

A  gaming reference even found its way into an episode that revolves around the Catholic priest sex scandal and the town’s new fascination with ingesting food through their anus and defecating out of their mouths. When Father Maxi is tasked with navigating the catacombs of the Vatican to retrieve a holy document, the visuals abruptly shift to that of Pitfall on Atari 2600.

Episode: “ Best Friends Forever”
Air Date: March 30, 2005

In a episode that parodies the controversial Terri Schiavo case, Kenny is hit by an ice cream truck and killed while playing the PSP (which was released six days before the airing of this episode). Upon arriving in heaven, he learns that God created the PSP to train their “Keanu Reeves” (a recurring Constantine gag) against the forces of Hell.