Nintendo in popular culture

This is a full list of Nintendo references in movies, television shows, books, magazines, and so on.

Advertisements

 * A Walmart TV advertisement focused heavily on Super Mario Galaxy 2. The following is the script
 * "At Wal-mart, we love Mario, and we love rollbacks. The new game that everyone is talking about is here, Super Mario Galaxy 2. (goes over to kid playing game) This kid's a natural. Mario's got all these new powers, new tricks, it's rated E for everyone, even Yoshi's back... I love that guy! Plus, rollbacks on five other Mario Wii games. Mama mia! I'm Darrel, and I save people money so that they can live better. Think I should grow a Mario mustache?"


 * In a Rent-A-Center commercial, one of the scenes shows a family playing Wii.
 * In one commercial by Walmart, it shows a family playing Wii. Suddenly outside, the friends of the son honk their car horn, though the son decides to play one more game of what sounds like Wii Sports Resort table tennis. The mom then explains that "for a little while, we had him all to ourselves". The commercial ended by explaining the price drop for the Wii. Another commercial shows the son and the dad playing Bakugan: Battle Brawlers on the Wii, with the dad losing and consequently saying "one more time".
 * In a commercial for the PowerMat, a Nintendo DS Lite is among the three portable machines that are represented, the other two being a Black Berry and an iPhone.

Everybody Loves Raymond

 * In the Season 1 episode "Debra's Sick", a young boy is seen playing Game Boy while sitting in a doctor's waiting room.
 * In the Season 2 episode "Brother", Ray and Debra are playing a game on the Nintendo 64.
 * In a Season 3 episode, titled "Dancing with Debra", Raymond suggests that they should play Nintendo after Debra asks him to go dancing.
 * In the Season 4 episode "Bully on the Bus", a kid on a school bus is playing with a Game Boy Color. It is unknown what game he's playing.
 * In another Season 4 episode, titled "Hackidu", the characters talk about a Korean card/cartoon/game franchise called Hackidu, which is a copy of Pokemon. The episode mainly focuses on a card of a monster called Scramisaur that's worth $65.

Futurama

 * Nintendo properties were referenced in several episodes of Futurama. In the first run of the series, the arcade game Donkey Kong was referenced in the first and last episode. In the episode Tales of Interest II, Fry asks what life would be like as a video game. The ensuing six minutes features many Nintendo references including Mario being the prime minister of Italy, the United Nations tower being used as a Donkey Kong stage, pipes from Super Mario Bros. and enemies with Nintendo 64 in their name.

Malcolm in the Middle

 * In Malcom In The Middle a Charmander doll is seen in the bedroom a lot. There is also a Squirtle doll but seen sometimes.
 * In another episode of Malcom in the Middle, Reece and Malcolm are playing a Nintendo 64, after his mom telling them "You guys are banned from Nintendo". However in another episode when their mom was away and their dad was home, Reece is playing Mortal Kombat: Sub-Zero Mythologies.
 * In another episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Dewey is trading some of his Pokémon cards with another kid.

South Park

 * In the South Park episode titled Go, God Go! Part II, Cartman waits for the Wii to come out, though since its three weeks away he freezes himself and tells Butters to unfreeze him on launch day. Unfortunately, an avalanche happened where Cartman was and covered him. Since Butters couldn't find him, Cartman was stuck in the ice until 500 years later when humans find and unfreeze him. Once they do Cartman is furious that the Wii has come and gone.
 * In another South Park episode, while going to Kenny's house, the three other kids were wondering if Kenny had a Nintendo. When they got to his house, they asked Kenny's dad if they had one, and he said that all they had was a ColecoVision.

The Big Bang Theory

 * In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon's mom sends him his old Nintendo 64. Also including a memory card, 3 controllers, Super Mario 64 and a few other games but not mentioned.
 * In another episode of The Big Bang Theory, back at the apartment Raj and Sheldon are playing Mario Kart Wii.
 * In another episode of The Big Bang Theory, when Leonard and Sheldon's apartment gets robbed. It is mentioned that they owned a NES, SNES, N64 (already seen) and a Wii. The games for those consoles that they also owned and mentioned were The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. When Sheldon was making a journal, he also mentioned that he had Donkey Kong on his NES.
 * In a flashback episode of The Big Bang Theory, after Sheldon gets home from work, Leonard, Howard and Raj are playing his GameCube, the game they were playing was Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ because the Waluigi Stadium music was playing. NOTE: This episode was after Leonard and Shledon's apartment got robbed, the GameCube wasn't mentioned so its likely that it wasn't stolen; however it could have been borrowed, sold or stored somewhere else where it couldn't be found by the thieves.
 * In an episode where Sheldon is Summoned to court for speeding, The Judge is named Judge J. Kirby, a Reference to Attourney John Kirby, who defended Nintendo against Universal, and the Inspiration behind Kirby, one of Nintendo's Mascots
 * In an Episode when Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard enter the Physics Bowl, Sheldon excuses himself to get his wrist brace, stating that his "Old Nintendo Injury" is acting up again. This could also be referencing the N64 controllers Ragged control stick, which Nintendo were also sued over for Blisters and other injuries to children's hands.

The Simpsons

 * In a 1992 episode of The Simpsons, Bart Simpson is seen playing a Game Boy.
 * The Funtendo Zii is in a few episodes of The Simpsons. This system is a copy of the Wii.
 * In The Simpsons Bart thinks about buying a video game. Mario, Luigi and DK come up telling not to buy it. Sonic comes and convinces Bart to buy it. In another episode, Bart wants a baby brother. He goes to a park and see Mario and Luigi going in a pipe then they hit a ? Block, then chasing a mushroom.
 * In another The Simpsons episode Bart is doing his home work, and watching Pokemon. Pikachu and Ash are talking. Pikachu keeps saying "Pika Pika Pika".
 * In The Simpsons Mario said "Take a picture of me and the American Monkey". Homer gets mad, and starts throwing hammers at him. Mario get a hammer out of the tree house. This is a copy of Donkey Kong.

Other television references

 * In the TV show Crank Yankers, one of the skits featuring Snoop Dog shows an arcade unit in the background with ZiZelda on it, an obvious reference to the Zelda series.
 * In Full House, the family has a Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
 * Dr. Gregory House of the TV series House is sometimes seen playing a Nintendo DS.
 * In Powerpuff Girls, the Mayor is playing Ocarina of Time.
 * On the 26 October 2009 episode of The Graham Norton Show, when joking about his guests, he said that Michael Bublé was first introduced to music by his Italian plumber grandfather, and a picture of Mario came up on the screen.
 * Jake Harper in Two and a Half Men is sometimes seen with a Game Boy Advance in the early episodes and a DS in the later episodes.
 * In the Showtime series titled Weeds, Nancy Botwin is seen playing a DS.
 * In the Fresh Prince on Bel-Air TV Show, Will Smith is seen playing the Nintendo Entertainment System in a few episodes.
 * In Wizards of Waverly Place a DS can be seen in a few episodes. Also in one episode Max got an "E wand" which acts and looks like a Wii Remote.
 * In the Norm Show at the start of an episode, Norm meets a kid in his office named Tommy dressed as Ash from Pokémon. They then challenge each other, Ash sends out Pikachu and attacks Norm's Squirtle after taking cover from a desk. Squirtle refuses to fight and Norm sends out Butterfree to use Whirlwind, but still refuses cause it looks too girly instead, Butterfree wants to throw a chair. Ash then sends out Charmander and after that, Team Rocket arrives and Pikachu finishes off the battle with Thundershock. Norm warns Ash that they meet again for revenge.
 * Nintendo and it's games and characters are referenced heavily in the TV show Psych, especially during the flashback scenes to the 1980's.
 * In an episode of the NBC show Chuck, one of the characters asks where Chuck learned how to shoot a gun, after which the character said "Duck Hunt, Nintendo".
 * In one episode of Dexter's Laboratory, a group of college students were depicted as playing Super Mario Kart.
 * In the Journeyman episode entitled "Emily", the Wii is mentioned as well as an indirect reference to Mario and Luigi. The main character Dan Vasser, in talking to his son, says "The thing with the weird handles, you swing it around, and the little Italian painters kill all those mushrooms..." to which his son replies "It's called a Wii."
 * In an episode of Brickleberry, a show on Comedy Central, when asked by a Russian marijuana cartel boss what their names were, Steve replied "Mario Brothers" for himself and "Ted Tris" for Denzel, another park ranger. Both of these are blatant Nintendo references.
 * Later in that same episode, when the cartel boss is ecstatic to see how huge the marijuana plants Steve made had become in such short time, he exclaimed, "YOU ARE SUPER, MARIO BROTHERS!"
 * In an episode of Regular Show, Rigby becomes obsessed with winning the "Maximum Glove". The Maximum Glove has a striking resemblance to the Power Glove. What is also strange is that at the end of the episode, Rigby says, "Oh, man Mordecai! This thing blows..." due to the negative results of the Power Glove.
 * In the episode of See Dad Run titled "See Dad Meet Matthew Pearson",David is seen playing Wii Sports,specifically the Golf game. A voice similar to the one heard in the game says "Nice Swing,David!",when he gets a Hole in One. The actual game did not mention the player's name,as it would be impossible.
 * In an episode of The Cleveland Show ,Roberta and Cleveland Jr. are seen playing on a Wii. Roberta's Mii punches Cleveland Jr.'s Mii in the face in a garage. Cleveland Jr.'s Mii then hops into the car,yells while swinging his (disembodied) fist in the air,and driving off.
 * In one episode of Psych, Shawn has his Nintendo DS stolen from him wile staying in a hotel. During the episode, while looking for his "Nintendo", he steals a young kid's Nintendo DS, and realizing that it is not his, he gives it back. Later in the episode, Gus receives the Nintendo DS from the hotel staff, who found it earlier, and begins to play it. He then realizes that it doesn't work, because Shawn was hiding an engagement ring where the battery would normally go.
 * In an episode of the short-lived TV show Cavemen, one of the characters is seen playing Wii Sports. He is happy when he gets an Eagle on one of the courses.

Movies

 * In the Universal movie BASEketball, one of characters says "you still hangin' out, playing Nintendo?"
 * In the movie Stormbreaker, Alex Rider uses a Red DS to solve problems, much like in the book where he used a Game Boy Color. At the end of the scene where Alex receives his DS, he also receives Mario Kart DS for the flight.
 * In Grandma's Boy, a character says "I did beat The Legend of Zelda before I could walk".
 * In Ghostbusters II, one of characters asks another if they want to play Super Mario Bros. Later in the movie, the Ghostbusters use an NES Advantage to control the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
 * In Back to the Future Part II, the Nintendo Entertainment System can be seen along with two, non-published Nintendo games Jaws and BurgerTime. The arcade game Wild Gunman is also seen in the movie. According to the commentary by one of the film's creators, the arcade unit was made specifically for the film.
 * In the movie Hudson Hawk, one of the characters asks another if they want to play Nintendo, while a family in the movie are known as the Mario Bros.
 * Duck Hunt for the Nintendo Entertainment System can bee seen in the movie Boys n the Hood.
 * In the movie Beverly Hills Cop 3, one of the characters mentions how a place they're in is as high tech as NASA and Nintendo combined.
 * In Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the character played by Kal Penn finds a portable device that connects to the internet, and says "You can connect to the internet on it. You can play Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! on it. King Hippo's going down!"
 * In Alvin & the Chipmunks the Squeakuel a DS can be seen. In one scene Alvin and Toby (who is filling in for Dave) were playing Wii Sports bowling only to have Alvin throw the remote into the T.V. Also in one scene Alvin said "it's on like Donkey Kong".
 * In Despicable Me, when Gru is trying to get the Shrink Ray back from Victor's lair, one scene shows Victor sitting on his orange couch playing the Wii.
 * In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg and Rowley were playing a fake game using a Wii Remote tilting it like in Mario Kart Wii.
 * In MegaMind, Minion was throwing barrels at Titan, and he was jumping over them, parodying Donkey Kong.
 * In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World the movie, Young Neil is numerously seen playing the DS Lite, and when Knives asks him what he plays, he unnotibaly says he plays The Legend of Zelda and Tetris (even though she meant what instrument he plays).
 * The main characters in Fanboys are seen playing Mario Kart 64 near the beginning of the film.
 * Bowser and Dr. Eggman, along with a few other game characters, make an appearance in Disney's 2012 animated feature Wreck-It Ralph.
 * In the 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Jon Cryer's character is seen playing a game on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
 * The movie The Wizard is heavily based on Nintendo. The main plot includes a young boy who is incredibly good at games, who later competes in a Nintendo Championship. Super Mario Bros. 3 also made its first appearance in this movie, including already released games including Double Dragon (Starting the infamous catchphrase "You scored Forty-Thousand on Double Dragon"), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Contra, Castlevania II and Super Mario 2 (USA Version).
 * In the Liam Neeson movie The Grey, one of the characters is briefly seen playing a Nintendo DS before he's killed.

Music

 * On the Box art cover of the album Food & Liquor a DS is floating to the left of Lupe Fiasco.
 * In the song, "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna, part of the lyrics goes, "...you don't get another chance, life is no Nintendo Game..."
 * The Nintendo 64 is mentioned in the song, "Nothin' on You" by B.O.B. featuring Bruno Mars.
 * Mario is mentioned in the song, "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement as "Super Mario".

Video games

 * Final Fantasy - Link's name appears on a tombstone in Elfland.
 * Banjo-Tooie - If Banjo and Kazooie talk to Loggo for a second time before unclogging him, Kazooie says "Call a plumber, I think Mario's free at the moment". Loggo will then respond with "I don't think he does that kind of stuff anymore".
 * Back to the Future: The Game - While in the year 1931, Marty McFly makes reference to a local charity called "Mario Bros".

Comic books

 * An image of Mario is referenced in Danger Girl #1 published by Image Comics in 1997.