We’ve all been there. You’re happily watching some television and the characters start playing an epically cool game. You want to play too! But, alas. It is a fictional game with no IRL counterpart.
Today, we’ll be looking at such games and even using our best technical knowledge to theorise what specs they’d require. So, come along, grab a cuppa, and let’s have some fun.
Dash Dingo from The Simpsons
The Simpsons is known for its not-so-subtle nods to popular culture and we love them for it. Dash Dingo is clearly a take on Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot, from its cooky soundtrack to its Australian mammalian protagonist. Did I know that a bandicoot was a real marsupial before this? No. Is my life richer for the knowledge? Absolutely.
Dash Dingo is famously remembered from the 1998 episode Lisa Gets An A, but was actually first seen as a mascot for a store called Dingo Junction in the episode Lard of the Dance, from the same year.
Of course, we are all about the Dash Dingo gameplay. Matching that of Crash Bandicoot 2 Cortex Strikes Back, Dash Dingo is a platformer where you travel into the level – rather than the side-scroller style of the first game. The brief snippets of dialogue we get from the giant, disembodied head – clearly alluding to Dr. Cortex’s role in the game – suggest that Lisa is on the hunt for crystals to save the world from “deep didgeridoo”, much like the storyline of Crash Bandicoot 2.
Whilst there are many similarities between Dash Dingo and its real-life counterpart, there is something about the Simpsons’ special brand of humour that makes us really want to play! The closest we’ve come so far is during the 2019 event on The Simpsons: Tapped Out. The mobile phone game released everybody’s favourite dingo as a limited-time character, second prize in the event’s third act.
Dash Dingo Specs
With the episodes coming out in the late 90s and Crash Bandicoot firm favourite for the PlayStation 1 era, we can assume the game would not be all that demanding. The console Lisa uses even has PS1 vibes. If Dash Dingo had followed its IRL counterpart in terms of success, then we can assume it would have been remastered and ported to PC around 2018. Just like Crash Bandicoot did with the N. Sane Trilogy. Using those specs as a base, we can see what hardware we’d need to best enjoy this classic.
| Component | Minimum Specs |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 7 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-750 @ 2.67GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.4GHz |
| Memory | 8GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB |
| DirectX | Version 9.0c |
| Storage | 30GB available space |
| Sound Card | DirectX 9.0c compatible |
Dash Dingo Recs
From these specs, we can guestimate that a late 2010s remaster of Dash Dingo wouldn’t put a massive strain on your gaming PC. Even if you hadn’t updated your hardware in a while. For the pre-built Refract Amber, this game would be a breeze.
Refract Amber Pre-Built Gaming PC
- Pre-built gaming PC designed for 1080p
- Available for next-day delivery
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7500F processor
- Three years parts and labour warranty
Free City from Free Guy
Jumping forward in time, the 2021 film Free Guy is all about modern gaming. There are plenty of references to modern movies and gaming culture throughout, and even plenty of gaming hardware to keep an eye out for! What truly stands out is the game, Free City.
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), there seems to be no limits to what gameplay actually entails. From robbing banks, to PvP, and amassing serious amounts of cool items. I’m looking at your stash, Revenjamin Buttons!
You could quite happily spend endless hours in Free City, regardless of what type of gamer you are. Collectors can hoard all the things, driving sim fans can traverse the city in supercars, and there might even be a campaign you can work through. Just imagine trying to 100% this game!
Free City Specs
Of course, we mostly saw Free City from Guy’s point of view, making it as realistic as the in-film real world. (Although, different camera and lighting techniques were used to help visually establish a difference. One for the film nerds there.) We can make an informed suggestion on hardware spec based on two things, however. The fact there is a sequel in production, suggesting Free City has been playable for a number of years, and by looking at what Millie Rusk (aka Molotov Girl) and the other characters use to play Free City.
Joe Kreery’s character Keys is seen using a Razer laptop to enter the world of Free City. Pair this with the fact that the filming took place in 2019, and we can make the educated guess that he was using a Razer Blade 15 Advanced with a 9th Gen Intel Core and NVIDIA RTX 20 Series graphics card. Therefore, Free City’s recommended specs possibly looked a little like this:
| Component | Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 8 64 bit | Windows 10 64 bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 2.4GHz | Intel Core i7 3GHz |
| Memory | 4GB RAM | 8GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 AMD Radeon R7 260X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 AMD Radeon RX 480 |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 80GB available space | 80GB available space |
| Network | Broadband internet required | Broadband internet required |
These are the specs for Final Fantasy XIV Online.
Free City Recs
It seems only fitting that the recommended gaming hardware is the descendent of what’s used in the film.
Razer Blade 15 Advanced Gaming Laptop
- 16″ QHD+ screen
- Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU
- 32GB 5600MHz DDR5 RAM
- 1TB M.2 SSD
Jumanji from the Jumanji Series
Jumanji may have started life as a board game, but in the recent reboot it took on new life as a gaming cartridge for a Nintendo-esque console. Instead of the game spilling into the real world, our unlikely heroes get dragged into the world of Jumanji, seemingly the same fate Alan Parish originally suffered.
Whilst the story arc of the Jumanji game in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is simplistic, get the magical gem back to its home, the game world itself is rich, filled with threats, and action-packed. Something we get to see much more of in the sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level.
With so many tie-ins to classic cartridge games, such as 8-bit menu graphics, limited lives, and exposition via NPC, the joy of these films is they watch like a video game. Which, of course, leads to wanting to play said video game. Who doesn’t want to kick butt as Ruby Roundhouse or smoulder as Dr. Bravestone?!
Jumanji Specs
Much like with Dash Dingo, we can guestimate the specs for Jumanji based on the time period and hardware used on film. When the board game came to Alex Vreeke and transformed into a cartridge game, it was 1996. Whilst we got to see the action in 3D, the brief moments we see the game as the characters do, it is definitely 8-bit/low res style graphics. From there, we can guess it would have similar specs to other games of the era, like Sonic Blast. Sonic Blast got remastered in 2010, a few years before Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was set. Perhaps Jumanji gave itself a cheeky remaster? Its specs might look a little like this:
| Component | Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows XP | Windows XP |
| Graphics | 32MB graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 ATI Radeon HD 6630 |
| DirectX | Version 9.0 | Version 9.0 |
| Storage | 50MB available space | 50MB available space |
These are the minimum specs for the classic launcher.
Jumanji Recs
As another 90’s game, with a potential remaster 20 years on, Jumanji would not demand much of your gaming PC at all. Can’t promise the same on the games’ demands of you if you get sucked in, though! For Jumanji, it has to be the jungle-y Refract Jade. For safer gameplay, there is a Jumanji board game available, which uses dice-rolling mechanics to create some classic chaos.
Refract Jade Pre-Built Gaming PC
- Pre-built gaming PC designed for 1080p and1440p
- Available for next-day delivery
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700 processor
- Three years parts and labour warranty
Better Than Life from Red Dwarf
Taking another trip down nostalgia lane, the Total Immersion Video Game Better Than Life from the classic Red Dwarf. Aired back in 1988, when VR was still mostly seen as science fiction, the Better Than Life game took the Red Dwarf crew into the game, allowing them to feel and experience everything as if in real life. Even Rimmer, the absolute smeghead of a hologram, could get in on the action.
Designed in the 80s, their headsets and controllers were not as slick as the HTC Vive and Meta Quest of today, with many wires and electrodes implanted directly in the brain. Thank goodness reality did not take that route!
What makes Better Than Life so great, is the game evolves around your every want and need. Travel the world, eat whatever you crave, meet your heroes – nothing is too much for B.T.L. It’s what makes it better than life. Whilst the episode doesn’t really show any traditional gameplay, it’s not unfathomable that you could build your very own, tailor-made game around you. Between sessions, you can put your feet up in some tropical corner of the world and chow down on your favourite food.
Sounds like a dream. Just, maybe don’t bring Rimmer along.
Better Than Life Specs
Of everything on this list so far, there isn’t really an IRL counterpart to Better Than Life. Presumably it would have similar specs to VR games but the “electrodes on the brain” thing has more Sword Art Online than Beat Saber vibes. So, your guess is as good as ours for the required specs! Drop a comment below with your best guess for future tech!
Better Than Life Recs
With the Red Dwarf crew originating from somewhen in the 22nd century, we can assume that Better Than Life would need the best of the best gaming hardware. Perhaps something a little out of this world?
8Pack Meteoroid MK2 Gaming PC
- Overclocked gaming PC designed by 8Pack
- AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU
- Custom case available in three materials
- Bespoke printing options available
The OASIS from Ready Player One
Much like Better Than Life, the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) from Ready Player One is a total immersion experience, but with much closer ties to the VR gaming that we know. Headsets, controllers, haptic suits. More than just gaming, people live, work, and play within this system.
During the film (or book!), we follow the story of Parzival trying to find the golden easter egg, which includes tasks resembling popular gameplay styles, such as racing and dungeon crawling.
Straight off the bat, we know that the OASIS can cater to the sort of gaming we love. Plus, we see plenty of gaming easter eggs used throughout the film. Iconic gaming figures like Master Chief from Halo, Ryu from Street Fighter, and Big Daddy from Bioshock can all be seen at some point. This suggests that either versions of these games exist within the OASIS or at the very least their skins do.
What’s touched on in the film and book is that there is no limit to what the OASIS can be used to create. Aech builds and fixes custom vehicles from across popular culture, Wade attends one of the many schools within the OASIS (cheeky book detail for you), and there is at least one zero-G dancefloor. Just imagine all the old games you could revisit, the weird and wonderful worlds other players create, or the physics you could defy. Sign me up, please!
There is technically a VR-only game called Ready Player One: OASIS. Using the film for story fodder and the OASIS for your world, this game has its merits but it’s not quite the entity we see in the source material. Apparently, I’m an all-or-nothing kinda gal.
The OASIS Specs
One of the great things about the OASIS, was the fact it was accessible for everyone. Perhaps not everyone had the latest and greatest hardware, but they could still get onto the OASIS. Therefore, if run from a PC, it would not be massively demanding. In fact, the Ready Player One fan wiki states that the system requirements are:
| Components |
|---|
| VR headset |
| Haptic gloves |
| OASIS Console |
| Facial Scanner |
| Omni-directional Treadmill (optional) |
The OASIS Recs
First up, you would need a headset. The Ready Player One lore states that the headset can be made by Gregarious Simulation Systems – the brains behind the OASIS – or a third-party model. We reckon the HTC Vive PRO would do the trick.
HTC VIVE PRO Full Kit
- PC VR headset with controllers
- 1440 x 1600 pixels per eye
- 3D spatial sound
- 110-degrees field of veiw
- Adjustable headband
As a replacement for the OASIS console, we would need a gaming PC that supports VR and is readily accessible. The Refract Gaming PCs definitely fall under that umbrella. From Amber right through to Ultraviolet, Refract pre-built gaming PCs support VR gameplay. Of course, streaming also comes into play with OASIS – it’s how everyone saw the final battle after all. Because of that, we reckon the Azure or Indigo are the PC choices for getting the best out of the OASIS.
Refract Indigo Pre-Built Gaming PC
- Pre-built gaming PC designed for 4K
- Available for next-day delivery
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super GPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D processor
- Three years parts and labour warranty
Refract Ultraviolet Pre-Built Gaming PC
- Pre-built gaming PC designed for 4K
- Available for next-day delivery
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor
- Three years parts and labour warranty
More Amazing Games We Wish We Could Play
In total, we’ve looked at fifteen fiction games that we just wish we could play. Check out volumes two and three below!
Games Galore
Do you want to play any of these fictional games? Did we miss your favourite? Drop a comment below your favourite fictional game!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 13 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK since 2020, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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