From Red Hot Chili Peppers to Das Racist, here are some of the best music videos that received the video game treatment.
Video games have become tremendously popular over the past few decades. Many of us grew up saving princesses, collecting rings with a hedgehog, or trapping powerful creatures in red-and-white balls. Even though gamers were at one time viewed as geeky and uncool, gaming is now very much the norm and an important part of our culture. It’s estimated that over half a billion people (of all ages) play for at least an hour each day, so it isn’t too shocking to discover that tons of our favorite musicians love video games too. In fact, a few artists have even crafted their music videos after them. Which ones are worth watching you ask? Don’t worry, we’ve compiled the Top 8 video game-inspired music videos below for your enjoyment.
Tokyo Police Club—“Hot Tonight"
Directed by Jared Raab, Tokyo Police Club’s music video for “Hot Tonight” looks like the perfect combination of games, friends, and beer. The video was filmed at Get Well Bar and shows the Canadian rockers playing a few make-believe arcade games. Not only does one of the retro games include the band itself, but there’s also a Street Fighter lookalike (with Miley Cyrus as a playable character), and former Toronto mayor Rob Ford has his own game called Manic Mayor. Well, it’s not really the mayor of course. The group explains in the video’s description that “any resemblance to political figures living or dead is purely coincidental (or appears as the result of being in a drunken stupor).”
Super Furry Animals—“Lazer Beam”
With clear influences from some classics like Metal Slug, Streets of Rage and Alien Storm, this music video by Super Furry Animals brings the viewer into a world of colorful villains and lazer beams. Side-scrolling through their digital universe sends us back to the days where all you needed was a partner and a kick-ass attitude to make your way through life.
Red Hot Chili Peppers—“Californication"
Everyone knows this one by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The music video for “Californication,” which has over 180 million views, is very reminiscent of early Grand Theft Auto and Second Life. The band members ride snowboards, swim with sharks, drive around recklessly and catch a ride on a dragonfly. The guys do all of these activities topless because they really enjoyed being as naked as possible back then.
Pato Pooh—“Follow Me (ft. Adam Tensta)”
Pato Pooh isn’t a widely recognized rapper, but his music video for “Follow Me” is worth watching. There are so many incredible references to video games in this video. See how many you can spot? We found homages to Mega Man, Street Fighter, Duck Hunt, TMNT, Pac-Man, Zero Wing, Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Ice Climber, Tetris, Kirby’s Dream Land and Pong. Looks like director Maceo Frost spent a lot of time at the arcade when he was a kid!
Moby—“Wait For Me”
Back in 2010, Moby held a contest for fans to create an imaginative music video for his song “Wait For Me.” Unfortunately, the winning video wasn’t actually the one above. However, it did come in second and actually racked up way more views than the winner did, so that’s still pretty good. Australian animator Maik Hempel’s video follows a businessman who’s clearly having the lousiest day ever. “The song is very melancholy so I figured doing it in a computer game style would make for some nice juxtaposition,” Hempel explained. “That's right, juxtaposition. It’s different to anything I've animated in the past, because essentially the whole clip is made of two-frame cycles. I played a lot of Super Mario World to get the right look for it.”
Hot Chip—“Don't Deny Your Heart”
Things get unexpectedly erotic in this music video for “Don’t Deny Your Heart” by Hot Chip. What at first seems like an ordinary soccer match (heavily influenced by EA Sports’ FIFA series), soon becomes an alternate reality dance party and guy-on-guy love fest. The fans in the audience love it though and eventually join in on the fun, so it’s all good.
Das Racist—“Who's That? Brooown”
Das Racist went all-out for their “Who’s That? Brooown” music video. Directed by Thomas De Napoli and designed by Joe Mauriello, the video shows the NYC rappers fighting off yuppies, crossing the East River Frogger-style, shoplifting PBRs, and watching a dance battle. There are also references to Tetris, Legend of Zelda, The Simpsons, Rampage, and more. (They actually legitimately made this game and it used to be available to play on the Das Racist website. Sadly, it was eventually removed.)
Goldfish—“We Come Together (ft. Sakhile Moleshe)”
Combining worlds both new and old, the music video for “We Come Together” by Goldfish references everything from Sonic the Hedgehog to Angry Birds. Following the kidnapping of a Princess Peach fish, the South African band travels through decades worth of pop culture in order to get her back. The video contains a slew of cameos from not only games but cartoons and movies too. Try to find all of the cats—some easy ones to spot are Hello Kitty, Felix the Cat, Meowth, and Garfield.