There are a lot of “fictional” video games out there. No, I don’t mean games that are based on fictional circumstances, but games that don’t actually exist, and were invented either for a movie or TV show, or some kind of promotional stunt. The problem with this is that sometimes these fake games actually look really cool, and we would love to be able to get our hands on them!

Here are our top eight fictional video games.

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is an anime set in the near future, focusing on a bunch of kids who get “trapped” in a Virtual Reality game of the same name. The game uses “nerve gear” to simulate all five senses of the brain, giving players an absolutely flawless simulation. The only downside is the “Matrix” rule – if you die in Sword Art Online, you die for real.

Bonestorm

Appearing in an episode of The Simpsons, Bonestorm appears to be a parody of Mortal Kombat. We never actually see the game being played, but know that it is awesome and violent enough that it literally blows Millhouse out of his seat, and drives Bart to shoplifting.

Sugar Rush

Wreck-it Ralph, a movie about an old school arcade game villain wanting more out of life, is rife with fake games that look awesome. Ralph’s own game, Fix-it Felix Jr. is a parody of Donkey Kong, while other little treats like Hero’s Duty and Turbo Time are fictional takes on other iconic titles. Sugar Rush is the movie’s spin on Mario Kart, combining the item-based racing genre with lots of sickly sweet candy themes. Of all the fake games in this movie, this is the one we wish had a full arcade release.

First Person Shooter

Back in the days where it was cool to marginalize gamers in mainstream media (what’s that? They still do that? Oh, sorry then) the X-Files put out an episode appropriately titled First Person Shooter. In the episode, we are introduced to a VR game called First Person Shooter (super creative guys). The problem is that somehow, a character in the game has “gone rogue” and is killing people for real reals. It falls to Mulder to put on his virtual reality helmet and slay the vixen.

Burgerboss

Burgerboss, from Bob’s Burgers, is a sort-of parody of old school arcade game Burger Time. In the show, Bob installs the burger-themed game in order to help spruce up his burger shop, but is foiled when a player puts “Bob Sux” at the top of the scoreboard. Fun fact: you can actually play this one, as some fans have put together a playable version of the game.

Alien Child

While technically this game, featured in the movie Her, is never actually named, Alien Child is what most people call it. The game shows us what most people were expecting Kinect to actually be: holograms and motion controls that can accurately and easily be used to navigate an immersive game world. I guess we’ll just have to wait for the Hololens…

Tron

Technically, there are several “games” that make up Tron, ranging from the light cycles to disk battles. What we want is an all-in-one Tron VR MMO, that allows players to explore the world of the movie, and play all of the mini-games within.

Half-Life 3

I WANT TO BELIEVE!!!