Easter eggs! We bloody love ‘em! No, not the chocolatey kind, although we are partial to their milky goodness when April rolls around – except dark chocolate Easter eggs of course... they’re made from the devil’s semen... true story! We’re talking about Easter eggs in video games and that’s why they’re appearing as the main focus of our Festive Features for the third year running. Can I get a “huzzah”?

2010 was as good as any other year in terms of Easter eggs – if you don’t believe us, check out our 2008 and 2009’s article on the same subject – so let’s not delay the pure joy any more.

 

Although technically – when I say technically, it totally was – Batman: Arkham Asylum was released in 2009, this Easter egg in particular wasn’t discovered until 2010, which is why it appears in this year’s feature. And by discovered, I mean revealed by the game’s developers themselves. That’s right, Rocksteady hid this Easter egg so well that no-one actually stumbled upon it or discovered it until after they announced it themselves. As you’ll see in the video below, that’s probably because it’s so well hidden that you need to place three globules of explosive gel in exactly the right place to unlock it.

What you’re unlocking is a secret room behind a wall in Warden Quincy Sharp’s office in Arkham Mansion and behind it is a treat for Arkham fans. Not only does it show that Rocksteady already knew where the sequel was going before you even stepped foot inside the game, but it’s another testament to Rocksteady’s fan service. On the notice boards you’ll find concept art from Arkham City, as well as a “Gotham City proposal” that has an “Approved” stamp on it. On the blueprints there are numerous areas highlighted as well, including a “steel plant,” “psychiatric” and the “penitentiary,” but whether they’ll be in the final game, who knows? What we do know is that it’s too awesome to ignore... or even to throw out on a technicality like... Arkham came out in 2009.

NBA Jam has always been an Easter egg goldmine and this year’s high definition revival on the Xbox 360 is no different. Thanks to a series of cheat codes – which can be found here – you can unlock characters to kick ass with on the game, which is what Jam is all about.

Thanks to these cheat codes you can access a whole host of unlockable characters that include: a Democrat team with the likes of Obama, the Clintons and Al Gore; a Republican team with the likes of Palin, Cheney and George W. Bush; a mascot team with the likes of Rocky, Rufus and Rumble; a team including ESPN SportsNation hosts Michele Beadle and Colin Cowherd; Team Sprite; Team Adidas; a team made up of J-Cole and the 9th Wonder; an NBA Jam team consisting of original creator Mark Turmell and Jam announcer Tim Kitzrow; and even a team including the Beastie Boys! It would have been nice to see other EA franchise characters make an appearance though, like they did with Mortal Kombat in the original when Midway was publishing, but a good bunch of characters nevertheless.

Oh, and the announcer even says “No hoop for you!” in the new title and if that’s not the coolest Easter egg ever, nothing is! Check out the video below for a look at all these and more in action... even catch the infamous line too!

 

What’s better than politicians and others appearing as basketball players? Why, that’s easy... It’s other game’s main character’s costumes appearing as unlockable costumes in other games. Yes that’s right, worming its way into our number 3 slot is Metal Gear’s Raiden costume appearing in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. So if the white robes – or whatever colour you dye them – aren’t cool enough for you, surely Raiden’s futuristic looking get-up is.

It’s a fairly simple one, if not slightly time consuming to unlock, and after you get any medal on all of the Virtual Challenges found in the pause menu, you’ll be able to stalk Rome’s Templars looking like a badass. Sure, it’s not very fitting and you stand out like a sore thumb, but who the hell cares, it’s a neat skin. Thank god we didn’t haven’t to put up with Raiden himself though and we get to keep Ezio... that dude whines too much. Raiden that is.

Treyarch not only raised its own bar this year with Call of Duty: Black Ops, but they also raised the bar as to the amount of Easter eggs we now expect from Call of Duty. I could sit here and throw praise at them for a whole host of Easter eggs like the Castro and Kennedy zombie level, the Rolling Stones tune that can be activated in Nuketown and so on, but there is one – well, kind of two – that really stood out in our mind. Yes, of course we mean the Dead Ops Arcade game that can be found away from the chair at the main menu screen.

Dead Ops is a simple twin-stick zombie shooter that can be accessed by typing DOA into the old Amstrad style PC at the back of the room that acts as the main menu. With gameplay that is hugely addictive, plenty of bonus weapons, loads of levels and even a crazy monkey type dude that frequently goes bananas, it’s almost good enough to be sold on the Xbox Live Arcade. Before you get any ideas Activision, I said almost... we know your track record!

If that’s not enough, type Zork into the machine and try out the text-based mini-adventure game. Talk about fan service. Treyarch, you’ve outdone yourselves and set a shining example for other developers out there with this kind of thing. Keep it up. Here’s a gold star.

That Bungie crew really knows how to create amazing Easter eggs and hide them deep inside the cavities of their titles. Taking the gold this year is none other than Halo: Reach and Bungie for its DJing Brute shenanigans – yes, you read that correctly. Bungie not only wins points for effort, but also garners huge points for not only hiding its secrets incredibly well – who the hell found this one, for instance – but for also how bizarre and interesting they are.

If you click a button at the other side of the game world at a certain point in the game’s seventh level, after heading back to the mission objective, which is usually a club full of crazy Hunters, you’ll find a Brute playing tunes with Grunts dancing to their heart’s content around them. Now I’d say that pretty much checks all the boxes – effort, check; unique, check; bizarre, check; and interesting, double check.

It’s pure brilliance if you don’t mind us saying so. Watch the video and check out the amazing Easter egg yourself!