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Since there was a lot of positive response to my comment on the KD thread about The Garden, I floated the idea of a thread, and you all asked for it, so here it is! Here at reddit, there can be a lot of LOL this (Knicks) and LOL that (Knicks again), and while MSG certainly has its own shortcomings to say the least, there is a true story to be told about the buildings and how it came to be where it is today.
Known as ‘The Worlds Most Famous Arena’, MSG played a direct roll in making sports in America what it is today, and while many people criticize the current incarnation of the building, most people don’t know the full story - or that the current one is actually the 4th version (and 3rd location) of the building. The college basketball history at MSG, which I won’t give away yet, is one of if not THE main reason we have our beloved NBA and professional basketball in general today. This is going to be a very long read, like, very very long. But I’m going to try and throw all the really juicy facts in there that I picked up along my years of research from working in the tour department. I thought of splitting it up, but I wanted this post to be a comprehensive history of The World’s Most Famous Arena!
If you’re only concerned with the history of the joint once basketball enters into the picture, skip to MSG III.
If you want the juicy details on the controversy of tearing down old Penn Station then skip to MSG IIII.
If you have any questions on anything or want me to elaborate on anything that I only mention briefly, please feel free to ask! MSG’s history is full of not only amazing moments, but vengeful murders, and a whole lot of sketchy stuff. This is the story of how a small train station on the north east corner of Madison Square Park eventually led to the demolition of an iconic NYC train station some 100 years later. It’s not on Madison Avenue, it’s not square, and it’s not a garden, but there is a good reason for all of this - or at least a good explanation - I promise!
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN I
Ironically, just how this story’s climax involves tearing an iconic train station down to build the current arena, the beginning starts in much the same way. Just with a significantly less iconic train station. In the mid 1800’s there was a small railroad depot on the north east corner of Madison Square Park, occupied by New York and Harlem Railroad on East 26th street and Madison Ave and owned by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. For those of you not familiar with the city (yes, we call it ‘the city’) that location is pretty central and throughout time has had a lot of important events happen there, which is a thread for another time. The park was named for president James Madison, just like the street, which was very common at the time. People loved that guy.
The railroad opened up another location you may have heard of, by the name of ‘Grand Central Station’ in 1871, therefor leaving the smaller rail depot on 26th street abandoned. After a few vacant years, the building was leased to PT Barnum, who converted it into what he called the ‘Great Roman Hippodrome’. This place was a big open air oval ‘arena’ where he did exactly what you’d expect. Circuses etc. What happens next is where things start getting interesting.
Then the building was leased to a band leader named Patrick Gilmore. Some historians in that field feel like Gilmore is a forgotten guy compared to the likes of John Phillips Sousa, who is really the only person we common modern folk recognize in terms of old timey band leaders. But Gilmore was a very important figure of his day. Gilmore purchased the building and…wait for it…called it Gilmore’s Concert GARDEN. ‘Garden’ was a semi-popular add on to entertainment centers in NY during that era, starting with what I can tell from my research when Castle Clinton (aka, the old fort turned venue turned place you buy your tickets to go out to the Statue of Liberty now) was converted into a venue called Castle garden in the 1820s.
The other notable contributions Gilmore made to The Garden are holding the first Westminster Kennel Club dog show, the longest running garden event obviously still held there today, and even doing the first boxing matches there. I always found this bit fascinating, because boxing matches were technically illegal at the time. He called them ‘illustrated lectures’ and as any good New Yorker trying to make a buck does, found a way around the rules and got away with it. This is a common theme within the history of The Garden as you will see.
The arena changed hands a few more times, first to an administrator with the dog show, who also started to do more sporty things like tennis and installing one of the first ‘indoor’ ice rinks in the US.
The building went back into Vanderbilt control when Commodore died, by his grandson William Vanderbilt. He was the one who decided, the ‘garden’ part was cool, but since it wasn’t leased by Gilmore anymore, he would rename it after the park which it shared a border. Hence the name, Madison Square Garden. He expanded the range of events that were held there including adding bicycle racing. This would be by far the most widely beloved event held at the Garden, including a long running race called ‘Six Days of New York’ where an insane SIX day bike race would be held. These were basically just endurance contests, with a single bicyclist doing as many laps as possible, they could sleep whenever and join back in whenever. This was all the rage, but also dangerous for not only the participants but the spectators. People who wanted to soak up all the action were easy targets for crooks who were also in attendance. These events were so popular nationwide however, that there is even a bicycle discipline called ‘Madison’ named after the OG garden.
The building however ran its course, because of its lack of roof and decaying infrastructure.
What I mean by decaying can probably best be summed up by the disaster which many people now a days don’t know of, when part of the building collapsed falling outward into the street and some of the roof also caving in with 800 people inside. Apparently it was chaos, and 20 something people were killed or injured. It’s pretty brutal, and if you want to know more about that incident you can read the newspaper article from the time here.
Vanderbilt sold the spot to who's who collection of rich white men. JP Morgan, Carnegie, Astor etc. So they decided to tear it down and build a new extremely extravagant arena on the same spot. They got renowned architect Stanford White (more on him later) and they demolished the building in 1889. After spending more than half a million dollars, MSG II was built.
Madison Square Garden II
By this point, MSG was still not the household name it would become in the future. This building was supposed to change that narrative, which is why these rich guys went all in on it. You’ll see, that they were maybe in over their heads. However, this might be the most fascinating of all the MSGs for several reasons.
Firstly, the building was extremely extravagant. That can not be overstated. I would encourage you all to just google pictures of the building, it was massive and you’ll see all the features I’m describing here. It featured a huge 32 story tall bell tower, which was good for the 2nd tallest building in the city at the time. The bellower was topped by a sculpture of the goddess Diana the huntress, which was sculpted by famous artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and was gilt in copper. They moved the statue not soon after, and you can see it today at the Philly Museum of art! It spun around in the wind, and their original brilliant idea was to have an actual cloth scarf draped on it, but since wind exists, it got blown away not too long after its installation.
Its main hall was the largest in the world. It had not only the main hall which sat 8,000 but just like today’s garden, had a small theater which sat 1200, and even another concert hall which sat 1500. Of course they also had the largest restaurant in the city, because why not. And because it is ‘The Garden’ they decided there should be a roof garden cabaret. They thought this would be a landmark the likes of central park, and it was certainly grandiose enough. They had the same kind of events that the first garden did, including sports, concerts, and all the random stuff they found fun before the invention of TV (not to mention radio, or at least the widespread broadcast of radio). But the problem was, the building was so damn extra, that they had a hard time making enough money to upkeep the place.
Now let’s talk about the architect. Stanford White is probably best remembered for designing the Triumphal arch in Washington square, but then closely followed by being murdered in his own building, MSG II, in a lovers quarrel. This was huge news at the time, and so was the trial that ensued, they called it ‘The Trial of The Century’. The building, being as ridiculous as it was, of course housed an apartment for White, and millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw was not too happy with White who apparently had an affair with his actress wife when she was 16. So he came through, and shot him dead in his own building. It’s all incredibly sketchy and simultaneously intriguing, involving major names of the day, which is probably why the trial was so juicy and gripping in the eyes of the general public.
Anyways, the building was ultimately a failure, and didn’t last very long in retrospect. Everyone knew what Madison Square Garden was, and it was a landmark from 1890-1926, but the building failed to live up to expectations, much less make money. A 36 year run is really nothing to write home about, especially with the illusions (or better yet delusions) of grandeur its rich owners had in mind. There were some important sporting events that happened there, but what would happen in the next building would be the reason The Garden is now known as, The Worlds most Famous Arena. Interestingly the building there today, the New York Life Insurance Company, was built on that plot directly after MSG II was demolished. They owned the mortgage on the building, so they just built their headquarters there. It’s an iconic building in its own right, and if you’re on the NE corner of the park, there’s a plaque on the building which notes that it was the location of the first 2 Gardens.
The only thing MSG still had was, well, the name. And in walked Tex Rickard, to seize an opportunity that proved to be golden.
Madison Square Garden III
If you’ve never heard of Tex Rickard, think PT Barnum, Don King, etc. He was the leading boxing (and more) promoter of the day, and was a very successful businessman, operating saloons, hotels, casinos, and the like. He was a country boy, born in Missouri and raised in Texas, but had a knack for business and promotion. Tex saw the opportunity to buy the name, and incorporated the ‘New Madison Square Garden Corporation’ in 1923. It was smart, although MSG II didn't make money, it was still a household name in NYC. The purpose was to build a less extravagant arena, but a place that would be iconic in its own right and host major sporting events, including NHL games. This is where MSG started to make a name for itself as a major player in venues, and eventually THE most famous arena in the world. So Tex bought a big block of land quite a bit of a ways away from the original site of The Garden, on 8th avenue between 49th and 50th street. He basically built a big box, designed by theater architect Thomas Lamb, at the cost of almost 5 million dollars and in a remarkable 249 days. I think it’s sufficient to say that ol’ Tex knew how to get things done. He had a bunch of rich backers, plenty of clout, and he threw his arena up in sharp contrast to the old garden. It did however have a very iconic marquee, and if you talk to anyone who was around at the time they will note that the marquee was the distinguishing feature of the building. The main draw originally was boxing, as that was Tex’s bag. They had major fights, and drew much larger crowds than the older gardens, mostly because they could cram almost 20,000 people in there. The site lines were apparently terrible, but by all accounts the energy that still haunts the current garden, was the main draw.
Then, hockey happened. This was the idea from the start, as fellow sports promoter Thomas Duggan had options on three expansion teams for the NHL, to be established in the US. One became the Bruins, and then one was arranged to be given to NYC’s most-celebrated prohibition bootlegger Bill Dwyer, who arranged with Tex to have the team play at MSG III. Tex had an agreement with the first team they started, The New York Americans, aka The Amerks (ever heard of them?), that they would be the only hockey team to ever play at The Garden. Although there was a clause in the contract that Tex claimed he would never exercise, that claimed if Tex and MSG ever made a bid for a team, the Amerks would support it. Tex kept his word for approximately one year, when due to the American’s success, he went out and got himself a hockey team. The tabloids dubbed this team Tex’s Rangers, an obvious play on words, and you can guess what that team that became today. The Rangers soon eclipsed the Amerks in success, and The Garden’s lore began to grow as the place to be in NYC.
One more note on Tex, and maybe the most important in my biased Knicks ‘no other arena is THE GARDEN’ mind. he started 7 other Madison Square Garden’s around the country. Including ‘Boston Madison Square Garden’ which as you may guess, became known as Boston Garden. Thats right Celtics fans, your building was named after ours. Thanks Tex, for unknowingly providing another iconic building, that the future inhabitants of your NYC building would lose in over and over again! Anyways…now is where basketball becomes the star - so you can all start paying attention!
At the time, nobody thought professional basketball was a viable way of making money. Rickard passed away in 1929, and during the great depression things stayed somewhat status quo, but also there were now a lot of days where the giant arena wasn’t being used at all. Then, in walked Ned Irish, a successful sports journalist who quit his job covering basketball games for the World-Telegram, to start promoting basketball games at MSG III. The Garden let him promote and hold games there, as long as he would just cover the rent, that’s how bad things were economically. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the college games became a lot more financially successful than anyone had anticipated. Along with making money, these college games were probably the number one factor in growing the game nationwide in general. College ball became the marquee (pun intended) event at MSG III, especially the double headers. This was a time, before the infamous point shaving scandals, that NYC college basketball was a force in the college game. It’s hard to believe now, but teams like NYU and CCNY were the equivalent of today’s Duke and UNC. By 1946, they were selling out the arena, and the city (and country) had fallen in love with the game of basketball. The NIT was started during this time, and even the first televised basketball game happened there in the form of a Fordham-Pitt / Georgetown-NYU doubleheader. The previously mentioned point shaving scandal involving the NYC schools hamstrung Irish’s ability to put on marquee matchups at MSG III, as a lot of the major teams were banned from playing there, and the NCAA reduced its use of the arena as a result.
Ned, being the promoter genius that he was, saw the success of the college game, knew his limitations with that now, and thought…Why can’t we do this with professional athletes and start a league? There had technically been professional basketball being played at MSG III since its inception, but it was traveling teams like the original Celtics, which weren’t associated with a league. People just didn’t think there was enough money in it, or a means and arenas to have such a league. So with other owners of hockey arenas around the US (and Canada!) They started the NBA in 1946. It wasn’t instantly as popular as the college game as you may suspect, with the Knicks even having to play at the 69th (nice) regiment armory when a college game was on that took priority over the NBA. Ironically, the armory was a few blocks away from the original location of MSG I and II, on Lexington between 25th and 26th, it’s still there for those NYers who happen to walk by and notice the building.
There were other major nationally news worth events that happened at MSG III, including a host of politically themed ventures including both a packed Nazi rally (really, and people were NOT happy about it as you may imagine) and an anti-nazi rally. There are some very famous photos and press about the pro Nazi rally, which happened in 1939 and was organized by the ‘German American Bund’. As Nazi's were wont to do, they recorded the thing, and for what it's worth, its some of the best and most crisp footage of the old garden although the Nazi's really spoil it - Here are the receipts. If only they put their efforts into making beautiful videos of basketball games instead of hate. Too bad the guy who charged the stage didn't do any damage, and I hate to think of what they did to him. Anyways before I get too riled up, a few years later this group would be banned, but MSG certainly took some heat for allowing this to go down, and deservedly so. The tradition of MSG doing anything for a buck holds strong!
Probably the most noteworthy event ever held in that venue was also somewhat a political event. The most famous version of ‘Happy Birthday’ ever sung took place at JFK’s birthday party, sung of course by Marilyn Monroe, at MSG III. Most people probably had no idea where this took place, and it may be realistically the most famous moment from any of the incarnations of MSG.
Another one of my favorite stories from that time is when they had first built MSG III there was a boxer, who’s name escapes me but this is the NBA sub so you all don’t care, that didn’t realize there was a new venue, so he showed up at the site of MSG II only to see that it had been demolished. He scooted uptown as quickly as he could, and won his fight. There is a whole host of boxing history that went down there, but I won’t bore you all with the details, just go look it up if you’re interested! The boxing events most of you have heard of, such as The Fight of the Century, would happen at the building that stands today, MSG IIII.
Now, on to the controversy.
Madison Square Garden IIII (current arena)
This is all just fact, and I won’t get into my biased opinion on why or why not this was the right thing to do. I’m going to lay out the full controversy before I get into some fun facts about the current arena…So here goes…
Yes, there was an above ground Penn Station. It was thought of as one of the most iconic and beautiful landmarks in NYC. Look up some pictures, it’s very cool.
In 1959, Graham-Paige bought a 40% stake in MSG for $4 million. Then, in 1960, Graham-Paige president Irving Felt (old NYers will recognize the name, the Felt Forum, which was the original name for the theater under the arena floor) bought the right to Penn Station. The idea was always that he would tear the old station down, and build the sports complex. The Pennsylvania Railroad company sold the air rights to the property because passenger traffic was on the decline after WW2, and they weren’t making enough money to upkeep the station. I’m sure the Penn Railroad company wasn’t too keen on tearing the building down, but Felt made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. In exchange for the rights of a building they couldn’t support anymore, the Penn Railroad company got a brand new, smaller station completely below the street at no cost, and also a 25% stake in the new MSG complex. That probably worked out ok for them. People tried to save the old station, as it was a beautiful and a lot of people were outraged that the city would let this happen. At the end of the day, the city voted to demolish the building in 1963. A lot went into this, it was simply too much for the railroad company to upkeep, and like I said, they got a pretty great offer. Also, they had at first optioned the air rights to William Zeckendorf in 1954, and he had some plans which would reconfigure the train station into several different things including a ‘world trade center’ and a ‘Palace of Progress’. These things didn’t come to pass, again, this was a MASSIVE building. Now it should be noted, if NYC wanted to save the building, they could have saved the building. It would not have been cheap, but they could have done it. However the city thought that since it was originally intended to be a ‘cost-effective and functional piece of the city’s infrastructure’ it was now mostly just a ‘monument to the past’. Pretty cold, but the city had a history of destroying historic buildings to build even more historic ones. A lot of the criticism from people after MSG4 was built, was that this was not the case in this instance, as opposed to say - tearing down the original Waldorf-Astoria to put up the Empire State Building. That one in retrospect, doesn’t have as much contention. The city thought they were being ‘progressive’ and from what I can gather, people didn’t believe they were actually going to tear the building down until they actually started doing it. When they actually started tearing it down, it sparked international outrage. As another user pointed out on the other thread, this led to the establishment of the NYC landmarks preservation commission, which did in fact save Grand Central from demolition in 1968. So that’s a silver lining to all of this. NYC didn’t step up to save the old Penn Station, but its demolition was not in vain. The outrage that it caused has surely saved plenty of other historic buildings from their demise. Like I said, I’m not trying to say it was right or wrong, this post is simply to state the facts on what happened and why it all happened.
(((I realize that I may have been typing hastily and drunk when I responded with why the old landmark Penn Station building was torn down for the new MSG. Admittedly, my timeline was slightly off, as the ‘no property tax’ thing happened afterwards to keep the Knicks / Rangers / MSG in the city. I went back into my research and wanted to make sure I explained what happened 100% accurately. Even though nobody disputed this in the thread, my post may have been confusing and the timeline in my head was a bit skewed, as I said the threat of moving to NJ was a factor in them originally tearing the train station down. This was the reason for the property tax cut, but not the original demo of the train station, as you've just read. I wanted to make sure the accurate story was told. So this should clear up the timeline, and why and when things happened the way they did.)))
The next big controversy is what I had a little mixed up in my original post, as I clumped it together with the original controversy, and that is the threat of the teams moving to New Jersey. This did happen and this is where it gets very, very, VERY sketchy.
In 1982, when Gulf and Western owned MSG, they threatened to move the teams to NJ, as the Giants and Jets had done, and also the Devils although they didn’t come from Manhattan. NJ had proven a more than viable option for professional sports teams, as it was just a short train ride away to the new Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Garden was in need of renovation, so they made then mayor Ed Koch an ultimatum - give us a tax break to help us renovate the arena and add the new fangled luxury boxes that all the newer arenas had. That led to a full property tax exemption for the next 10 years.
Koch ‘didn’t realize’ that no one put in a sunset date for the tax exemption. Some think he confused the clause that stated the teams would be locked in for at least 10 more years, for a clause that said the tax exemption would only last for 10 more years. The first part of that is true, so interestingly enough the Knicks and Rangers are not allowed to play home games anywhere else but MSG, or they would break the agreement, so things like the NHL winter classic that the Rangers play in, even if in NY they have to be the away team. Knicks in London? Away team. Not that those teams would give up a home games worth of revenue, but still they technically have to be the away team. So the garden has saved somewhere around half a billion dollars, yes BILLION dollars in property tax payments. It’s around $50 Million now, and although there have been bills, most notably in 2014 to try and get this changed, so far it’s fallen on deaf ears.
The argument against this is pretty plain to see, the Knicks and the Rangers are the most profitable teams in their respective sports, and that they don’t need this tax break. Let’s make one thing clear, Jim Dolan definitely does NOT need the tax break. Everyone has to pay property taxes. Except, Dolan and MSG. It’s a hard pill to swallow, even as the most diehard Knicks fan. The City Council almost unanimously voted to take it to state legislature in 2014, which has authority over the cities tax rules. There is sketchy stuff all through this, like state assembly leader at the time Sheldon Silver having his daughter and one of his former top aides on MSG payroll. Oh yeah, Sheldon Silver was convicted of federal fraud and extortion charges sometime after that focused on large payments that Silver received for years from Goldberg & Iryami, a law firm that specialized in seeking reductions of New York City real estate taxes for real estate developers. Silver was alleged to have persuaded developers who had business with the state to use the firm, which in turn generated $700,000 in referral fees to Silver. Totally not sketchy at all.
Here’s where it stands today, as controversy will be back to a fever pitch in a few years.
In 2013, the NYC council voted unanimously to give MSG a ten year permit, as opposed to their current agreement which gave them operating rights in perpetuity. This means that MSG’s operating permit is up in 2023. Penn Station is in dire need of renovation. Like, more-so than the Knicks are in need of talent. Dolan also spent a couple billion on renovating the arena into the state of the art facility it is today. He’s not planning on moving it. If the city wants Dolan to move the garden so they can renovate the station, it would be massively complicated, and the city would be forced to offer huge subsidies to get MSG out of the way. So chances are, everything goes on, status quo. Now I will say, from my time receiving internal emails at MSG, Dolan does not want a fight with the city. They realize that there can potentially be a compromise here. Also, he has a ton of money, and politicians tend to respond to that.
One thing that is a step in the right direction, is the massive building across 8th avenue, the iconic post office, which just like the old Penn Station has gone largely unused but BECAUSE of Penn Stations demolition has been protected itself from demolition. It has already begun to be repurposed for the train station, and by 2021 they are supposed to finish the construction on the inside to a huge, new, modern train hub. This will do a lot honestly in reducing the congestion in the old underground station.
The other internal rumblings, were that Dolan was going to let them build into the theater. Cuomo actually announced this plan, which would leave the arena intact. I will explain the layout of the current building later, but underneath the arena floor up on the 5th floor, sits the 2nd largest theater in all of NYC. In my time there it was being used less and less, mostly because the garden also owns Radio City and The Beacon theater, which are much nicer venues. There have been iconic events down in the theater also, including many NBA drafts, and some epic Eddie Murphy stand up specials, but it is in need of renovation. It is the only area that they didn’t touch during the renovation, because the thought process is that they’d just be competing with themselves in Radio and The Beacon. So The idea is that Dolan will throw the city a bone, and let them build up into the theater, in exchange for keeping the status quo, which would give Penn a much larger footprint. Admittedly, I’m not sure what progress has gone into this plan, and if the Amtrak plan for the post office has changed any of that. Basically, we’re just going to have to wait until 2023 to see what the future really holds for MSG, but knowing a bit about NYC politics, I wouldn’t count on anything changing.
Ok, now that that’s all out of the way, lets talk about the fun side of MSG4, if it hasn’t already left too sour of a taste in your collective mouths.
The new building is actually a pretty fascinating piece of architecture in its own right. Some people think the facade is ugly, and that’s fair, but the inner workings are pretty cool. Charles Luckman was the architect, and he also designed the Forum out in LA, owned now by MSG as well. In my opinion, the most fascinating part of the structure is the cable system which supports it. 48 cables connect from the outer circumference of the building, meeting at the middle in a center tension ring. This allows the arena to not have visual support beams, like the arenas before it all boasted. No visual beams means better sight lines, and less obstructions. This is a cool article from the time about it if you care to know more about the actual construction. If you’re ever at The Garden, look for little circular plaques on the wall, numbered 1-48. These mark where the cables line up in the arena, and security can actually use these to dictate where they are in the building. You’ll probably never notice them, unless you’re looking for them.
The other cool thing about the roof, is that if you look closely you’ll see that the actual ceiling which sits between the cables, you’ll see that it has tiny holes all through it. Thats because the ceiling is designed to absorb sound, its filled with sound absorption material so when the sound passes through the holes it helps deaden the room. Usually arenas are the worst place to see a concert, and the general rule of thumb is - the bigger the room, the louder and boomier it will be. It’s certainly not as good sounding as a smaller concert venue but it is better than any arena you’ll find. As opposed to oracle arena, which has a concrete ceiling meant to amplify sound for sporting events etc. Which makes it even more impressive how loud it gets in there, despite the ceilings best efforts.
When the building was built there was a 48 lane bowling alley, an art gallery, a hall of fame, and a 501 seat cinema. Thats right, a 48 lane bowling alley. It closed in the 80s, but had a lot of bowling events including some sort of bowling TV show apparently. I haven’t been able to confirm this, but this was what I was told by a reliable source! Someone older than myself can probably speak to that.
Unlike most arenas, the arena floor of MSG is actually 5 floors above street level, which allows for the theater underneath the arena floor.
Although the ~~Felt Forum~~ Theater at Madison Square Garden doesn’t have as many events as it used to, they still have events and even at the same time that there are events going on up in the main arena. When I was working there, we had plenty of instances where there were crazy concerts or games going on upstairs, and other events going on in the theater. You would have never known the other was going on, and there is no sound transmitted from one venue to the other. Also if you’re familiar with the theater, the rumor is the lights (probably its defining characteristic) that pattern the theater ceiling, equates exactly to the number of seats in the theater. I never was bored enough to count, so that’ll just have to be a rumor for now!
The floor of the arena itself is pretty cool, and if you’re not familiar with how these multi-sport arenas work, the ice lives underneath the court all through hockey and basketball season. It’s pretty remarkable to watch the ice crew make the ice, and pretty sad when it gets melted. The fun fact here is, not only can they switch over in under 3 hours from one sport to the other, but they WILL do it and have to do it several times a year to do a Knicks and Rangers home game on the same day. All four sides of the arena have expandable seating, think high school gym, which allows for almost 2 thousand more seats during Knicks games as opposed to rangers games. They cover the ice with a fiberglass/plastic compound material, and then the floor fits together like a giant puzzle over top of the material. This current material has been used since the renovation, and the ridiculous thing is before the new material, supposedly they had to melt the ice once during the season - to accommodate for the longest running event in MSG history, the dog show. Apparently the dogs could sense the ice! I wasn’t there at that time, but that was what I was told was the scenario.
Another ridiculous thing is seeing them set up for professional bull riding. It’s insane, they bring in literally 20 something dump trucks of dirt and they do a ‘running of the bulls’ where all the bulls run up the ramp that goes to the street, and into their pens. It’s probably the wildest thing you’ll see being set up there, and also leaves the arena smelling like, well, you know, for several weeks. Not as bad as it smells after Phish comes through for NYE, and no I’m not talking about reefer. That would be one thing, but it just smells…grimy.
As much as we all collectively have some disdain for James Dolan, it hasn’t been all bad. He has hosted 3 of the biggest benifit concerts of all time, for 9/11, Katrina, and Sandy. All the proceeds from these shows went towards victim relief. But what people don’t realize is that the first ever benefit concert happened at MSG, in George Harrison’s ‘The Concert For Bangladesh’.
As for the new renovation, they really did a nice job in a lot of ways. It took 3 years, from 2011-13. First of all, if you’ve never sat on the bridge for a game, do it. It’s truly a one of a kind view. If you’re not familiar with the bridge, they are 2 suspended walkways that were added during the renovation, with several rows of seating that stretch across the arena. One side is the ‘Media bridge’ where there are TV’s with full cable, all kinds of plugs for laptops and internet and all that. They will sell tickets to this side when it’s a game that the media isn’t hogging the whole thing. I like hanging up there during games because there are advanced stats on some of the channels, anything you would need to be covering the game from a journalistic perspective, so it’s pretty cool. Also that’s where the radio, and the hockey TV broadcast booths are, since the vantage point is better up there for hockey than on the glass.
Pro tip - sometimes on stub hub or wherever, those seats can be cheaper than the ones further back not on the bridge. This is because they’re the ‘300’ level, where as the seats all the way up on the sides are the 200 level. However there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. And there are bars INSIDE the seating area, so if you’re up in the top of the 200’s, you can hit the bar without ever leaving the arena bowl and missing a single second of that can’t miss Knicks basketball. The 400 level is cool too, that’s the blue seats, which were the original color of all the 400 level seats.
Back in the day, when there were paper tickets, the seats in the different levels were different colors, and the tickets for those seats would be the same color as your seats!
The suite situation is very insane now a days. There are the event level suites, which are 20 suites located literally on the arena floor, underneath the seating. They have no view of the game, but they come with 8 seats each right in the first few rows. It’s the best of both worlds, so you’ll see the first few rows CLEAR OUT during half time to go into their little luxury caves. There are also suites all through the mid level of the arena, and then a 3rd level of suites up on the 9th floor, facing the stage.
There are also luxury clubs, including the Delta Club, which if you’ve never had a ticket with access to it, and can afford it - I highly recommend it. Everything (minus alcohol of course!) is free, and the food is honestly ridiculous. Further down the hall and down the stairs is the JP Morgan club (throwback!) where an even more elite club (closest 100 or so seats) can hang out. And even more so, there is a place called ‘suite 200’. I never knew about this until I worked there. You can only go there if you’re invited, which means you’re very famous. For some reason, my keycard had access to this, and I explored it a few times. It’s ridiculous. Original trophies, huge original paintings, etc.
Speaking of trophies - everyone used to ask me where the Knicks championship trophies are - and the truth is, back when the Knicks won it was so long ago, that the NBA trophy was like the Stanley cup and changed hands every year. So…no Knicks championship trophies. However if you go to MSG you’ll notice the defining moments collection, the top moments in MSG history that line the walls of the 2 main concourses. There is one dedicated to the 1970 championship, and it has the eastern conference trophy in it. Now this I can confirm is true - if you examine the trophy you’ll notice that the little basketball player on top is a different hue than the rest of the trophy. That’s because apparently when they were compiling these displays a few years ago, they found the trophy in storage with the basketball man broken off the top of it, so they had to replace it. That’s why you can visibly tell that there is a difference between him and the rest of the trophy, if you really examine it.
Obviously there have been so many huge events at The Garden, I don’t really need to get into that here.
Also if you ever get the chance, visit the 9th floor where the signature suites are located. The coolest memorabilia in the building is up there, including one of those signed 50 greatest lithographs, Patrick Ewing and Wayne Gretzky’s locker, and even the statue of Joe Gans, a legendary African American boxer. This statue has the patina pretty much gone from his outstretched left arm is it was tradition for boxers to tap gloves with Joe for good luck before they took the ring. Now it sits up there, right next to the scale that was in use during the time of the fight of the century featuring Frazier and Ali. They also have an old school ice resurfacer up there, which is pretty cool.
Well, I’m sure there’s a ton that I left out - If you made it this far, you’re a champ.
TL;DR - Boston Garden was originally called Boston Madison Square Garden and was named after the arena in NY. There is only one 'The Garden' and it's super duper important. ;)
Edit - I should have mentioned wrestling. It’s intimately tied to MSG, but really deserves its own thread and I have no more characters!

[Let's Build] d100 Strange Shops

Maybe magical, extraplanar, or just unusual. Comment and I'll add yours to the list :)

Imp Imporium - This store is small and boxy, and entirely made of redwood. A tall devil stands behind the counter wearing a suit and tie, and imps are chained to the walls. He offers you the services of one of his imps for a small price- the rights to the imp's memories of what they did when you're done. He requires a much larger material collateral for if you don't return the imp or it dies/is irreparably maimed in your service.
Coagulation Station - A seemingly normal (if ugly) old woman runs this roadside popup store. It is nothing more than a cart with a sign next to it reading "Coagulation Station" painted roughly in red over a lime background. She offers healing supplies, potions, and rations in return for a small vial of your blood. (Feel free to come up with consequences for buying from her, such as her being a hag or using it for a strange ritual, etc.)
Elemental Extras - An air, earth, fire and water elemental stand in the four corners of this (entirely brick) shop. Unfortunately, the "shopkeepers" only speak primordial, so good luck if you don't. They each offer to put special elemental effects on whatever you own, such as a fire effect on your sword, an ice effect on your armor to freeze whatever hits you, or an earth effect on an arrow to have surrounding dirt swallow whoever it hits. Everything here is understandably very expensive.
Vraug aks stor - A very tall, older orc hero enthusiastically tries to sell his weapons in this shop in order to retire. They're hung up on the walls, all showing varying signs of use. Some appear to be magical. Vraug also tries to tell his customers stories about each weapon before they buy (and especially before they ask.) The weapon most prominently displayed is a +4 Great Axe, with obsidian blades, a dragon-scale tip on the end and golden threads running down the handle. There are a few chinks in it, and the tip somehow has a dent in it, but the damage only seems to add to the charm. He charges an extraordinary price for this axe.
Angel Bazaar - Apparently recently the churches haven't been generating enough coin to keep the local deity fiscally afloat, and some angels have taken it upon themselves to raise that extra money. Some are selling more regular items for cheaper prices, such as healing items, some are selling more extravagant magical items, and even others are offering "miracles." They're all set up in a series of stands in a small square that you swear wasn't here before.
Betsie's Black Cauldron- everything is black, especially Betsie. From black oak ethanol to black licorice she has ingredients and potions unique to her gimmick. u/LateLolth96
The Fleeting Flyer's Fast Findings- if the item floats, flies, or is otherwise airborne this shop might have it. Limited time only and has (randomized) a rare three uncommons and six commons but the more you travel the more likely you are to come across it because it's on a one man spell jammer with two carnival cars behind it. u/LateLolth96
The Kyuss Kasino- a worm themed casino where the main attraction is the purple tunnel which is a purple worm in a metal harness designed to prevent it from moving and to keep its mouth open. The wager, and incidentally, the show is if you can make it out the other end alive you [win]. There are scrying orbs that display a live feed of the current "adventurer" in the worm for 5 silver lasting 30 min before the next five silver (no refunds). Quest hook? u/LateLolth96
Djinni Gin Jamboree- a once a month festival celebrating a moon cycle of the dm's choosing. Marids sell their distilled saliva as well as various forms of never-before-seen-by-man fish dishes, and water elementals play live music which more or less sounds like the rhythmic gurgling of a muddy brook. u/LateLolth96
The Crossroads Corridor - An invite only shop, given to adventures who have a number of their own magical items. When the invitation is slid under any closed doorway, said doorway will become the doorway to the shop. Operated by The Masked Man, it is a magical item shop that trades magical items for magical items of similar value. Leaving will exit out the door you originally put the invitation under. u/Hacknslaasher
Bottom's Bottomless Meatpies - It's cheap, delicious (although a bit gamey and hard to chew) and the servings are enormous. The shop is run by an old goblin with an enormous smile, his name is Toothy Bottom, less so because of his bum, and more so because of a secret that he isn't telling any one, the secret that has made his Meatpie-shop the most well visited in the entire area, at least by those not able to afford fine dining in the upper districts.For you see, underneath this humble shopped, staffed every hour of every day with more goblins than you can count on one hand, or two hands if you have taken ABM (Advanced Barbarian Maths), lies a large, cavernous mining operation.You enter it through a set of large trap-doors found in the cold-store basement where you find the literal wheelbarrows of meat that allow every customer to order however much meat they want in (or on) their pies, as long as the Goblins can lift it up to the counter (the largest order so far was, according to the Goblins managing the front of the house, "the weight of a small baby wrapped in a nasty hunting dog." they have made no comment as to how they know that specific measurement).Once you are through the trap-doors, you'll find a rail-system rivaling that of the largest Dwarven mines, with rail-master goblins timing and directing all the in- and out- going traffic, and every cart that comes in is absolutely and utterly loaded with meat, which is then loaded on wheelbarrows and carted up through the trapdoor.If you were to follow the rails as deep as they go, through all of the winding tunnels, across chasms, past various cave-dwelling monsters that try to snack on the meat or goblins or, well, you, then you'll eventually find yourself at the namesake of mr. Toothy Bottom.A large, mass of rock-hard skin, covered in spines and horns and other sharp shapes, it has been split open, and the dark flesh underneath is mined ceaselessly by a small army of Goblins. They aren't violent, in fact, they are quite cowardly, but they are as professional as any Goblin can be, and they are also fighting a continuous fight against the flesh with their pickaxes.For you see, the open wound is constantly trying to close itself, regenerating at a blinding speed that the Goblins have learned to keep up with after opening the wound large enough to allow for their massive excavation progress.This may be the toothy bottom of the pits and chasms.But it is also a small area of the sleeping Tarrasque, regenerating fast enough that it does not notice the harm being done to it, and with a large enough Goblin Workforce to drive the economy of what is, essentially, a small Goblin Kingdom in these tunnels, complete with blacksmiths making new Meat-axes and monster-hide-leathercrafters making workboots and pants for the Goblins working down in that caustic blood.And let's not forget, that the entire lower class of the city has eaten Tarrasque meat at least once, some of them for years.But it's only two silver pieces for as much pie as you want (or can carry), so who cares to ask where it's all coming from? u/Neknoh
Sarah’s sewing shop, “World class Seamstress.” - She means world class! She can repair even magical fabric to like new condition. Everything she makes alterations to gives them a +1 to charisma for 24hrs or until dirtied. Bonus returns after being thoroughly washed and dried (some items are dry clean only)She’s also a dry cleaners. u/rab-byte
The Philosopher’s Time Shop - Sundials, watches, windup clocks, candle clocks, hourglasses the size of mites up to the size of your average goliath, the Philosopher has a range to suit almost any buyer in need of a way to measure time. Be careful, the hours you spend there fly away like seconds! u/ElZoof
Oakshot Saddliery - Gwinnett Oakshot caters to a select clientele, those looking for clothes, armour, weapons and equipment specifically designed to suit those who spend at least part of their days in a different body shape. Minor magic at most, it’s mostly just very well designed to suit your Druid on the go or werebeing out for a night on the town. u/ElZoof
Jasper, Goldhand, Bloodstrangler and Smith - What does “‘til death us do part” mean if your wife is now a lich? Does a lifetime guarantee still stand if the object in question broke before the manufacturers were born? What exactly is an annuity? The firm of JGB&S is on hand to assist with non-devilish contracts of any kind. u/ElZoof
Morogh's "Pet's" - This pet shelter is run by an older halfling named Morogh. He's kindhearted and only wants the best for his little animal companions he sells. From apes over hawks to wolfs, he just has every animal companion you could think of, but his store also has a back area. Not everyone is welcomed there as he also sells abandoned monster hatchlings, like griffons, owlbears, pseudodragons and even a red dragon wyrmling. Those monsters are all tamed so no danger there, Morogh just wants to know his customers better before trying to sell one of his more 'exotic' assets.The adventurers maybe can persuade him or do a favor for him (possible quest), like acquiring some exotic food for the more demanding beasts and monsters he houses. After this Morogh decides to sell them one of his monsters as a companion. u/Th3Banzaii
Plane Ole' Butcher - A butcher shop that sells meat from an unknown plane of origin. One day a small portal opened up from the ground and strange-smelling exotic meats have been extruding from the portal. A shop was built around the portal which has been active and pumping for 50 years. People come to see the wonder firsthand but they stay for the dirt-cheap meats. The meats are char-grilled and heavily spiced to soften the meat's naturally pungent flavor. u/HeyShipmate
Looters Late Return (aka LooLaRe)- A seedy smelling store run by an androgynous goblin who wears overly fancy clothes. This goblin sells in bulk only, and at discounted prices. The catch is that if you make a purchase, you must sign a contract guaranteeing repeated weekly purchases. Your bulk discount increases the more product you are able to move, but if you are unable to maintain your weekly purchases, the goblin’s secret network of enforcers comes for it’s dues. Or your life. u/pikkl_rikk
Sandman Fisheries - This tightly packed stall smells or marine air and salty nets. It has all the sea can offer to the gourmet with a striking emphasis on huge fish: tuna, spadefish, and the occasional gargantuan squid. The product is impeccably fresh. Always. Sandman (a desert dweller and camel race aficionado) doesn't seem to understand what you're asking about the supply chain and how come his shop ever exists at hundred of miles from the nearest sea! u/Banuken
T'zargo's fine wares - This shop can be mysteriously seen in any plane, but always appears as an identical modern convenience store looking building. Inside is a tabaxi named T'zargo, always advertising his "fine wares at reasonable prices." He sells extremely rare and powerful items for millions of gold, along with random everyday items. Some of these rare items include an axe once wielded by Baphomet, and draws from a deck of many things. His mundane items he always pulls out of a box on his counter, and they include a full rowboat and 30 chairs. u/Kellen1013
The Magic Commoner - A basic magic item shop owned by a young elf wizard named Tavon Ilidan. He sells all sorts of magical things from armor to weapons and rings an such.The thing about his shop even though on the outside it looked like a regular building despite being one solid color; purple, orange, green ect. But when you walk inside it's much larger than its outward appearance.The shop also travels via a magical door. Tavon has a set of different keys he keeps with him representing the different cities of the land/world. He first closes the front door, locks it, then unlocks it with a new city key and when he opens it, it opens to the new city.Tavon's appearance reflects on which city he is in and what color his shop is. If is shop is blue his robes are blue as well. Tavon also has a secret. Even though he looks like a young elf he is actually an ancient gold dragon that simply likes to travel and meet new people without the stigma of being a dragon. He likes to play tricks on people and test them to see if they are worthy of specific items in his shop, (IE a wand of fireballs he made himself.) u/nota_person
Mallard Maladies - A veterinary clinic for ducks. The shop keeper is an old blind man who refuses to heal non duck creatures, but can be tricked into healing non ducks with a high enough deception ability. Despite the name, the clinic services male and female ducks. u/El_Jewbacabra
The Exploding Wand Shop- A shop that is characterized by an explosion that lifts the roof of the building off the walls and expelled black smoke every few hours - followed by the owner shouting from inside "I'M FINE, EVERYTHING'S OKAY!"The owner is a young Eladrin Artificer named Seyf Melorathian who experiments on new wands and other magical wonders. His face is a black charcoal from the soot of the explosions but otherwise would be a light brown. He has a pair of glasses that protects his eyes from being covered in soot. He has blond hair and wears a Smith's apron. He sells common rarity wands, up to rare rarity wonderous items, and has been working on an experimental wand of fireballs. You can only purchase an experimental wand if you do a material gathering quest for him.If you buy one of his wand of fireballs (2000gp and a waiver signed to not sue) there's a 10% chance that when used the wand will cast a second fireball centered on you during the spell.He also offers enchanting services at various speeds depending on the rarity of the requested enchantment. He will also willingly take on apprentices or teach enchantment to anyone. u/xBramStokerx
Fishman’s Man Fry – A Triton, named Vamras Vogalath, with broken Common serves delectable seafood dishes. If asked about the name, he explains that it is food FOR men, not for fishes.Side note- this is shop is not anywhere near any large body of water. Nobody in town is sure exactly where the fish come from. u/Unprincipled
Shwarma Tent - delicious herb infused fried flatbread with cured meats and shredded carrot and cucumber. The tent has small tripod tables and stools of worn wood. Patrons carve their names and other messages into the tabletops. Among the mundane names can be found the names of previous characters and NPCs that the party met, BBEGs they defeated, dated long ago, the current ruler of the land and the name of an old lover with a heart around it, Ash Ketchum, Drizzt, The Doctor, and the original Avengers. Searching carefully can also reveal a cryptic message to the party, seemingly carved years prior, but naming the PCs. u/bluecor
Threads of Fate - three old sisters weave spidersilk and mundane silk into beautiful garments with embroidery that sometimes changes its image. For instance, a nightrobe has the moon and a starry sky embroidered, and the moon changes its phase with the real moon. On another, a dragon slowly chases its own tail, with its wingtips pointing to the time, as a clock. Yet another displays an hourglass which constantly drains, and runs out when the wearer dies. Other images might show great moving battles, gently waving flags that slowly fade and dilapidate as the empire becomes more corrupt, or ruins that become progressively overgrown with vines. The theme of the garments deal with the passage of time and the inevitable end of life. u/bluecor
Salty's - the owner Saltamancia sells salt of differing coarseness and colors, and is an expert on which textures best compliment which purposes, from baking fine rolls to soaking one's feet after a days march. He has certain rare salts from distant lands with rare properties. For abjuring circles, he has a blessed salt that cannot be dispersed by gusts of wind. For healing, he has a fine blue salt that, when mixed with honey and packed into a wound, prevents infection and scarring. Another salt taken with hot peppermint tea can remove an additional level of exhaustion with a rest. True to his name, Saltamancia is old and curmudgeonly u/bluecor
Bestboots - Bestboots sells custom footwear of exceeding quality, made from rare materials. The footwear can be light for nimble moves or heavy for kicking doors. With the right materials (possibly a quest) minor advantages can be built into the footwear. For example, a sole of felted yeti hair can give normal traction on ice, and a sole of gummed soapwood sap can allow the wearer to ignore a casting of grease underfoot. u/bluecor
Hap's Microbrews - Hap claims to have perfected the means of beer portability, in that his brews are bottled and sealed under pressure in containers of lightweight spun cellulose which dont shatter when dropped. Opening his bottled beer releases a small localized burst of cold, chilling the beer just shy of freezing. The locals generally ignore his cart and "ice cold beer" sign, as ales are meant to be drunk at room temperature so that they don't unsettle the stomach. A discouraged Hap sits by his cart of beer bemoaning his own foolishness at sinking his fortune into such a folly. u/bluecor
Indelible - this quiet dusty alcove sells the magical inks, parchment, paper, vellum, papyrus, and delicate quills needed to prepare arcane and divine scrolls. Also sketch artistry, heraldry, and calligraphy supplies. Blank spellbooks, charcoal, pastels, and a few unique items are sold. Glowing chalk leaves marks that remain luminous for several hours. A special lightly waxed paper is waterproof and can be written on underwater with a special pencil. A waterproof scrollcase holds six tightly rolled papers in individual tubes, designed so you can immediately draw out the scroll you desire without searching through a sheaf of papers. The proprietor Abagnale is a gifted forger, and can make needed documents for the right fee, but only those skilled in thieve's cant would be able to recognize this based on a small glyph carved above the lintel. u/bluecor
The Magical Arts - this is a totally mundane shop which sells shaved and marked decks of cards, scarves for pulling from your sleeves, salted nuts cans that shoot a confetti burst when opened, squirting lapel flowers, palm buzzers, chewing gum that turns your teeth black, whoopie cushions, and stink spray. The guy working there isn't the owner, but is happy to teach you how to use his goods. While distracting you with a card trick, he will also attempt to shortchange you or pickpocket something (minus 4 to notice his ledgerdemain). If caught, he will only say "check your pocket" and there you will find the item you thought he pickpocketed. "Its all part of the trick, man," he will say, as he pulls a coin from your ear. u/bluecor
The Bee's Knees - honey from different types of flowers with exceptional flavors. Meads of each type are also sold, as well as bee pollen and honey candies. A honey from frostclover will quickly dispell a hangover. Phasebee royal jelly can allow an additional use of misty step for a character with that feature, but the cost is exorbitant. The affogatto with honeycomb, coffee, and ice cream is delicious, and gives the benefits of a short rest when consumed in the shop over the course of an hour. u/bluecor
Wacky Backy - Mr. C. Marin runs this fine tobacconist. House blends of pipe and cigarette tobacco can have classic Gandolf effects: controllable luminous smoke rings of various colors, and custom flavors and scents. The halfling weed is also sold. A self-lighting pipe is available, as well as a "peace pipe," which is a heavy iron pipe useable as a club (but you can also smoke out of it). Mr. Marin can craft custom peace pipes of nearly any light weapon. u/bluecor
Wild Bill's Skins - Bill buys and sells tanned and untanned hides of all types. All. Types. Bill can craft armor and other leather goods from nearly any type of hide. Custom saddles can be made for any beast. A saddle on display is embossed "ride me hard and put me away wet." It isn't for sale, and it looks like it would fit Bill. He can craft a skin-tight custom leather armor that is concealable under clothing, but the customer must go into the back of the shop for a very long and invasive fitting. Rumor has it that some customers never emerge. u/bluecor
Yellow Dancer - This is a musical instrument store run by a purple-haired elf named Lancer who was a freedom fighter in the past. His sister, Yellow Dancer herself, a famous concert performer who is a recognized star, is sometimes there in his place. Instruments of high quality and beginner pieces are sold. On commission, Lancer can craft an instrument which contains a secret sheath for a hidden weapon or wand. Also sold is "the Axe," a battleaxe/guitar combo, with a magical property of sound amplification that allows it to be heard in the largest venue, and allows for unique distortion effects. At DM Option, the Axe can also be used for ranged sonic attacks, mimicking the effects of Eldritch Blast. u/bluecor
The Titty Twister: an adult entertainment venue, mostly for merchants and caravan guards. A goblin barker in a tophat and coattails out front gives a spirited pitch about the feminine wonders to be found within. Inside is a seedy establishment styled to look like an ancient temple. Billiards and darts games line the walls, and a poker game is playing out at a table near the center. Its a rough crowd, and fights that break out are settled with the loser being dragged away by the bouncers and the winner buying a round for the house. Beautiful dancers take turns on stage and mingle with clients between songs. Private shows are available. During the day the massive door is barred and the place is eerily silent, but from dusk til dawn raucous action is there for the taking. Locals stay well clear and pray for protection if they must pass near this den of sin. u/bluecor
The Campus Martius: This strange storefront is a place for games of strategy, including draughts and card games, as well as sandtable war strategy matches involving miniature army figurines, played out with dice and measuring sticks. Arguments over rules are common, and are arbitrated by a robed and wigged judge on a low dias at one end, who often consults an enormous tome of rules which only he is allowed to read from. 1sp per game, per player, but by convention, the loser pays the fees of his opponents. A sweet green drink called mountain brew is popular here. It enhances focus, adding +1 to concentration saves for an hour, but leaves one tired, -1 to all saves for an hour thereafter. u/bluecor
Millenium Sustainable Armory: run by an elvish druid, Millenium sells "murder free" armor made from silk, giant leaves, sustainably harvested ironwood and similar materials. The armor otherwise has the properties of normal light and medium armors, but contains no leather, bone, or metal. Cost is about double. Heavy armor is not available. The leaves making up the armor do not wilt or turn brown. u/bluecor
The Meat Market: run by a shadowy figure in torn robes, this odd shop gives permanent magical effects in exchange for body parts. The more important the organ or body part, the better the effect. The effect goes to whoever the part comes from, so don’t get greedy! Wonder where the parts are going... u/CephaloPawd
Fernado's Fish Frenzy - in a village where magic and fishing collide, you might run into a man who can be at multiple places at a time, Fernado. He is a mystical fisherman who sets up booths in town squares, where the fish fight to the death in gladiator-style combat. The loser, is placed on his selling slab and the victor becomes larger in size. He has a 'leaderboard' that updates magically after every battle, accounting for all of the places Fernado is at in your world. u/BEZERK0xD
A rickety old shop plastered with the title of some famous adventuring party / adventurer on it. The entire shop is run by a near delusional fan of the party/individual, and sells merchandise about them, as well as weirdly specific information that you aren't sure how they know. (If your party is famous enough, the store might be dedicated to them) u/bladeraptor3

How our Party almost killed Grand Moff Tarkin [Game Story]

I will attempt to name every Ready Player One Easter Egg Reference Cameo and details. Will be updated and feel free to help out in the comments.

Disclaimer:I am getting these time stamps off ITunes -At 0:00:48-Van Halen’s 1984 song Jump begins to play in the introduction to The “Stacks”.
At 0:1:18-A BLACK ALIEN INVADER STICKER FROM SPACE INVADERS IS ON WADE’S BACKPACK
At 0:01:44 one of the residents of “The Stacks” is receiving a delivery from a Pizza Hut drone.
At 0:02:13-Mrs. Gilmore is wearing a shirt featuring The Police album Synchronicity
At 0:02:45 Two Garbage Pail Kids stickers are visible on the wall one I can make out one which is Bony Tony
Also 0:02:45-A Garfield sticker is also on the van’s wall
At 0:02:46-Hanging from the wall is a damaged IPod Classic
At 0:02:47-Wade retrieves his OASIS retinal scanner off a a Commodore 64 joystick.
Also at 0:02:46-A 1980’s Batman sticker is stuck to the wall where Wade’s retinal scanner is.
At 0:02:47-a Nintendo NES Zapper is taped to the wall of the van.
Also at 0:02:47- a 1972-Doritos packet is tucked behind a drawer in the van.
Also at 0:02:47-a sticker of the pyramid from Q*Bert is stuck to a shelf in Wade’s Van.
At 0:02:57-Wade sets his glasses on a 1982 Masters Of The Universe lunchbox. A Masters Of The Universe Thermos is further along the drawer.
Also at 0:02:57-A POP ROCKS! Blue Razz packet is also lying upon the MOTU lunchbox.
At 0:02:57-beside the lunchbox is a 1980’s Coke can
Also at 0:02:57 A Carl’s Jr. fries packet is lying beside the lunchbox
At 0:03:16-Wade pulls his OASIS visor out of a 1981 Defenders T-Shirt.
At 0:03:18-A 1982 JOUST sticker is placed on the visor
Also at 0:03:18-A Space Invaders logo decal is on the visor
Also at 0:03:18-A Mattel Scratch N’ Sniff sticker is next to the Space Invaders sticker
At 0:03:24-A 1980’s Batman Symbol sticker is visible on the visor
At 0:03:40-we enter the OASIS to visit Minecraft World nice attention to detail with the blocks forming and creeper-face logo.
At 0:03:42-In Minecraft World a village below features Steve Alex and Minecraft pigs and sheep avatars (maybe NPCs?)
At 0:03:47-on the sports world a golf player does the Gilmore swing from Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore.
At 0:03:55-In a Sports World mini-game named Hurricane Hang-Gliding a small house flies through the wreckage referencing the Gale House from The Wizard Of Oz (well in the 1939 movie it was a Tornado but still a reference)
At 0:04:04-a group of OASIS sector portals are seen-some of these include Minecraft World and LUDUS school districts from the book.
At 0:04:17-get ready for some Batman references While in the Vacation Planet Wade explains that you could do multiple activities including climbing MT. Everest with Batman
The variation of the Batman show here is Micheal Keaton’s portrayal from the 1989 Tim Burton film.
Batman climbing MT. Everest is a reference to him and Robin climbing tall buildings in the 1966 Adam West tv series.
Also at 0:04:17-what’s interesting here is the climber below Batman. He definitely looks like Link from Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series but I’ve heard Warner Bros. Couldn’t get the license so maybe a Robin Hood Avatar?
At 0:04:21-Wade says you can go to a planet-size space Casino this is taken directly from one of the episodes from the Anime Cowboy Bepbop.
At 0:04:30-we can hear a School bell ring as ships pass the planet Ludus which is of course the school Wade attends in the novel.
At 0:04:40-As Wade introduces the types of Avatars users can choose in the OASIS the Cyclops from the 1958 fantasy film The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad stomps out of the entry point.
At 0:04:41-Frankenstein (1931) and The Wolf-Man (1941) from their classic Universal horror movies emerge from the OASIS entry point as Thr Wolf-Man howls and Frankenstein’s Monster swings his arms around wrapped in chains.
0:04:42-A female Avatar switches her avatar to Injustice 2’s version of The Flash.
At 0:04:43-Zitz and Rash from the 1991 NES game Battletoads emerge from the entry point.
At 0:04:43-Alex Murphy A.K.A Robocop from Paul Verhoven’s 1987 original Robocop film emerges from the entry point.
At 0:04:46-Wade says your avatar can be a Cartoon character as Marvin the Martin from the Looney Tunes cartoon series runs out of the entry point (he looks so cute and cool)
At 0:04:47-a group of OASIS users using Orrendi from the 2016 video game BattleBorn emerge from the entry point.
At 0:04:48-behind Wade Shayne and Auroxx (might’ve misspelled the character’s name) from Battleborn emerge from the entry point.
At 0:04:49-An Orc from World of Warcraft walks besides Wade when Wade is introducing his Avatar Parzival.
At 0:04:56-above on a walkway a younger version of Beetlejuice from Tim Burton’s 1988 movie is visible.
Also at 0:4:56-it appears Raiden from the Mortal Kombat video game series is interacting with another player.
At 0:04:56-Tracer from the video game Overwatch cuts in line for an OASIS portal.
At 0:04:57-Sonic from Sega’s video game series Sonic The Hedgehog taps his foot impatiently waiting for a line.
Also at 0:04:57-Catwoman is also in the line (it appears it is Michelle Pfeiffer’s Batman Returns variation.
At 0:04:58-John Bender from John Hughe’s 1985 teen film The Breakfast Club is seen entering a portal.
At 0:04:58-Night-Wing is seen entering a portal alongside John Bender (it appears it is the Arkham variation.
At 0:04:58-now take this with a grain of salt but I think can make out Sektor and cyborg from Mortal Kombat in one of the portal lines.
At 0:05:00 (under the walkway Wade is one is Commander John Shepard from the EA video game Mass Effect.
At 0:05:02-on the walkway is Attikus from Battleborn stomping past Wade.
At 0:05:04-while Wade is explaining the possibilities of the OASIS Hello Kitty Badtz-Maru and Keroppi from Sanrio skips beside him.
At 0:05:05-A Protoss Zealot from Starcraft II is on the walkway behind Wade.
At 0:05:05-Wade’s avatar Parzival wears a belt and holster worn by Han Solo in Star Wars:Episode IV-A New Hope
Also at 0:05:05-The Buckle on Parzival’s belt is the Tiger emblem from Thundercats (1985 cartoon series)
Also at 0:05:05-Parzival wears Converse’s Chuck-Taylor All stars (golden-winged(
At 0:05:07-Wade pulls up a holographic OASIS sector map that is in the same shape as a Rubik’s Cube
At 0:05:11-Wade finds out Aech is currently participating in a PVP match on Planet Doom a location in the 1984 anime Voltron.
At 0:05:20-On Planet Doom Mechanised scorpions from the 1993 computer game Ultrabots swarm the battlefield.
Also at 0:05:20-The scorpions go up against Knights and Ostriches from the 1982 arcade game Joust (in a deleted scene in the SDCC trailer Napoleon rides on a scorpion as he kills ostriches which lay green eggs like in the game.
At 0:05:22-Aech kills a beserker from Gears of War.
At 0:05:28-Aech eliminates a PVP tournament player taking the form of Robert England’s Freddy Kruger
Also at 0:05:28-Aech uses an MA5B assault rifle from Halo 3 to eliminate players.
At 0:05:29-When Freddy gets killed Kreig’s Buzz-Axe from Borderlands comes bursting out of his inventory
At 0:05:31-Aech kills Kitana from Mortal Kombat as a fan comes out of her inventory
At 0:05:31-Man-Bat from Batman:Arkham Knight swoops down at Aech only to be eliminated
At 0:05:37-Despite being an Assault rifle from Halo the SFX of the rifle is the Pulse Rifle from Terminator 2:Judgement Day
At 0:05:41-Duke Nukem from the video game series of the same name fires multiple rockets at Aech only to be eliminated by him.
At 0:05:44-(this is the weirdest thing in the movie) A player taking the form of an Emoji person attempts to kill Aech.
At 0:05:46-A Zerg from Starcraft is shot by Aech.
At 0:05:47-Aech picks up a EM1-Railgun from the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Eraser.
At 0:05:53-Daito’s Avatar is actually based of legendary Japanese film actor Toshiro Mifune (specially from his 1953 film Throne of Blood)
At 0:05:56-Aech kills Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat.
At 0:05:57-Scorpion from Mortal Kombat is fighting Daito and Sho before being shot by Aech.
Also at 0:05:57-The weapon Scorpion is using is a buzz-Axe from Borderlands.
At 0:05:58-Aech shoots Deadshot (it is his Injustice 2 variation)
At 0:06:14-E. Honda from Street fighter is on the mountain pushing other people off with his belly.
At 0:06:18-Chun-Li from Street fighter can be seen dodging traps before being burned by a fire trap.
At 0:06:26-we all saw this cameo. Jim Raynor from Starcraft II and shooting every player in sight.
At 0:06:27-yet another 1972-packaged Doritos Tortilla Chips behind Rick on the coffee table (I believe you see it in the film four times)
0:06:36-When we cut to a mother playing the PVP tournament the Guitar from Guitar Hero is sitting On the armchair.
At 0:06:48-when Daito slays a PVP player and his loot bursts out an O.G 1986 W.O.W Laser Tag pistol can be seen in the pile.
At 0:06:50-we cut to a girl screaming since losing in the PVP match. A poster for The Bangle’s 1984 album All Over The Place is on the girl’s bedroom wall.
Also at 0:06:50 - A Bedtime Bear plush toy from Care Bears is on the girl’s bed.
At 0:06:51-A Donkey Kong Jr. poster is on the bedroom wall.
Also at 0:06:51-On a shelf in the girl’s bedroom Care Bear figurines are visible.
At 0:06:54-Daito and Sho fight and shortly kills Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th horror series.
Also at 0:06:54-When Jason is slain various things comes out of his inventory (lots of guns) I could only make out another 1986 W.O.W Laser Tag pistol.
At 0:07:06-Tear For Fear’s song Everybody Wants To Rule The World plays.
At 0:07:06-Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 Michael Bay film) passes Wade when Wade is talking to Aech.
Also at 0:07:06-Blue Beetle from Injustice 2 passes Wade.
At 0:07:07-behind Wade you can see Benedict from Battleborn
At 0:07:08-Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (again 2014) passes wade while wade is talking to Aech.
At 0:07:12-Doc Brown from Back To The Future in his Part II outfit passes Wade on the walkway.
At 0:07:42-A framed poster of the video game Gradius appears on the wall in the Gregarious Games showcase room.
Also at 0:07:42-A Framed poster of Castlevaynia appears on the opposite wall in the GG showcase room.
At 0:08:01-Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor shortly plays over the start of Halliday’s last message video.
Also at 0:08:01-The quarters over Halliday’s eyes read:God We Trust 1972. 1972 was the year Ernest cline was born AND when Atari was founded.
At 0:08:05-At the funeral parlour there are various flower arrangements of the Starfleet logo and the U.S.S Enterprise ship along with a glass painting of the Starfleet logo from the sci-fi franchise Star Trek.
Also at 0:08:05-The coffin Halliday is lying in is Spock’s Mark VI torpedo in Star Trek II:The Wrath Of Khan.
At 0:08:10-Halliday rises out of the coffin of how Count Dracula would in various Dracula horror movies.
At 0:08:16-Halliday places a TOMY hand-held Pac-Man game on the coffin.
At 0:08:17-Halliday is wearing a Joust shirt.
At 0:08:21-On Halliday’s lapel he is wearing a SIMON pin.
Also at 0:08:21-A little harder to see but Halliday is also wearing a D20 pin from Dungeons and Dragons.
At 0:08:48-On the right side of the screen A High School student watching Halliday’s last message is wearing a Marvin The Martian shirt from The Looney Tunes.
At 0:08:51-Another High school student pulling out a screen is wearing a Pac-Man shirt.
At 0:10:04: Joan Jets and the Blackheart’s 1988 song I Hate myself For Loving you plays.
At 0:10:15-El Dragon from Battleborn passes Wade on the walkway.
At 0:10:27-On the copper key starting line Wade walks through aisles of IOI cars to pass The V8 Interceptor from Mad Max.
At 0:10:34-The Batmobile from the 1966 Adam West tv series Batman is visible throughout the race (love the safety siren flashing)
At 0:10:34-however the driver is not Adam West’s Batman and instead is the Batman from the Arkham games(you can see him moving around in the cockipit)
At 0:10:34:Ryu from Street Fighter is passing down the aisle of cars.
At 0:10:34-A modernised version of the Mach 5 from Speed Racer appears at the starting line next to Ryu.
At 0:10:59-Wade passes a red F1 racing car from the 1982 Atari game Pole Position.
Also at 0:10:59-Mr. T.’s GMC Van from the A-team appears at the starting line.
Also at 0:10:59-the 1968 possessed Plymouth Fury from Christine appears at the starting line of the copper key race.
Also at 0:10:59-Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider game series is having a conversation with Dizzy Wallin from Gears of War II before the race starts.
At 0:11:04-In the Oology department a Scholar is watching the Twin Pines Mall scene from Back to the future on a monitor.
At 0:11:06-A Halliday scholar is holding a sealed copy of DC Comics Presents:Superman and Superboy
At 0:11:09-A Halliday scholar is watching the Goodbye scene in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial on a monitor.
Also at 0:11:09-A Wonder Woman comic panel poster is being studied by scholars.
At 0:11:10-It looks as if on a whiteboard scholars are studying The Glaive from Krull.
At 0:11:13-A group of Ooligists are studying Fruit Loops on a IOI monitor.
Also at 0:11:13-A Cap N’ Crunch cereal box appears on a scholar’s monitor.
Also at 0:11:13-in the Oology department a liberty island version of the map from Escape From New York appears on the TV screen.
At 0:11:28-while walking up to Aech at the racetrack Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat walks past him.
At 0:11:29-Aech’s form of vehicle for the race is the Bigfoot Monster Truck which started the monster truck business and has appeared in multiple Hot Wheels sets.
At 0:11:48-Aech teases wade about not having enough money for fuel but can get a Something About Mary hairdo referencing the 1998 comedy There’s something about Mary.
At 0:12:09-Wade spawns in The DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the future.
Alright so Ernest Cline said during the New York race you can find Ghostbusters HQ and the apartment building from Batteries Not Included I haven’t found them yet.
At 0:12:29-When the horn for the start of the race blows out of Liberty’s torch the Domino Sugar factory appears behind the statue.
At 0:12:49-A blue F1 racing car from Pole Position gets rammed by an IOI vehicle.
At 0:12:52-Art3mis drives by on Shotaro Kaneda’s bike from Akira.
At 0:13:31-A sticker for the skateboarding brand Thraser appears on Artemis’s bike.
Also at 0:13:31-Two Scratch N’ Sniff stickers appear on Art3mis’s bike specifically a pear and Tomato great job stickers.
At 0:13:37- the K.I.T.T bar from Knight Rider is under the grill of Wade’s DeLorean.
At 0:13:45-When speaking about Art3mis to Aech Wade mentions he has seen all of her Twitch Streams.
At 0:13:53-when going over a ramp wade makes the DeLorean do the Corkscrew Junp from the 1967 James Bond movie The Man With The golden Gun.
At 0:14:03-The Pork Chop Express from the 1986 Kurt Russell film Big Trouble In Little China blocks the road for players.
At 0:14:05-Art3mis’s bike has an Atari decal on it.
At 0:14:08-on the street beside the pork chop express a diner appears named Ratners it was an old dinedeli that opened in New York in 1902.
At 0:14:14-Wade switches the DeLorean to Hover mode from Back To The Future:Part II when he gets a collision warning during the race.
0:14:16-when an IOI racer crashes and wade picks up has coins he’s using an Arcade coin slot machine to do so.
At 0:14:35-An IOI racer crashes in front of the national video centre (it is a place in New York basically a museum for technology like televisions and computers)
At 0:14:40-A Ms. Pac-Man decal appears on Art3mis’s bike.
Also at 0:14:40-The superhero logo from The Greatest American Hero appears on Art3mis’s bike.
At 0:14:41-very hard to see but at the bottom of Art3mis’s bike is a decal for skateboarding brand JFA.
Also at 0:14:41-Art3mis and an IOI racer pass a Movie theatre marquee that reads:Schwarzenegger Jack Slater III referencing the 1993 film-in a film Last Action Hero.
At 0:14:51 Rexy The T-Rex from the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movies munches on vehicles in Chinatown (for those saying it’s just a random T-Rex it does the same roar as in the movies and has the same scars and marks on it’s face)
At 0:14:58-The final and hardest obstacle of all:King Kong. Like in all of the Kong movies he’s hanging off the Empire State Building circled by 1930’s bi-planes.
At 0:15:12-we get a shot of King Kong destroying rail roads in front of the Silvercups Studios building where the final battle in Highlander took place as well as an actual movie studio.
0:15:16-as Aech skids to a halt in Bigfoot the Batmobile gets knocked off the road right after skidding to the sound of the 1966 Batman tv series theme.
At 0:15:20-A 1975 Wonder Woman decal appears on Art3mis’s bike.
At 0:15:25-behind Aech in the scene where Art3mis jumps over the gap with her bike a Delta City billboard from Robocop appears.
At 0:16:29-When Art3mis brushes herself off from Wade’s rescue The Ace Chemical’s building from Batman appears behind her.
0:16:23-when Art3mis insepects her damaged bike an old advertising billboard called Come to the Caribbean appears behind her.
At 0:16:57-when Wade Aech and Art3mis enter Aech’s workshop Prince’s song I wanna be your lover plays.
Also at 0:16:57-leaning against the wall near the entry is Pee-wee Herman’s bike from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
0:17:08-We all know this one:Aech is working on building an Iron Giant from the animated 1999 film of the same name.
At 0:17:13-A Cylon Raider ship from Battlestar Galactia is hanging on the wall.
At 0:17:22-Aech owns a Fraggle Rock-themed lunchbox to store all his miniature sci-fi ships.
0:17:23-When Wade opens the lunchbox we see various sci-fi ships these conclude of:The Galactia from Battlestar Galactia The Valley Forge From the 1972 sci-fi film Silent Running a colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactia and the Sulaco from Aliens.
At 0:17:24-a miniature model of the Swordfish II from Cowboy Bepbop is on the Aech’s worktable.
At 0:17:31-Wade mentions Aech owning a miniature Harkonnen Drop-ship from Dune and says it could get to Arrakis in seconds (while Arrakis was in the 1965 novel the drop-ship was created for the 1985 movie).
At 0:17:46-A faded mini-poster of Pole Position appears on the pole behind Aech.
At 0:17:47-on another pole below Aech is a poster for the Colecovision video game Gorf.
At 0:17:51-The TARDIS police box from Doctor Who appears behind Aech Wade and Art3mis when talking about repairing the Akira bike.
Also at 0:17:51-hanging from the roof is The Eagle 5 from the 1987 Star Wars parody film Spaceballs.
At 0:17:52-a life-size Swordfish II from Cowboy Bepbop appears in Aech’s workshop waiting for repair.
At 0:17:53-parked in Aech’s workshop is the 1969 250 GT California Ferrari from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Also at 0:17:53-hanging off the roof of Aech’s workshop is The EVA Pod from the 1968 Kubrick sci-fi classic 2001:A Space Odyssey.
Also at 0:17:53-a life-size Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactia is hanging off the roof of the workshop.
Also at 0:17:53-The Thunderfighter from Buck Rogers in the 25th century is hanging off the roof of the workshop.
Also at 0:17:53-in the corner of the workshop is the enforcement droid ED-209 from Robocop.
At 0:18:18-Art3mis asks Wade what was Halliday’s favourite first-person shooter game. Wade replies by saying 007 Goldeneye based of the James Bond movie of the same name. His favourite character was Oddjob the villain. And his favourite player mode was slappers only where players could only slap to kill.
At 0:18:30-Art3mis asks what Halliday’s favourite racer game which was the 1981 SEGA game Turbo.
O:18:32-Wade says Halliday’s favourite food was Hot Pockets a microwaveable pizza snack.
Also at 0:18:32-while Wade and Art3mis are talking playing softly in the background is Just my imagination (running away with me) by The Temptation.
At 0:13:33-Wade says Halliday’s favourite restaurant was Chuck E. Cheese which is an Arcade and pizza restaurant. The restaurant’s founder Nolan Bushnell also happened to founded Atari.
At 0:18:35-Wade says Halliday’s favourite song was Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles which happens to be the first song to air on MTV in 1980.
At 0:18:37–Wade says Halliday’s favourite music video was A-Ha’s 1985 hit song Take On Me.
At 0:18:42-Wade and Art3mis complete a quote together which was Halliday’s favourite of Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Lex Luthor in Superman:The Movie:Some people can read war and peace and come away thinking it’s a simple adventure story. Others can read the back of a chewing gum paper and unlock the secrets of the universe.
At 0:19:06-before Art3mis and Wade walk away a Castlevaynia poster is on the wall.
At 0:19:98- A Robotron 2084 poster appears on the wall of Aech’s workshop.
Also at 0:19:08-A Joust banner appears on the wall of Aech’s Workshop.
Also at 0:19:08-A GORF banner appears on the wall of Aech’s Workshop.
Also at 0:19:08-A poster for the 1985 Tengen arcade game Gauntlet appears on the wall of Aech’s workshop.
Also at 0:19:08-a poster for Galaga (1983 version) appears on the wall of Aech’s workshop.
At 0:19:54-The PO-024 repair E-Frame from the 90’s cartoon series Exosqaud appears in Aech’s workshop.
At 0:20:01:Art3mis nicknames Wade McFly referencing Marty McFly Back To The Future series.
At 0:20:39-You’ll need to turn the brightness up but when Rick holds up one of Wade’s gloves a Batman and SEGA sticker are on it.
At 0:21:54-Wade explains that his name Wade Watts was supposed to sound like a superhero’s alter-ego and examples Bruce Banner A.K.A The Hulk and Peter Parker A.K.A Spider-Man from Marvel Comics.
At 0:22:39-When Wade grabs out his OASIS visor a Street Fighter decal is on the side of it.
Also at 0:22:39A Midway games decal (a company who manufactured mainly all 80’s and 90’s arcade games) is on the top of Wade’s visor.
At 0:22:41-George Michael’s 1985 song Faith plays when Wade enters the Halliday Journals.
At 0:22:48-The interior design of the Halliday Journals is taking directly from the Shermer High library from The Breakfast Club.
At 0:22:50-Hello Kitty is sitting down at one of the journal’s tables interacting with another player.
At 0:22:52-A Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
Also at 0:22:52:-A Dig Dug arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
Also at 0:22:52-A Tempest arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
At 0:22:56-The Curator’s design is based off Jeeves from the 1990 search engine Ask Jeeves.com
At 0:23:06-an Asteroids arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
At 0:23:06-A Pong arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
At 0:23:06-A Pole Position arcade cabinet is behind The Curator’s desk.
At 0:23:19-In one of Halliday’s recreated memories Halliday is playing in an Arcade with games like Joust Asteroids and Tempest.
At 0:23:20-A Revenge Of The Nerds poster is up on the wall in the recreated memory Wade and The Curator walk by.
At 0:23:23-Alright buckle up becuase there are a lot of stuff to cover: In Halliday’s cluttered room there are things such as an Astro Boy mask a vintage packet of Lays Potato Chips a Ladyhawke poster a speak and spell some Madballs a copy of Schindler’s Ark and a Raiders Of The Lost Ark poster.
At 0:23:39-Wade and The Curator walk past a memory labelled:Halliday playing his Atari 2600 with a carving of an Atari 2600 at the bottom.
Also at 0:23:39-The game Halliday is playing on his Atari 2600 is Defender.
Also at 0:23:39-Various toys and collectibles are scattered throughout Halliday’s room concluding of:A Marvin The Martian toy A Gizmo plush from Gremlins a toy model of The A-Team Van A Batman statue posters for Wargames and Rush 2112 Connect Four A SIMON toy an Etch-E-Sketch and a Castle Greyskrull play-set from Masters Of The Universe with He-Man and Skeletor action figures
At 0:23:41-A Framed poster for Black Tiger appears on the wall of The Gregarious Games breakroom.
Also at 0:23:41:In The Gregarious Games breakroom a framed poster for Legend Of Zelda:A Link To The Past is on the wall.
Also at 0:23:41-Further down the hall of the breakroom is a framed poster for Mortal Kombat.
At 0:23:51-Halliday and Ogden Morrow have a conversation about living in an Asteroids Arcade cabinet.
At 0:23:56-Halliday in the memory is wearing a Space Invaders shirt.
At 0:24:16-A framed poster for Galaga (1986 version) appears behind Morrow in the breakroom.
At 0:25:25-Halliday references Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure when talking about going backwards.
At 0:26:01-A Hello Kitty decal appears on Art3mis’s bike.
At 0:26:22-While it’s never said in the movie the Suxors is graffitied on the pedestal of Liberty (it was a nickname for the Sixers in the novel)
At 0:26:59-When Wade gets to King Kong’s stage Max Steiner’s 1933 original theme for King Kong plays.
At 0:27:44-Anorak says to Wade nice racing Padawan referencing the Jedi Apprentices in the Star Wars franchise
At 0:29:12-Ripley’s cargo-Holder from Alien appears on Planet Doom in Nolan Sorrento’s presentation.
At 0:29:23-In Sorrento’s OASIS IOI ad presentation Man-Bat from Batman:Arkham Knight appears on planet doom getting shot at.
At 0:29:24-In Nolan Sorrento’s presentation a pop-up ad for the EM-1 railgun from Eraser appears.
At 0:29:38-Bruce Springsteen’s song Stand On It begins to play.
At 0:29:40-Wade and Aech go to a mall called Avatar Outfitters referencing the store Urban Outfitters.
Also at 0:29:40-The Logo for Avatar Outfitters has the same calligraphic A as in the title for James Cameron’s film Avatar.
At 0:29:43-A Street Fighter booth at Avatar outfitters are selling combat moves as a holographic RYU does an uppercut move.
At 0:29:54-Blue Beetle from Injustice 2 is walking around the store.
At 0:29:54-An Overwatch booth at Avatar Outfitters is selling Pulse Pistols as a holographic Tracer does her spin.
Also at 0:29:54-A Dungeons And Dragons booth is selling magic spells.
At 0:29:59- booth in Avatar outfitters is selling weapons with a holographic Claptrap (a character in the game)
A4 0:29:59-Halo booth is selling assault rifles with holographic images of Master Chief.
At 0:29:59-in the far back left of the booths A Looney Tunes booth with a holographic Marvin The Martian appears.
At 0:29:59-In the far back right an Injustice booth appears (I can’t identify the hologram though). (Zoom In required).
At 0:29:59-A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles booth appears in the far back with a hologram of Raphael (zoom-in required)
At 0:30:02-One of the items available for purchase in the iconic items booth is The Holy Hand Grenade from the 1975 Monty python film Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
At 0:30:07-while I can’t identify the actual item because it goes too fast but Wade runs past an item in the iconic item section with the Blizzard Entertainment logo printed underneath it.
At 0:30:07-Wade Runs past Dust-Brain from the Madballs toy line in the iconic items section.
At 0:30:08-Wade runs past The Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins in the iconic times section.
Also at 0:30:08-Wade runs by A Chucky doll from Child’s Play (which is where Aech presumably got the one used on Planet Doom) in the iconic times section.
At 0:30:09-Wade runs past a Plasma Pistol from Halo in the iconic items section.
At 0:30:11-Wade walks up and buys a magical item The Zemeckis Cube which is of course a Rubik’s Cube named after Back To The Future Director Robert Zemeckis that has the ability to slow and turn back time.
At 0:30:13-A hologram of The Wolf-Man appears next to The Zemeckis Cube booth.
At 0:31:05:When Nolan Sorrento enters the OASIS he is transported to the wreckage of a Tripod fighting machine from War Of The Worlds (1953 George Pal version)
At 0:31:29-Sorrento’s avatar Bossman59 features a Clark Kent hair curl from Superman.
At 0:31:52-I-ROK flicks away Perseus’s Shield from the 1981 version of Clash Of The Titans (sigh)(I-ROK has no respect for classics)
Also at 0:31:52-Indiana Jone’s whip from the Indiana Jones franchise is laying besides the shield.
At 0:31:58-I-ROK picks up the head of an eliminated player The Steampunk Pirate King and does a misquoted reference to William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. I-ROK says I knew him well Sorrento parodying the line to Yorick:Alas Yorrick!! I knew him Horatio.
At 0:32:18-In the pile of weapons are tow Boomshot guns from Gears of Wars.
Also at 0:32:18-The Colonial Blaster from Battlestar Galactia appears in the pile of weapons.
Also at 0:23:18-Two Batarangs from Batman are scatted around the weapons pile.
At 0:32:22-The M1911 Colt pistol from Duke Nukem is also in the weapons pile.
Also at 0:32:22-The box containing The Orb Of Osuvox is the Mogwai box that Gizmo was kept in at the start of Gremlins
At 0:32:29-The inside of the orb is a polyhedral D20 dice used in Dungeons and Dragons.
At 0:33:11-When talking about the price of Parzival’s elimination from The Scoreboard I-ROK references a Tootsie Pop commercial with Mr. Owl biting to the chocolaty centre.
At 0:33:51-The vehicle Daito uses to get to the finish line is The Mach 5 from Speed Racer.
At 0:33:54-Sho pulls up to the finish line in a Smokey (literally) 1977 Trans Am Pontiac used in Smokey and The Bandit.
At 0:34:22-When Wade is reciting the Jade Key clue excerpt in his notebook he has linked the last two words in the clue: At Last” could be a possible reference to the song of the same now (doesn’t specify which one though)
At 0:34:29- On a piece of paper taped to the wall Wade has written down locations you can visit in the OASIS these conclude off-
The Star Wars Galaxy The Star Trek Universe Middle-Earth from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings/Hobbit. Vulcan from Star Trek Pern from Dragonriders of Pern Arrakis from Dune Magrathea from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Discworld from the book series of the same name Ring-world from the book series of the same name River-world from the book series of the same name.
From 0:34:30 to 0:34:31-taped to the wall is a list of John Hughes movies these conclude of-
National Lampoon’s Vacation Sixteen Candles Weird Science Breakfast Club Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Pretty In Pink Some Kind Of Wonderful Planes Trains and Automobiles Uncle Buck Home Alone Home Alone 2:Lost In New York
At 0:34:32-Taped to the wall is Wade’s analysis of the funeral scene in Halliday’s Last Message video. It is a breakdown of all the Star Trek Easter eggs in the scene including the Starfleet logo U.S.S. Enterprise and the photo torpedo
At 0:34:33-At the bottom of a Newspaper article taped to the wall of Wade’s Van it reads:OASIS Coin the next Dollar? A sly reference to Bit-Coin video game currency.
At 0:34:40-On a piece of paper taped to the wall Wade has written down the rules of The OASIS just like the book and it mentions Everquest the MMORPG Game.
At 0:35:30-On the right besides Kira and Morrow’s picture is a list of movies labelled: Set In New York
These conclude of-Ghostbusters. Big (1988 Tom Hanks) has been crossed out on the list. Mad Max (it was in Australia though?) The cannonball Run. King Kong . Escape From New York is highlighted on the list. See No Evil (1971 horror movie). And another misplaced title Back To The Future despite being set in California
At 0:35:19-Wade has written down instructions of how to get to the secret room in Adventure foreshadowing the climax.
At 0:35:21-When Wade goes back to the Halliday Journals Blondie’s song One Way Or Another plays.
At 0:35:27-The Arkham Knight passes Wade when he is exiting The Halliday Journals (he later returns inside)
At 0:35:28-A younger version of Beetlejuice spots Wade when Wade enters The Journals.
At 0:35:29-Supergirl from Injustice 2 jumps out of her seat to greet Wade.
At 0:35:31-Raiden from Mortal Kombat is sitting down at one of the Journal’s tables.
At 0:35:34-Dizzy Wallin from Gears Of Wars 2 runs up to the crowd that mobs Wade.
At 0:35:37-Blue Beetle from Injustice 2 is one of the fans in the crowd.
Also at 0:35:37-Ambra from Battleborn is one of the fans in the crowd.
At 0:35:38-Batgirl from Batman is one of the fans in the crowd.
At 0:35:47-Goro from Mortal Kombat pulls Wade away from his fans.
At 0:35:48-Lara Croft from Tomb Raider is one of the fans in the crowd.
At 0:36:02-When being led into a secret room Wade gets pranked by a Chestburster from Alien popping out of Goro’s chest revealed to be a puppet by Art3mis.
At 0:36:36-Art3mis pulls out Clark Kent Glasses from Superman and puts them on Wade for a disguise while roaming The Journals.
At 0:35:46-While Wade with his Clark Kent disguise goes into the archives Miko from Battleborn is behind him.
At 0:36:49-Benedict from Battleborn is behind Wade when Wade enters The Archives.
At 0:36:51-When Wade and Art3mis are entering The Archives an avatar behind them is wearing a pink Michael Jackson jacket.
At 0:37:00-In the memory outside of Halliday and Morrow’s office is a framed Metroid Japanese printed poster (original 1986 game)
At 0:37:03-Behind Art3mis Wade and The Curator is another memory which is set in The Happytime pizzeria from the novel.
At 0:37:17-There are some action figures on Morrow’s desk. One I can make out his Triceraton from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990).
At 0:37:32-When Halliday is talking to Sorrento you can see he is designing the Room 237 Bathroom from The Shining on his computer.
Also at 0:37:32-The Billy Idol album Don’t Stop is on Halliday’s desk.
At 0:37:44-A copy of Dungeon Magazine is lying on Halliday’s desk (I could not identify which issue though)
At 0:37:49-In a blink and you miss it moment when The Curator is fast-forwarding the Memory a framed Pole Position poster is outside the office.
At 0:37:53-On the shelf behind the desk is Def Leppard’s 1983 album Pyromania (zoom-in required)
At 0:38:02-While having a conversation with Morrow about the date with Karen Halliday says she prefers to be called Kira after the character in Jim Henson’s 1982 film The Dark Crystal.
At 0:38:39-As mentioned above the memory behind the three is of Halliday hanging out at The Happytime Pizzeria but in this frame you can see he is playing Joust.
At 0:39:48-Wade figures out that Kira is the centre of the 2nd clue and calls her Halliday’s Rosebud referencing the lost sled Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
At 0:40:02-When Art3mis flips the quarter The Curator gives to Wade it makes the sound effect of a 1-up from the Super Mario Bros. Games.
At 0:40:17-Earth Wind and Fire’s 1975 song Can’t find love plays when Art3mis asks Wade on a date.
Alright in Aech’s 80’s basement recreation there is soo much Easter eggs and memorabilia so forgive me if I miss any.
At 0:40:46-posted on the wall is a Save Ferris poster from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off another Metroid poster and white Space Invader decals.
At 0:40:46-hanging from the wall is the neon sign for the dream bar Cocktails and Dreams in the 1988 Tom cruise film Cocktail.
At 0:40:46-below the sign is a Dark Crystal poster.
At 0:40:46-Ripping through the floor is the nuclear rocket from Weird Science.
At 0:40:46-A Pac-Man bin lies besides a Pac-Man arcade cocktail cabinet.
At 0:40:46-an Airplane! VHS tape is on top of boxes.
At 0:40:46-multiple VHS tapes for the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth are scattered around the floor of the hangout.
At 0:40:06-Retro packets for Potato Chips brands Lays and Ruffles lay against the coffee table.
At 0:40:06-Incredibly hard to see but under a pile of VHS tapes is a VHS tape of Caddyshack (zoom-in required)
At 0:40:46-Marty Mcfly Jr.’s rainbow cap from Back To The Future:Part II lies besides an vinyl record player.
At 0:40:06-Lying against the wall is an Emulator II keyboard used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
At 0:40:46-on the wall besides the couch are three mini-posters stuck on it:A Donkey Kong arcade poster A Pole Position II poster and a 1983 Galaga poster.
At 0:40:06-A Kermit The Frog plush from The Muppets is lying against a shelf besides a Hot Wheels play-set.
At 0:40:06-An ALF plush from the 1986 sitcom ALF is sitting on top of the television
At 0:40:06-A Speak &Spell used in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is lying on the shelf.
At 0:40:50-A Beastmaster poster is next to the mirror.
At 0:40:50-A Star Trek:The Motion Picture poster is in the corner of the room above The Emulator II Keyboard (you need to turn brightness full up to see)
At 0:40:50-A copy Analog Computing magazine #10 is leaning against the crate below Wade’s feet.
At 0:40:50-above the mirror is a Mayor Goldie Wilson election poster from Back To The Future. A Wil Wheaton election poster is across from Wilson’s one (if you recall Wheaton was the Vice President of the OASIS in the novel)
At 0:40:50-In a blue crate below Wade’s feet is Run D.M.C’s 1986 album Tougher Than Lever.
At 0:40:50-A Wargames poster is on the wall besides the mirror.
At 0:40:50- the first issue for Nintendo Power featuring Super Mario Bros. is located on a stack of magazines in Aech’s hang-out
At 0:40:50-A Big Trouble In Little China poster is located behind a chair in Aech’s hang-out.
At 0:40:50-A cutout of Tom Selleck’s face from Magnum P.I. Is posted on the wall in Aech’s hang-out.
At 0:40:50-A Cookie Monster cookie jar from Sesame Street is on the the bench in the hang-out
At 0:40:50-A poster for Labyrinth is next to the Tom Selleck cutout
At 0:40:50-A Cap N’ Crunch cereal box is laying on the counter next to an overturned Fruit Loops cereal box.
At 0:40:50-at the very far back of the counter is The Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins
At 0:40:51-Wade selects Prince’s Purple Rain outfit for a possible outfit for his date.
At 0:40:54-In the reflection of the mirror a Breakfast Club poster is seen.
At 0:40:57-Wade switches his outfit to Michael Jackson’s Thriller costume and even does the dance (one of my favourite artists along Queen who are unfortunately not referenced in the film)
At 0:40:57-Next to the mirror is the original poster for Mad Max.
At 0:40:58 White decals for Space Invaders are scattered on the pillar next to Aech.
At 0:40:58 The Pink Mattel Hoverboard from Back To The Future Part II is leaning against the wall.
At 0:40:58-On the coffee table are retro cans for Coca-Cola Pepsi and Tab (along with some D20 from D&D)
At 0:40:58-Below the coffee table is a E.T. The Extra Terrestrial VHS tape
At 0:40:58-The sword of omens from Thundercats is leaning against the wall next to the couch.
At 0:40:58-on the table next to the hula-girl lamp is the Golden Idol from Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
At 0:41:00-A Mad Max 2 poster is behind Wade when trying out outfits.
At 0:41:00-A Legend Of Zelda:A Link To The Past mini-poster is behind Wade.
At 0:41:02-Hanging from the ceiling is a miniature Thunderfighter from Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.
At 0:41:02-A Banner for 1980 video game Missile Command is on the wall behind Aech.
At 0:41:04-On the back of Wade’s punk outfit is the logo for 80’s rock band The Dead Kennedy’s
At 0:41:05-Wade switches to a Nick Rhodes outfit from the band Duran Duran.
At 0:41:07-David’s computer speaker from WarGames is on top of the cocktail cabinet.
At 0:41:07-in a pile of VHS tapes is a VHS tape for Breakin’ (or Breakdance) is on the floor.

My Assassin’s Creed Wishlist

Ive made an easier list below, and a way more in depth after that

70’s Era Blaxploitation Film set in Harlem/Cali
Modern Day Mexico and South America, assassinating drug lords
Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Russian Revolution
Mars colony in the future
Dynastic/Gunpowder Age China
Indian Empire
War on Terrorism in Iraq
English colonization of Australia
Balkans and Ottoman Empire during Skënderbeu’s Rebellion
Greaser Assassins vs Soc Templars in Urban 50’s America
World War 1
Holocaust and World War 2
80’s Beverly Hills High School Coming-of-Age Movie: Karate Kid
The British Isles during Medieval Times
Roman Republic/Empire
Go to a drug lord’s secret chinese island for the cia under the guise of a martial arts contender in his yearly contest (Enter the Dragon: The Game)
Noir Gangland, NYC during Roaring Twenties, Jazz Age, Prohibition Era, Great Depression
Mongolian Empire
Zombie apocalypse set in Canada (for the snow)
Cold War in Moscow, Berlin, London, Dallas, Cuba
All of North Korean history
Feudal/Empirical Japan
Slasher film genre set in the 80’s with you as detective
Ancient Greece
A Modern Day Criminal Underworld (like John Wick)
American Civil War
Vietnam War
Viking Age in Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Canada
Post Apocalyptic Wasteland (Mad Max)
Wild West and California Gold Rush

Assassin’s Creed: Blaxploitation
Fight against the system as a black brotha (afro hoods, white templars, 70’s Harlem/Cali) just kidding keep scrolling
Assassin’s Creed: Cartel
Assassinate Mexican cartel drug lords. Kind of like Sicario. Parkour through Rio roofs.
Assassin’s Creed: Conquest
You are an eagle warrior in your Aztec community, fighting off rival natives. In your travels, you meet an old man who claims to know about the assassins that came with Columbus. You go meet the assassins and learn their ways in order to defeat the rivals. You learn that conquistador Templars have taken over the expeditions and plan to invade the city of Tenochtitlan. You later visit the seer Nezahualpilli and his omens confirm your fears. You gather your faces and defend your people against the conquistadors. However, the city still falls and surrenders. You fight against Cortez’s forces. You have to defend in the Massacre of Cholula and meet Moctezuma. You are forced to leave your homeland, living in the shadows and assassinating the Spanish from afar. Weapons include macuahuitl, atlatl, javelins, war bow, slings, poisonous blowguns, spear, tomahawk, club, knife, toledo sword, lances, arquebus, crossbows, hidden obsidian dagger. Aztec instruments. You're Eagle assassin outfit consists of a beaked helmet and a long feathered cloak. Quests include scalping Templars, assassinating Templars, saving children, defending the city, stealing weapons, capturing enemies, fighting rivals, looting missionaries, saving Aztecs from slavery and punishment after the colonization. You can climb palaces and boats and temples and pyramids and hunt jaguars. You can also assassinate Pizarro.
Assassin’s Creed: Czar
You are a Cossack assassin during the Russian Empire’s last days. You notice that Nicholas II is keeping people under his complete total rule. You organize revolution in order to restart the Russian government. You assassinate the czar and the czardom is over. You fight in the February and October Revolution. Weapons include bear spear, pick, fork, knout, shashka, falchion, karabela, morningstar, broad axe, sovnya, khanjali, crossbow, and hidden blade. You can climb up the colorful spiral towers in St Petersburg. You can hunt bear in the frozen wilderness. You lead the revolution. Classical orchestra music. You wear a traditional Cossack cavalry uniform with a Russian ushanka. Name could be Zaroff and you can own some hounds.
Assassin’s Creed: Deep Space/Colony
You are an Astronaut Assassin of the Fifth Colony of Mars in 2118. Most of the population of Earth (due to polluted and cancerous air) live in the Fifth Colony, with interplanetary travel being common. The Outer Space Treaty was violated by the New Templars, reformed by the Templar Grandmaster and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, when you find that they have made a secret hidden moonbase. The New Templars have been building a WMD. You have to infiltrate the moonbase, kill space Templars, and travel the planets in your spaceship shaped like the assassin’s creed symbol. Weapons include the hidden energy blade, lightsaber, blasters, sticky bombs, heat ray, freeze ray, sonic ray, shock ray, portal ray (easy exit, cool assassination, or to pull a Templar through so you won't alert the other guards, like pulling them into a haystack or bush), plasma grenade, lazer whip, power gauntlets (like Jacqui Briggs), circular saw, chainsword, atom slicer knife, harpoons, emp bow and arrow. Soundtrack would be electronic and space opera. You would wear an orange and white thin space suit like from the movie The Martian. The visor would be pointed and can move up and down around the glass like a hood. The astronauts cap is also pointed and the shredded cape would float in zero gravity. You wear a space walk jetpack and the exosuit can change depending on the planet, such as radiation resistant on Earth and thermal on Pluto, Mercury, etc. You can visit any of the terrestrial planets, as well as the kuiper and asteroid belt. Quests include redirecting meteors, assassinating space templars, collecting space trash, visiting a hermit on Pluto, destroy templar weapons, etc. Cool features include leap of faith into a blackhole and coming out of another. You can also climb colony bases and the asteroid belt in low/zero gravity. Danger in climbing in space is flying too high up instead of down. You can perform a floating assassination, and a portal assassination. Spaceship combat will be featured, basically like naval combat from AC4 but in three dimensions. The missions, arrows, distances, maps, and special locations would all be in-game as a JARVIS type AI inside of the assassin suit. Should be 3d if that is even possible. Based on Star Wars, Star Trek, The Martian, and other space operas.
Assassin’s Creed: Dynasty
You are a Chinese Assassin during Dynastic China. You have to assassinate Templars and parkour in the Forbidden City. Something about the Terracotta Soldiers. Weapons include the fire arrow launcher, deer horn knives, hidden sai, butterfly sword, chain whip, changdao, musket, claw sickle, bow and arrow, jian, oriental saber, shuang gou hook sword, chui mace, emeici darts, fire lance (like in mad max), guandao, staff, hand cannon, ji spear, black powder canister, meteor hammer, pump flamethrower, qiang spear, repeating crossbow, rope dart, nunchucks, wind and fire wheels, stinkpot (to clear an area of enemies and civilians), trebuchet, tonfa, branched sword, roped dragon beard hook, chinese axe, . Traditional chinese music. You wear a long hooded monk robes. You are trained by both Shaolin Temple monks and Assassins. Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger type parkour. Assassinate Zhang Fei
Assassin’s Creed: Empire
You are a tech support for Abstergo.com. Jk. You receive a mysterious caller, who orders you to use an Animus. You find out that you're ancestor is an Indian Assassin of the Indian Empire. You have to protect the townsfolk when the greedy Sultan wants to use a genie lamp to accomplish the goals of the Templars. Parkour in the Taj Mahal. Hidden katar, chakram, tiger claws, pata, etc. Traditional Indian music. You wear traditional robes plus a pointed turban. Kind of like the Aladdin movie which is the only thing I know about India
Assassin's Creed: Extremist
You are a US Marines Air Force SEALS CounterTerrorist Special Forces Black Ops Assassin during the War on Terrorism. ISIS is an Abstergo-funded organization. You have to defeat Abstergo and ISIS while at home and in the Middle East. Quests include defusing bombs, clearing an area, invading the homes of terrorists and assassinating them, foiling a terrorist plot, stopping Abstergo shipments, killing Templars, gathering intel, sniping ISIS, etc. You wear an army fatigue patterned cloak, a backpack, army boots, kevlar armor, and a strapped Army helmet with a tinted black visor. Weapons include grenades, flash bangs, smokes, AK’s, AR’s, sniper rifles, tactical knives, fireman axe, transparent riot shield, dual pistols, and hidden blade. Eagle vision works as night vision. TEMPLARS DID 9/11! You can assassinate people by jumping from a helicopter. You can also interrogate people in cutscenes. You can also use a drone as an eagle. Muslim prayers in the city and dramatic score for war. Winter soldier theme is an extra. Based on movies like American Sniper, Zero Dark Thirty, other war films.
Assassin’s Creed: First Fleet
You are an Aboriginal Australian. Weapons include the waddy club, the boomerang, barbed spears, hidden barbed spearhead. When the first fleet comes, an assassin aboard meets you and warns you of a devious plot back on England. The templars plan to take over the land forcefully from the Aborigines. You decide to buddy up with the englishman in order to stop the templar invasion. The story is split between the Englishman and the Aborigine, allowing you to switch between them in combat, or as backup, just like in GTA V. You eventually kill the Templar, along with his idea of invasion. Outback open world and docks. Enemy ship docking. Traditional aboriginal music. You wear traditional Aboriginal clothes. Assassinate kangaroos and koalas. Helix rift on the Great Emu War.
Assassin’s Creed: Gold Eagle
You are an Albanian assassin. When the Ottomans took over your homeland and stole you from your family, you became a janissary with Skenderbeu. You join his rebellion and leave the Ottomans to rejoin the Albanians and save it from invasion. You fight against the Ottoman to defend the “Land of the Eagles”. Weapons include the curved sword, pikes, axes, long curved sword, bow, javelin, cannons, maces, the hidden stacked blade. You can climb up the castle in Krujë. Outfit underneath is the traditional white linen robes, except the black and red embroidered vest is longer and more like an assassin’s cloak and an albanian eagle and the white cap points down to cover the face. On top is normal scale and chainmail armor and a ram headed helmet that shrouds the face. Open world mountains+castle parkour. Skenderbeu theme from the 1954 movie.
Assassin’s Creed: Greaser
You are a greaser Assassin, and you have 50’s gang fights against the soc Templars. Hidden comb. Based on The Outsiders, West Side Story, Grease, and any other 50’s greaser culture.
Assassin’s Creed: Great War
You are an Allied Assassin during the time of WW1. You hear that Franz Ferdinand will be assassinated by the Templars in hopes of starting a chain reaction leading to a global war, so you go to Bosnia. However, you fail to stop the Black Hand, a Serbian sub-section of Templars, and the archduke is assassinated, leading to the Great War. You can visit cities like London, Paris, Austria-Hungary, Berlin, Russia, and everywhere else in Europe. You enlist in the British army and you are sent to the trenches. Eagle vision can be used to see over the trenches. Weapons include the hidden bayonet, rifle for shooting and clubbing and stabbing, machine guns, grenades, mustard gas, shrapnel shell, mortars, artillery guns, flamethrowers, mines, barbed wire, trench knives, sabers, and pistols. Quests include retrieving a body for a grieving family in Britain, riding in u-boats, having dogfights in biplanes, using tanks, decoding things like the Zimmerman telegram, decorating no man’s land with mines and barbed wire, assassinate Templars, killing the Red Baron in a dogfight, and assassinate German generals. Eagle vision can be used to see enemies through mustard gas and also spot out mines on no man’s land. Your outfit is a black and grey assassin trench coat, including a gas mask connected to the hood, which allows you to go through the mustard gas. Trench assassination can happen where you jump into the trench like an air assassination and assassinate the German Templars. With a biplane you can do a leap of faith with a parachute, dogfight against other planes, or bombard cities. Trenches can also be looted after they have been mortared. Dunkirk and wonder woman theme.
Assassin’s Creed: Holocaust
You are a Polish Jew during the holocaust with Creed lineage. He takes the family heirlooms, his great grandfather’s cloak and blade, with him before Nazis take his mom and the rest of town. He follows them close behind as they are led on a train. The assassin jumps on the train and rides it to camp, without alerting the Nazis. He helps the camp prisoners. However, when trying to steal bread for his mom, a Nazi catches him and he is taken prisoner. Before he is gassed, he escapes and rescues the rest of them. Then he starts a rebellion amongst the prisoners and they burn down the camp. The assassin then goes into Germany as a spy, giving info to e Americans. Once he gets close to Hitler, the war is over. On a mission for personal revenge, he tracks down Hitler in the bunker and kills the whole room, making it look like suicide. Side quests: attack guards stealthily, steal food, find medicine in Berlin, assassinate high officials, help hide Jews, decode messages, learn attack plans. Can use hook blade across telephone wires. Weapons include hidden harpe (sword+hook), mines, hidden pistol, grenade, and rifle (shooting and clubbing). You can also go to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor. German and jewish songs soundtrack. Based on stuff like Schindler’s List
Assassin’s Creed: Kingdom
You are a Knight of the Round Table, working for King Arthur (in AC, King Arthur should be real, but people think he is fake because of legends and exaggeration and Templars covered it up) as an assassin during Medieval times. The templars and their evil king work to oppress the commoners and gain more of England’s land. You have an assassin’s hood and cloak made of chain mail, and full metal plate armor like knights wear, or Robin Hood type clothes with a low pointed hat and feather. Horses can be ridden in the game and yours has chain mail. Many main quests include castle defense and castle invading. The ultimate goal is to gain more land for your benevolent kingdom, while fending off Templars, saracens, vikings, and huns. Weapons include the hidden broadsword, a huge sword which can retract into your metal armor, cavalry lances,longbows, crossbows, poleaxes, falchion, throwing burning tar jar, war hammer, boar spear, scimitar, throwing axe, cannon, trebuchet, maces, claymore. Eagles can be used to see over enemy castles and leaps of faiths would be from castle towers or cliffs. Side quests include jousting, killing Templars, retrieving stolen goods, saving people from witch trials, and protecting the common folk. When battling Templars, you can jump horse to horse by assassinating them. You can also be captured by the Templars and be put in the dungeons. Poison king’s goblets is another way to assassinate. Trumpeting sounds and the braveheart score. Based on Monty Python stuff, Braveheart, and typical knights in shining armor movies
Assassin’s Creed: Legion
Weapons include gladius, spatha, pilum, bow, slings, hidden pugio, javelin, crossbow, falx, dolabra, dart, onager, scissor, falcata. You are a gladiator, but you are bought out of slavery when an assassin spectator saw you face a bigger enemy through skill and stealth. You join the brotherhood and free the slaves of the Coliseum, freeing your mates. Then you become an Assassin Legionnaire to aid the republic. You have to face Hannibal and a bunch of elephants from the South. You can also assassinate Commodus. Gladiator soundtrack and elephant trumpeting. You wear the Russell Crowe Gladiator fit, or a Legionnaire’s armor. Based on Gladiator
Assassin’s Creed: Martial Arts
Literally just Enter the Dragon: The Game
Assassin’s Creed: Noir
You are an old weary assassin during the Roaring Twenties/Great Depression in NYC and Harlem. The main timeline (1920s-30s) is completely black and white like a noir film. In the past, you used to be a fun naive and stubborn young assassin. On one of your missions, you failed and accidentally revealed the location of your Brotherhood’s base to the Templars, leading to their deaths. Now, you live a solitary life drowned in alcohol and cigars and navigating the world of sex and crime. You decide to take one last mission from a sexy flapper lady for money. You have to use your parkour skills to find evidence and your detective skills to solve the murder of the flapper’s husband. You quickly link this to the mafia. You target many mafia members and corrupt Templar politicians. In the end, the flapper turned out to be a Templar and betrays you. You walk into a dining hall and twenty mobsters come out of the curtains and you get ambushed. A Scarface type battle ensues, but you are eventually put down by a shotgunner. In the present day, you get out of the Animus and realize that the Templar that killed you was one of the founders of Abstergo. You notice his picture in the hall and realize that Abstergo is Templar. You escape the building and assassinate everyone in your path, until you escape by the rooftops. You wear long trench coats and bowler hats, or long coat tail tuxedos with the assassin’s creed symbol as the collar, and drive cars. In NYC, you can climb up brownstone buildings and fire escapes, as well as skyscrapers and construction sites and steel beams. Weapons include the tommy gun, revolver, a cane sword, molotov cocktail, hidden ice pick and grappling hook, baseball bat, mp38 uzi, and brass knuckles. You can jump on top of cars and assassinate drivers, or get close to them in casinos. Imagine inviting a mob boss to dinner, going into the near empty bar, shaking his hand, activating the hidden ice pick, and then putting your hand on his neck and stabbing him cleanly, with no one noticing, and leading him to the alleyway, hiding the body in a pile of trash, and mission complete comes up on screen. It would have a godfather feel and jazz music. You can also visit Chicago, Al Capone, and the Valentine’s Day Massacre. Based on noir films like Scarface, Public Enemy, and Maltese Falcon.
Assassin’s Creed: Nomad
You are a hunnic Assassin during the Nomadic barbarian rule of Mongolia. Genghis Khan. Assassinate Gegeen Khan. Set up nomadic camps. War chants music. Recurve bows and horseback shooting. Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan appear and Attila and Marco Polo.
Assassin’s Creed: Red Star
You are an assassin in Communist Russia. It turns out that after the october revolution, the templars took over and made a communist regime, equally as evil and corrupt as the last one. You have to assassinate templars while staying under the radar of the government. Stealth is extremely important. Being spotted is nearly always fatal. Weapons include sickles, hammers, rifles, AK-47, and the hidden blade. Anthem march music and Atomic Blonde score. You wear a thick, furred Army coat and a Russian ushanka. You are a double spy in the Cold War. Templars try to cause nuclear tension and start the Cuban Missile Crisis. You also go to Dallas to see JFK. Based on Cold War propaganda films like The Hunt for Red October, James Bond films, and also Atomic Blonde. Parkour the frickin berlin wall
Assassin’s Creed: Regime
You are an Assassin in NK. You are the last assassin in North Korea after the Korean War. The reason the assassins are still alive is because of extreme secrecy and it is passed down father to son ever since the Korean War left North Korean assassins isolated from the rest of the world. Your grandfather assassinated Kim Il-Sung, and your father assassinated Kim Il-Jong, but the public never found out. It is your turn to assassinate Kim Jong-Un and hopefully dismantle the government for good and reunite with South Korea. You do this by hijacking the tvs and radios, making the assassination public. Then you must escape the palace, take a village of North Koreans, assassinate the border guards, and cross over through the demilitarized zone to South Korea. You have to assassinate templars while staying under the radar of the government. Stealth is extremely important. Being spotted is nearly always fatal. Weapons include the hidden blade, throwing stars, spear, two section staff, fan, etc. Propaganda sounds and kpop deadass jk. The game is played over all three generations. You wear an old Korean assassin cloak along with a red scarf. Quests include smuggling North Koreans out of the country, destroying cameras, getting food, raiding plutonium factories, assassinating government, and killing the Great Leaders.
Assassin’s Creed: Shogun/Samurai
You are a Japanese samurai assassin during Feudal/Empirical Japan. Weapons include katana, shuriken, hidden kunai and chain, etc. Traditional japanese music. You wear long bamboo armor, ninja robes, and pointed shogun or kendo helm. Your master is cut down by Templars, making you a Ronin. Assassinate Emperor. Based on movies like the Last Samurai
Assassin’s Creed: Slasher
Assassin’s Creed in the slasher film genre. Take place 1960-1990 in suburban towns. The assassin has to find the monster after discovering its victims (plays a similar role as the policeman in most slasher flicks). Assassinate the killer before the last victim. Weapons include standard slasher weapons like Jason’s machete, Freddy’s glove, a butcher knife, chainsaw, noose, etc
Assassin’s Creed: Sparta
You are a Spartan Assassin. You meet many philosophers, kings, and heroes. You travel to Athens, Sparta, and Crete, where an evil king rules. You are captured in an attempted assassination, and forced to do 12 great deeds for the king, leading to you hunting many animals and heroes. Your last deed is to slay the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. When you come out of servitude, you join the Siege of Troy. You hide in the Trojan Horse, pillaging Troy overnight. However, when you come back, you find your family murdered by the king. You assassinate the king, and then you must escape out of the labyrinth as the guards are on your tail, using a ball of string. Weapons include the kopis, doru, xiphos, javelins, bows, labrys, slings, ballista, greek fire, hidden xiphos, cestus gloves, harpe. Naval combat is included, such as ramming, boarding, and ballista-ing. Panpipes, lyres, and other stuff. You wear common bronze hoplite armor with a long leather skirt and a Greek plumed helmet. You can also participate in the olympic games. Based on movies like Troy and 300.
Assassin’s Creed: Underworld
You are John Wick, who is an assassin, but also an Assassin. John Wick turns out to be in the Assassin’s Creed universe. The criminal underworld is littered with rogue assassins and templars. The high table are templars for example. The only safe ground between them is the Continental. This is going to be basically the modern story of Assassin’s Creed. Abstergo is the founder of the high table. You have to assassinate Abstergo in order to stop the high table in the coming war, all while you are hunted down with billions of dollars on your head by other rogue Assassins. Your doggie is a playable character ha.
Assassin’s Creed: Union
You are a slave of the South during the start of the Civil War. Templars are confederates, who want to use easy labor to construct their new world order, while Assassins are Union and fight for freedom. One day, a band of Union assassins take over your masters land and free you. You decide to join the Assassins in order to free more slaves from the Deep South. You follow Abraham Lincoln and William Sherman and Ulysses Grant across the battlefields, including naval warfare. Weapons include musket, hidden bayonet, saber, artillery gatling gun, cutlass, cleaver, club, and pistol sword. Battle march/slave songs music. You wear a blue assassins creed Union uniform or a top hat and defeat red templars. You can fight off draft riots in NY (like in Gangs of New York) and free slaves from plantations (like in Django Unchained) and march to the sea. You fail to stop a templar, John Wilkes Booth, from killing Lincoln. Quests include fighting battles, fighting naval battles, getting supplies, freeing slaves, saving Lincoln, fighting off the draft riots, saving people from lynching, and send a message. Based on “Gangs of New York” and Django Unchained.
Assassin’s Creed: Vietcong
Fight against Vietcong Templars, liberate prisoners of war, rambo stuff. Based on vietnam war movies.
Assassin’s Creed: Vikings
You are a Norse assassin aboard a Viking longship. You must protect your village from invaders. You also travel to Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland (Newfoundland). In Vinland, you have to defend against Native Americans. Naval combat is included. Side quests include finding lost runestones, raiding a rival camp, and finding new land. Weapons include axe, claymore, hammer, spear, etc. Traditional Norse music and battle horns. Based on the relevant side of Thor movies
Assassin’s Creed: Wasteland
You are a Mad Max type road warrior Assassin after a nuclear apocalypse destroys society, making the Earth a gang riddled wasteland of oil and sand. While on the road looking to scrap by, a gang called the Templars tails you and pushes you off the road. They kill your dog and when they are about to kill you, you're hidden blade pops out and stabs them, making them run away. You chase them on the road for revenge for your dog. You get captured when you find the Capital were the rest of the templars live under the rule of the grandmaster. You escape, but take a piece of eden unknowingly. A whole war party chases you down the road. You have to jump from car to car. Eventually you take over the War Rig, with the grandmaster inside. You assassinate him and blow up the rest of the war party. Then you drive back to the capital and free the impoverished and radiation sick. Weapons include the hidden chrome blade, the double necked flamethrower guitar, sawn off double barrel shotgun, handgun, boom spear, hook and chain, chainsaw, hidden dart gun, wrench, harpoon, and dagger. You wear a torn and tattered black leather coat. Doof warrior and junkie xl music. Quests include scavenging, finding allies, killing Templars. You can jump vehicle to vehicle, doing assassinations this way too. You can climb big big rocks, small small sand dunes, the capital, big monster trucks, etc. Based on Mad Max, Twilight Zone, I Am Legend, etc.
Assassin’s Creed: Wild West
You are a Clint Eastwood-looking assassin who shimmered into the Wild Western boomtown by horse during the time of Expansionism and California Gold Rush. The templars own most of the towns in the area in order to access more oil and gold. You have to defeat corrupt sheriffs, robbers, hostile Natives, outlaws, drunk cowboys, greedy industrialists, and Gold Rush robber barons. You help the oppressed town people. You can fight in duels and saloon fights. You can travel across the West by horse or train, including prospecting during the Gold Rush. You can fire rifles at approaching riders from the rooftops. Side quests include sharpshooting mini games, accompanying a family traveling by wagon, substituting for a man to duel, eavesdropping on corrupt sheriffs, saving people from hanging, finding stolen gold for prospectors. You can also perform a roof assassination, where you use eagle vision to see through a roof, you jump up over the target, break through the wooden roof, and assassinate him. Weapons include a deck of cards to get the enemy’s attention, hidden blades, bowie knives, wrist revolvers (pistol whipping, shooting, and butting), hatchet, bow, lasso, musket, caltrops, sand grenade, and dynamite stick. Your outfit is a Mexican hooded poncho and a pointed down cowboy hat, with coats and leather armor. Western (Dollars, High Plains Drifter, Django) soundtrack. You can meet Jesse James, rob banks with your own gang, meet Billy the Kid. Based on spaghetti westerns like Eastwood films, Django Unchained, The Magnificent Seven. Templars are also interested in the Gold Rush because they believe a piece of Eden to be hidden in California.
Assassin’s Creed: Fourth Wall
You play as an assassin that breaks the 4th wall and holds ubisoft hq hostage until they make all of the games on this list
WW1 Assassin and Templar

Troublemakers and Tourists

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A day in the life working in Tokyo Japan as a Pachinko Casino Worker. This is what a typical day working in Japan is like if you work in the Casino Enterta... About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... Love this game,so fun at Empire City casino in Yonkers,NY The Empire State Building from the Hotel Metro Roof Bar CINCINNATI (WKRC) -- The Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati plans to add a rooftop bar. The new addition will be a place to enjoy specialty drinks, cigars a... Thanks for watching!...please Subscribe to my page :) Sometimes you just feel like an Old Fashioned. Made with Bulleit Bourbon. Caesars UK Empire Casino Icon Bar - London, UK Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.Iranian-American comedian ... pretty emtertaining game!! Let's take a look at the penthouse interior and views, as well as the casino car, slot machines, table games and horse racing. IT'S HERE, LET'S GAMBLE! #GTAC...