10 Video Games You Didn't Know Were Connected

You can kill your own grandfather in Doom. Ban this sick filth!

By Benjamin Richardson /

They say sharing is caring, and the current attitude of Hollywood gives Florence Nightingale a run for her money, such is the pervading spirit of generosity which sees any and every movie franchise, no matter how disparate, wanged together. You know, for artistry's sake, and not at all because lazy studios know it's a sure-fire way to extract cash from the wallets of gullible punters.

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Luckily, video games have so far avoided going down the road of depressing, imagination-busting crossovers; when worlds do collide, it's strictly non-canonical. The likes of Kingdom Hearts, Namco x Capcom and Smash Bros. are, for the time-being, nothing more than throwaway fun - with absolutely no suggestion that their combined universes are in fact one, because of some contrivance or other. Long may it continue.

In fact, even when seemingly separate games do genuinely co-exist within the same narrative framework, it's handled with subtlety. You really have to dig deep to discover some of these shared virtual realities. In some cases, even the designers don't want you to know about them. We do though, so they'll just have to accept our apologies.

10. Phoenix Wright/Dino Crisis

Have you been injured in a dinosaur attack working on an offshore facility that wasn't your fault? Unsure if you have a claim for compensation? Concerned about hidden charges? Hold it! There's no need to worry: Phoenix Wright, Attorney at Law, can help you.

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Yes, believe it or not, everybody's favourite finger-pointing advocate inhabits the same world as that of Dino Crisis' saurian-infested Ibis Island. The walls of the island's isolated lab are decorated with crests of the Republic of Borgina. It's the same country from which hails famous singer Lamiroir (who takes the stand in Apollo Justice for murder), only the republic seems to have migrated several hundred miles to Northern Europe. That's plate tectonics for ya'.

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