6. Phantasy Star Portable 2 - Fight Alongside Colonel Sanders With Pizza Hut
When the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Portable 2 was to be released in 2009, the developers struck up a deal with KFC and Pizza Hut to advertise both franchises in-game. This is a tricky one as real-life branding would have no place in a futuristic JRPG set in a completely fictional fantastical solar system. Somehow, the developers found a way and the two fast-food chains were inserted into the game world in the strangest way possible. When players outgrow their current weapon and shield, they can now upgrade to the far more powerful pizza pan sword and pizza box shield. You can also head over to one of the many strategically placed Pizza Hut stores to restore your health and energy. Killing monsters with a pizza pan is weird enough, yet this shameless Pizza Hut plugging still isn't the weirdest thing in the game. Rather than place competing KFC stores everywhere, the developers decided to incorporate Colonel Sanders into the game. Not as an NPC or shopkeeper, but as an actual playable character who helps you to save the universe. That's right, Colonel Sanders is presented as an elderly warrior who wields his cane like a magical staff and could kick ass better than any JRPG hero can. For the record, pizza boxes aren't particularly good as shields and Colonel Sanders should just stick to his fried chicken.
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
