Sometimes video games include real life phone numbers in their play, either as a joke or as a mistake. In the case of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, it's the latter, and unfortunately the mistake has made for some rather hot water. Scattered throughout the ruined, zombie-infested world is the remains of normal society, such as advertising leaflets. Most of these are illegible, but at least one flyer has a readable set of 800 numbers for a pest control service.
And both of them are sex hotlines. Dial 1-800-555-2545 looking to see if the developers threw in some meta-humor about getting zombie-causing mold spores out of your house and instead a husky voice will tell you that she's "Spread, wet, and ready for you right now."
You might think this was deliberate. After all, this is Naughty Dog, the company that slipped an Easter Egg into their Genesis game Rings of Power where their logo would transform into the image of a bare-chested woman. Nope, this time it was an accident.
Flashback Top 10 Smuttiest Video Game Easter Eggs (NSFW)
According to the game's creative director Nick Druckmann, the artists thought that using 555 would automatically create a null number since that's what the movies do. They were unaware that when using the 800 preface only 800-555-0199 is reserved for fictional use. All other numbers are regularly assigned. Even without the 800 preface only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are strictly set aside for movies and the like to be safe false numbers.
Currently, Naughty Dog is working on a patch to fix the mistake.
It's no surprise that people would call any number that they legibly came across in the course of the game. Upon reaching the end of the first God of War game on PS2 you can destroy the statues in your throne room if you're willing to hit them 400 times. Upon doing so, you receive a phone number to call that featured Kratos praising you before murdering the game's writer David Jaffe for butting into the conversation.
Sometimes calling a phone number was even part of plot. In the NES release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit you were instructed to find a phone number so you could call Jessica Rabbit inside the Ink & Paint Club in order to get tips on how to proceed. It was a real phone number, 1-800-232-3324, and if you dialed it in real life you would get the message...
"It is shocking the way some neighborhoods are getting. You practically can't walk anywhere without running into stray dogs, cats, and other animals. It makes you wish you carried a piece of meat, a fish bone, or a piece of cheese around with you. The weasel that is guarding Judge Doom's warehouse is the one called Stupid. I've heard that the only thing that'll get him to leave is a quick game of softball. Know anyplace where you could get a baseball in a hurry?"
Ironically, if you call that number today it's also for a sex chat service.
Jef With One F is a recovering rock star taking it one day at a time. You can read about his adventures in The Bible Spelled Backwards or connect with him on Facebook.
