After 17 years, the cast of the Friends TV show were finally reunited in HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion movie.
The world once again saw Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) gathered at Central Perk in 2021.
The iconic show ran for ten wonderful seasons, becoming one of the best television sitcoms of all time, not just because of its humor and relatability, but also because of the six actors’ magical chemistry on-screen and off-screen.
Running for 236 episodes, “Friends” transitioned from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, a period when video games were starting to become a thing.
From the Game Boy to the PlayStation 1, here are five video game titles that appeared in the Friends TV show.
5. Tetris
Featured in: Friends Season 1 Episode 21 – The One with the Fake Monica
Played on: Game Boy
Remember that scene when Joey asked Phoebe for suggestions about his new TV stage name? Phoebe blurted out “Flame-boy” as replacement to Chandler’s Joseph Stalin suggestion.
In this scene, Phoebe was playing on a Game Boy. It wasn’t revealed during the episode what game she was playing, but if you look at the cartridge closely, you can spot some white pixels over a purple background, which suggests that Phoebe was moving around blocks in Tetris.
Maybe she, Black Widow, and Captain America should get together some time to play Tetris, eh?
4. Doom
Featured in: Friends Season 2 Episode 8 – The One with the List
Played on: Compaq Contura 4/25cx laptop
What would you do if you own a laptop in the 1990s that had 12 megabytes of RAM, 500 megabytes hard drive, built-in spreadsheet capabilities, and a modem that transmits at over 28,000 B.P.S.? Game, of course!
In this episode, Joey and Chandler help Ross create a list comparing his current girlfriend Julie and his long-time crush, Rachel.
Chandler however, gets sidetracked, and casually invites the guys to play the first-person shooter Doom on his new laptop.
3. Twisted Metal 2: World Tour
Featured in: Friends Season 6 Episode 9 – The One Where Ross Got High
Played on: PlayStation 1
Matthew Perry’s character, Chandler, is the gamer in the group, for he owned a PlayStation 1 console housed in Joey’s apartment unit.
The annual Thanksgiving episode in Season 6 (also known as the trifle episode) began with Joey and Ross playing co-op matches of Twisted Metal 2: World Tour on Chandler’s PS1. Joey was driving the red junk car, Roadkill, while Ross was pivoting the white sports car, Spectre, in the Paris stage.
We never really found out how the game ended because Joey’s new roommate, Janine (Elle Macpherson), entered the scene.
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2. Crash Team Racing
Featured in: Friends Season 7 Episode 1 – The One with Monica’s Thunder
Played on: PlayStation 1
We finally got to see Chandler play his PS1 on “Friends” Season 7 pilot episode, “The One with Monica’s Thunder.” He was playing Crash Team Racing on the Hot Air Skyway track when Joey entered the room.
“PlayStation is whack,” said Joey.
We couldn’t agree more!
1. Ms. Pac-Man
Featured in: Friends Season 8 Episode 12 – The One Where Joey Dates Rachel
Played on: Arcade machine
Being the cool person she is, Phoebe presented Chandler and Monica with a vintage Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine for their post-wedding gift.
Chandler ended up playing the game for eight hours straight, and erased Phoebe’s scores on the leaderboard in exchange for a misshapen, clawed right hand.
This episode also revealed that Monica is an arcade gamer, and her favorite game is the one where “you put a quarter in and you know, pull some handles and you win like, a candy bar or something” which is basically a vending machine.
The episode ends with one of Phoebe’s most iconic and hilarious expressions in the showing, where she became frustrated after failing to beat and clear Chandler’s remaining score on the leaderboard.
BONUS: ‘Friends’ Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is a huge Nintendo gamer in real life
Yes, Lisa Kudrow a.k.a. Princess Consuela Bananahammock slash Regina Phalange slash Phoebe Buffay is a gamer in real life.
In fact, she owned a Game Boy back in the 90s until her good friend, late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien, lost it during one of her tapings.
Kudrow loved playing her Game Boy whenever she wasn’t under the television spotlight. It’s one of the things she can never leave home without.
“Actually only two things: my PalmPilot, and of course, my Game Boy,” the Friends star revealed in Cosmopolitan.
Kudrow eventually replaced her misplaced Game Boy with a Nintendo DS which she admits is her “guilty pleasure” according to an interview with People magazine.
She even starred in a few Nintendo DS commercials featuring games like Professor Layton and Personal Trainer: Cooking.
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