Figure 1
Driving cabs and pleasing passengers
Comments: Crazy Taxi depends on pleasing passengers with speed and accuracy. Above, a player earns additional cash for aggressively skidding across a city sidewalk while a green countdown indicates how long they have to reach their next destination.
Source: Crazy Taxi (Hitmaker Studios, 1999)
Comments: In Neo Cab, skills revolve around knowing what to say and managing passenger emotions. As seen above, bringing politics up during conversations can run the risk of a bad review.
Source: Neo Cab (Chance Agency, 2019)
Figure 2
Virtual bartending
Comments: A police officer regularly visits the bar in V:CAB.
Source: VA11 HALL-A (Sukeban Games, 2016)
Comments: A typical end of day tally for Jill the bartender, including bonuses for having no mistakes and helping a customer calm down.
Source: VA11 HALL-A (Sukeban Games, 2016)
Figure 3
Early roots of virtual bartending
Comments: Tapper has, over the years, been franchised by Root Beer, Budweiser, and Mountain Dew. Above, a Budweiser banner can be seen topping the screen.
Source: Tapper (Marvin Glass and Associates, 1983)
Comments: Level score system shown to the player at the start of the game.
Source: Tapper (Marvin Glass and Associates, 1983)
Figure 4
Virtual bartending in the future
Comments: The screenshot shows a typical interaction screen between Jill and a customer.
Source: VA-11 HALL-A (Sukeban Games, 2016)
Comments: Sudden bills appear when Jill returns home for the day.
Source: VA-11 HALL-A (Sukeban Games, 2016)
Figure 5
Janitorial life as comic relief
Comments: Roger is awarded with a golden mop for preventing the destruction of the planet Xenon. The narrators declare “once a janitor, always a janitor”.
Source: Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter (Two Guys from Andromeda, 1986)
Comments: Roger avoids falling to his death by comically clinging to a plunger.
Source: Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge (Two Guys from Andromeda, 1987)
Figure 6
Precarity and janitorial work
Comments: The screenshot shows the janitor attempting to complete a quest while savings run low while the indicator in the left corner warns “you are starving”.
Source: Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month, 2016)
Comments: An arrogant Smith dismisses the janitor for not being able to afford their wares and wasting their time.
Source: Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month, 2016)
Figure 7
Firefighters as heroes
Comments: The screenshot shows Pete Grey verbally berating Frank Weller, the building's architect, over the radio.
Source: The Firemen (Human Entertainment, 1994)
Comments: The screenshot shows the protagonists combatting flames atop the Metrotech complex.
Source: The Firemen (Human Entertainment, 1994)
Figure 8
Virtual firefighting
Comments: The screenshot shows white-collar workers bemoan their dangerous, cost-cutting measures (while trapped behind a wall of fire).
Source: Real Heroes: Firefighter (Epicenter Studios, 2009)
Comments: The screenshot shows a sequence where the player must operate a rotary saw with the Wii's motion controls in order to progress.
Source: Real Heroes: Firefighter (Epicenter Studios, 2009)