Why the names of (real world, not made-up) video games and other media are usually changed when used in fiction?
Probably to completely sidestep copyright / permission concerns. But can you give an example?
I think you’re touching on trademark infringement already with what you covered. I would also guess to remove any legal liability for slander/libel. There are legal protections for satire, but even that has limits. If you make a villain that kills people love a particular brand of burger that company could say you’re suggesting only criminals like their product opening up the author for a lawsuit.
Right… and I really wanted the OP to give an example in case everyone was misunderstanding some nuance in what they were referring to.
WcDonalds is probably one of the most well known examples of changing a real name to one that is fictional, since McDonalds made it part of their bag for a few months.
They were not wrong:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wc
abbreviation for water closet: a toilet, or a room containing a toile
In short, money.
To use the real name would likely require licensing it. Not to mention that naming a game made by a company owned by one major media conglomerate, might be an issue when you’re a show made by a company owned by a different competing major media conglomerate.
Also - why advertise for free?
For live action TV its probably easier to just use retail units but for animation it allows them to use only the aspects they are interested in while not getting bogged down in the realities of the console/controller design or the actual gameplay scenarios.
Of course it also allows for the title to function as a joke too, and makes for a more timeless product than a current year pop culture reference.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FictionalVideoGame/WesternAnimation
