God of War's 1-800 Number

[JonathanPonikvar]

In the original God of War on PS2, at the very end of the game as you approach the throne, you see two massive horned skeleton statues on either side. If you strike them, nothing happens to tell you they are of any significance; no sounds, no sparks, nothing. But if you are persistent and keep hitting them between 200-400 times, they will finally break, and a message will pop on screen giving a scrambled code, that once decoded, gives you a 1-800 number.

Calling this message (at least at the time) resulted in a recorded conversation where Kratos greets you, followed by David Jaffe, who proceeds to congratulate you for finding the easter egg in the game (or mock you, if you found out about it online). Kratos eventually gets fed up after a minute or so and kills him, ending the phone call.





Also of interest is the old trick in the 8-bit NES Who Framed Roger Rabbit game. Almost everyone who played it knows about the hidden phone number in the Ink & Paint Club -- Jessica herself even tells you it's there. However, after 20 years, that phone number has since changed hands several times, and was even owned for a time (and possibly presently) by a phone sex hotline. The AVGN pointed this out when he tried calling it and was greeted by a sultry voice that definitely was not Jessica's.

I'm not sure what other 1-800 numbers are hidden in games over the years, but you'd think the practice would be discouraged. 10-20 years down the line, you never know where your game will send the player...