There is a Top Gun Easter Egg in Mass Effect Nobody Noticed for 16 Years

As befits a big, sprawling sci-fi franchise, it is full of references and Easter eggs. Mostly they are related to sci-fi works in various media, but many are based on the rest of the pop culture in general. Some of these Easter eggs are obvious to anyone with even superficial exposure to popular books, movies and games, some are relatively obscure.

And at least one remained pretty much totally unnoticed for 16 years, despite theoretically being in the "obvious" category, and literally staring the players in the face.

Recently, a user on Twitter pointed out, that the very opening of the very first Mass Effect game is extremely similar to the opening of the original Top Gun (1986):

The opening text briefly explains what the unobtainium technology that enables its space opera setting's existence is, and how it was discovered, finishing with its commonly used name: the titular Mass Effect. Similarly, Top Gun's opening text lays out the brief history of the titular program, finishing with the common name which pilots commonly use for it: Top Gun. And the format of the two texts is extremely similar.

Then Casey Hudson, one of the game creators, responded with: "Finally someone noticed this! I've been waiting so long…"

It should be noted, of course, that title cards of this type were not uncommon in 1960s-80s (the famous "Star Wars opening crawl" was an inventive modification of them). But the one from Top Gun is indeed the closest in content and formatting to the Mass Effect opening, so Casey Hudson's words ring true.

This proves two things. First, sometimes things can be hidden in the open, and remain unnoticed for many years, even though they are impossible to miss for anyone who as much as managed to start the game. And second, a successful creator probably has a much wider range of influences than consumers of his products.