Seth Rogen used True Crime: Streets of L.A. to teach his 'Superbad' writing partner how to navigate the city

Games can teach us useful skills. In fact, one of the people responsible for some of Hollywood’s best genitalia- and marijuana-related jokes over the last few years learned how to get around one of the biggest cities in the U.S. thanks to a PlayStation 2-era crime simulator.

In the foreword for the upcoming book Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation from Blake J. Harris, Superbad scribe Seth Rogen (who also starred in flicks like Knocked Up) revealed that he relied on the 2003 release True Crime: Streets of L.A. to teach his friend and co-writer, Evan Goldberg, how to get around the city. Goldberg grew up in Vancouver and didn’t move to Los Angeles until the mid-2000s. True Crime, which plays similarly to the open-world shooter Grand Theft Auto, features a fairly accurate portrayal of L.A. That includes the highways and many of the side streets that Californians travel every day.