Transamerica Pyramid in video games
San Francisco's pointed skyscraper is too distinctive to leave out, even when a game just calls it the Big Pointy Building. Transamerica Pyramid appears in 2 games on Pixel Pilgrimage: Driver: San Francisco and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (as Big Pointy Building).
In real lifeThe games
In gameDriver: San Francisco2011Sentinel BuildingReal place, still recognisableDriver: San Francisco recreates the corner where Columbus Avenue meets Kearny Street: the green flatiron of Columbus Tower in front, with the Transamerica Pyramid soaring behind it. It is one of the landmarks…Game vs real photo 
In gameGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas2004Big Pointy BuildingInspired by a real placeA pyramid-shaped skyscraper in the Financial district; you can reach the tiny roof and jump off with a parachute.Game vs real photo
The real place
Columbus Tower, also called the Sentinel Building, was finished in 1907, just after the great earthquake, and is known for its green copper skin. Film director Francis Ford Coppola has owned it since the 1970s. The Transamerica Pyramid behind it was finished in 1972 and is about 260 metres tall.
Visiting
Stand at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Kearny Street for this exact view, then have a coffee at Café Zoetrope on the ground floor of the tower. North Beach's Italian cafés and City Lights bookstore are a short walk up Columbus Avenue.
More landmarks in San Francisco
San Francisco in video games · All landmarks · Driver: San Francisco · Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas