Sterling Beaumon had originally auditioned for Spud. His improvisational abilities and hyperactive approach to the character led to him being cast instead as Cody. Most of his lines in the film are improvised.
When Dalton O'Dell appears to be playing Super Mario Bros. and Q-Bert on the NES, he is actually acting to a pre-recorded VHS tape of writer/director Tyler Norman playing these games. The NES unit on set, though functional, was strictly a prop.
Tyler Norman considers this to be an unfinished film, though he is proud he got the chance to make it. During post-production, the hard drive containing the raw camera footage was accidentally plugged directly into 120-volt AC power, which literally fried the drive. The film had to be salvaged from the most recently rendered timeline on the computer, which was about three-quarters complete, and additional pick-up footage was used to bridge some of the gaps.