While this is not known to have been discussed by the developers, Maria's appearance in the original game bears a near-identical resemblance to American pop singer Christina Aguilera as she appeared at the 1999 Teen Choice Awards, which were held in August 1999, two months after the game began development. Further suggesting this connection, Maria is also Aguilera's middle name. Maria's outfit would be redesigned for the game's 2024 remake, but the original outfit still appears during a brief scene where she finds it while raiding a closet and asks James if she would look good in it, to which he hesitantly responds: "Umm... Sure."