1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and it's time for 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: a spooky episode. I thought I would devote this week 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: to some scary stuff, and so we had the rerun 7 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: of the Spooktacular Halloween Special. Today, we're going to talk 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: about spooky and scary games, video games and computer games. 9 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: So I thought I would give kind of a rundown 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: on some games. Some of them are really well known. 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: In fact, most of them are well known. A few 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: of them are a little more obscure. And it's all 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: about bringing out the season of spookiness and interactive ways. 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,319 Speaker 1: And we'll be looking back at some classic titles, not 15 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: just stuff that's come out recently. It will be a mix. 16 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: One thing I want to acknowledge early on is that 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: there has been an incredible boom in horror games from 18 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: the indie developers sphere. Sure we've all heard about, you know, 19 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: Silent Hill and Resident Evil games and that sort of thing, 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: but there's some really great independent titles out there, some 21 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: that take a very bare bones approach to game design 22 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: and yet are no less effective than Triple A titles 23 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: that are in the horror space, and I think it's 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: a good idea to give that that scene a shout 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: out to that end. Part of what inspired me to 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: do this episode is Sean McLaughlin, who's better known as 27 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:45,919 Speaker 1: Jack Septic. I not not that he needs a shout 28 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: out from me, because he is way more of a 29 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: superstar than I will ever be, but more to the point, 30 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: he will often play horror games on his YouTube channel, 31 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: and he tends to have a really positive take on 32 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: the titles he lazy. He's really good at picking out 33 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: the things and games that he thinks happen to be 34 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: really effective or interesting, even for games that might at 35 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: first gland seems fairly primitive and simplistic. So shout out 36 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: to that guy, because this content is really entertaining and 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: like I said, largely positive, so I really like his stuff. 38 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: The horror genre is, of course enormous, and it covers 39 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: a wide range of games and game styles, from action 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: oriented first person shooters to slower paced mysteries and everything 41 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 1: in between. So one of the things I'm really going 42 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: to do is eliminate a bunch of stuff with one 43 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: fell swoop. I'm mostly interested in talking about games that 44 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: create a sense of unease or dread, you know, stuff 45 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: that actually initiates the fear response as you play the game. 46 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: So games like Splatter House, which have an enormous amount 47 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: of violence and gore, don't really make the cut because 48 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: those types of games are more about blood and guts 49 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: and more about disgust than creating a sense of dread. 50 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: And I'm also not really counting jump scares because while 51 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: jump scares can be effective in startling you, afterward you 52 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: usually just kind of shake it off and you don't 53 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: really think about it ever again. Right, So, if you 54 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: see a movie that's guy Ala jump scares in it, 55 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: you might, you know, scream as you watch the film 56 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: for the first time, but you're not really going to 57 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: be thinking about that very much afterward. Whereas if you 58 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: see a movie that really disturbs you and stays with you, 59 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: that's the sort of stuff you talk about later on, 60 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: maybe years later. Really effective horror stays with you long afterwards. 61 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: So I'm going to focus on games that I feel 62 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: had enough style and presentation to achieve that, which thankfully 63 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: makes this list a lot shorter than it would be otherwise. 64 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: But even so, covering every horror game that manages to 65 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: make the player feel uneasy would require multiple podcast episodes, 66 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: even if we just restricted the discussion to games that 67 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: I have personally played, let alone games in the space. 68 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: So this is more of a highlights episode of some 69 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: important and influential titles. So if your favorite spooky game 70 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: doesn't make an appearance, I'm not omitting it on purpose. 71 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: It's just that I'm not allowed to release a twelve 72 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: hour long episode. And I invite everybody who has a 73 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: favorite scary game to let me know about it, send 74 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: me a message on Twitter, text stuff, hsw All right, 75 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,559 Speaker 1: let's get into it, shall we. To start off, let's 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: chat about some of the very, very very early games 77 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: in the horror genre that I don't think anyone would 78 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: ever find scary. I don't think anyone thought it was 79 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: scary when they came out, but they do help create 80 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: some of the common features that would be found in 81 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 1: future horror games. One of the earliest came out back 82 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: in two for the Sinclair z X eighty one home 83 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: computer system, one that's not widely known here in the 84 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: United States. This game was called three D Monster Maze. 85 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: It was designed by J. K. Gray and Malcolm Evans, 86 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: and the game puts the player in a simple, low 87 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: resolution three D maze. It's from a first person perspective 88 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: as you navigate a maze. There is only one exit 89 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: in the maze and the mazes layout is random from 90 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: play through to play through. And to complicate matters, the 91 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: maze is also home to a Tarrannosaurus rex, which is 92 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: intent upon making you it's lunch, so your job is 93 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: to navigate the maze and avoid the t rex. As 94 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: you moved through the maze, you will see one of 95 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: several messages that indicate what the t rex is doing 96 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: at that moment. So, for example, the message rex lies 97 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: in wait is the best message you could see. It 98 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: just means that the tarnostaurce rex is dormant. It's not 99 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: actively hunting you. If you see a message that says 100 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: footsteps approaching, that's not so great. It means the t 101 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,239 Speaker 1: rex is not too far away. It is possibly coming 102 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: at you, but it is way worse if you happen 103 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: to see a message that starts with run, as it 104 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: means the t rex is actively pursuing you. Now you 105 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: can outrun the t Rex. You actually move faster than 106 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: it does. However, if you hit a dead end in 107 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: the maze, it's curtains for you. The graphics are really simple, 108 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: but you could argue that the urgency of the messages 109 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: makes all the difference, creating the stress needed to push 110 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: the game into you know, that's slightly creepy territory. It's 111 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: not scary outright, but it creates that sense of urgency 112 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: and it reinforces that, which in turn gets a response 113 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: from the player. The Atari twenty six hundred console had 114 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: a few horror titles, though I think using the word 115 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: horror is a stretch. One of these was Haunted House, 116 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: a game in which you play as are of eyeballs 117 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: floating around an extremely simple series of rooms, trying to 118 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: find and then escape with and earn while avoiding a ghost. 119 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: It's not at all scary. The ghost is just a 120 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: little cartoon ghost that comes after you. There are a 121 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: couple of other cartoon monsters you can encounter, but it 122 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: does stress that your only recourse when encountering the ghost 123 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: was to run. You couldn't fight the ghost really, uh. 124 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: You could pick up items that would let you survive 125 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: for a second before the ghost could get you. But 126 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: really it was about avoiding and escaping the ghost, and 127 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: that would become a staple of horror games and years 128 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: to come, the idea that you can't necessarily confront the 129 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: enemy's head on. And I actually owned this game. I 130 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: didn't remember that I had owned it. When I was 131 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: looking at titles, I was like, I should look into this, 132 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: and as I looked into it, I thought, oh, wait 133 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: a minute, that's what that was. I had that game. 134 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: Also on the Atari twenty sire were several games that 135 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: would be tie ins with existing horror movie franchises or 136 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: just horror movies in general, and that marks the beginning 137 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: of a long history of video games and film and 138 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: sometimes TV that I would call it checkered. There are 139 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: a lot of games out there that tie into these 140 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: franchises that just are not very good. So this was 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: really an effort to tap into horror movie junkies and 142 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: get them to buy these games. The primitive graphics and 143 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: sound of a twent games weren't likely to give anyone 144 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: a hint of the Heebie GPS, however, so your mileage 145 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: may very A company called Wizard Video Games actually made 146 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: a couple of these. One was a tie in with 147 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, sometimes referred to as the the 148 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: precursor to the modern slasher film, and another one cashed 149 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: in on Halloween, the John Carpenter horror movie. Both games 150 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: were a bit more violent and graphic than standard at 151 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: games at the time. In some cases, you could argue 152 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: all more than a bit graphic, but the low resolution 153 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: graphics on screen didn't exactly translate to real chills. Like that, 154 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: you were seeing the depiction of violence on screen, but 155 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: it wasn't at all realistic. It was very blocky and 156 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: low rez. You might even look at games like these 157 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: as part of the trend that contributed to the video 158 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: game market crashing right around that time. Even so, while 159 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,719 Speaker 1: the technology wasn't really sophisticated enough to elicit scares, it 160 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: was obvious the game developers saw opportunity in the horror space. Now, 161 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: from the early nineteen eighties, we can skip over a lot. 162 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: We had the big video game crash of Night three Slash, 163 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: which was so big that it spilled over a bit 164 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: into the computer game world, though really it was primarily 165 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: the console market that was devastated the most Nintendo would 166 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: bring that back with the introduction of the Famicom A 167 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: gave the Nintendo Entertainment System UH. That system was famous 168 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 1: for bringing back console gaming, introducing the world to stuff 169 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: like Super Mario Brothers and more, but it also introduced 170 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: some horror games. One game you could find on the 171 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 1: NES as well as PC systems was Maniac Mansion from 172 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: Lucas Arts. It published in nine now. This was a 173 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: point and click adventure style game in which the player 174 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: could control a couple of different characters as they tried 175 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: to rescue a woman who had been captured by a 176 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: mad scientist. The game had a lot of zany humor 177 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: in it, which was a hallmark of Lucas Arts games. 178 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: They also made stuff like the Monkey Island series. But 179 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: the game also had some tense moments that featured perma death. 180 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: So you would play as a protagonist who could bring 181 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,559 Speaker 1: two friends along. You had a selection of six potential friends. 182 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: You could take two of them with you. However, if 183 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: those friends should croak they stayed dead. They there would 184 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: actually be a little tombstone with the character's name out front, 185 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: so the choice of characters would determine how the game 186 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: would play out. And you couldn't just win the game 187 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: with one set of friends then play through it the 188 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: exact same way using different sets of friends. It actually 189 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: would change the game. The game also featured multiple endings, 190 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: so there were several interesting ideas here that would find 191 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: their way into future horror games. Though I would argue 192 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: that Maniac Mentioned itself is not really a scary game. 193 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: It's just that it helped cement certain game features that 194 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: would be later used to great effect in horror games 195 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: of the future, like the Atari twidd The NES also 196 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: had several horror movie tie in titles. You know. They 197 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: had Bram Stoker's Dracula. There was a Nightmare in Elm 198 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: Street game. There was a Friday the Thirteenth game which 199 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: gave us Purple Jason Jason Vorhees the antagonist in the 200 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: Friday of the Thirteenth movies, at least after the first one. 201 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: First first film was his mother, Mama Vorhees. But again, 202 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 1: the low resolution graphics of the NES and the eight 203 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,719 Speaker 1: bit era never really struck me as particularly effective when 204 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: it came to creating scares. There was a Japanese game 205 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: called Sweet Home that managed to be pretty darn creepy 206 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: and allegedly. I mean it would actually serve as inspiration 207 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: for a future game franchise that I'll chat about a 208 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: little later. But I never really got to play Sweet 209 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: Home myself. I've seen video of it, but I've never 210 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: played it. It was never officially released outside of Japan. 211 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,839 Speaker 1: You could track down an import of it and with 212 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: an adapter play it, but you know, you had to 213 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: go through a lot of effort in order to get 214 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: your hands on a copy outside of Japan. The ne 215 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: Nes also saw the first entry of the Castlevania series 216 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: of games. Now, while Castlevania was more of a horror 217 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: themed platformer and would become one half of the games 218 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: that would create the Metro metroid Vania genre of platformers, 219 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: Metroid being the other one, and the Castlevania series would 220 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: eventually spawn some titles the gamers said, we're legitimately unsettling. Now. 221 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: I've only played a little bit of Castlevania games, so 222 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: I can't really comment on this from a personal perspective. 223 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: To me, it was just sort of a horror themed 224 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: platform or not something that I found particularly scary, But 225 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: I've had limited experience with it. This era around the 226 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: Nintendo Entertainment System nineteen eighties era would see game developers 227 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: come up with ideas that would be incorporated into more 228 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: sophisticated games a few years later down the road. And 229 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: while there were a few titles that might have had 230 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: some interesting moments in them, for the most part they 231 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: were still pretty tame. But those gameplay elements would really 232 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: become important later on. While graphics and sound design would 233 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: do a lot to set the atmosphere for a game, 234 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,959 Speaker 1: it would be those gameplay elements that can turn something 235 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: that's just you know, gruesome or shocking into an experience 236 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: that is more powerful than that. So let's jump ahead 237 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: a couple more years in a company called info Grames 238 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: would help launch a new genre. The game that did 239 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: this was called Alone in the Dark, which would spawn 240 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: a series of games. Now. The Guinness Book of World 241 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: Records names Alone in the Dark as the first three 242 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: D survival horror game. So in the game, you explore 243 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: a mansion this would become a common theme in horror games, 244 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: and you try to solve puzzles while you avoid or 245 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: defeat supernatural enemies like ghosts and monsters. And I think 246 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: it might be a good idea to talk about some 247 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: of the hallmarks of the survival horror genre or sub genre, 248 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: and what makes those games tike So As the name suggests, 249 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: the survival horror genre largely leans on the player trying 250 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: to keep their character alive for the duration of the 251 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: game despite numerous threats, and the horror part plays in 252 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: this too obvious lee and that the threats tend to 253 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: be scary and unsettling and often supernatural in nature. And 254 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: a lot of games the player controls the character or 255 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: entity that gets more powerful as the game progresses. You know, 256 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: other other subgenres, this is very typical. Right you play 257 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: the game, your character gets more capable, more powerful, gets 258 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: more equipment or more abilities. They might level up, they 259 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: might receive upgrades, and fighting enemies is a common game 260 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: feature for lots of other subgenres, but this is not 261 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: the case with survival horror games in general. Typically, in 262 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: survival horror games, it is far more common to stress 263 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: the need for stealth and agility rather than combat. Many 264 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: survival horror games have no combat systems at all, which 265 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: require the player to try and out maneuver or avoid enemies. 266 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: You might spend more time hiding in a locker or 267 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: a closet or sweet squeezing through like a tight spot, 268 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: and music and sound effects can really help to create 269 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: tense moments, increasing the sense of urgency as you try 270 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: to evade the beings that wish to do you harm. 271 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: By removing the ability to fight back against your opponents, 272 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: these games also remove the player's sense of comfort and complacency. 273 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: You can't count on your lead gaming skills to pull 274 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: off a quick headshot or get you out of a 275 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: tight spot like that. Danger may lurk around any corner, 276 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: and so you're on high alert whenever the game is 277 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: in motion, as a different type of emotional experience than 278 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: playing something like Doom, which you know falls into the 279 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: horror game genre but clearly does not qualify as a 280 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: survival horror game. Some survival horror games do allow you 281 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: to fight back at least a little bit, but these 282 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: games may have other mechanics built in so that fighting 283 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: back isn't necessarily the best option. Survival horror games might 284 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: be incredibly stingy with stuff like ammunition and health kits, 285 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: for example, so every shot counts and it's much better 286 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: to not get hit rather than have to figure out 287 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 1: how do you deal with the fact that you've been injured. 288 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: And these same games may make enemies particularly difficult to 289 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 1: take down, so you have both limited ammunition and if 290 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: you do choose to engage with an enemy, you may 291 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: have to shoot it multiple times just to make sure 292 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: it's not gonna keep coming after you. Another frequent game 293 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: mechanic is giving items durability ratings, so using items decreases 294 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: their durability, and eventually they need to be repaired or 295 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: they just playing break and you've got to get a 296 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: new one. By metering out stuff like weapons and tools 297 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: and health kits and AMMO, the game forces players to 298 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: make tough and often quick decisions while trying to survive. 299 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: Some games that fall into the survival horror genre play 300 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,400 Speaker 1: with us a little bit more than others. There are 301 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: the Resident Evil games that we'll talk about more later, 302 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,160 Speaker 1: especially the later Resident Evil games up to about part seven, 303 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: where you start finding more weapons and AMMO and options, 304 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: and these games become a lot more action oriented. They 305 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: turned into more of a shooter game rather than a 306 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: survival horror game. Now, to be clear, there's nothing wrong 307 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: with that. You know, an action horror game is a 308 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,719 Speaker 1: legitimate type of genre. Doom is definitely an action horror 309 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: first person shooter, and there are doom titles that are fantastic, 310 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: but it is a different kind of experience. Alone in 311 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: the Dark had pre rendered backgrounds, but the character you 312 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: controlled was a three dimensional figure made up of polygons. 313 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: So this was right around the age that that computer 314 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: characters were emerging from being these little two dimensional sketches 315 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: into more three dimensional characters. One nice thing about the 316 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: game is that you could choose to play either as 317 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: male or female. Now this was in the early nineties. 318 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: This was a big step, although of course there was 319 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: still a lack of representation for non binary type characters. 320 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: Either way. The character needs to escape a mansion another 321 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: common thread, and must defeat enemies and or solve puzzles 322 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: in order to do so. Part of the game is 323 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: actually linear, that means you have to go through a 324 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: specific sequence to progress through the game, but other parts 325 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: of the game are nonlinear, where you can tackle different 326 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: challenges in whatever order you prefer. Some of the elements 327 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: would find their ways into other types of horror games 328 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 1: as well, and Alone in the Dark would become an 329 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: important foundational title for the horror game genre. When we 330 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,639 Speaker 1: come back, we'll look at some more influential horror themed 331 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: games and some real standouts in the subgenre. But first, 332 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. In Virgin Interactive Entertainment published 333 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: a game called The Seventh Guest, a horror themed mystery 334 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: in which you solve various puzzles laid out within a mansion, 335 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: of course, and this game also featured clips of f 336 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: m V a k a full motion video. So the 337 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: PC world at the time was going through a revolution 338 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: as CD ROM drives became available for the first time 339 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: and made it possible for software developers to create more 340 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: sophisticated games that wouldn't just fit on a floppy disk 341 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: or they would require way too many floppy disks. So 342 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: within the game you would get these little video sequences 343 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: of actual live action video played in the game. Actors 344 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: in costume would appear occasionally as sort of ghostly visions 345 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: to deliver lines in a way that reminds me of 346 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: some of the worst community theater I have ever seen. 347 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: I loved it, but yeah, if you have never played 348 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: The Seventh Guest, go to YouTube, do a search for it. 349 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: Watch some of those FMV sequences. They are ad and 350 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: gloriously so there are actually videos of the full game 351 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: up on YouTube. If you don't have the patients to 352 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: solve all those puzzles yourself, and I have to be 353 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: honest here, at least a couple of the puzzles in 354 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: the game are pretty lame. Some of them are fun 355 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: and challenging, others aren't not good. The plot combines elements 356 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: of weird fantasy, murder mysteries, and supernatural horror. In a 357 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: sequel titled The Eleventh Hour published, but that didn't quite 358 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: fair as well as its predecessor among both the critics 359 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:39,160 Speaker 1: and the public. Also in Sierra released Fantasmagoria, a horror 360 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: game that looked at the FMV that was in The 361 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: Seventh Guest and The Eleventh Hour and said, but what 362 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: if we did that more. Fantasmagoria has a couple of 363 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: dozen characters, all played by different actors, has tons of 364 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: full motion video. It required seven CDs to hold all 365 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: the datum, which was excess at the time. The game 366 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: has some pretty grizzly imagery, even in the intro of 367 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: the game, which has not one but two waking up 368 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: from a nightmare sequences back to back spoiler alert. The 369 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: style of game is a point and click adventure game, 370 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: but instead of controlling like a little animated polygonal figure, 371 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: your choices guided an actress named Victoria Morsel who was 372 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: playing a protagonist named Adrienne Delaney. So if you clicked 373 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: on a door, Victoria as Adrienne would walk to the 374 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: door and try to open it. So I imagine it 375 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: must have taken a very long time to capture all 376 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: the different variations of actions that could potentially play out 377 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: in the game. As for the plot of the game, 378 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: Adrienne is a novelist who along with her husband Don, 379 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: has purchased an old mansion since the theme yet and 380 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: the mansion's previous owner was a stage magician with a 381 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: dark lee passed involving multiple marriages and the mysterious death 382 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: of his wives. Adrianne encounters various supernatural puzzles and different 383 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: kind of supernatural happenings in the house as the story 384 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,479 Speaker 1: plays out. It ultimately leads to a showdown with a demon, 385 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: as these things are wont to do. The game was 386 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: a pretty big hit, and it was a definite step 387 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: up on the production side from games like The Seventh Guest, 388 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: though a lot of reviews criticized that the puzzles in 389 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: Phantasmagoria were a little too simple. One of the reasons 390 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,479 Speaker 1: I wanted to bring up this trio of games, in 391 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: particular Seventh Guests, Eleventh Hour and Phantasmagoria is because they 392 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: were almost an overcorrection of some of the issues I 393 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: had with earlier horror games. Right, the earliest horror games 394 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: were so simplistic, and the primitive graphics and the really 395 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: you know, low fi sound design acted as detriments to 396 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: the effect of the game. They weren't going to make 397 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: you feel scared, really, they weren't really unsettling. The era 398 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: of the CD ROM gave game developers the ability to 399 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: use actual video of real human beings in their games, 400 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: so there was no need to create realistic graphics if 401 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: you can replace graphics with actual video. But video is 402 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 1: inherently limited, especially for interactive purposes. You can't shoot every 403 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: possible variation of an action that a player might think 404 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 1: about while they're playing a game, so by necessity, a 405 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: lot of stuff a player might try would need to 406 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 1: result in a kind of message like I can't do 407 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: that or that doesn't work, because otherwise you would need 408 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: a nearly limitless amount of time to shoot video, and 409 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: that's just not practical. So what was needed were games 410 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:54,400 Speaker 1: that could be atmospheric and have that level of production 411 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: value along with effective gameplay. And these were pieces that 412 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: were slow he starting to come together. I argue that 413 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: fm V games can be very entertaining, they can be 414 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: good games, but it's very hard to make effective gameplay 415 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: with them because you can't control live video the way 416 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,880 Speaker 1: you can a they generated video game character. Another point 417 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: and click game that came out in was an expansion 418 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: on a story that had been written by Harlan Nelson 419 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties, and it shares the same title 420 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: as that story, I have no Mouth and I must 421 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: scream now. In this story, the antagonist is not a 422 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: vengeful spirit, it's not a demon. It's a malicious artificial 423 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: intelligent construct. The game features five characters, each of whom 424 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: has a narrative within the game, and players are free 425 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,360 Speaker 1: to make ethical or unethical choices as they play, and 426 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: making more ethical choices increases the odds that you'll be 427 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: able to defeat the AI at the end. But if 428 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: you want to be a total jerk face, you totally 429 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,440 Speaker 1: can be. And also not all the choices are obvious 430 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: some of them are more dilemmas, and a lot of 431 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: the scenarios that the player faces are beyond grim. That's 432 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: really heavy, dark stuff, and it puts the player in 433 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: a position to deal with tough subject matter, which is 434 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 1: putting it lightly so before warned if you want to 435 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: try that game out. In we got the first of 436 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: the Resident Evil games, which was originally called bio Hazard Um, 437 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: which would come back later in the series. It was 438 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: originally developed for the Sony PlayStation. Resident Evil grew out 439 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: of one of the earlier games that I mentioned, Sweet Home, 440 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: the one that was a Japanese exclusive, and it follows 441 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: a special Task Force officer. The player could have their 442 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: choice of either playing Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield. The officer, 443 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 1: whichever one they choose, is attempting to track down members 444 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: of an earlier investigation team while also fighting off monsters 445 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: you know, like zombies and stuff. The gameplay is a 446 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: third person perspective game with a static camera angle. The 447 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 1: camera angle would change as you would move from scene 448 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: to scene, so it might be you know, kind of 449 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,919 Speaker 1: up and to the side in one room and you 450 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: move to another room and suddenly the orientation of the 451 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: cameras totally different, which also changes the way your character controls. 452 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 1: It made controlling the character a little clunky. They're also 453 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: limited resources in the game, so managing those resources like 454 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: ammunition and healing items becomes an important part of the 455 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: player's strategy, and there are puzzles to solve as the 456 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,640 Speaker 1: game progresses. And while Alone in the Dark would introduce 457 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: the elements of survival horror back in, I think it's 458 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,679 Speaker 1: safe to say that Resident Evil was the game that 459 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: defined the characteristics of survival horror in nineteen. Resident Evil 460 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: would spawn numerous sequels. By the time you get to 461 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: Resident Evil four, which is, you know, actually the sixth 462 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,960 Speaker 1: game in the series, I think I might even be 463 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: missing one or two. There are a lot of games 464 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: in the Resident Evil series, not all of them have 465 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 1: numbers on them. But by that time, the games were 466 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: becoming a little more action oriented and the game's sold well, 467 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: but the critical reaction was mixed, with a lot of 468 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: critics saying the games that kind of abandoned suspense and 469 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: fear in favor of shoot him up action gameplay elements. 470 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: So by the time we get to two thousand seventeen, 471 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: five years after Resident Evil six, had come out, we 472 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: got Resident Evil seven, and boy howdy did they jump 473 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: back into the horror elements of the series for that one. 474 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: The game is scaled down, it's it's in a again 475 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: kind of like in a big house environment. For the 476 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: most part, it's played from a first person perspective, which 477 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: was very different from earlier Resident Evil games, and it 478 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: is incredibly horrific. Only is there some really brutal graphic 479 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: violence in that game. The threat to your character survival 480 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: is one that persists throughout the gameplay, and it drives 481 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: the action of the game, and it creates that sense 482 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: of tension and suspense and fear that makes it such 483 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: a an intense experience. In the game, you play as 484 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: Ethan Winters and he's looking for his wife in a big, old, 485 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: creepy house, because of course that's what happens. But I 486 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: don't mean to reduce this down to well worn horror tropes. 487 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: The game is largely effective and for those who played 488 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: it with the PS four VR headset, it could get 489 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: really scary, throwing you into the action. Resideval isn't the 490 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 1: only franchise to have had a huge impact on the 491 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: horror genre of games, however, the Konami series. Silent Hill, 492 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: which launched in is another really important one. Like Residenteval, 493 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: Silent Hill uses a third person perspe active. The game 494 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: also made clever use of fog effects to limit visibility, 495 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: not just to create an oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere, but also 496 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: to compensate for the relatively limited processing power of consoles 497 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: at the time. They couldn't render graphics out as far 498 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: as the eye could see, so using fog meant you 499 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: couldn't see all the stuff around you, so your view 500 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: was limited, and that made it easier for the consoles 501 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: to process all those graphics. In the game, players control 502 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: a character called Harry Mason as he tries to find 503 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: his daughter who is lost in a town called Silent Hill. 504 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 1: That town also inconveniently has a whole bunch of monsters 505 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 1: in it to make things more intense. Harry isn't exactly 506 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: an athlete, so sprinting wears him out pretty quickly. He's 507 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: not an expert with weapons, so he's not a very 508 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,840 Speaker 1: good fighter. The lore of this game series gets pretty bonkers. 509 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: It's actually really challenging to explain. But like Resident Eval, 510 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: the Silent Hill series would cement certain tropes within the 511 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: survival horror genre. The game features numerous sequels and one 512 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: very special entry that will get to towards the end 513 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: of this episode. That's just a teaser for what's to come. 514 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: But before we get to that, we have some other 515 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: important games to talk about. One of those was Eternal 516 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: Darkness Sanity's Requiem, which came out back in two thousand 517 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: two for the Nintendo GameCube and was developed by a 518 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: company called Silicon Nights. Now. When it comes to the 519 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: Nintendo consoles in general, the GameCube tends to fall into 520 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: a category along with the we you as a system 521 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: that doesn't get a whole lot of love, but this 522 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: particular title was one that definitely got a lot of attention, 523 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: largely for its creative manipulation of the player and the 524 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: variation between different playthroughs of the game. Eternal Darkness is 525 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,479 Speaker 1: a horror game that has multiple potential endings based on 526 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: your choices, and if you complete the game whichever ending 527 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: you pursue, you know through your choices that one becomes 528 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: unavailable to you in future playthroughs unless you finish all 529 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: the other potential endings of the game, so it forces 530 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: you to try different stuff. I don't think I had 531 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: seen a game that had a similar ambition before Eternal Darkness. 532 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure there are others out there, but I don't 533 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: know about them. As for gameplay, it's another third person 534 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: perspective horror themed puzzle game, but the player doesn't control 535 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: just a single protagonist. There's actually twelve characters that the 536 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: player will control at different points within the game, and 537 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: characters are in different locations and also different moments in history, 538 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: So you jump around from character to character as you 539 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: complete chapters in this game, and thus you go from 540 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: location to location and time period to time period depending 541 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: on who you're playing, and each character has their own 542 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: individual narrative finish. On top of all of this, you've 543 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: got the sanity meter, something that would end up being 544 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: a big thing in games to come. So as your 545 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: character encounters spooky stuff in the game, the sanity meter 546 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: starts to go down, and as it does so odd 547 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: things start to happen within the game. And Eternal Darkness 548 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't just have weird things happen to your character. Some 549 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: of that weird stuff got really met up. For example, 550 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,440 Speaker 1: you might be playing the game and suddenly, as your 551 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: sanity dips. You see an indicator on your TV screen 552 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: that says the volume on your television is being turned down. 553 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: But here's the thing, it wasn't really going down at all. 554 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: The game was just creating a graphic that makes it 555 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: look like the volume is going down. So it would 556 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: be one of those things were like, why is that happening? 557 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: What's what's affecting the television? If you were to turn 558 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 1: the volume up on your TV, it would boost the 559 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: volume up to a much louder level so that when 560 00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,959 Speaker 1: the audio of the game comes back in full four 561 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,720 Speaker 1: or so, it would be extra loud. Or maybe the 562 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 1: game would suddenly boot you into the menu at a 563 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,879 Speaker 1: critical moment, or cause your controls to reverse so now 564 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 1: left is right and right is left, or it would 565 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: block your vision just as an enemy was closing in 566 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: on you, or make everything upside down in the room. 567 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 1: So playing the game in the dark was quite the experience, 568 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: as you would have moments wondering if you had imagined 569 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,120 Speaker 1: something weird in the game or if it was really 570 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:30,839 Speaker 1: happening and the game was messing with you. On top 571 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 1: of all that, the game featured forces that were kind 572 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: of love crafty and in nature HP Lovecraft's work, which 573 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,880 Speaker 1: is fitting because many of lovecraft stories revolve around characters 574 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: losing their sanity when they're confronted by otherworldly horrors. This 575 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: is one of those games that I played back when 576 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: I had a GameCube, though I don't think I ever 577 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,400 Speaker 1: actually finished the game. It was a little too sprawling, 578 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 1: and the multiple storylines made it a little challenging to 579 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,240 Speaker 1: follow what was going on with the lot, and also 580 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: I wasn't really good at it. Controlling characters from a 581 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: third person perspective with cameras that are not fully controllable 582 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: is challenging to me. But I definitely appreciated how this 583 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: game was thinking outside the box and even outside the 584 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: console in an effort to make gamers uneasy as they 585 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: played the game. The game got overwhelmingly positive critical reception, 586 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,799 Speaker 1: and it frequently makes the list of best scary games 587 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 1: even today. And this was a game that came out 588 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: in two thousand two. Now. Originally the team had planned 589 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:37,280 Speaker 1: on making a sequel, but various setbacks derailed that until 590 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:42,600 Speaker 1: in the Silicon Nights development company filed for bankruptcy. Some 591 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,400 Speaker 1: of the company members would go on to create a 592 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: new company called Precursor Games. They continued the effort to 593 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: try and bring an Eternal Darkness sequel out, including a 594 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:56,840 Speaker 1: couple of failed crowdfunding campaigns. The first of those campaigns 595 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: was cut short for some truly awful dark reasons. I'm 596 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: not going to go into it here because the story 597 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: is out there online if you really want to learn more. 598 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: But it's it's terrible. It's a horrible story, and real 599 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: world horror isn't fun the way video game horror is, 600 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,399 Speaker 1: so I'm leaving it alone. But the long and short 601 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: of it is that to date, there has been no 602 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,320 Speaker 1: sequel to Eternal Darkness. We'll have to hold out hope. 603 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: When we come back, I'll chat about some other notable games, 604 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,799 Speaker 1: including a recent one that I really dig But first 605 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break. The mid two thousands saw 606 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: more of an emphasis on action horror and first person 607 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: shooters and the more atmospheric psychological stuff that I would 608 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: like to talk about now. There worth a couple of exceptions, 609 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 1: but a lot of the focus was really on twitch 610 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,359 Speaker 1: skills and jump scares. You know, just not my bag man. 611 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: One exception to this was a game called Call of 612 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,840 Speaker 1: Cathulu dar Corners of the Earth. While Eternal Darkness was 613 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,320 Speaker 1: inspired by Lovecraftian weird fiction. Call of Cathul Whu is 614 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: a direct reference to Lovecraft's work. Cathul Who is a 615 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: Lovecraftian creation. The game is a first person shooter stealth 616 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:20,279 Speaker 1: horror game. Like survival horror games, resources are few and 617 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,799 Speaker 1: far between, and in many cases the player would find 618 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,360 Speaker 1: out that trying to avoid a confrontation and hide is 619 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 1: a much better option than going in guns blazing. Like 620 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: Eternal Darkness, encountering supernatural creatures and witnessing supernatural events decreases 621 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,640 Speaker 1: the player character's sanity, which leads to the game producing 622 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: weird sounds and graphics or changing the controls slightly, and 623 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,759 Speaker 1: it's a pretty disconcerting thing to experience. On top of that, 624 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 1: this game is grim y'all, but a pretty effective horror experience. 625 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: And this game came out for the Xbox in two 626 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:00,279 Speaker 1: thousand five and for Windows the following year. Now we're 627 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,399 Speaker 1: going to skip ahead a few years. For the next 628 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 1: push forward, I want to talk about the game Amnesia 629 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: The Dark Descent. Console gamers might think of this as 630 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: a game that debuted in that would be for the 631 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:15,759 Speaker 1: PS four fans, or maybe even eighteen for people who 632 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: played on Xbox One, but the game originally came out 633 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,640 Speaker 1: way back in twenty ten for Windows. In this game, 634 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: you play as a character who has you know, amnesia. 635 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,239 Speaker 1: He remembers his name. It happens to be Daniel, but 636 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 1: dang if he can't remember, why the heck He's in 637 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 1: the middle of a spooky old castle that's filled with monsters. 638 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,160 Speaker 1: Daniel is also scared of the dark, so of course 639 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 1: the castle is mostly in the dark, and so being 640 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:51,920 Speaker 1: in the dark affects Daniel's sanity, tapping back into that 641 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,280 Speaker 1: mechanic we saw with Eternal Darkness and Call of Cthulhu. 642 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,399 Speaker 1: As a result, the game starts messing with you as 643 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 1: you're Santa the Dips. Daniel also isn't a fighter, so 644 00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:08,680 Speaker 1: your options fall into evade or avoid enemies, so it 645 00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:11,279 Speaker 1: really turns us into a stealth horror game with the 646 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,239 Speaker 1: added complication that you can't be in the dark too 647 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 1: long or you start to lose your sanity. The need 648 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 1: to be stealthy forces players to really rely on what 649 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: they can see and hear within the games, so they 650 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: have to really start to pay attention to what's going on, 651 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,480 Speaker 1: and the graphics and the sound design both leverage this 652 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:35,680 Speaker 1: to create an immersive, unsettling experience, and it makes Amnesia 653 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,840 Speaker 1: and early example of a subgenre of horror games that 654 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:42,239 Speaker 1: become really popular over the following years. This sort of 655 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:48,360 Speaker 1: psychological horror that that really affects the player. Other games 656 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:52,719 Speaker 1: that would follow a similar path would include Soma, Outlast, 657 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: Layers of Fear, Visage, and tons more. One game experience 658 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,440 Speaker 1: that that kind of follows that path is the Silent 659 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,520 Speaker 1: Hill tie end that I mentioned earlier that I kind 660 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: of teased, and I'm of course talking about PT, which 661 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: stands for Playable Teaser. This wasn't really a fully fledged game, 662 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,359 Speaker 1: so much as a hint at the sort of thing 663 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:22,279 Speaker 1: that gamers were supposed to expect in what ended up 664 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: being an unfinished and unreleased game in the Silent Hills series. 665 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,600 Speaker 1: This one was to be called Silent Hills, and the 666 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:34,600 Speaker 1: game was a collaboration between game developer Hideo Kajima and 667 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 1: his production company Kajima Productions and U, and also the 668 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,799 Speaker 1: film director Guillermo del Toro. This was released back in 669 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,040 Speaker 1: August two thousand four team for the PlayStation four. Now, 670 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 1: the story around the game is arguably just as fascinating 671 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: as the game experiences itself. So first let's talk about 672 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:57,400 Speaker 1: the game. PT is played from a first person perspective, 673 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,239 Speaker 1: and as the game starts, the player character awake, ends 674 00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 1: on a concrete floor in a bar room, and the 675 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,479 Speaker 1: only thing in the room is a single door leading out, 676 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 1: and when you open that door, you see a hallway 677 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,799 Speaker 1: that has a ninety degree turn at the right at 678 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,319 Speaker 1: the very end of the hallway, the hall continues past 679 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: a door on the right, which is closed at the beginning, 680 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:20,799 Speaker 1: and then a little further on you have a foyer 681 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:22,799 Speaker 1: where you've got the front door of the home on 682 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:25,799 Speaker 1: your left side. You can also have a view up 683 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,080 Speaker 1: to the upper level of the house, but you can't 684 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,960 Speaker 1: get to it, and then there's another door at the 685 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,839 Speaker 1: end of the hallway down a couple of steps. So 686 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,040 Speaker 1: going through the door at the end puts you right 687 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 1: back at the beginning of the hallway, revealing that the 688 00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 1: player is caught in some sort of space time loop. 689 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,920 Speaker 1: But things change as you go through the loop and 690 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 1: interact with stuff. Sometimes the door on that right side, 691 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:52,560 Speaker 1: which had been closed on that first run through, will 692 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:56,040 Speaker 1: be slightly open. Sometimes you'll see writing on the walls. 693 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,840 Speaker 1: Sometimes other creepy stuff happens, and so on. As you 694 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,360 Speaker 1: walk through this hall, various spooky things happen. A radio 695 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,520 Speaker 1: plays a news report about a grizzly series of murders 696 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,280 Speaker 1: that you can't help but worry that you are involved 697 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:13,160 Speaker 1: with somehow. You will hear the sounds of a baby 698 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,799 Speaker 1: crying from the bathroom that's that door on the right 699 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 1: that was closed at the beginning. You might hear sounds 700 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,920 Speaker 1: of a woman's sobbing. You better hope you don't see her. 701 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: You might see some pretty disturbing stuff as you walk 702 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:32,359 Speaker 1: through the hallways. It's really a challenging and mysterious experience, 703 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:34,520 Speaker 1: and you're trying to put things together. You don't have 704 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:39,239 Speaker 1: the full picture, so it's really really complex. If you 705 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:43,400 Speaker 1: are successful in completing the sequences, you eventually arrive at 706 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,640 Speaker 1: a screen that reveals that the game is actually a 707 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:50,040 Speaker 1: playable teaser for Silent Hills, and the puzzles were tricky 708 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,160 Speaker 1: enough that people weren't entirely sure what it was that 709 00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:56,480 Speaker 1: triggered that end the screen. So if this is the 710 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,960 Speaker 1: first you've heard about PET, I recommend checking out video 711 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:04,280 Speaker 1: is on YouTube of the game. The walkthroughs are really interesting, 712 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:08,239 Speaker 1: particularly for those that have gamers who captured their own 713 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:12,880 Speaker 1: reactions via webcam. Those reactions are priceless. But what if 714 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,839 Speaker 1: you wanted to play the game yourself. Well, that's where 715 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,759 Speaker 1: things get a little tricky. Remember when I said the 716 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:23,799 Speaker 1: Silent Hill game was unfinished and unreleased. Well, Konami, the 717 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:27,600 Speaker 1: company that published PT in the Silent Hill series, made 718 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,960 Speaker 1: the decision to cancel the game and subsequently removed PT 719 00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:35,640 Speaker 1: from the PlayStation Network in the spring of t which 720 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:38,840 Speaker 1: means that if you had not installed the game to 721 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,160 Speaker 1: your PS four before that point, you were out of luck. 722 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:45,279 Speaker 1: There's a whole story about Konami in general and the 723 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:49,120 Speaker 1: falling out between Konami and Hideo Kajima, but that's gonna 724 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,760 Speaker 1: have to wait for its own episode because it gets 725 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,520 Speaker 1: crazy dramatic. The removal of PT lead to a lot 726 00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,040 Speaker 1: of fans hurling criticisms, which is a polite weight to 727 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:04,120 Speaker 1: put it towards Konami. Some people attempted to make cash 728 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:07,320 Speaker 1: off the whole thing by offering up PlayStation four consoles 729 00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,719 Speaker 1: that still had PT installed on them and tried to 730 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:13,640 Speaker 1: make it available to the highest bidder. A few enterprising 731 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:17,319 Speaker 1: developers tried to recreate the experience in various engines, though 732 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,920 Speaker 1: from what I've seen, most of those have since gone away, 733 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:24,880 Speaker 1: possibly due to Konami threatening legal action because the company 734 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:29,200 Speaker 1: still owns the intellectual property of the game series. And 735 00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:31,440 Speaker 1: that is a huge shame because if you take a 736 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:35,080 Speaker 1: look at lists of the best horror video or computer games, 737 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:40,680 Speaker 1: PT constantly ranks really high on those lists, sometimes it's 738 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:44,000 Speaker 1: number one. It was able to tap into something primal 739 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:48,200 Speaker 1: in the minds of gamers, and the repetitive gameplay actually 740 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:51,600 Speaker 1: would crank up the tension and anxiety as you were 741 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:55,000 Speaker 1: actively looking for things that might have changed since your 742 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:59,720 Speaker 1: last loop, and Lisa the Ghost could be a real terror. 743 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,280 Speaker 1: Her attacks on the player were the jumpiest of jump scares. 744 00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:06,280 Speaker 1: But I would argue it was the tone and presentation 745 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,600 Speaker 1: of the game that really makes it special. Oh and 746 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:12,120 Speaker 1: when one other thing I'll say about PT, it's a 747 00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:17,600 Speaker 1: fairly short gaming experience. It is a teaser after all. Now, granted, 748 00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:20,719 Speaker 1: if you can't figure out the puzzles, it'll take you 749 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,080 Speaker 1: a while to get through the experience, but it wasn't 750 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,600 Speaker 1: designed to be some sort of epic game, and I 751 00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,040 Speaker 1: think that's part of what made it so special. Now, 752 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,720 Speaker 1: This might be just a bit of commentary from yours truly, 753 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 1: but I find that some of the really big games 754 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:36,920 Speaker 1: that are out there start to show signs of padding 755 00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: after a while. The truly huge, big open world games 756 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,920 Speaker 1: that I love, like the Red Dead Redemption series or Skyrim, 757 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:48,719 Speaker 1: it's hard to argue that they don't have a lot 758 00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:51,040 Speaker 1: of fat that could be trimmed away to make a 759 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:56,160 Speaker 1: more streamlined and arguably effective experience. Not that these games 760 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,120 Speaker 1: are bad. I love these games, but they're so big 761 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:01,439 Speaker 1: that I mean, it's for me to even complete them. 762 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:05,560 Speaker 1: There's it, just it gets overwhelming. More is not always 763 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:11,080 Speaker 1: better anyway, Long Live pt Now. There are so many 764 00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:13,759 Speaker 1: games I wasn't able to get to in this episode, 765 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:18,359 Speaker 1: games that tap into that that that reptile part of 766 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:22,080 Speaker 1: our brains and triggers that fear response. I didn't get 767 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,879 Speaker 1: to chat about games like Five Nights and Freddy's, which 768 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,680 Speaker 1: forces you to try and pay attention to more things 769 00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:31,120 Speaker 1: than you can possibly manage it a single time, and 770 00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:34,360 Speaker 1: then ends up punishing you with jump scares. Now, the 771 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:38,160 Speaker 1: jump scares themselves are just these quick bursts of being startled, 772 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:40,680 Speaker 1: but the games are actually really good at cranking up 773 00:46:40,719 --> 00:46:44,920 Speaker 1: tension as you're trying your best to maintain multiple systems 774 00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:49,920 Speaker 1: at once. There are also multiplayer games, including asynchronous games 775 00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: like Dead by Daylight, in which one player takes on 776 00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:56,040 Speaker 1: the role of essentially like an unstoppable monster or a killer, 777 00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:59,280 Speaker 1: including a few that are drawn from pop culture sources 778 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:02,800 Speaker 1: like John Carr, Printers Halloween, and then the other players 779 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:06,360 Speaker 1: are playing normal people who are just trying to escape 780 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:10,399 Speaker 1: an environment with their lives intact. There's a similar game 781 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:13,400 Speaker 1: that is more specific to the Friday than their Teeth 782 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:16,040 Speaker 1: series that does this, with one player taking on the 783 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:19,120 Speaker 1: role of Jason Vorhees and the others being the various 784 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,839 Speaker 1: camp counselors trying to escape Crystal Lake. There are also 785 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,160 Speaker 1: some multiplayer co op games that fall into the horror genre. 786 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:30,960 Speaker 1: One recent one is Phasmaphobia, which is an early access 787 00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,719 Speaker 1: at the Moment, and in that game, players take on 788 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:37,359 Speaker 1: the role of ghost hunters, who, using their equipment, must 789 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:40,640 Speaker 1: figure out what kind of ghost or spirit is haunting 790 00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:44,680 Speaker 1: a particular location, so players have to wander around and 791 00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:47,319 Speaker 1: gather evidence in order to narrow down the list of 792 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:51,600 Speaker 1: possible ghosts it could be, while also gathering additional evidence 793 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:55,759 Speaker 1: and completing additional tasks. If they do so successfully, they're 794 00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:58,880 Speaker 1: rewarded with money, which they can then spend on additional 795 00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,600 Speaker 1: pieces of equipment, which will make future ghost hunting expeditions 796 00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:06,000 Speaker 1: more effective. They can communicate with each other in game 797 00:48:06,280 --> 00:48:09,520 Speaker 1: with proximity chat, meaning you can hear people who are 798 00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:12,040 Speaker 1: close to you. You can also use a radio chat 799 00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:15,120 Speaker 1: so you can speak even across the map, and that 800 00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:19,239 Speaker 1: also allows players to interact with the ghosts in the game. 801 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,960 Speaker 1: You can go to a ghost into action or communicate 802 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:26,240 Speaker 1: to them through stuff like spirit boxes or Luigi boards. 803 00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 1: It's a really cool idea, and the sound design of 804 00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:32,480 Speaker 1: the game is great. It creates a really creepy experience. 805 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,080 Speaker 1: I actually think that the game is scariest when you 806 00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:38,960 Speaker 1: can't see the ghost at all. You just hear something 807 00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,920 Speaker 1: and you can tell it's getting closer. The ghost design, 808 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:45,719 Speaker 1: the actual graphic design, those are really creepy too, but 809 00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:49,360 Speaker 1: just hearing it and not knowing where it is is 810 00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:52,520 Speaker 1: way scarier for me. Now. As for a ghost hunting 811 00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:55,520 Speaker 1: out here in the real world, I feel very differently 812 00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:59,120 Speaker 1: about that. I think in a video game, ghost hunting 813 00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:03,120 Speaker 1: is a really cool, fun concept, but out here, well, 814 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,879 Speaker 1: Friday's classic episode will go into more detail about how 815 00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:10,279 Speaker 1: I feel about ghost hunting I r L, so make 816 00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,719 Speaker 1: sure you check that out on Friday. Also, if you 817 00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:16,840 Speaker 1: have a favorite horror game, whether it's a big title 818 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:20,480 Speaker 1: or an independent one, something that you think is particularly 819 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:24,239 Speaker 1: scary or effective, give me a shout on Twitter. The 820 00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,960 Speaker 1: handle for the show is text Stuff h s W. 821 00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:29,600 Speaker 1: If you just want to shout at me, my handle 822 00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:33,160 Speaker 1: is at John Strickland and I'll talk to you again 823 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:42,040 Speaker 1: really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 824 00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:45,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 825 00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:48,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 826 00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:49,400 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.