#internet within games

[easternmind]

- Lessons in Japanese Game Design #3 -

Aside from what is easily one of the most stylish presentations in a videogame from the 1990s, one of Front Mission 3′s truly remarkable features consists of an in-game internet browser running within a simulated operating system. Expanding on the concept first rehearsed by Squaresoft in the second entry of the series, this massive component of the game can be accessed during breaks between missions, offering the player access to a number of pages for government entities, enterprises or other institutions. Access to additional websites is permitted as the game progresses.

This inventive solution offers unparalleled insight into the fictional universe of the game, in that it paints a very granular image of a futuristic society, its economy, geopolitical environment and zeitgeist. The information contained in these pages comes in the form of of bulletin boards, institutional updates, press releases, top secret data volumes, or the occasionally amusing curiosity. The user interface itself permits some degree of customisation, such as the option to disable the startup animation - itself a gorgeous visual relic that one hardly tires of watching - or changing the wallpaper pattern. Certain websites will also provide the option to download content, including images which can be set as said wallpaper. Other resources require secure access via the insertion of a password. Moreover, the player will have access to an email inbox to both read and send messages as may be relevant to advance onto the next stage.

Make-believe computer front-ends in video games were no novelty by the year 1999. Several sci-fi adventure, role-playing or action games allowed access to often very believable GUIs for the purpose of, for instance, retrieving precious clues or, say, disabling security locks. Aside from Front Mission 2, Final Fantasy VIII fans will likely remember the exciting Balamb Garden Network terminal. Kowloon's Gate's unforgettable Kownloonet terminals gave access to an email inbox, an all-important database and various other quotidian curiosities that helped fleshing out its mystic sci-fi narrative. The Japanese were privileged to have a complete version of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere with access to an in-game encyclopedia the player could browse, as well as additional story elements told through email exchanges between the characters. 

That same year, the western Tactical RPG sensation from the West, Jagged Alliance 2, dabbled in this idea. Only three short years later, CyberConnect2′s singular .hack series was designed around the idea of a MMORPG that plays offline, allowing for countless interactions with non-playable characters which simulate messaging formats of the era. Other notable examples include the 2chan boards in Steins;Gate or, inescapably, the passionate love letter to web 1.0 that is Hypnospace Outlaw.

Generally, all of the aforementioned titles are either entirely dedicated on a similar concept, or merely resorted to it as a secondary, amusing distraction. Front Mission 3 pioneered the use of this device as a storytelling technique. No other game of the time, at least to my knowledge, had dedicated so much of its resources to producing a credible replica of design and functionality of the internet as it once existed.

[jasonsbruce]

Batman: The Bisexuality Within - The Telltale Series

[hungergameshyperfixation]

Something I’m so excited for with Sunrise on The Reaping is that we will finally be freed from the shackles of mainstream Hayffie domination. Probably.

(This is lighthearted please take it as such)

[breezey-with-an-e]

Being someone who read a lot of myths & fairytales & also has existed on the internet from a young age, I don't think the leaked pokemon stories are that big of a deal

If anything I'm just annoyed because all I'm going to hear about for the next 3 months is typhlosion pedophile jokes

[airandangels]

Within months of Craven’s introduction of Banks, Craven claimed Banks had been hospitalized after dropping a KitchenAid mixer on her foot, according to both an anonymous former business associate of Craven's I spoke to, and my own past conversations with Craven. Several hours later, her leg was allegedly amputated, and nearly 48 hours after the first operation, her other leg was amputated as well. The anonymous source mentioned above claims they then contacted West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois where Banks was said to be recovering according to the source who saw this information on social media. When they contacted the hospital to send flowers, the hospital said there was no patient by that name. This resulted in the source seeking a third-party opinion due to fears of Craven allegedly misrepresenting himself and taking advantage of clients through sympathy.

A Prominent Accessibility Advocate Worked With Studios and Inspired Change. But She Never Actually Existed. - IGN

This reminds me of “The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover,” which details a very similar fraud committed by a man on CompuServe’s CB Simulator in the early 1980s.  Like, this kind of thing is pretty much as old as the social use of the Internet.

And of course the HIV+ high school AU/cannibal mermaid Hamilton fanfiction incident.

[svtskneecaps]

defending q!pac on the internet isn't enough i need to isekai

[woundedheartwithin]

This is absolutely not a callout post on the user who said this, it’s a criticism of the state of the gaming industry, full stop. But somebody reblogged one of my The Evil Within posts a little while ago where I said I didn’t fully understand what had actually happened, and they put in the tags that I should play the dlc. And I was actually in the PS app looking at the dlc, trying to decide if I really wanted to spend the money, when I realized what the fuck I was doing

I am SO SICK of publishers releasing un-fucking-finished games and then hiding critical story elements behind fucking paywalls. I should not have to buy goddamn dlc to understand a game. Paid dlc shouldn’t even be a fucking thing if I’m being completely honest, but especially not shit like that. Ugh.

[yooniesim]

Not the antiblack, transphobic troll blog doing a classic dirty delete... Can't delete dumbassery love, that stays on the internet forever 😂

Dumbass already forgot the teen life stage exists, misgendered me in a random post showing both they ass cheeks, doubled down about it with a classic "he/she/it whatever they are", made fun of a black person's black sim's lips being "too big" while randomly hyping up a black sim made by a white simmer, posted 90% black sims making fun of their features while reblogging posts w/black celebrities like ice cube and Rihanna (probably the only black ppl they know) to add to their lil act, said "i don't only make fun of blacks" and blocked when confronted about it (soooo obvious), which was all pretty boring and expected and not worth acknowledging... but then they deleted all of that cos the big bad honest troll blog got no spine! which has me fucking rolling HELP 🤣

How ya gonna act like the voice of the ppl and delete all your bad takes? Didja get too many mean asks about them, baby boy? 🥺 can't stand by all ur meaningless dick swinging? feeling insecure about having no comeback skills on top of that? 🥺 every time someone bucks up at you you do a delete and stop acknowledging them and its so damn funny for someone pretending to be so hard and real. I mean I knew you were gonna mention me once you saw I said you have no skills, I was waiting to see what you'd come up with, but I didn't expect it to be this weak... imagine being a troll and taking obvious bait 🤭 just to confirm u got no talent. soooo sorry 😂

So much for "honesty" 😢

[faireladypenumbra]

The recent popularity of the Alan Wake series is great, but it's SUCH a wierd feeling to hear its music on social media.

Like, genuinely wierd watching people casually listen to Old Gods of Asgard on TikTok, when you've liked Poets of The Fall since high school.

[katnissandpeetamellark]

Every other post I see is either

“Stop thirsting over snow”

Or

“I should be allowed to thirst over snow”

[chibishortdeath]

I would absolutely love it if I could look up one of the only things making life bearable rn without seeing either a constant stream of content about a show that makes me deeply uncomfortable or “actually your favorite character is boring as hell and does not work at all in anything and has no effect on the story at large and also doesn’t matter and sucks and he doesn’t do anything remarkable or have enough abilities to warrant any attention and literally you can skip those games tbh they don’t have a story anyway play this fan game that changes all of the dialogue instead because he is so lame and has no personality or plot significance whatsoever he could spontaneously not exist and nothing would really change even that show you don’t like that doesn’t really adapt anything from the games and changes everything about every character they decide to write about couldn’t make him interesting he is that much of a nothing nobody character because he has no modern triple A game level cutscenes he is basically whip man Mario he go kill Dracula so boring that’s it”

[nebulare-art]

Day 19 (Puppets/Dolls/Ect)

[pinkfey]

me trying to explain to cishet men that playing video games is a boring baseline interest for them because all men play video games and they need to develop a personality beyond being a gamer if they ever want to be taken seriously or considered their own unique person and not just another part of the male hivemind that is gaming

[shewhosleepsalotincemeteries]

From the ask thing you reblogged: what made you start your blog?

Genuinely the silliest reason possible which is that I heard about the April Fools crabs two years ago and wanted to participate lol

[amygdalae]

for the askbox meme,,, first it was oh cool bloodborne art and asthetic then i understood the down to earth stoner within. i like your opinions on media and i dig ur blog

(thank you, im glad you enjoy my blog :^)

[forcedhesitation]

top ten dumbest things I've done.

number 4: try to play killer with bad wifi AND while mmr cap is altered so good killer players (me) are primarily playing against good survivors (usually swfs)