"Night Trap will never appear on a Nintendo system."
July 11, 2018 8:33 PM   Subscribe

"Ever since its inception, the video game industry and controversy have gone hand in hand. Custer’s Revenge, Death Race, Grand Theft Auto, Sam Fox’s Strip Poker… these titles and many more like them have secured their position in the history books by stirring up trouble, but few have instigating the kind of furore that results in the industry-wide adoption of a ratings classification system. When it comes to notorious video games, Night Trap – recently confirmed for release on the Nintendo Switch – is in a league of its own; the real irony is that its iniquitous status as highly subversive 'video nasty' is almost entirely undeserved."

Accidental history—remastering the campy teen horror game Congress famously hated
Tyler Hogle started his career in games as a contractor, hungry for work. He had a day job, working in what he termed "call center hell." In his off-hours, he worked on projects for William Mesa, a wealthy producer who happened to own the rights to countless old games.

"He was paying me to update them and bring them to mobile, essentially," Hogle says. Typically, the work was pretty straight forward. He'd dig into the code and port it to phones over a few weeks. It wasn't difficult, but it was intense and he rarely had the time he wished he had to complete a job. Between contracts, though, his friend convinced him to make a Night Trap prototype for Android.

[...]"My friend convinced me to make my own, but post a clip to YouTube with a weird name 'night trap mobile prototype.avi,' I think, so that it would look like a leak. From there, it caught some traction and then we got picked up by a few sites who were really excited to see something like this."
25 Years Later, 'Disgusting' Night Trap Is Incredibly Tame
Night Trap will certainly appeal most to anyone with a fondness for B-grade horror movies along the lines of Slumber Party Massacre. It’s got the requisite stock characters, corny dialogue, big hair, and crop tops. The game is full of bizarre moments, whether it’s a car full of teenagers gleefully singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or a member of the vampire clan shooting lightning from his fingertips. And of course let’s not forget the poor toothless Augs. Night Trap: 25th Anniversary is more than a worthy celebration of a piece of video game history, it’s a love letter to it.

And should you ever wonder how much video games and society have evolved since Night Trap earned an M rating in 1993, here’s a good indication: this “disgusting” game is now rated T for Teen.
posted by J.K. Seazer (18 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
There was only one kid in the neighborhood with a SegaCD. He wasn't really a friend in my circle, just an acquaintance, so the conversation for a few weeks or so in 1992 was constantly about how we could get our hands on Night Trap, and convince this kid to let us come over and play it. All we knew is it was a VERY BAD GAME for VERY NAUGHTY KIDS and it would corrupt us, transforming us into utter ghouls. Armed with this knowledge, there was nothing we wanted in the world more than to play it. Our plans never came to fruition. Seems so strange that I can just go on the eShop and play it on my Switch now, no conspiracy, sneakiness, or persuasion necessary.
posted by dis_integration at 8:56 PM on July 11, 2018 [3 favorites]


and then laugh about how much tamer it was than any Schwarzenegger gorefest of the era.
posted by Ferreous at 9:03 PM on July 11, 2018


My neighbor and I went in on a SegaCD rental in the 90s, and you know we got Night Trap to go along with it.

It’s so fucking boring. I still wish I had my $17 back.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:11 PM on July 11, 2018 [3 favorites]


I knew this game sounded familiar and then I remembered i'd watched a let's play (super best friends) and man what a trip. I'm thrilled this is being re released but more on a like... philosophical level. Because I'll probably never play it. Even though it's kind of amazing.
posted by nogoodverybad at 10:11 PM on July 11, 2018


The mere fact that parents and Concerned Adults were convinced of its vileness made it totally irresistible to 10-year-old me. When I finally played it I was so underwhelmed. It is the silliest game to be outraged about, ever.
posted by Doleful Creature at 10:13 PM on July 11, 2018


The game isn't my style but anything that pissed off Joe Lieberman is ok in my book.

Also WTF was up with the diversion in the Nintendo Life article about Dana Plato's Playboy spread and death? Jesus.
posted by Uncle at 10:21 PM on July 11, 2018 [1 favorite]


The whole noise about Night Trap and other "think of the children" panics of the era that led to the creation of ESRB was little more than Nintendo panicking they were catching up but still lagging behind Sega at the time, and they would not have an almost monopoly as they had with the NES.

What is funny is that the crapness of the game (like a lot of the Mega CD library, particularly the Digital Pictures games like Night Trap) is what sunk the console and ended up dooming Sega on the long run.
posted by lmfsilva at 10:22 PM on July 11, 2018


What a great feint for politicians to pretend to be hard at work on the taxpayers' dime without doing anything of value. I don't know whose acting was worse: the ones in that so-bad-it's-just-bad game -- or the politicians throwing massive hissies in front of rolling cameras -- take your pick...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 10:48 PM on July 11, 2018


SEO Play on Night Trap was how I heard about this game, and maybe works less well for people who had more context, but is my favorite episode nonetheless.
posted by solarion at 11:21 PM on July 11, 2018 [2 favorites]


A friend of mine had a Sega CD back when. He also had Night Trap. I think we played it twice. It was boring and confusing and not at all titillating.

I tried playing it on a RetroPie a few months ago. Still boring and confusing.

The number of really terrible FMV games from the CD-ROM era is truly mind-boggling. Sure, Night Trap was early, but everybody who came after was convinced they could do it better and was just so, so wrong.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:22 AM on July 12, 2018


I miss SEO Play. :(
posted by tobascodagama at 5:48 AM on July 12, 2018


This is my favourite video that talks about the FMV games phenomenon and touches on Night Trap -Where are they Now? FMV actors, it's just under 11 minutes long and was researched by the very entertaining games historian / game streamer called PushingUpRoses
posted by Faintdreams at 5:52 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]


Ah, the best part of Night Trap was the song, "Night Trap" that they sang to get the slumber party ROCKIN'!
posted by xingcat at 7:16 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]


Am I correct in assuming that the Too Many Cooks parody also satirizes this particular video game genre?

I only learned about this particular style/genre of game after the fact, I just completely missed hearing about them during its era. I'm not sure I have any interest in playing this. I might just watch the Let's Play linked up above.
posted by Fizz at 8:41 AM on July 12, 2018


We finally got a Windows computer when I was 10 (which was many years after they came out), and I remember it came with a couple FMV games. Full motion video on my computer! They felt so modern, but even back then they were pretty dull. I have nothing but fond memories.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 9:15 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]


I only learned about this particular style/genre of game after the fact

I only learned about this genre from this post and I don't know how that happened. I had computers and free time during the era when these were coming out and I completely missed the whole thing.

Now I'm tired from spending last night down parallel rabbit holes of FMV games, PushingUpRoses videos, and Congress demonizing video games. I haven't yet played any of these games but I don't think I'll hate them when I get the time to try a few.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 9:43 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]


At the time I didn't understand the Night Trap furor. I played it along with literally every other game I cared to play on any system at the game rental/sales store I spent far too much time hanging around after the arcade at the mall closed. The golf game for the 32x that had the simulated club accessory was far more entertaining and was no more kid friendly.

It read very much like the stranger danger panic that was all the rage a few years earlier in my childhood and the panic that led to the Communications Decency Act a few years later. (Which I literally gave speeches against in high school and celebrated when it was eventually declaration unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and may explain the overly optimistic outlook on our future that I held until recently)
posted by wierdo at 9:54 AM on July 12, 2018


the only actually offensive thing in all of night trap is the game over video where the guy rips the cord out of a genesis controller
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 8:11 PM on July 12, 2018


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