Night Trap
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Night Trap | |
|---|---|
 Original North American Sega CD cover art, note the content advisory on the far right. |
|
| Developer(s) | Digital Pictures |
| Publisher(s) | Digital Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 15, 1992 (USA) |
| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | BBFC: 15 ESRB: M (3DO, Apple Macintosh, MS-DOS, and Sega 32X versions) VRC: MA-17 |
| Platform(s) | Sega CD/Sega Mega-CD, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega 32X, MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh |
Night Trap is a video game released on October 15, 1992. It was released for the Sega CD and was later brought to the 3DO, Sega 32X, and PC (with higher-quality video). It was created by Digital Pictures and cost USD$1.5 million to make. It was originally titled Scene of the Crime and was developed for Hasbro's NEMO system, which used VHS tapes instead of ROM cartridges. However, Hasbro stopped production of the NEMO, and Night Trap was moved to the Sega CD console. The game uses live-action scenes in full-motion video.
Contents |
[edit] Story
A group of young co-eds are staying at Mr. and Mrs. Martin's for the night. The Martin family seems like a normal American family. However, odd things have been occurring at this house. Five other teens have already disappeared while staying at the place, so SCAT (the Sega Control Attack Team; the "Sega" turned to "Special" once the game was ported to consoles other than Sega) is called upon to protect the house. As the party gets started, the vampiric Augers begin to overrun the house and the player has to help save the teens along with the help of Kelli and other SCAT agents.
[edit] Gameplay
As the game begins, the player is told that they are to work security for the party at the family's house. You play the game by looking around at one of eight house locations (switchable via your "security camera" console). After a bit of story, the house starts getting overrun by the "Augers" (who look like men in black garbage bags and nylon masks limping around), who attack the girls and boys attending the slumber party. Then the player, as the security guard, has to correctly use the traps in each room to "trap" the Augers. This is done by hitting a button at a time corresponding with the level of a "danger meter". Also the player must use the right security access code for the traps or they will not activate. The player must be constantly switching rooms to be on the lookout for Augers. They cannot get too caught up in watching the slumber party musical or other events. Time always moves forward and if the player misses too many vampires, the game will end as the house gets overrun (the game will also end if certain important characters are "taken" or if the hosts of the slumber party disconnect your access to the traps).
[edit] Claim to fame
When the game was published in 1992 the game's original box art was the subject of criticism from several interest groups for being sexist or too violent, and so the game was repackaged.[citation needed] However, the early packaging controversy was only the beginning of the problems the game would have.
Night Trap is now fairly infamous because of its part in 1990s Congressional hearings on offensive video game material. Night Trap and Mortal Kombat (1992) are often cited as primary factors in leading to the development of the ESRB game industry ratings system and other similar organizations in the mid 1990s. Despite its content concerns and controversies, Night Trap is considered a pioneering title in video game history, as it is one of the first successful games that incorporates gameplay with live action video.
On December 16, 1993, the Sega CD version of Night Trap was removed from store shelves at Toys "R" Us and F.A.O. Schwarz locations in the United States. This was in direct response to a December 9, 1993 joint Senate Judiciary and Government Affairs Committee hearing on video game violence co-chaired by Senators Joseph Lieberman (Democrat - Connecticut) and Herbert Kohl (Democrat - Wisconsin) in which Night Trap was cited as being a game which is "an effort to trap and kill women" as well as being "shameful", "ultra-violent", "sick", "disgusting" and "promoting child abuse." In particular, a game over scene where Lisa (Debra Parks) wearing a nightgown, is captured by Augers and her blood is drained on screen was found to be very offensive. The game and congressional hearings were covered in all major newspapers including USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Times. In defence of the game, Tom Zito president and CEO of Digital Pictures attempted to explain the context of the game during the hearing session (in which he had been told earlier, was cancelled) however he was quickly silenced. In a documentary titled Dangerous Games, the producers and some members of the cast defended it by explaining that the plot of the game was to prevent the trapping and killing of women, and to trap Augers and vampires. In addition, the blood draining device was intended to look very unrealistic and would therefore mitigate the violence.[1]
In 1994/1995, after the controversy died down, the game was ported by Acclaim Distribution Inc. (ADI) and released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega 32X, MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh systems after receiving a "Mature" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. [2] [3]
The developer, Digital Pictures, was notable for their use of interactive live action video sequences in most of their games. Other noteworthy Digital Pictures games include Sewer Shark, Corpse Killer and Ground Zero: Texas.
[edit] Reception
Due to the controversy, removal of the game from outlets and the lack of popularity of the Sega CD system, the game was not financially successful.
Night Trap was ranked the 12th "Worst Video Game of All-Time" in an Electronic Gaming Monthly article. [4] Also, it is rated the 3rd Most Comical game of the 90's-2000's behind Vivendi Universal's The Simpsons: Hit and Run and Rareware's Conker's Bad Fur Day.
[edit] Platform differences
The major differences between the different versions of the game was that the 3DO and PC versions eliminated all references and depictions of Sega and related products during gameplay. In order to do this, the introductory and some of the other videos were actually replaced with the original footage made for when the game was scheduled for release for the NEMO system (the "remote unit" in the original footage is very similar to a standard television or VCR remote control). The Sega CD version had the lowest full-motion video quality and the DOS version included Dangerous Games, a brief documentary about the game and the controversy that surrounded it.
The Sega CD version and 3DO version differed slightly in presentation. Since the 3DO had better hardware, this allowed for the video in Night Trap to be nearly two times larger than the Sega CD edition and have much better resolution. Also, an on-screen map with each room color coded appeared at the bottom of the player's screen at all times in the 3DO version, although it was useless for detecting intruders.
The game was released for the Sega 32X CD-ROM. The game took advantage of the 32X hardware upgrades to have a larger full motion video screen, along with better quality graphics.
More differences between the original Sega CD and the 1995 re-releases include a redone, film quality title screen and redone, film quality opening and closing credits.
In addition, the PC CD-ROM version includes a saving and loading feature, from which the player can access a new pause menu with a large map of the house.
 Sega CD screenshot (French version) |
 3DO screenshot |
[edit] NEMO footage
Footage of the never released VHS-based NEMO video game system can be found in the Sega CD version of Night Trap when entering the cheat Up, A, A, A, A, A at the very end of the credits, when the words "In Memory of Stephen D. Hassenfeld" appear on the screen. This footage shows Hasbro executives taking a look at and playing Scene of the Crime, the prototype of Night Trap, in December 1986.
[edit] Cast
- Dana Plato as Kelli Medd
- J. Bill Jones as Simms
- Deke Anderson as Jason
- William Bertrand as Eddie
- Arthur Burghardt as Collins
- Suzy Cote as Sarah Martin
- Roy Eisenstein as Jim
- Christy Ford as Megan
- Blake Gibbons as Mike
- Joshua Godard as Danny
- Andras Jones as Jeff Martin
- Jon R. Kamel as Victor Martin
- Giovanni Lemm as Tony
- Tracy Matheson as Cindy
- Debra Parks as Lisa
- Allison Rhea as Ashley
- Molly Starr as Sheila Martin
- Heidi Von Brecht as Swanson
[edit] References
- ^ Dangerous Games - The 1995 documentary on Night Trap. (QuickTime)
- ^ The Milwaukee Journal, March 9, 1995, electronic version available here
- ^ Night Trap at MobyGames
- ^ [1] - EGM's Crapstravaganza The 20 Worst Games of All Time
[edit] External links
- Night Trap at MobyGames
- Night Trap at the Internet Movie Database
- "A History of Video Game Controversy" article on Duke Nukem and Night Trap from GameSpot
- "VHS: The Future of Gaming" from GameSpy
- SeanBaby's (of EGM) 20 Worst Video Games of All-Time
- Night Trap reviews at Game Rankings
- A Night Trap parody at Ebolaworld
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Computer and video game law | Family Entertainment Protection Act - Truth in Video Game Rating Act - Video Game Decency Act |
| Organizations | Entertainment Software Rating Board - Pan European Game Information - Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization - Office of Film and Literature Classification - National Coalition Against Censorship - Videogame Rating Council (defunct) - Recreational Software Advisory Council (defunct) - 3DO Rating System (defunct) |
| People | Evan Bayh - Julia Boseman - Sam Brownback - Hillary Rodham Clinton - Herb Kohl - Joe Lieberman - Devin Moore - Cody Posey - Rick Santorum - Jack Thompson - Fred Upton |
| Games | Death Race - Doom - Grand Theft Auto series / Hot Coffee mod - Lethal Enforcers - Mortal Kombat series - Night Trap |
