Prompt Cast
The Creation and Controversy of Night Trap Video Game
TLDR Night Trap, a video game inspired by a play called Tamara, featured live-action gameplay and multiple rooms that players could toggle between through security cameras. Despite being unfairly criticized for its supposed violence, Night Trap played a significant role in the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Night Trap is a video game that played a significant role in the creation of the ratings board for video games and is known for its live-action gameplay.
04:58
Night Trap is a video game that was inspired by a play called Tamara and features multiple rooms and scenes happening simultaneously, where players can toggle between different rooms through security cameras to see what's going on, with the goal of catching enough things to win the game.
09:40
Axelon, the developer of Night Trap, used VHS tapes to create a full motion video game where players could toggle between different scenes in real time without having to rewind or fast forward, inspired by Dragon's Lair but with the added challenge of no coherent storyline.
14:22
Night Trap was originally supposed to be a game with ninjas, but due to concerns about reproducible violence, the ninjas were changed to loping vampires who used a Ghostbusters Proton pack-like device to draw blood from the teens players were supposed to protect.
18:58
Night Trap was aimed at the teenage market and featured sorority girls in nighties at a slumber party in an effort to titillate, with Dana Plato from "Different Strokes" cast as the anchor, and the game was shot on a soundstage in Culver City with a 250-page script that took almost 30 days to shoot.
23:33
The violence in Night Trap is cartoonish and suggestive, with the augurs being dispatched in comical ways, and despite the game having a real crew and a million-dollar budget, the sets look terrible and the doorways are poorly constructed.
28:03
The designers of Night Trap bought the game from Hasbro and formed their own company, Digital Pictures, to continue developing it for CD-ROM, despite the fact that CD-ROM technology was what initially killed the game.
32:51
Night Trap was unfairly criticized and targeted by politicians for being a violent video game, even though it was not actually violent and the players were meant to prevent violence, leading to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
37:27
Night Trap was resurrected in 2017 with a 25th anniversary edition for smartphones, created by a fan who hacked together a playable version using original 35mm footage and timestamps.
41:57
Night Trap had gameplay issues, such as only being able to control one scene at a time and not being able to follow the story due to changing color codes in different rooms, making it a frustrating and incoherent game to play.
46:14
Night Trap was part of a scam in the early 90s where students were given comprehension tests after watching passages on an overhead projector, and the hosts discuss their own experiences with unusual school curriculums.
Categories:
Society & Culture
