Night Trap

But, you know, we've got a really lovely relationship with FMV games on this channel.

And, you know, one of my favorite episodes me and you did was that Night Trap episode.

Uh-

Oh

It didn't help that it was a two-hour movie, but oh my god, Ash.

But I j- I love these FMVs just because of the corny acting.

Like, I came to absolutely adore Night Trap because of how hammy it was, and the, this really has that same corniness to it.

Anyway, to play this game, god-awful acting and all, we have Tony Wright-

Strictly from a gaming perspective, it kind of reminds me of Congress back in the early 90s.

when they were going after game ratings and, oh, Night Trap, you know, this full motion video.

But anyway, while I'm generally not a fan of AI and game development, I don't know enough about Level 5's use of it, nor do I think we have enough time to really get into in depth for a topic like this.

But I'll just say to any listeners, because I know there's people with really strong opinions, don't let a company's choice distract you from fun.

She played Merlina in Sonic and the Black Knight and Makoto in Street Fighter.

She's the Japanese voice of Ratchet in Ratchet and Clank and she's the Japanese voice of Cindy in Night Trap.

Of course you had to sneak that in there.

You weren't watching out behind you.

not.

You're

never watching out behind you and I'm always going to sneak Night Trap in when you're not.

I know, you do it constantly.

But they've, th- they've been surpassed by your David Cages, your, your Until Dawns, your, your stuff like that, where these games have really become a relic of time.

But if we were to say that if Night Trap was the genesis, X-Files: The Game was to me the, the peak of that CD-based FMV game that kind of loaded different scenes depending on your actions.

Great license, a good franchise that to work with it from that guys.

X-Files was quite slow, quite methodical, quite slow burn.

Mm.

And it, it's a bit jarring.

But through the time where, you know, you were playing games like Night Trap maybe only four years prior to this, and it was all grainy and this was clear crystal, crystal-ish clear, um, footage from the sets of the thing with the actors in.

It felt, it felt more than it was.

What can we do for you? Welcome to Tucson." [upbeat music] [keys clacking]

In the early '90s, you have Mortal Kombat, you have Night Trap.

Video games were reaching a point where you could see the violence.

It was no longer just Mario butt bouncing on a couple of mushrooms and they disappear.

Going postal.

Like the Grinch who stole Christmas, these violent video games threaten to rob this particular holiday season of a spirit of goodwill.

In 1993, Joe Lieberman saw Mortal Kombat, and he was appalled by that, which led him to look into other things, and he saw a game called Night Trap, which he never understood.

I look back and I remember the Atari 2600, and then you had the arcade games, and while they were violent, they were pixelated.

No.

He worked on Bart vs. the Space Mutants and Night Trap.

I've played those.

Yeah, you never fail to remind me that Night Trap exists.

It's got a great theme song.

I can't say any two syllables together without you interrupting.

still don't fully know what OD is that maybe stuff leaked from that and it was like How much are you even controlling that game? Is it one of these, like, oh, you see stuff happening through a camera and you're, like, selecting the camera? Oh, is it going to

be like that Silent Hill game nobody liked? A Night Trap-like?

Yeah, a Republic-like, which, God, does anyone remember Republic? But yes, a Night Trap-like is a much more useful term there.

Yeah, but I don't know.

Like, that was very early.

So I was like, okay, next round of that.

Nancy Friedman in the art department, she did all the special effects and art direction for the video game Night Trap.

So there is a Night Trap connection to this movie.

okay i didn't know where we were going here it's like yeah but there is a connection monkeys what happened oh i

know it's either the monkeys video games or creep show too um and also like the special effects guys worked on a ton of stuff like there's a lot of crossover with the movie superstition which i love and uh roger george who did the effects for this also did the effects for bad dreams one of my favorite movies so Like you said, this is a regional movie, but it feels like a Hollywood movie cosplaying is a regional movie.

Whatever else.

I think N- Night Trap is like canonically the Sega CD game, you know.

But Wirehead is really ridiculous.

Um, that shitty basketball game.

You're right, I do remember that being a, a pretty, a pretty okay version of that.

But, um, but you know, the, the only reason to go back to that platform now I think, with, with ex- some exceptions, like your Snatchers and stuff.

But like, if I'm doing any kind of Sega CD stuff, it's usually Sewer Shark or Night Trap or like Wirehead or just some of the goofy, like the make your own music video stuff.

Like the, the, the silly ass shit that they put out on that platform.