Irrational fear of some games.

[Graham Mitchell]

Fogive me for the essay, but some of you may find this amusing.

I did something kind of stupid today.

I'm not the type that really gets scared easily. In fact, I'm a resident at LA County Hospital, so I'd say my sphincter control is a bit better than the average person. Despite this, there are some things (movies, images) that really frighten me, whereas most other average people find them stupid...even fall asleep while watching them. I can't explain this, and it could be due to something I was exposed to as a child--I have no idea.

One of these things is graphic/explicit depiction of cardiac failure. It bums me the fuck out, man. Of late, the Game Over sequence to Metroid Prime: Echoes was the latest thing to ill me out a litle, but I got over that fairly quickly. Another thing I didn't dig on was the gratuitous death sequence to EA's F-22 Interceptor, where the pilot of the plane you're controlling dies on the OR table, with a rediculous skull grinning at you from a reflection on the cardiac monitor.

The king daddy of all these experiences, however was Psygnosis' Microcosm. Damn Microcosm. A stupid game, really. It was ambitious and has some beautiful CG, really, but it's got to be one of the truly blandest shooters ever made after the 8-bit era. I can tolerate all of the cinemas in this game just fine except for the Game Over sequence. It has the just perfect combination of heart sounds indicating cardiac arrythmia and arrest, and the soon-to-be corpse of Korsby, complete with what looks like two nasogastric tubes (medically inaccurate) coming out of his nostrils and deadpan, creepy, staring eyes. I even remember him exhibiting an 'O' sign and a final deep respiration after he croaks. A friend brought it over to play on my Sega CD in 1993, and despite being about 14, this sequence disturbed me greatly. I couldn't sleep for a couple nights.

This spawned a bizarre fascination with the game, and Psygnosis in general. Every time I see Roger Dean's owl logo I get a little chill down my spine. I ended up even owning that poopy awful Sega CD game at one point. I played it quite a bit. I watched all the sequences, and mastered all the levels (not like it's hard) and could beat the game in one sitting. But if I died 3 times, I would pull the AC adaptor out of the Genesis so as to ensure that I would NOT see that game over sequence.

Well, 16 years or so have gone by, and I had figured by now I should be able to handle it. Every 6 months or so for the past year and half, I would check youtube to see if somebody uploaded the video, just so I could laugh at myself.

Today I found out that somebody has. I was taking a lunch/study break because I have board exams in 3 days and I'm pretty burnt out from studying, and I stumbled upon said video.

I couldn't watch it. I let the video run for about 3 frames and killed the window. The image, the sound--it's too much for me. I'm retarded. And I've screwed myself because now I'm all alone until 9 tonight and I have to study, but I can't focus because I'm hyper-alert and kind of freaked out. I have to keep music on; I start to tremble when it's quiet in hear. And it's a SUNNY DAY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Fear is so irrational...apparently some phobias you just don't grow out of.

Anyway, intellectualizing this has calmed me down a little. Since I'm ranting on my embarassing little story, it begs the question: anybody else have a game that creeps them out to the point that it's intolerable--even years after first exposure?........or do I need therapy?

Cheers! lol

[EX-Soldier]

Fogive me for the essay, but some of you may find this amusing.

I did something kind of stupid today.

I'm not the type that really gets scared easily. In fact, I'm a resident at LA County Hospital, so I'd say my sphincter control is a bit better than the average person. Despite this, there are some things (movies, images) that really frighten me, whereas most other average people find them stupid...even fall asleep while watching them. I can't explain this, and it could be due to something I was exposed to as a child--I have no idea.

One of these things is graphic/explicit depiction of cardiac failure. It bums me the fuck out, man. Of late, the Game Over sequence to Metroid Prime: Echoes was the latest thing to ill me out a litle, but I got over that fairly quickly. Another thing I didn't dig on was the gratuitous death sequence to EA's F-22 Interceptor, where the pilot of the plane you're controlling dies on the OR table, with a rediculous skull grinning at you from a reflection on the cardiac monitor.

The king daddy of all these experiences, however was Psygnosis' Microcosm. Damn Microcosm. A stupid game, really. It was ambitious and has some beautiful CG, really, but it's got to be one of the truly blandest shooters ever made after the 8-bit era. I can tolerate all of the cinemas in this game just fine except for the Game Over sequence. It has the just perfect combination of heart sounds indicating cardiac arrythmia and arrest, and the soon-to-be corpse of Korsby, complete with what looks like two nasogastric tubes (medically inaccurate) coming out of his nostrils and deadpan, creepy, staring eyes. I even remember him exhibiting an 'O' sign and a final deep respiration after he croaks. A friend brought it over to play on my Sega CD in 1993, and despite being about 14, this sequence disturbed me greatly. I couldn't sleep for a couple nights.

This spawned a bizarre fascination with the game, and Psygnosis in general. Every time I see Roger Dean's owl logo I get a little chill down my spine. I ended up even owning that poopy awful Sega CD game at one point. I played it quite a bit. I watched all the sequences, and mastered all the levels (not like it's hard) and could beat the game in one sitting. But if I died 3 times, I would pull the AC adaptor out of the Genesis so as to ensure that I would NOT see that game over sequence.

Well, 16 years or so have gone by, and I had figured by now I should be able to handle it. Every 6 months or so for the past year and half, I would check youtube to see if somebody uploaded the video, just so I could laugh at myself.

Today I found out that somebody has. I was taking a lunch/study break because I have board exams in 3 days and I'm pretty burnt out from studying, and I stumbled upon said video.

I couldn't watch it. I let the video run for about 3 frames and killed the window. The image, the sound--it's too much for me. I'm retarded. And I've screwed myself because now I'm all alone until 9 tonight and I have to study, but I can't focus because I'm hyper-alert and kind of freaked out. I have to keep music on; I start to tremble when it's quiet in hear. And it's a SUNNY DAY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Fear is so irrational...apparently some phobias you just don't grow out of.

Anyway, intellectualizing this has calmed me down a little. Since I'm ranting on my embarassing little story, it begs the question: anybody else have a game that creeps them out to the point that it's intolerable--even years after first exposure?........or do I need therapy?

Cheers! lol

hello kitty island adventures....instant seizures upon boot up, in fact i often tremble and collapse just at the site of the game case =(

[mydjsobad]

Today I found out that somebody has. I was taking a lunch/study break because I have board exams in 3 days and I'm pretty burnt out from studying, and I stumbled upon said video.

Out of morbid curiosity, do you have a link?

[ALAKA]

Out of morbid curiosity, do you have a link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IooZX5VQRFc

i think this is it. at around 4 minutes in.

[Graham Mitchell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IooZX5VQRFc

i think this is it. at around 4 minutes in.

Forgive me for not wanting to investigate thoroughly whether that link contains the footage in question or not ;) . This one definitely does:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFRAKCv4qc

It's in the last minute. After a sitting through a 10 minute vid, it took me by surprise.

[Haoie]

Well, I just plain don't like sports games, but that doesn't count, right?

Since it's hardly an irrational fear.

[boatofcar]

I feel the same way about The Ring. I refuse to watch the movie after seeing it once.

[Wolfrider31]

I've never had that problem with games, but I do with some movies. Reqium For A Dream... ugh... great movie but there is some shit there that just .... *shudders*

I have to admit though, the beginning of that was kind of freaky. I can see why you'd be wigged out by it.

[Graham Mitchell]

I've never had that problem with games, but I do with some movies. Reqium For A Dream... ugh... great movie but there is some shit there that just .... *shudders*

I have to admit though, the beginning of that was kind of freaky. I can see why you'd be wigged out by it.

Having done autopsies and attempted to revive dead people, I can probably say that if that scene looked a little more like real life, ironically, it wouldn't bug me so much. But it's extremely dramatized, and the CG is much creepier than reality. Bums me out.

[Cauterize]

Haha great story! One in which i can relate to...

I think i know exactly where youre coming from. At a young age hospitals really scared me. I was in n out of them frequently as a young child, however the wires, bleeps from machines, needles, blood, it freaked me out!
I couldnt look at images of hospitals, i had trouble visiting my grandma once who was very ill in hospital.
I even remember when Theme Hospital came out, i really wanted to play it cause i loved Theme Park so much... However i played Theme Hospital very very cautiously and delibrately skipped ALL the Cutscenes incase there was anything id feel uneasy about.


On another note...
I have a friend called Stuart who refuses to play Mortal Kombat with me, ever since that one day we did play...

Stuart is a nervous character who doesnt like scary movies or anything that makes him jump, never the less one of the most kind hearted people i know...
Anyways i remember booting up Mortal Kombat for a good 2 player fight with him, we enjoyed Street Fighter n so on, so i thought Stu would enjoy this too...
After a few rounds he seemed pretty into it, until one of the easter eggs appeared...

Toasty!


The best-known example is "Toasty", which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during gameplay (after performing an uppercut) and sing the word "toasty" (players could face Smoke, when this happened on the Portal stage and after pressing down and the start button simultaneousely while the Toasty! image was on screen).

Toasty freaked the hell out of Stu and he jumped back completely... He didnt wanna play the game anymore and took quite a fright from it!

Now, still to this day, if he sees anyone playing it, he is very cautious as to where his eyes are and to make sure the corners of the screen are out of view by using a cushion to obstruct his view!



I guess what my point is, im trying to let you know youre not alone ;) Unless its just the brits like myself and Stuart who are wusses!!

[Graham Mitchell]

I guess what my point is, im trying to let you know youre not alone ;) Unless its just the brits like myself and Stuart who are wusses!!

Clearly it's not a problem with Brits. In fact, it was the Psygnosis crew in Liverpool that designed Microcosm.

[KREATIVEassassin]

I can relate to this. Odd that you're scared of a Sega CD game, too.

When I was a kid, I got a Sega CD for Christmas along with Sewer Shark, Sonic CD, and Ground Zero Texas. Ground Zero Texas never really got to me, but there were things in both Sewer Shark and Sonic CD that scared the hell out of me and gave me nightmares.

With Sewer Shark, I was messing around with the CD player option built into the Sega CD and I stumbled upon an audio track on the disc. I probably don't have to explain what it is, but I will anyway. You hear a phone ring and someone answers, "Good afternoon. Digital Pictures." Then you hear these creepy unintelligible voices on the line. I found out many years later thanks to my computer that the voices are actually saying, "Number nine, number nine, number nine" backwards. That track used to frighten me so much!

The other was Sonic CD and the weird images you could view through the sound test. One is a muscular humanoid Sonic on a blue background with black clouds. The music it starts playing is the creepy Robotnik battle music. That image along with that music was terrifying.

There was also another image you could view with Japanese text and a tiling image of a bizarre looking Sonic. I read in a magazine that the text said, "Infinite fun. Sega Enterprises. Picture of evil man." Well, that about put me over the top. Both of those images were scary as hell.

Sega CD, man. Sega CD...

I used to have this nightmare that I was walking through my house in the dark. When I got to my room, the only light was coming from the television. It was the intro to Sonic the Hedgehog, before he comes through the ring. The music starts up, and as he's coming through it, the image freezes on the screen and all I can hear is a really loud ringing noise. The frozen image petrifies me and I can't move at all. I had that dream several times as a kid. I always woke up drenched in sweat.

[Pantechnicon]

I can't say I've ever had this problem. When I started gaming back in the 8-bit era game graphics were still sufficiently abstract so as not to induce any sort of long-standing anxieties, but I can see where anyone who cut their teeth at or after the dawn of FMV could be bothered by some of the imagery.

[blissfulnoise]

Alone in the Dark on the PC.

There is a book in the library about a group of Conquistors being devoured by an ancient horror masqurading as a Mayan God. At the end of the book, there is a sketch of what this statue/god/horror looks like. It looks exactly like a "paper weight" in your inventory.

I was so freaked out I pulled the plug on the computer instead of closing that book.

I still don't know what happens if you close it or what that paper weight might consume or devour when you do.

That repeating loop from "Don't Stop Believing" in Journey Escape also gives me the willies late at night when the lights are out.

[Graham Mitchell]

@ KREATIVEassassin: My biggest fear with this imagery was that I would see it in a nightmare. Thankfully, that never happened. And, there really were other Sega CD games that creeped me out. Oddly enough, Ecco the Dolphin always stirs up a little anxiety--even the Dreamcast version. Part of that may be an inherent fear of drowning, but in the Sega CD version, Big Blue creeps me out. Also, the "lost city of Atlantis" level where there's no music (where the time machine is) disturbs me. That game with no music takes on a pretty evil tone for some reason. Stupid dolphin.

As I sit here 1 day post-trauma, my fear seems kind of silly. Part of me wants to go back and look at the video...on second thought...

@ Pantechnicon: The Dreadnaught Factor on the Atari 5200 kind of gave me the willies. It's more of a "that's awesome" fear than true horror. Something about that big noisy ship, the fact that you're trying to get in and get out quickly as possible--sometimes I need a breather while I play it still.

[exit]

The game over screen for Friday the 13th always scared me when I was a kid. I guess it had to do with my age and not used to being horribly murdered in my video games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNXSXmxlUjU

I'm actually surprised that Nintendo let that slide, since they'd censor out something as simple as a cross at the time.

[boatofcar]

The first time I played E.T. for the Atari 8 bit (not the 2600 version), when you collect all the pieces and ET's image comes on the screen and shouts "ET Phone Home!" in that horrible digitized sample, it freaked the heck of of me, especially since the rest of the game is pretty silent and I had the volume on my monitor turned way up.

[RJ]

The one golf game I play most is Swing Away Golf, it was a PS2 launch title that still holds up quite well 7 yrs later IMO.

It keeps track monthly as you play, & different events/tournaments come up. There's one tourney that has been available awhile, & I'M AFRAID TO ENTER! It probably wont go away until try it. I play against some unknown newcomer who looks like a cartoony Tiger Woods (& prob. an unlockable character).

I guess I'm just afraid of getting my ass kicked. I do OK, several events/items won, but I think the PS2 cheats & matches me when I do well. If any game I own will ever give me a heart attack, it's Swing Away. It gets so tense, the games often come down to the last shot on the last hole.

I just finished playing a skins game ($$$ builds up hole by hole), I had to replay the computer on the last hole 4 TIMES until I won, it was that close. I also vowed not to play that opponent ("Joe") too soon if I can help it...

[FlufflePuff]

There aren't any "non-horror" games that I find scary. I still don't like playing Silent Hill 2 though. My fear of that is three parted. 1) Terrible controls make hitting anything impossible. 2) Stupid static radio always freaks me out when it comes on. 3) The plain zombies that spit black stuff just creep me out.

[DuzzLightyear]

I know how you feel. The mahority of my feels come from the movies The Ring and The Grudge (more the latter), but video games have provoked that fear as well.

I can't recall which ones exactly, as I'm more afraid of things happening in dreams then in waking life. Like, the sonic dream mentioned, I would wake up and be so damn scared

[johnthehero]

When I was a kid, the music from the Cursed Belt in Dragon Warrior made me really scared. . .

I would like to see the pics from Sonic CD that were talked about above.

[Jorpho]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5956

[ssjlance]

I was terrified of Castelvania once. I decided to do some shrooms one day, and I felt like playing games a little later. I saw Castlevania and it seemed really appealing right then. I soon found out that due to the fact that wen I play a game I really get into the game and the hallucinogens working their ways on my mind..... Well let's just say bad trips are like taking a vacation to hell. And this particular layer of hell was filled with whips and mermen.

[Jorpho]

I would like to see the pics from Sonic CD that were talked about above.

Bingo! http://soniccdimage.ytmnd.com/

You're right, that is kind of freaky. I had forgotten about that one.

[rbudrick]

When I was ten, the opening theme from Metroid creeped me out big time, but I was fascinated by it. One of the most powerful VG songs ever, imo.

When I was 4, the game over sound in Missile Command gave me the shivers. Dunno why. Must be that creeping, volume-building tone they play. Like that monster creeping up behind you RIGHT NOW.

But those were sounds, not even images. But ummm, I've gotta say, I was a little kid. To see anyone scared or creeped out by a video game as an adult I think is even scarier than well, being scared. Not to poke fun, but I can only anticipate Sothy's response to this thread, heh heh.

-Rob

[Graham Mitchell]

But those were sounds, not even images. But ummm, I've gotta say, I was a little kid. To see anyone scared or creeped out by a video game as an adult I think is even scarier than well, being scared. Not to poke fun, but I can only anticipate Sothy's response to this thread, heh heh.

-Rob

Maybe, but phobias are common in adults. Remember, a lot of the games people are mentioning are old. They played them as children, and the learned fear response to the images can persist into adulthood. You'll notice very few people here are talking about a PS3 game that scares them. It's something that extends from childhood.

I just got Bioshock two nights ago. If I was a kid this game would absolutely fucking horrify me. As an adult, I think it's pretty darn neat. It's pretty intense, and shocking at times, but I'm not afraid of it. In fact, the whole reason I'm playing it is to get that charge out of it.

[HYB]

Metroid Primes scare the shit out of me. I suffer from hysteria attacks so I have a hard time playing it. Especially when I got to the phazon mines I was nearly unable to continue it, and I absolutely hate the game over screen (thus the fear of dying in the game). Space pirates also create a sense of panic for me, even if I could beat them easily. That's one of the reasons I still haven't played echoes too far. I adore the games though.

I also cannot play horror games, especially survival horror. I love to watch people play SH or RE but I can't touch them myself in fear of a complete hysteria attack. It's far more worse than MP.

I also can't watch most zombie movies. To this day I still can't watch Night of the living dead. Otherwise I'm pretty much immune to anything. Maybe that's working against the survival horror games since they often feature zombies. You have no idea how many times I've had RE+SH dreams and woke up drenched in sweat.

In addition, I first played RE 3 and SH 1 when I was 8. My friend that was a year older had them and we played them togheter in a dark room. Mostly SH though and to this day, even if the game is cool the first one scares the shit out of me. So maybe my fears are childhood traumas or something.

[RJ]

Well, the last time around I played Swing Away I tried the match I wrote about above. The game freezes after the 1st shot & wont let me go on. I tired the disc on both my PS2s, no luck. So I guess I dont have to worry about it anymore.

[Apollo]

Funny story actually, one of my friends is deathly afraid of Tekken 2, although it took me a while to figure out why he was afraid of it. When I was in elementary school, we'd hang out afterwards and play some video games, which is when I first got introduced to Tekken. He started teaching me the ropes and different moves and stuff, and I caught on. Usually, we'd just play VS matches, but I decided to start playing arcade mode one time just for kicks. Eventually, he realizes that I'm getting close to the end, and he starts freaking out. He turned away from the TV reading some magazine. I was getting closer to the end, and beat Kazuya...

"What? Mark, who's Devil?"

"DEVIL?!?!?"

Which resulted in Mark running out of the room. He was actually pretty angry with me after that, and I now understood why he never played arcade mode. But, he ended up giving me the game after that, which was pretty cool.

[strassy]

i was just thinking about maniac mansion...i have been a fan of the NES version ever since it came out. even when i play it now, just hearing the Nurse Edna/Dr Fred music freaks me out. i never really utilized many of the game tactics where you could lure out/trick Nurse Edna in order to complete game objectives, because I'm still scared of her!

that and having the SS jump out at you in Wolfenstein 3D...

[wallydawg]

I don't like that eel in Mario 64. The star where you gotta lure him out of his hiding spot and grab the star from his tail really freaks me out.

[Steve W]

I've never really been scared of any non-horror type games. I'm usually freaked out by things like spiders in games, though. Latest example is in the Xbox 360 game Earth Defense Force 2017, where the newest level I've gotten to is filled with gigantic tarantulas. The moment they come on screen, I have to look away and turn the game off. I've already started having dreams about schoolbus sized ants because of the earlier levels, I definitely do not want to have any nightmares about spiders from playing that game.

[Famidrive-16]

My mom bought Pirates Gold! for the Genesis when I was younger and I watched her played it a lot. For some reason, those scenes where your crew would abandon you at an island would always freak me out as a kid. She eventually sold the game because that scene started giving me nightmares at night.

[FrakAttack]

Never been freaked out by a game, movie or any other kind of fiction. Reality scares the hell out of me.

[Rob2600]

I don't like that eel in Mario 64. The star where you gotta lure him out of his hiding spot and grab the star from his tail really freaks me out.

Yes, me too! I hated that giant eel. Why did it bother you and me so much? I really want to figure out why.

[Jorpho]

Yes, me too! I hated that giant eel. Why did it bother you and me so much? I really want to figure out why.

Oh, it's quite understandable. In a game with cuddly little cartoon characters, it's a huge, ugly, perhaps even vaguely realistic thing with teeth. Bowser looks more cool than scary, and you know there's nothing like him in reality.

(Either that or there's something vaguely phallic about the way it sticks its head out and shakes around. But let's just not go there.)

[Rob2600]

Oh, it's quite understandable. In a game with cuddly little cartoon characters, it's a huge, ugly, perhaps even vaguely realistic thing with teeth. Bowser looks more cool than scary, and you know there's nothing like him in reality.

(Either that or there's something vaguely phallic about the way it sticks its head out and shakes around. But let's just not go there.)

I think it had something to do with the fact that the eel was very large and it would swim off screen and I couldn't see where it was in relation to me. It could be a mile away or it could be right above me...I had no idea and that was scary.

[Zoe F]

Mario 3, getting eaten by the giant fish. After it had happened a couple times when I was younger, I remember breaking down and crying because it scared me so much.