Games that Break the Fourth Wall

[boatofcar]

I was playing Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes today, and there's one part where you face off against Psycho Mantis, he claims he can move your controller. PM commands you to put your controller down on the floor, and the camera pans to Solid Snake, and he winks at you, to show you it's all right. I love when mostly serious games do stuff like that, a little comic relief amongst the tension.

Then I started thinking- breaking the fourth wall is a common comedic device in movies and tv, but it's less used in video games.

What other video games break the fourth wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall)?

Funny, I noticed after writing all this that the wikipedia article actually references Final Fantasy V as an example.

[Xizer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fiction_that_breaks_the_fourth_wall#Video_ games

[scooterb23]

I once broke the fourth wall in Super Breakout

[roushimsx]

Steel Lancer Arena International really shatters the fuck out of the fourth wall. It's a bit like Virtual On in that you're actually you remotely piloting a mech, but with the added bonus of having a really bitchin' storyline (and completely unbalanced ranker AI :( ).

[slackur]

I've read that the upcoming DS title 'Contact' has the professor character turn to face you through the screen and admit your presence, as well as warn you against telling the lead character (the little boy) about your existance. Between that and the huge graphical difference between the graphics on each screen (ultra-simplistic Mother/Earthbound type for the top, lush hand-drawn FF6 style on the bottom) bring me to believe that this game will have lots of fourth-wall breaking dynamics...looking forward to that.

Speaking of FF6, there are moments where the characters walk out across a black screen, theatre style, and halp explain gameplay tips.

The great Cosmic Fantasy 2 on Turbo Duo poked fun about you playing a game in some of the more irreverent humor of character dialogue, as well as references to pop culture (something Disgaea on PS2 also does, such as your main character renaming a mid-boss 'mid-boss'!)

*!!Spoiler Alert!!*








Panzer Dragoon Saga has a Fourth Wall break at the very end

[SirDrexl]

If you can beat everything in that Lost World: Jurassic Park game for PSX, there is a hilarious congratulatory video with Jeff Goldblum. He says something like "well, great, great, you did it! Now, for God's sake, turn the thing off, get out, breathe the air, call a member of the opposite sex..."

It was a crappy game and hard as hell, but thankfully there is a code to view the video.

[pacmanhat]

Eternal Darkness.

It doesn't just break the fourth wall. It freaking bulldozes it.

[NickmasterX]

Monkey Island 4. Well, actually all of the monkey islands, but in 4 a dart can be thrown to "hit that guy behind the screen" and the screen cracks a bit. Also, in earthbound the mole guys give you instructions on how to play the game, some of them are pretty funny, they start to say game and then quickly correct themselves by saying world or something like that.

[Sothy]

Bebes kids on SNES

[rbudrick]

After I broke the 4th wall, my mom took away my controllers so I couldn't throw them.

-Rob

[eggwolio]

Conker on the N64 did it, too. He not only addressed the players, but the programmers as well.

[theshizzle3000]

I once broke the fourth wall in Super Breakout

Yes that is clutch answer

[theshizzle3000]

I once broke the fourth wall in Super Breakout

Yes that is clutch answer

[theshizzle3000]

I once broke the fourth wall in Super Breakout

Yes that is clutch answer

[j_factor]

I seem to recall The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang breaking the fourth wall on numerous occasions.

[Bleetness]

Eternal Darkness.

It doesn't just break the fourth wall. It freaking bulldozes it.
Hell mother-fuckin yes.

[Lord_Magus]

Eternal Darkness.

It doesn't just break the fourth wall. It freaking bulldozes it.
Hell mother-fuckin yes.

Eloquently stated, and I concur. Eternal Darkness completely destroys the fourth wall.

[evil_genius]

Earthbound - love that game.

[sirhansirhan]

Also, in earthbound the mole guys give you instructions on how to play the game, some of them are pretty funny, they start to say game and then quickly correct themselves by saying world or something like that.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned yet that about halfway through Earthbound the game asks you to put in your real name, and then it turns up in the credits if/when you beat the game.

That and the upcoming DS title Contact (previously mentioned by someone else) were the first two things I thought of when I saw this thread.

[NickmasterX]

Also, lots of platform games if you dont do anything the character will look at you impatiently. Like sonic or bubsy,

[mezrabad]

Also, lots of platform games if you dont do anything the character will look at you impatiently. Like sonic or bubsy,

Add Spyro to that, too.

In what way does Eternal Darkness break the fourth wall? I'm asking as someone who has played it through twice and I'm not sure I get what you mean.

[RetroYoungen]

Also, lots of platform games if you dont do anything the character will look at you impatiently. Like sonic or bubsy,

Add Spyro to that, too.

In what way does Eternal Darkness break the fourth wall? I'm asking as someone who has played it through twice and I'm not sure I get what you mean.

It directly does/says things to the player. For example, when the sanity meter gets too low, it might say that it's erasing your memory card, or "MUTE" will show up on screen, or it might say that the controller has been unplugged... basically, when it's messing with the player instead of just the character on the screen.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Something like Bard's Tale? The character responds to the narrarator. "Press the 'A' button to jump". "I already know how to jump. What the heck's an 'A' button?!"

[mezrabad]

Also, lots of platform games if you dont do anything the character will look at you impatiently. Like sonic or bubsy,

Add Spyro to that, too.

In what way does Eternal Darkness break the fourth wall? I'm asking as someone who has played it through twice and I'm not sure I get what you mean.

It directly does/says things to the player. For example, when the sanity meter gets too low, it might say that it's erasing your memory card, or "MUTE" will show up on screen, or it might say that the controller has been unplugged... basically, when it's messing with the player instead of just the character on the screen.

AAAH, Hey, I totally forgot about that! Heheh, yeah, that would be breaking the fourth wall. Damn, I've got to play it again, now. Thanks for clearing me up on that.

[Daltone]

The Nomad Soul - at the start the player would be directly spoken to. Farenheit has some fourth wall breakage too.

[Neo Rasa]

slackur mentioned Conact earlier in the thread. It will likely be the biggest fourth wall breaker this generation until Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out.

Not only does the professor talk to at the beginning, what happens is the teenage boy you guide is the only one that can help him, but they lose "contact" with each other. You personally are a "character" in the game, the professor gives you your objectives and you guide the boy to accomplish things, gleaning the storyline from his and the professor's actions. It seems totally awesome:

http://www.atlus.com/contact/character.html

http://www.gamesarefun.com/games/ds/contact/8-2-06/boxart.jpg