Video games are designed to take players into an entirely new world. The goal of developers is to make this new environment identifiable, and to create an atmosphere where players can lose themselves in this virtual world and feel they’re a part of events taking place. An interesting mechanic that can be used to help players make a connection is to include some familiar aspects or tools from daily life into the game. Developers have been particularly successful in this endeavor when it comes to DS games.
When game developers choose to create a DS game in a manner where the DS a person is playing on is involved in the story, it can help break down reality’s boundaries. What if a game could really cause a person to die in a week? What if your DS could help you find your long lost father? Many times the scenarios presented by video games are totally unbelievable, but by including a familiar device, a story becomes more plausible.
Let’s look at Contact first. In this game you’re supposed to be helping an alien being, the Professor, and a boy he recruited named Terry, find the necessary components to repair his space ship. At the beginning of the game, the professor tells you that, while Terry is doing all the dirty work, you are using the DS device to control and guide his every move.
This doesn’t do anything extraordinary, if you think about it. Players always control the hero in games. But by acknowledging in the beginning of the game that you are an outside source who is determining the character’s behavior and actions by using a device, Contact is offering players a new way to connect to the game.
Nanashi no Game, the Square Enix horror adventure game, also behaves in a similar manner. In Nanashi no Game, you have seven days left to live after playing a cursed RPG. The DS menu appears in the game when you enter the menu. The top option boots up the cursed RPG, there’s a mail section replacing Picto-Chat, a Load section replacing download play and a Save option replacing the GBA slot booting menu. The top screen displays the in-game date, time and calendar.
Since the goal in Nanashi no Game is to scare you by making you think that ghosts of victims are coming after you and a game could actually take your life, making the DS your only constant tool is a means to connect players to the horrific events. It also makes Nanashi no Game something you wouldn’t want to play immediately after watching The Ring.
Nintendo’s Trace Memory is another game which uses the DS in a way. Ashley uses a DS-like device given to her by her father called the Dual Trace System (DTS). While the device looks like an original DS, it isn’t a gaming device. Instead it’s more of a miniature computer and organizer. Ashley is able to read DTS memory cards, take photos, use Trace I and Trace II, save and find information on various items.
In this case the DS-like device isn’t included to help draw the player into the game and make the game more real. It is there to help a player make a connection. By seeing a familiar handheld device in play, with mostly plausible abilities, it helps make Ashley’s adventures seem more realistic and believable.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor works in a similar way. In the game, the demon world is starting to collide and connect with the human world. Tokyo is under a lock down. Certain individuals with altered Communication Player devices (COMPs) are able to summon and control demons, thus becoming demon trainers. Players help a band of teenagers survive the seven day lock down.
The whole premise of the game seems outlandish, but the COMPs don’t because they look exactly like DS lite systems. The way one character in the game, Atsuro, explains the use of the COMPs to run the various demon summoning, purchasing and controlling functions even makes the logistics and inner workings of the imaginary device make sense. So while we all know we could never actually see such an outbreak and lockdown occur in our world, the idea seems a bit more realistic and plausible due to the existence of the similar device.
While true immersive video game adventures are still a ways off, it’s interesting to see how developers can help encourage connections by the simple inclusion of a common device. It certainly won’t make players think that the adventures in the game could actually happen, but it can help the players think that the idea isn’t as farfetched and encourage a great connection and appreciation for the game.
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