| Night Trap | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Digital Pictures |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Director(s) | James Riley |
| Producer(s) | Ric LaCivita Kevin Welsh |
| Designer(s) | James Riley Rob Fulop |
| Programmer(s) | Gene Kusmiak |
| Artist(s) | Lode Coen |
| Writer(s) | Terry McDonell |
| Composer(s) | Sunny BlueSkyes Martin Lund |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Interactive movie |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Night Trap is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), Night Trap has the player observe teenage girls having a sleepover visiting a house which, unbeknownst to them, is infested with vampires. The player watches live surveillance footage and triggers traps to capture anyone endangering the girls. The player can switch between different cameras to keep watch over the girls and eavesdrop on conversations to follow the story and listen for clues.
The Night Trap concept originated in a 1986 prototype game developed by Axlon to demonstrate their Control-Vision game console to Hasbro. The system used VHS tape technology to present film-like gaming experiences. With the system picked up by Hasbro, the production of Night Trap commenced. The video footage was recorded in 1987, followed by six months of editing and game programming. Hasbro suddenly canceled the Control-Vision in 1989, which prompted the game's executive producer, Tom Zito, to purchase the film footage and found Digital Pictures to complete Night Trap. Night Trap was eventually released in October 1992 as the first interactive movie on the Sega CD, becoming a North American launch title for the add-on.
Night Trap received mixed reviews; critics praised the B movie-esque quality, humor, and video animation, but criticized the gameplay as shallow. The game was one of the principal subjects of a 1993 United States Senate committee hearing on violent video games, along with Mortal Kombat. Night Trap was cited during the hearing as promoting gratuitous violence and sexual aggression against women, prompting toy retailers Toys "R" Us and Kay-Bee Toys to pull the game from shelves that December, and Sega to cease producing copies in January 1994. The Senate hearing led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the North American video game ratings board still used today. The controversy surrounding Night Trap inspired its designer, Rob Fulop, to then create a contrastingly "cute" game, which was released as Dogz: Your Computer Pet in 1995.
After the controversy subsided, Night Trap was ported to other systems, including the 32X, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, MS-DOS, and Mac OS. It was re-released in 2017 and 2018 for eighth-generation consoles to mark its 25th anniversary. Retrospective reviews of Night Trap were negative, owing to FMV's aging appeal as a game medium, and it has been cited as one of the worst video games of all time.
- ^ "November '92" (PDF). Sega Visions. November 1992. p. 93. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
- ^ "Next Generation Premiere Issue 1995". Next Generation. No. 1. Imagine Media. January 1995. p. 50.