Found another haunted hunt, only this one's set in...Silent Hill.



Silent Hill in general has an intriguing history on the grid. Because it's such a foundational horror game, a great many fans have turned their energy to making fan-based media in various venues. So on the one hand, faithful recreation is blatant copyright violation, but on the other...we get experiences like this, of walking into the games we love, of being there, on the ground, as it were, living through the same things.



One of the game series' most iconic moments was from the first game, and a section from this video is pretty much what you first see when you rez into the sim. It's eerie how well it matches, nearly perfectly realized...down to the car.



The experience/haunt/interactive game started in September, and goes through the end of October. Now, apparently one must be a member of the group to get some prizes on the hunt itself, but the group's free, and it's not required to go on the experience, which is worth it all by itself.



The...Shiba Inu...from the...dog ending... *collapses into giggles*



Well, this does not bode well. (For those not in the know, this is a major feature of the game's internal mythology. This is the Halo of the Sun, a symbol of the faith of the Order, the main game's main antagonist group. Having it as a sign for the subway? Pretty much tells me "Monsters this way; come on down!")



NotRobbienotRobbienotRobbienotRobbie--



And then I entered a very dark room, met a Nurse with blood dripping from her blade, heard a bunch of zombies moaning somewhere close by--and crashed.

So what's my takeaway from all this? This is a sim-size haunt. It is big. Allocate a few hours to the thing, or take it an hour or two at a time over several days. And maybe turn your settings way down, so when the zombies start rezzing in packs you don't get trapped in lag like a mosquito in amber.

Oh, and your game hud? Does have a health bar. So I'm assuming this will be one of the haunts in which we can, in fact...die.

Caderu! It's kind of a hunt, it's kind of a haunt, it's not really equipped for English. Onward!



Oh hey! A train! Took me a bit to figure out that the box 'passengers' aren't gifts to pick up, but just shop logos so we know who's behind this event.



Well...that's not creepy at all... *coughs* ...Also, there's a website. It is not that helpful.

Enjoy!



Most of the transitions between zones are pretty easy to figure out, thankfully. It's not hard, even when things are labeled mostly in Japanese.



NO THANK YOU...



It has visual novel elements, but it's a bit tricky. There are some minigames to complete, like this washing-dishes one, though they go pretty fast. But overall, the story is engaging, and there are opportunities to earn a Bad End and a Good End (as well as the secret, True End), so it's a good thing it's not dull, because one may have to replay it three times!

Enjoy?

Second Life is going to get twenty-four hour days soon? I can't decide how I feel about this. On the one hand, it would allow greater flexibility for photography in estate time, but on the other, I have a lot of memories tied in with that peculiar, four-hour "day". We'll see how it goes, I guess.

Also, I wanted to bring this up, even though it's from a few months back:

[17:47] Lynn Mimistrobell: (Saved Fri Jul 21 10:38 )En Garde pistes are breaking all over the grid, and the creator has left SL so they cannot be fixed. And I am told that if you take them up, you cannot even rez them again.

Near as I can figure, En Garde as a game system works because each individual game station hooks up with a server (in-world or out of world, doesn't really matter in this context), so that scores and such can be saved when players log in. Beyond that, I don't really think there's a need for server-side activity; it just seems to be to score high scores and player names.

And in (somewhat) bigger news, Sakura is celebrating ten years on the grid!



All day long, off and on, parties in Sakura or Bellefleurs, depending on where everything ends up. The lineup we have so far:

10:30am - 12:00PM
Watt Whitfield DJ Dance at the Sakura Birthday Bash

Please join Sakura VIP Watt Whitfield, renaissance man and photographer of the Per Lens series, playing a mix of 70s Rock plus surprises.

12:00 - 1:00 pm
Corwyn Allen plays at Sakura's 10th birthday bash!

Corwyn is a folk singer and guitarist having performed in RL for more years than he cares to think about. He performs a varied and sometimes eclectic mix of American, Irish, Scottish, and English folk music, both traditional and modern.

1:00 - 2:00pm
Dee Wells' 'DeeJ Dance' at the Sakura Birthday Bash

Dee is a dear friend of Sakura. Her intelligent, thought-provoking and at times irreverent musical choices will make the hour go fast! You can follow sets and Chamber Three events, as well as special events at the Quayside Theatre. Music and sarcasm in the key of Dee: ask at the event!

2:00pm - 3:30pm
Dance with DJ Dancer and Sakura Hostess Rosamund

Please welcome Sakura's new dancer and hostess, Rosamund from Netherlands, and formally the principal dancer and manager of the Bascom Dance Club. Rose will be our DJ from 2PM, bringing her eclectic blend of music, and her kind and gentle manner.

5:00 - 6:00pm
DJ Bear Dance at the Sakura Birthday Bash

Bear is an old and dear friend of the girls at Sakura. He plays Oldies (50's through 80's), Jazz, Big Band, Smooth Jazz, and romantic songs. Bear is available for clubs, weddings and all private functions.

6:00 - 7:30pm
Erehwon Texeira DJ Dance at the Sakura Birthday Bash

Erehwon is a Sakura Hostess, and nobody does drinks like Ereh. She also runs the Coffee and Pop set at the Texeira Coffee House flagship location in beautiful Jadida Mondrago! Come by for the latest and greatest in Dreampop, Power Pop, Indie, Alt, Shoegaze and more! Did I mention there'll be coffee? Only the best coffee this side of the Mediterranean!

7:30pm - 8:30pm
Mavenn Live

"...A vocalist fast becoming one of the Second Life's more daring chanteuses...this lady simmers with emotion almost like a slow burn as the she continues to showcase elegance...Mavenn negotiates her way through jazz, blues, country and rock with soulful confidence and gives notice that her vocal prowess is on the rise and is easy to be mesmerized and excited by."

8:30 - 9:30pm
DJ Maddox Dance at the Sakura Birthday Bash

Maddie L has been a DJ for six years. She loves to spin, be it for one person, or twenty people. Doesn't matter who listens, so long as she gets to play! She can usually be heard at Bellefleurs on a Thursday night, and at either of Doc Avalon's places.

10:00pm - midnight
Nellie Bly's Performance Art, "Van Here Halewijn" ("From Lord Halewijn")

A Courtesan and Poetess from Netherlands, Nellie reads in SL from her own sensuous and erotic stories and poetry, as well as that of other writers from around the world, exclusively at Sakura. Tonight's live act will be a bit of Dutch folklore about a nobleman who kills women, and sirens who will lure men onto the rocks, if you're not careful.

All times listed are for SLT. And keep in mind, Sakura House has a public calendar of events and happenings now! So mark your calendars and come party with us!

Culling my email of all the unnecessary things that have been flooding in over the last few months, I had to stop and read, then reread, the title of one email.

STOP The Satanic Pornification Of Children

Wait, what?

Even better, it came with this banner:



First of all, the three puir wee bairns in that photograph? Those are Lucia Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto, who in 1917 first saw the Apparition of Mary at Fatima, Portugal. They wouldn't know a video game if you held it in front of them framed by a Switch.

Though I will say, they could not have picked an image with more perfect expressions. Here's the full image so you can revel in the lip curling:



I had to read on.

This is absolutely appalling.

Only if you're convinced that all video games are made solely for the under-thirteen set.

Steam video game distributors [have] made two pornographic themed video games available to children of all ages through the simple click of a button. Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation.

Yes, it is, but I'm admittedly more curious about the 'available to children of all ages' line. So I did a simple search. Came into Steam as an unregistered user. I was instantly hit with a request to verify my age. Okay, gatekeeping systems do very little towards actual prevention of access, but there is an age barrier in place. So they're wrong about House Party at least.

This is from the game's description on Steam:

"In the game, you'll experience the usual debauchery found at these types of parties in the form of foul language, party games, nudity, fighting, sex, and more, and believe me, it doesn't pull any punches! Each character has their own personality, story and quests for the player. You can enjoy this alongside full immersive 3D gameplay, gorgeous models, and a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor. The AI is very robust, and the characters respond to a large number of stimuli and player choices. There are multiple story-paths and different outcomes based on your decisions."

Translation: it's a party simulator where you're trying to have sex with girls, play tricks on other girls, and either avoid or get into fights with drunken frat guys. Is it a game I'd play? Hells, no--there's a segment where the 'gag' is to spill a drink on someone, get her to take off her clothes for you to wash, then make her walk around in bra and panties the rest of the night. Oh, yeah, mass fun for all, I'm sure.

But they aren't done.

The video games Party House and Porno Studio Tycoon have serious graphic and suggestive content that is accessible to computer users of all ages.

Really? Are they really? Because I also checked Porno Studio Tycoon and ran into an age-check page. Granted, it's not the same level of age verification needed:



but we'll get into the why of that later. How'ver, this means neither game is being offered up to "innocent children" just looking for some cutesy Candyland knockoff.

This next was in bright red text in the original email:

WARNING: Read with caution; very disturbing

Sure, sure, I'm duly warned. Carry on with the deeply disturbing content.

According to press reports:

• "The House Party 'hook up' game is literally training its users in predatory tactics for sexual assault, and even sex trafficking...

• "The game includes disturbing features that allow users to increase their odds of 'having sex' with a woman in the game if they manipulate and coerce women into sex acts...

• "The sexual encounters are blatant animated pornography, featuring genitalia, ejaculation, and more."

All right, let's break this down, shall we? The best review I've found of the general tackiness level of House Party was posted on Rock Paper Shotgun (a great gaming blog if you haven't heard of it before). And I don't disagree with anything he says. It's not just a deeply misogynistic game, it's a badly coded game, badly textured game, written by a company apparently full of drunk college guys who lost track of sober five years ago. All of this seems to be true.

But a training manual for sexual assault? Only if the girl in question is very, very dim, and the assaulter in question is very, very lucky. The only way this will train anyone is in how to guess the most stupid responses on very short lists of stupid responses. So, I guess, it's a sub-par simulator for your standard high school or college party with jocks, maybe. Eminently forgettable, and by far not the worst game out there imaginable.

Then they take on the other 'Satanic' game:

And just as bad...

• "The game Porno Studio Tycoon centers on sexual themes where the user acts as the pornographer.

• "It includes sexual sounds, hypersexualized characters, and generic depictions of sex acts...

• "This game promotes and glamorizes the exploitative industry of pornography."

Really? Read this before you wrangle your local parents' group into complaining to Steam. This is a basic resource management game for the most part, with a little bit of lingerie thrown in to 'spice up' the dry mergers and acquisitions data tracks. There may be 'sexual sounds', but there's no actual depictions of sex acts. You'll definitely see more skin in Hunie Pop than you ever will in Porno Studio Tycoon.

Anything left to say, strange pleading piece of spam? Why yes:

Furthermore:

1. "Steam sells and promotes these games to users of all ages and requires only a simple click of a button to pass through a tepid warning that the material may not be suitable for all ages.

1. "These games are in direct violation of Steam's own policies against pornographic or patently offensive content."

Well, in point of fact, that's the one thing this bit of faux-ham has been right on: I'd say House Party (and Hunie Pop) do violate their policies (while Porno Studio Tycoon really doesn't), but you know what an easy way to get those off Steam would be? Flag them for offensive or inappropriate content. It's a built-in system that Steam will actually pay attention to, whereas they generally won't bother even looking at an email campaign or a petition.

There's a petition if you feel morally outraged, but...seriously, this is so hyperbolically overblown it's ludicrous.