{"id":9705,"date":"2021-06-09T12:17:50","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T09:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=9705"},"modified":"2021-06-09T12:17:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T09:17:50","slug":"petscop-the-greatest-game-youll-never-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/petscop-the-greatest-game-youll-never-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Petscop \u2013 The Greatest Game You\u2019ll Never Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet Paul, our host and f<\/span>irst<\/span>–<\/span>time <\/span>Let<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s Player<\/span><\/em>, as he guides us through the ab<\/span>andoned <\/span>techn<\/span>icoloured dreamworld of <\/span>Petscop<\/em>. <\/span>This quiet and unassuming man has invited us all <\/span>to be <\/span>witness to <\/span>lost media, to an unfini<\/span>shed game which many had previously thoug<\/span>ht to be a myth. <\/span>Thanks to <\/span>Paul, we have the opportunity to explore the many corners of this <\/span>crunchy looking <\/span>Playstation <\/span><\/em>game, with all its unfinished textures and obscure game mechanics still intact. <\/span>Developer <\/span>Garalina<\/span><\/em>\u2019<\/span>s <\/span>magnum opus is a fami<\/span>liar blend of <\/span>bright colours, cheery p<\/span>linky<\/span>–<\/span>plonk <\/span>music, and veil<\/span>ed child abuse. <\/span>Although Paul<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s personal connection to the game is unknown, he has <\/span>curated for us a look into the greatest game you<\/span>\u2019<\/span>ve n<\/span>ever played.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the 2<\/span>4<\/span>–<\/span>episode run of the <\/span>Petscop <\/span>Let<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s Play <\/span><\/em>series, the ficti<\/span>ti<\/span>ous nature of <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>as a game was kep<\/span>t <\/span>deliberately <\/span>obscure<\/span>. No credits to look through, no <\/span>promotional <\/span>Twitter <\/span><\/em>page, <\/span>just sparsel<\/span>y <\/span>uploaded game footage, cryptically commented on by Paul, the purported owner of the <\/span>channel. <\/span>If I were to detail out the specifics of the plot itself, none of it would be too un<\/span>famil<\/span>iar to <\/span>fans of <\/span>copypasta<\/span>, <\/span>th<\/span>e shared horror stories that filled the early internet. <\/span>Man is gifted an <\/span>early copy <\/span>of a video<\/span>game<\/span>, game features <\/span>elemen<\/span>ts that suggest it is haunted<\/span>, man is swept awa<\/span>y by the h<\/span>orror <\/span>of it all, etc<\/span>… <\/span>But <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>sets itself apart <\/span>from its forebears with its <\/span>sense of authenticity<\/span>, and <\/span>the <\/span>subtlety of its slowly<\/span>–<\/span>building terror.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that d<\/span>evelopers can le<\/span>arn from this fictitious game is how exactly it manages to <\/span>prickl<\/span>e your goosebumps. The sy<\/span>nthesis of <\/span>horror and gameplay <\/span>mechanics has often necessitated <\/span>agency over the events happening, the player having some manner of control <\/span>o<\/span>ver <\/span>their fate in the <\/span>game world<\/span>. <\/span>And traditionally, this <\/span>results in either shooty<\/span>–<\/span>bang<\/span>–<\/span>banging of <\/span>enemi<\/span>es or the <\/span>anticipation of jump-<\/span>scares. <\/span>Experiences <\/span>more a<\/span>kin to rollercoasters. But the creators of <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>are more interested in exploring the <\/span>uncanny: deconstructing and distorting <\/span>the familiar formats of <\/span>Let<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s Play <\/span><\/em>and nos<\/span>talgic video games<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Paul is talking <\/span>to us familiarly<\/span>, but <\/span>always with the suggestion that he<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s <\/span>actually <\/span>speaking to an <\/span>unknown third party<\/span>. <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>the game is <\/span>constructed around common tropes of the <\/span>time period, but <\/span>now reconstitu<\/span>ted in ways that don<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t make sense, <\/span>darkly cryptic instructions and characters which <\/span>confound our expe<\/span>ctations. Important information ab<\/span>out game mechanics and how they relate back <\/span>to Paul<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s re<\/span>al life is <\/span>with<\/span>held, leaving the grotesque implications left <\/span>for us to piece together <\/span>oursel<\/span>ves. This isn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t the blunt <\/span>excitement of a <\/span>Resident Evil <\/span><\/em>monster spitting acid in our face. This is <\/span>the <\/span>Resident Evil<\/em> <\/span>door<\/span>–<\/span>opening transition, where we slowly guess a<\/span>t what is in store for us. <\/span>Retro <\/span>video game<\/span>s <\/span>are <\/span>prime fodder for this kind of creepiness, the abstraction of old graphics leaving a <\/span>lot <\/span>more to the imagination<\/span>, which is the p<\/span>erfect tool to really get under the skin.<\/span><\/p>\n

This webs<\/span>eries format also <\/span>promotes <\/span>playfulness <\/span>in of itself, working as a kind of aug<\/span>mented <\/span>reality game, inviting the <\/span>view<\/span>er to become a <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>detective. The obscure nature of th<\/span>e writing <\/span>created a cottage ind<\/span>ustry o<\/span>f <\/span>YouTube <\/span><\/em>videos and web forums meant to explore, <\/span>undercover, and work out what <\/span>Petscop <\/span><\/em>really <\/span>means<\/span>. <\/span>Fans s<\/span>couring through website data to find <\/span>who the <\/span>\u2018<\/span>real<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>owners are <\/span>and how they relate to Paul. F<\/span>an<\/span>s becoming <\/span>Wikipedia<\/em> <\/span>warr<\/span>iors to better <\/span>comprehend what each character is in reference to. It<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s fun. This kind of play <\/span>can be seen in the <\/span>storytelling of <\/span>Dark Souls<\/span><\/em>, where fans t<\/span>ry to put together the many <\/span>narrative puzzle<\/span>–<\/span>pieces. O<\/span>r <\/span>how <\/span>The Binding of Isaac <\/span><\/em>task<\/span>s <\/span>the community with collectively working out its most convoluted secrets <\/span>to truly finish it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Th<\/span>is dedication to <\/span>keeping the audience guessing, to <\/span>making them work to understand the <\/span>unsettling imag<\/span>ery presented to them, is <\/span>Pet<\/span><\/em>scops<\/em> <\/span>defining feature. It<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s what makes us <\/span>come back <\/span>for more. While the series has its <\/span>minor criticisms <\/span>(the <\/span>references to re<\/span>al<\/span>–<\/span>life child abuse cases feels <\/span>rather exploitative, for instance), it still stands as a monument to what this medium is capable of<\/span>. <\/span>And the <\/span>horrific <\/span>feelings <\/span>Petscop<\/em> <\/span>evokes <\/span>from using the aesthetics of video games <\/span>can, and should, <\/span>be <\/span>reintegrated back in<\/span>t<\/span>o gaming itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

S<\/span>creenshots <\/span>by <\/span>author, taken from: Petscop. <\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCZKQv0ZFHpeIUkOtNjtq4KA<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What can game developers learn from the most horrifying Let\u2019s Play on the net? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":9707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[1035,241,1433],"class_list":["post-9705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-freeform","tag-horror","tag-petscop","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}