Gaming - News
Creepy Real Life Events That Inspired Great Games
By NATHAN SIMMONS
Black Dahlia
Rockstar Games’ crime-busting game “LA Noire” draws inspiration from classic detective movies; however, one of its cases is based on an actual murder from the 1940s. While the game has you catch the person responsible for the murder of Elizabeth Short, nicknamed the Black Dahlia, police never solved the real-life case due to a lack of evidence.
Tunguska Event
“Secret Files: Tunguska” has players assume the role of a young woman searching for her father, whom she comes to learn is connected to the 1908 Tunguska Event, which flattened more than 830 square miles of forest in Siberia. Modern scientists have more or less an answer for the disaster, but it did spark numerous conspiracy theories.
Himuro Mansion
The legend of the ancient manor outside Tokyo, Himuro Mansion, heavily inspired the story and setting of the “Fatal Frame” series. According to lore, when a horrific ceremony called “the Strangling Ritual” went awry, a father brutally murdered his family before killing himself — it’s believed that an image of a young girl can be seen in photos taken of the mansion.
Mental Health
In “Neverending Nightmares,” players must save the protagonist by guiding him through several ghastly scenarios. Some of the game’s more horrific set pieces are based upon real intrusive thoughts suffered by game creator Matt Gilgenbach during his bouts with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Ripper Murders
Jack the Ripper and his gruesome exploits have long been adapted for different mediums, such as the video game “Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper.” As noted by the Adventure Gamers review, the game “does adhere to, and adhere accurately, the specifics of very nasty and real crimes,” with a surprising amount of accurate details of the murders.
