You Can Contribute to the Night Trap ReVamped Kickstarter… But Why?

For some unfathomable reason, a San Francisco-based group has started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the release of a re-mastered version of Night Trap, the controversial 1992 game featuring full-motion-video and 'Diff’rent Strokes' star, Dana Plato.

While Night Trap isn’t exactly a household name, it was an important and successful title, seeing its original Sega CD code ported to the 3DO, Sega 32X and PCs. Using recorded video of dubious quality, the game tasked players with saving a group of teenage girls from the vampiric Augers by activating traps within an eight-room house. Because of its depiction of real women, including the late Dana Plato, in perilous situations while wearing nightgowns, Night Trap received negative press and was seen by some as nearly pornographic.

The Kickstarter’s goal is to use the original recordings to recreate the game in full HD resolution for modern audiences under the name Night Trap ReVamped. While the Kickstarter campaign page does not specify on which platform the game will be released, they do state that it will be in disc format, and that a mobile or online version may come in the future. Night Trap, LLC launched the 30-day crowd-funding campaign today, with a goal of $330,000.00.

Night Trap is, undoubtedly, one of the most memorable games of the 1990s, but not because of its high quality, inventiveness or technological power. It is remembered for being a terrible game that drew the ire of political conservatives and became one of the principal reasons for the creation of the ESRB. It’s also an example of a full-motion-video game, a closed-ended technological stop-gap between pixelated 16-bit graphics and high-res 3D visuals that would come later. The use of full-motion video as a gameplay element was a short-lived, gimmicky technique that sprung more from the limitations of the day’s consoles than any artistic or stylistic impulse, and with the exception of the Dragon’s Lair games, it usually resulted in slow, confusing titles that appealed to very few players. The success of the Kickstarter campaign will determine just how much of an audience a Night Trap remake might have.