
We’ve reached a point in time where the early days of the Internet are generally nostalgic, but unless you were teenager in the early 2000s, you probably won’t vibe with VIDEOVERSE quite the same.
The game – evidently inspired by early social networks like MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger – promises an “emotionally resonant narrative adventure that explores the bonds between identity, connectivity, and technology”.
It’s set in an alternative 2003 where a fictional video game console known as the Kinmoku Shark ruled supreme.
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You’ll play as a character called Emmett, where you’ll navigate bustling online communities, engaging with other users and “unravelling the corporate mysteries lurking behind Kinmoku Shark’s beloved console”.
This is a visual novel in the same sort of vein as Needy Streamer Overload, using nostalgic 1-bit visuals to create its unique digital world. The decisions you make throughout the game will have a direct influence on the outcome of the story.
This one has received rave reviews on PC already, averaging a 90 at the time of writing on Metacritic. It’s coming to the PS5 and PS4 on 14th November, and could be well worth a look if you find the subject material compelling.
[source youtube.com]





Comments 11
Love the Starfox reference in the lower right of the screenshot.That’s clearly an arwing from the SNES era! Also, Dolphin was a code name used by Nintendo.
I could never unfriend Tom...
Also Bebo > Myspace
ICQ and Compuserv chatrooms. Internet on floppy disks for 10hours at a time. Let’s goooo. The good old days.
My first thought at seeing that screenshot: "Winamp! It really whips the llama's ass."
Finally, a UI i understand
MySpace yes, AIM no, it was MSN Messenger for me
Actually a really cool game, I'll have to wishlist it.
@Foxhound I remember using MSN Messenger to message friends way back in elementary school.
I'm old enough to remember when MySpace was some new thing the kids were doing, and thought every page I saw was horrible and it wouldn't last.
Screen shot reminds me of PC Link, I think it was - exclusive to Tandy computers (from Radio Shack), and a precursor to AOL. It was DOS-based (or rather, tied to their proprietary GUI on top of DOS, which was an early competitor to Windows before Windows was anything anybody used), with an interface that looked a lot like that. It was screaming fast on my whopping high-speed 2400-baud modem, too!
@Oram77 Fun fact if you did have myspace your account is probably still there. I went to check after reading this article and sure enough my profile is still there along 50K+ contacts. I thought they would have wiped inactive profiles. Bebo is probably still there too, I can't remember my username so I can't check. It doesn't feel that long ago but I couldn't even speak English back then so it must be. I'm going to see if I can wayback my old Bebo, now I'm curious.
Edit: I found some traces of my old Bebo stuff and it's very cringe like I expected. Myspace was great though, I met people on there that I know offline now and years later we're still friends and meetup. I wouldn't try that now with Facebook, times changed. You have to have your head on a swivel and embrace a little cynicism. The earliest gaming social/platform I remember was Playfire, I don't know if it's still around. They were definitely headquartered in the UK. It was great they had lists/wishlists/badges/private messages etc. I think it tracked trophies too.
It was “My Space” see and only the cool girls we allowed to adorn the wall. That geeky cool; the hardest one to pull off
I remember I had a coworker whom the rest of us would urge to get MySpace. One day she came in and said, “I decided to go with Facebook instead…” We laughed and said who the hell uses Facebook. This had to be like 6 months to 1 year into Facebook’s existence.
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