FeedVid Live Is A Found Footage Horror Set In Twitch
A brief but macabre slice of horror
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The found footage genre in films have inevitably inched its way to games, typically presented as VHS horror games that present its scares through layers of degradation, static grain, and rough scanlines. In these games, where murders and other unspeakable horrors are seemingly recorded as VHS tapes, its footage is grainy and even hazy, and is recorded from the first-person perspective, almost as if these scenes weren’t supposed to be found or watched. But in today’s digital age, the found footage genre is due for an upgrade. Who else, other than retro aficionados, still uses VHS tapes and CRT televisions to watch lost footage?
One example of an updated found footage game is the mobile horror game Sara Is Missing, which mimics the interface of a phone such that players have to rummage through the phone’s content to discover its missing owner’s last whereabouts. Our familiarity with mobile phones is what fuels the uncanny feeling of dread in Sara is Missing, as you rifle through text messages, private pictures and emails for more clues, all while hoping that you won’t stumble across anything appalling. Then there’s FeedVid Live, a game that takes place on a live-streaming app that looks suspiciously similar to Twitch—complete with in-game chats, screenshots of classic Twitch streams titled ‘EPICJAKE CRIES ON STREAM (MENTAL BREAKDOWN)’ and ‘Addressing the drama…’, and generous donations from subscribers.
FeedVid Live is, at its heart, an escape room game. It begins with you being gifted a subscription from a stranger. You’ll eventually find your way to a mysterious, green-tinted live stream that resembles the set of torture porn horror Saw, and an eerily empty chatroom—at least initially. As an homage to its found footage roots, the video still resembles one that was recorded on a VHS tape, its fuzziness and noise adding to the growing sense of macabre. Moments later you realise that you’ve become the unwitting director of a snuff film, with the stream soon swelling in number of viewers following your every decision. The effect here is that you’re no longer just watching a stream; you’re now an active participant.
Twitch—and by extension, stream culture—is built upon parasocial interactions, with streamers delivering some form of entertainment, perhaps even a promise of reciprocation, and the viewers expanding both emotional energy and monetary support in return. By and large, viewers have very little say as to what goes on during the stream. FeedVid Live, however, turns this experience on its head by keeping you acutely aware that what you do—or how you direct the subsequent scenes—will have a seismic effect. Without your input, the video stalls, and the chat goes silent. Nothing moves, other than the buzzing scanlines on the screen, and the unsteady, shaky grasp of the camera. Making this even more unnerving is the nagging thought that everything here is meticulously staged for the sole purpose of unnerving you: the odd, artificial responses of the people watching the stream alongside you in the chatroom, the perverse goings-on in the video, even the implied gore taking place on the other end of the camera. Even though there’s no way to die or lose the game, that still doesn’t take away the feeling of vulnerability, apprehension, and dread.
FeedVid Live doesn’t take more than half an hour to complete, and is available on itch.io for the low, low price of absolutely free.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/feedvid-live-is-a-found-footage-horror-set-in-twitch/