A photography game is a form of

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

in which taking photographs using the in-game camera system is a key

game mechanic In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...

. Photography games often employ mechanics similar to a

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

, but rather than using a gun to kill enemies, the aim is to use a camera to take photographs of the game world. Depending on the game, the act might incapacitate or defeat enemies, or the player might receive points or

experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

according to the composition of the photograph. Photography elements can be the only significant mode of gameplay, as in ''

Pokémon Snap is a 1999 first-person photography game with rail shooter style gameplay mechanics developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was first released in Japan in March 1999 and was later released in July 1999 in N ...

'' or '' Afrika'', or they can be used in combination with other gameplay modes such as action-adventure in '' Beyond Good & Evil'' or

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

in ''

Fatal Frame ''Fatal Frame'', titled in Japan and ''Project Zero'' in Europe and Australia, is a Japanese survival horror video game series created, published and developed by Koei Tecmo (originally Tecmo). Debuting in 2001 with the first entry in the seri ...

'' and '' Dead Rising''.

History

An early photography game was '' Gekibo: Gekisha Boy'', released in 1992 for the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

. This was a

side-scrolling video game '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphic ...

where the player controlled a

reticle A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, ...

representing a camera

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...

moving over the screen. Another early photography game was the 1995

full-motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

game '' Paparazzi!: Tales of Tinseltown'', although the limitations of the FMV format meant players had little control over what they photographed. The 1999 game ''Pokémon Snap'' for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

– a photography game in the

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

universe using

rail shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

mechanics – sold well and was critically acclaimed. It inspired other

safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

photography games such as ''

Endless Ocean ''Endless Ocean'' (known as ''Forever Blue'' in Japan) is a scuba diving adventure game for the Wii. It is published by Nintendo and was developed by Arika, who also worked on their spiritual predecessor '' Everblue'', another scuba diving adve ...

'' (2007), ''Afrika'' (2008), ''

Beyond Blue Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses. The organisation works in pa ...

'' (2020) and a sequel ''

New Pokémon Snap ''New Pokémon Snap'' is an on-rails first-person photography game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. It is a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 game ''Pokémon Snap.'' Ann ...

'' (2021). In

, the ''

'' series (also known as ''Project Zero'') debuted in 2001 and turned photography into an attacking move. Players are tasked with photographing aggressive ghosts, with well focused and composed shots doing more damage. The series has six instalments including one

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

game, ''

Spirit Camera ''Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir'' is a spin-off game in the ''Fatal Frame'' series, co-developed by Tecmo Koei and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The game comes with an "AR notebook", the titular ''Diary of Faces'', which the player uses in con ...

'', that uses the real camera on the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

. ''

Phasmophobia The fear of ghosts in many human cultures is based on beliefs that some ghosts may be malevolent towards people and dangerous ''(within the range of all possible attitudes, including mischievous, benign, indifferent, etc.''). It is related to fea ...

'' and the ''

Outlast ''Outlast'' is a 2013 first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. The game revolves around a freelance investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital named Mo ...

'' series are other survival horror games that give players cameras but no weapons – the aim is to record the monsters and escape without being killed. Several games with

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

protagonists implemented photography

sidequest A quest, or mission, is a task in video games that a player-controlled character, party, or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward. Quests are most commonly seen in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online games. ...

s. These include '' Beyond Good & Evil'' (2003), '' Dead Rising'' (2006) and ''

Spider-Man 3 ''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent. It is the final installment in Raimi's ...

'' (2007). The

Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by one-man independent Japanese ''doujin'' soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. Since 1995, the team's member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed ...

series games ''

Shoot the Bullet is a shoot 'em up photography game, and is the 9.5th official game in the Touhou Project by the dōjin circle Team Shanghai Alice. It was first released in the 69th Comiket on December 30, 2005. In English-speaking circles, the game's title is ...

'' and ''

Double Spoiler is a shoot 'em up photography game, and is the 12.5th official game in the ''Touhou Project'' by the dōjin circle Team Shanghai Alice. It was first released in the 7th Reitaisai on March 14, 2010. In English speaking circles, the game's title is ...

'' used photojournalist protagonists to combine photography and

bullet hell Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charact ...

mechanics, with points awarded for the number of bullets in a photo. Some experimental indie games have used photography mechanics to change the level itself – photographs taken in one part of the level can be pasted elsewhere in order to create new paths and objects. Such games include the 2D ''

Snapshot Snapshot, snapshots or snap shot may refer to: * Snapshot (photography), a photograph taken without preparation Computing * Snapshot (computer storage), the state of a system at a particular point in time * Snapshot (file format) or SNP, a file ...

'' and the 3D ''Viewfinder'' (formerly ''Polaroid Effect''). The genre saw a resurgence in the

2020s The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" shortened to "the '20s" and referred to as the twenties) is the current decade, which began on January 1, 2020, and will end on December 31, 2029. The 2020s began with the COVID-19 pandemic — the first ...

with the release of mostly independent games such as ''Sludge Life'', ''Eastshade'' (which applies photography game mechanics to

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

), ''Shutter Stroll'', '' Umurangi Generation'', ''Nuts'' and ''Season''. These fuse photography mechanics with the

walking simulator An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

genre to produce slow-paced games, often with environmental themes, as a response to the fast-paced and violent nature of shooter games.

Bonus features

Many games include a

screenshot screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is a digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by the operating system or software running on the device powering the display. Additionally, s ...

feature which has no effect on gameplay but allows players to capture moments. Photography mechanics are sometimes included for titillation separate from the main gameplay. The '' Dead or Alive Xtreme'' series and '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' for instance both include the ability to photograph female characters in skimpy clothing and erotic poses. In some cases, photography games have included the ability to print images taken in-game. Pictures from ''Pokémon Snap'' could be copied from the cartridge and printed at branches of

Blockbuster Video Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: * Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Blo ...

, while players of ''

Firewatch ''Firewatch'' is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 4, for Xbox One in September 2016 ...

'' could have the photographs on their in-game camera "developed" and delivered to their home.

References

{{reflist, 30em Video game genres Video game terminology *

History

Bonus features

See also

References