To break the fourth wall

[child of lileth]

The part in SNATCHER where you have to pray for a new option to show up to make it show up always kinda seemed like one of the stupider examples of it to me. I don't mind it every once in a while, but at times, it's just not as funny as they might have intended it to be.

 

[Nazz3]

Ah, Metal Gear. I love the 4th wall jokes

 

[Cartman2nd]

Funny Games U.S. did this to great effect (won't spoil it though).

 

[Impluse_101]

I love it when games break the fourth wall I was never a big fan of serious games anyways.

One of my favorites was in Atelier Iris appropriately named ESRB

[Sorry its in the atrocious English dub can't find it in Japanese)

Mind. Blown.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

That was part of why Ferris Bueller was such a good movie.

 

[burningdragoon]

Holy crap, that clip is awesome!

I think it is awesome when done well and not overdone. Metal Gear is probably as serious/realistic as a game should be if it's gonna be breaking the 4th wall.

 

[foxtrot3100]

No more heroes has broken the 4th wall a few times for a few funny moments, but it wasn't really much more than a small joke. However there was a scene in No More Heroes 2 in which the 4th wall wasn't necessarily broken, but instead, Travis declares to Sylvia and indirectly to the player that he and all the other assassins in the game are truly alive. In fact, he claims that ALL characters, whether they be from a video game, book, anime, and so on, are all living beings.
It was an interesting look into what makes one alive and the brings up the question of free will. Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately depending on your viewpoint) the game doesn't really explore this idea very long and jumps right back into the game.

It's in the scene after the fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKd-Ly40C98

 

[Blind Sight]

I can't find it on youtube, but there's a great fourth wall breaking in Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Basically the whole film is black and white, but one of the actresses asks a stagehand if he likes her red dress or her green dress. He says "doesn't really matter to me that much, I'm colourblind, but I like the dark gray one."

 

[Good morning blues]

It is so unbelievably overdone that I just get kind of angry when I see it now. It's funny the fist time you see it, and very rarely again.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I remember that. I was laughing at myself for a while.

But, this will always stay in my mind.


Oh Metal Gear, you always make me feel like you notice me.

I was playing that at midnight for the first time and it actually scared me a bit... when he told you to turn off the console I froze... it might have been because I was super tired but it still freaked me out.

 

[Saltyk]

I love it when games break the fourth wall I was never a big fan of serious games anyways.

One of my favorites was in Atelier Iris appropriately named ESRB

[Sorry its in the atrocious English dub can't find it in Japanese)

That was surprisingly funny! Was that the original dialog? Or did they completely change it?

Holy crap, that clip is awesome!

I think it is awesome when done well and not overdone. Metal Gear is probably as serious/realistic as a game should be if it's gonna be breaking the 4th wall.

Thanks. I found that clip completely by luck. Just wanted a good video for this post and that was one of the first ones to show up. It was just perfect for this whole topic.

Agreed. A good break in the fourth wall is great. Others can be kind of lame. When it's forced or overdone it just falls flat. But a good subtle one that they don't over emphasize is perfect. Especially when you don't expect it.

 

[D Moness]

Baiten kaitos did it a lot. The main character would turn towards the screen(like looking at you directly) and ask questions. You play a kind of guardian angel that has been kind of bound to Kalas. I thought it was a very interesting idea

 

[savageoblivi0n]

a scene in max payne

Spoiler: part three prologue, fun starts at 1:30

 

[Griphphin]

The Jack & Daxter games are pretty good at this, as they don't take themselves too seriously. If done right, they are very nice, but you need that immersion into the game for that excerpt to really make you double take.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

I loved that bit in MGS2. However there was another breaking the fourth wall moment that scared the shit out of me a few minutes before.

"Raiden, you've been playing for far too long. You'll damage your eyes. Turn off the console."

Me, 14, having played it all day: O_O
*curls up in a ball*

You know, the entire main plot of MGS2 is about the confused and cluttered state of digital information; Campbell is a metaphor for it, spouting nonsense about previous games, as well as other sentences that completely lack context, or meaning. It pulls a Bioshock on you, making you question the very nature of a video game. Why did you just do that? It was because you were told. Why did you feel the need to obey? Because to obey the rules of finishing the game, you must obey the, (objectives) and never before have objectives seemed more objective.

 

[tahrey]

Thaius / Forgotten Prodigy: Phew, I was hoping we weren't going to end up in some kind of wierd vortex where MGS2 was the groundbreaker, and all the slight wallbreaking touches in the PSX original were forgotten...

I'm going to make the controller shake... you like... Xenogears... and all that stuff.

 

[Epiku]

I have a game for the PS2 that pretty much is a breaking of the fourth wall.
I believe it was called something along the lines of Lifeline.
It's not so much that characters briefly reveal that they may be aware of the player's presence, but more that the player is a character in their world (in this case, I believe you were called Operator. I also think you had a girlfriend. Naomi, was it?).

I never got to beat that game, though, as my PS2 headset broke and my other ones don't work. T_T

 

[Saltyk]

I have a game for the PS2 that pretty much is a breaking of the fourth wall.
I believe it was called something along the lines of Lifeline.
It's not so much that characters briefly reveal that they may be aware of the player's presence, but more that the player is a character in their world (in this case, I believe you were called Operator. I also think you had a girlfriend. Naomi, was it?).

I never got to beat that game, though, as my PS2 headset broke and my other ones don't work. T_T

Lifeline? You mean this game?

Spoiler: Sorry in advance