Articles

Midnight Nowhere Causing a Stir in the U.K.

By Randy Sluganski

May 4, 2004

Warning: some images are gory and may not be suitable for all viewers.

Midnight Nowhere is certainly a game that has forged some disparate opinions, especially if the two reviews (review 1, review 2) on Just Adventure are any barometer. Rated ‘M’ (Mature) and recommended for gamers age 18 and older, this Russian-developed adventure horror title could become the most controversial game since Sega’s 1992 release of Night Trap.

According to some press releases from overseas, it looks as though the UK release of Midnight Nowhere is causing a stir and may even spawn a bizarre cult following.

Oxygen, the UK publisher of Midnight Nowhere has stated that, “When magazines like PC Gamer start devoting space to a PC game then that's no surprise, and given how strange some parts of the game are it's expected that there will be some interest from publications like Bizarre. But Midnight Nowhere, which promises an atmospheric world of horror, suspense, fiendish puzzles, gruesome murders and a dash of necrophilia, is being featured far beyond the usual gaming websites and magazines.”

Coverage and galleries have appeared on a variety of horror and gore websites such as Creature-Corner, Horror and Really Scary. Even more peculiar is that a gallery of images from the game have appeared on the fetish scene website – London Fetish Scene and two of the UK's leading fetish clubs have even requested permission to use images from the game in their clubs and literature.

There is reportedly also eager interest in the game from a number of horror publications that for the most part ignore computer games but have been inspired by the perverted content of Midnight Nowhere – including Bite Me and The Darkside.

Jim Scott, Oxygen's Managing Director, said "We expected that the subject matter and images in the game would generate an amount of interest from gaming sites and magazines, but what we hadn't expected was the way that horror fans and even the fetish community have picked up on it. It looks like the buzz on this has gone far beyond the usual gaming audience".

In response to the unexpected interest in Midnight Nowhere, Oxygen plans to increase the marketing spent on the title in order to fund advertising and additional activities in the horror press and have also raisews their sales expectations.

While North American sales of Midnight Nowhere have not been strong thus far and it has, for the most part, received uniformly poor to average reviews, it is not yet known if the game has engendered the same reaction among U.S. based fetish and horror groups.