"Online communities are naturally fragile things. At any moment, platform owners can choose to shut them down or let them wither through censorship or neglect. Users themselves might lose access for any number of reasons, or simply decide to stop participating. And in most cases, the connections formed there are just as ephemeral, demanding a lot of conscious work to remain solid. But none of those things make the bonds formed there any less real, nor the sadness when they fade any less impactful."
"With only small exceptions, the entirety of Videoverse takes place at Emmet's desk as he uses his Shark (an adorable clamshell console with two screens and a webcam attachment), draws in his notebook, and leafs through gaming magazines. Every significant story beat happens within Videoverse itself, which immediately calls to mind old-school online spaces from AOL chat rooms to bulletin board systems to Square Enix's wonderfully obtuse PlayOnline."
Videoverse centers on Emmet, a 15-year-old devoted user of the Shark console's Videoverse forum, who faces the shutdown of his online community as Kinmoku shifts to a paid Dolphin service. The narrative unfolds almost entirely at Emmet's desk, showing him using his clamshell Shark with dual screens and a webcam, drawing and reading gaming magazines. Emmet participates in artist and Feudal Fantasy fan forums, liking, commenting and private-chatting with other users while attempting to build and maintain connections. The game captures the fragility and emotional reality of online bonds, the pain of obsolescence, and the nostalgic atmosphere of early 2000s online spaces.
Read at Inverse
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