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Arcade

 Arcade
type
TVTItem
 Arcade
label
Arcade
 Arcade
page
Arcade
 Arcade
comment
Arcade is a 1993 sci-fi/horror film directed by Albert Pyun.Alex is a troubled teenage girl, whose mother committed suicide. She and her friends visit a local arcade and decide to try out a new VR game called Arcade, produced by a gaming company called Vertigo/Tronic. Difford, the company's CEO, is giving out free home console versions of the game to promote it. The game turns out to be visually impressive (for 1993) but Nintendo Hard.Alex's boyfriend tries out the game and appears to vanish. Everyone assumes he went home, but no one can find him afterwards. She soon realizes that the game is trapping losing players in its virtual reality. This appears to also happen with the console version, which is somehow connected to the main game. Alex and Nick, the only friends who are not yet trapped, visit Vertigo/Tronic and meet the game's programmer. The guy explains that the game is Powered by a Forsaken Child due to Executive Meddling, and this is somehow imbuing the game with supernatural properties. He provides the teens a walkthrough for the game, which Alex tattoos on her arm (for some reason, the tattoos are visible in the VR game).They resolve to enter the game and try to reach the end in order to beat it and free their friends. Nick confesses his love for Alex, but she makes it clear the feeling isn't mutual and continues trying to free her boyfriend. In the game, Nick ends up losing, but Alex continues on, seeing her friends being used as NPCs. She uses the walkthrough to successfully navigate the virtual world, while the game tries to stop her with images of her dead mother. Alex manages to beat the game and free her friends.The original ending is more hopeful, while the revised ending implies that Alex has also freed the soul of the above-mentioned forsaken child to roam the earth and do evil.
 Arcade
fetched
2023-10-27T23:01:08Z
 Arcade
parsed
2023-10-27T23:01:08Z
 Arcade
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Arcade / int_361a1d26
type
Anguished Declaration of Love
 Arcade / int_361a1d26
comment
Anguished Declaration of Love: Before they go into the game, Nick confesses his feelings for Alex, hoping that she'll call off the foolish plan, only for her to tell him to do what she asks. In the end, she is shown walking away with her boyfriend, seemingly forgetting about Nick.
 Arcade / int_361a1d26
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_361a1d26
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_361a1d26
 Arcade / int_415b3315
type
Stylistic Suck
 Arcade / int_415b3315
comment
Stylistic Suck: By the standards of modern CGI, the virtual reality of the game looks cheesy.
 Arcade / int_415b3315
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_415b3315
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_415b3315
 Arcade / int_485eb589
type
Sealed Evil in a Can
 Arcade / int_485eb589
comment
Sealed Evil in a Can: The revised ending implies that the evil boy is no longer trapped in the game and is free to roam the world.
 Arcade / int_485eb589
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_485eb589
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_485eb589
 Arcade / int_60fa92ac
type
Names to Run Away from Really Fast
 Arcade / int_60fa92ac
comment
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The video arcade, where the new game is being promoed, is called "Dante's Inferno". Not ominous at all.
 Arcade / int_60fa92ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_60fa92ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_60fa92ac
 Arcade / int_6fd268f0
type
Win to Exit
 Arcade / int_6fd268f0
comment
Win to Exit: This is the only way to leave the game without being trapped in it. It's also the way to free anyone else who is trapped.
 Arcade / int_6fd268f0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_6fd268f0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_6fd268f0
 Arcade / int_79372d59
type
The Game Come to Life
 Arcade / int_79372d59
comment
The Game Come to Life: Arcade is slowly starting to affect the real world. In the revised ending, Alex sees an image of a little boy on the street, speaking with the game's voice before vanishing into thin air.
 Arcade / int_79372d59
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_79372d59
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_79372d59
 Arcade / int_7fbb2a3
type
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
 Arcade / int_7fbb2a3
comment
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The revised ending. Alex has won the game and freed her friends, but she has also freed the little boy from the game, allowing him to roam free and do evil things with his supernatural powers.
 Arcade / int_7fbb2a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_7fbb2a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_7fbb2a3
 Arcade / int_95864e13
type
B-Movie
 Arcade / int_95864e13
comment
B-Movie: The '90s version.
 Arcade / int_95864e13
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_95864e13
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_95864e13
 Arcade / int_978937d6
type
Brand X
 Arcade / int_978937d6
comment
Brand X: Apparently, the coolest name Vertigo/Tronic could come up with for a brand-new arcade game is... Arcade.
 Arcade / int_978937d6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_978937d6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_978937d6
 Arcade / int_984ef9ef
type
"Not So Different" Remark
 Arcade / int_984ef9ef
comment
"Not So Different" Remark: During the game, Arcade tries to convince Alex of this by drawing parallels between his own abusive mother and Alex's mother, who committed suicide (thus abandoning her). This appears to be less an attempt to convince Alex to join him and more the game trying to shake and confuse her.
 Arcade / int_984ef9ef
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_984ef9ef
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_984ef9ef
 Arcade / int_acf4e51b
type
Cheat Code
 Arcade / int_acf4e51b
comment
Cheat Code: While there are no actual cheat codes, the programmer does provide a full game map to Alex and Nick. Alex then writes the clues on her arm. Somehow, she is able to see the writing even in VR (this is helped by the fact that the game doesn't render her body in the game world, it actually transports her there).
 Arcade / int_acf4e51b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_acf4e51b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_acf4e51b
 Arcade / int_b11ac9f5
type
Abusive Parents
 Arcade / int_b11ac9f5
comment
Abusive Parents: The little boy, whose brain cells were used in the game's programming, had been killed by his abusive mother.
 Arcade / int_b11ac9f5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_b11ac9f5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_b11ac9f5
 Arcade / int_b6de94d1
type
Executive Meddling
 Arcade / int_b6de94d1
comment
invoked Executive Meddling: The Vertigo/Tronic execs are the ones who insisted on using brain cells of an abused child in creating the game. They also try to cover up any disappearances.
 Arcade / int_b6de94d1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_b6de94d1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_b6de94d1
 Arcade / int_c6fa273c
type
Knights and Knaves
 Arcade / int_c6fa273c
comment
Knights and Knaves: Alex is presented with this puzzle in the game, with two of her trapped friends being used as the guards. Naturally, she figures out the right question to ask.
 Arcade / int_c6fa273c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_c6fa273c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_c6fa273c
 Arcade / int_cec8b87a
type
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!
 Arcade / int_cec8b87a
comment
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: The game does this to Alex as the film's final words, with "bitch" being spoken in an inhuman voice.
 Arcade / int_cec8b87a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_cec8b87a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_cec8b87a
 Arcade / int_e794cb54
type
Powered by a Forsaken Child
 Arcade / int_e794cb54
comment
Powered by a Forsaken Child: The programmer reveals that, due to (In-Universe) Executive Meddling, the game's realism is due to the creators using a few thousand brain cells of a boy killed by his abusive mother in the game design. Unfortunately, this seems to have resulted in the boy's soul inhabiting the game and using it to seek vengeance upon the world.
 Arcade / int_e794cb54
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_e794cb54
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_e794cb54
 Arcade / int_ed68bcc9
type
Dwindling Party
 Arcade / int_ed68bcc9
comment
Dwindling Party: Alex's friends keep getting taken by the game one by one.
 Arcade / int_ed68bcc9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_ed68bcc9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_ed68bcc9
 Arcade / int_name
type
ItemName
 Arcade / int_name
comment
 Arcade / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Arcade / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arcade
hasFeature
Arcade / int_name
 Arcade / int_name
itemName
Arcade

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Arcade
hasFeature
B-Movie / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Fictional Video Game / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Films of 1990–1994 / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Knights and Knaves / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
1-Up / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Powered by a Forsaken Child / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Sci-Fi Horror / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
The Game Come to Life / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
The Most Dangerous Video Game / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Video Game Stories / int_7acbdd0a
 Arcade
hasFeature
Win to Exit / int_7acbdd0a