That Y2K game I was talking about is called "Nebula & Quasar".
The whole premise seems kind of neat, I guess. Lost media stories IRL are always an interesting read, but I get the impression that they don't know if they want to be scary or not. It just kind of feels like they're laying the tracks while the train is moving.
not to say that it needs to be scary, but I just don't want another "ghosts in the machine" type of story if it chooses to be horror. So much analog horror media loves that trope, but that shit's been done to death even BEFORE the genre got popular.
tax: I guess calling this analog horror is kind of a stretch but ill mention it here anyways. Theres this minecraft ARG/analog horror series called "Minecraft Alpha 1.10.16 versions".
the elevator pitch is that it is a bunch of guys figuring out the secrets of old, never-before-seen versions of minecraft alpha. This one stuck out to me for being, IMO, very high quality in its execution.
Story wise, It is NOT another "le spooky machine goost" story, at least, as far as i can tell. the series pretty quickly explains that away. I haven't kept up with it lately, but AFAIK: its a giant mystery
surrounding a company that splintered off of mojang, developing the game their own way using Minecraft alpha as a base. the "ghosts" were actually developers watching and documenting playtester behavior, Im not really sure why. How it ends is yet to see (unless it already has and I never knew), but im captivated by the mystery so far.
Content wise, the creators have made a modded, downloadable client of Minecraft alpha that you can play. not only did it have a total redux of the game's textures & few custom mechanics added to it, but it was an essential part of progressing the ARG.
RetroGamingNow has made a few videos summarizing the story so far. Worth a watch if you're interested but don't want to dive too deep into it.
(pt. 1)
(pt. 2)
Overall, i think its a pretty refreshing take on analog horror media. Frankly, I'm just glad it put more effort into its story than just "le spooky Minecraft ghost!".