Eternal Darkness: Shigeru Miyamoto Was Unsure About Allowing The “Save Deletion” Sanity Effect

Eternal Darkness is one of the most fondly remembered and iconic games on the Gamecube, due in large part to its unique “Sanity Effect” mechanic. According to developer Denis Dyack, one of the most memorable of these effects faced quite a bit of resistance from Nintendo.

For those who may be unfamiliar, the “Sanity Effects” of Eternal Darkness are designed to confuse players by making the game behave in unexpected ways. This can include simple distortions in the graphics and sounds, to fourth-wall breaking glitches and phenomena.

One of the developer Denis Dyack’s favorite Sanity Effects was one that tricked players into thinking the game was deleting their save file, an absolutely nightmarish scenario for any avid gamer. So nightmarish that even Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto was hesitant to allow Dyack to go through with it, even though he was pretty okay with the concept itself.

Dyack: “That [sanity effect] was my personal favorite. I sat down and made sure that meter went really slow, enough for people to start screaming. So Mr. Miyamoto sat down with us and said, ‘Denis, what if someone looks at that and gets really angry and throws their GameCube against the wall because they think it’s bugged out? Is that our fault?’”

Despite its status as a cult classic, Eternal Darkness has never seen a revamp or re-release since its debut on the Gamecube. That said, Nintendo does still seem keen on retaining the copyright, so who knows? Perhaps we may see the game make its triumphant return someday, mindbending Sanity Effects and all.

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