Category talk:Games with hidden bonus content

Where'd this come from?

I predict this entire category will be populated by Dreamcast games. Heh. Not a complaint, honest - there's loads of Dreamcast games that have bonus wallpapers and whatnot. // Foxhack 22:10, 30 November 2013 (EST)

It's kind of funny-this feels almost like a loophole to the rule of not hosting cheats/cheat codes. I feel a huge surge of motivation to search every last Google-given cheat website for something worthy of mentioning here now.

Of course, that's where the line needs to be drawn. What counts as "hidden bonus content"? The secret room in Portal 2? The Out of this World anti-Breakout game? We may need a judging process here. --AquaBat (talk) 23:59, 30 November 2013 (EST)

I think using the qualifier 'bonus' helps set out some boundaries of what constitutes as part of this content. There's a thread of intentionality that the developer would allow the player to discover this content, but that this content--as it is hidden--may not be conventionally found.

I see where some confusion can enter. There are, for example, many side rooms and halls in BioShock 2's DLC which the player never necessarily must enter, but they can if they choose to explore some. However, I wouldn't consider this hidden bonus content as any average player would possess the knowledge and contextual skills for accessing this content, perhaps (such as mastering the gameplay and controls, as well as developing an intuition for the level and game design). It's only that the player didn't make the action towards discovering it: there may be a hidden vent that leads to some loot, but it's perfectly accessible as far as content goes, and the player failed to realize it. This is not, I would say, hidden bonus content, as much as it is overlooked and missed standard content.

In my mind, a good, clear example of what this category might house would be something like those password-locked special levels for Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The average player has nothing from the game itself with which knowledge and access of this content can come about, but necessitates instead some outside aid. In this case it is the password. Now, we can accept that perhaps someone using a Pro Action Replay or other similar device might discover a level select code, and otherwise discover this locked away bonus stage. If there are no other means of accessing this stage beyond cheats and unintended manipulation of the game, then I would call that stage unused, and the level select cheat a mode of discovering it. However, if this password is the only means of normally accessing the hidden content, then I think it's fair game for article coverage.

Again I can see the issue with this though; as counter example, if there are left over passwords from debug stages, like Goldeneye 64, it is hard to qualify whether this is intentionally hidden content for a player to use or discover. This is the problem of reading intentionality, sadly. So rather than further complicate potential discussion, I would for now hedge back on the Zombies Ate My Neighbors example as a possible definintion for what constitutes hidden bonus content.--Celice (talk) 04:50, 2 December 2013 (EST)

I wouldn't go so far as saying that Zombies Ate My Neighbors would be the definition for what constitutes hidden bonus (I do note that you used "possible" in that statement). What I think this category represents, are games that bonuses can be found by unconventional means (ie. inserting the non-PC disc into a PC). This might include the Doom/Doom II/Heretic WAD maps that can be found on the 11th Hour disc, having been made by one of the developers who made Doom maps. Again, this is my opinion from reading the description on the category page. -Einstein95 (talk) 04:57, 2 December 2013 (EST)

And since GoldenEye was mentioned, its button codes fall under debug material if anything. The developers pretty much stated that they wanted them removed, but that they were left in at the behest of Nintendo. --Dragonsbrethren (talk) 06:41, 2 December 2013 (EST)

I'm not sure I understand the confusion here. If you stick a game into a device it wasn't made for, and you're presented with some kind of bonus material rewarding you for your curiosity (materials that the packaging and documentation make no mention of), that's "hidden bonus content". Does the current category description not adequately explain this? --BMF54123 (talk) 07:17, 2 December 2013 (EST)

Well, not completely. "Doing something you normally shouldn't" can describe anything from hacking a game to robbing a bank, and the word "like" before the CD-ROM description makes it seem more like a small example. It's just a matter of vagueness. --AquaBat (talk) 17:22, 2 December 2013 (EST)

Going by that definition, the flipped mode in Karateka could probably fit within this category. // Foxhack 18:07, 2 December 2013 (EST)

So what I'm wondering is, wouldn't the hidden South Park episode on early Tiger Woods '99 discs fall under this category as well in that case? --Wxbryant (talk) 14:58, 3 December 2013 (EST)

I'm not sure, actually. Was it just some random file used as padding, or was it included specifically for people to find? --BMF54123 (talk) 15:03, 3 December 2013 (EST)

"more specifically, in the file ZZDUMMY.DAT" would indicate that it was padding. It seems like a questionable one, as it is named as ZZDUMMY.DAT, yet is a plain video file. -Einstein95 (talk) 15:08, 3 December 2013 (EST)