Editing Fourth wall (section)

===Video games===
Given their interactive nature, nearly all video games break the fourth wall by asking for the player's participation and having [[user interface]] elements on the screen (such as explanations of the game's controls) that address the player rather than their character. Methods of fourth wall breaking within the narrative include having the character face the direction of the player/screen, having a self-aware character that recognizes that they are in a video game, or having secret or bonus content set outside the game's narrative that can either extend the game world (such as with the use of false documents) or provide "behind the scenes" type content. Such cases typically create a video game that includes a [[metafiction]] narrative, commonly presently characters in the game incorporating knowledge they are in a video game.<ref name="wired vg meta">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2016/01/metafiction-games/ | title = The Best New Videogames Are All About ... Videogames | first = Julie | last = Muncy | date = January 10, 2016 | accessdate = June 18, 2021 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | archive-date = 27 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160327004328/http://www.wired.com/2016/01/metafiction-games/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

For example, in ''[[Doki Doki Literature Club!]]'', one of the characters named [[Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club!)|Monika]] is aware that she is a part of a video game, and at the end, communicates with the player. To progress further in the story, the player must remove the “monika.chr” file (an action they take outside of the game).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/10/doki-doki-literature-club-makes-the-case-for-break.html | title = Doki Doki Literature Club Makes The Case For Breaking The Fourth Wall | first = Holly | last = Green | date = October 25, 2017 | access-date = August 5, 2019 | work = [[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] | archive-date = 5 August 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190805215044/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/10/doki-doki-literature-club-makes-the-case-for-break.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The plot of the game ''[[OneShot]]'' revolves around the fictional universe of the game being a [[Simulated reality|simulation]] running on the player's computer, with certain characters being aware of this fact and sometimes communicating directly with the player.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/oneshot-review | title = Wot I Think: OneShot | first = John | last = Walker | date = 12 December 2016 | access-date = 16 February 2021 | work = [[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]] | archive-date = 9 February 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210209163718/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/oneshot-review | url-status = live }}</ref> In other cases of metafictional video games, the game alters the player's expectation of how the game should behave, which may make the player question if their own game system is at fault, helping to increase the immersion of the game.<ref name="wired vg meta"/>

But since video games are inherently much more interactive than traditional films and literature, defining what truly breaks the fourth wall in the video game medium becomes difficult.<ref name="Gamasutra circular">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/a-circular-wall-reformulating-the-fourth-wall-for-video-games | title = A Circular Wall? Reformulating the Fourth Wall for Video Games | first = Steven | last = Conway | date = 22 July 2009 | access-date = 23 January 2017 | work = [[Gamasutra]] | archive-date = 5 October 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161005141051/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132475/a_circular_wall_reformulating_the_.php?print=1 | url-status = live }}</ref> Steven Conway, writing for ''[[Gamasutra]]'', suggests that in video games, many purported examples of breaking the fourth wall are actually better understood as ''relocations'' of the fourth wall or expansions of the "[[Magic circle (virtual worlds)|magic circle]]" (the fictional game world) to encompass the player.<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> This is in contrast to traditional fourth wall breaks, which break the audience's illusion or [[suspension of disbelief]], by acknowledging them directly.<ref name="Gamasutra circular"/> Conway argues that this expansion of the magic circle in video games actually serves to more fully immerse a player into the fictional world rather than take the viewer out of the fictional world, as is more common in traditional fourth wall breaks. An example of this expansion of the magic circle can be found in the game ''[[Evidence: The Last Ritual]]'', in which the player receives an in-game email at their real-life email address and must visit out-of-game websites to solve some of the puzzles in the game. Other games may expand the magic circle to include the game's hardware. For example, ''[[X-Men (1993 video game)|X-Men]]'' for the Mega Drive/Genesis requires players to reset their game console at a certain point to reset the X-Men's in-game Hazard Room, while ''[[Metal Gear Solid (1998 video game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'' asks the player to put the [[DualShock]] controller on their neck to simulate a back massage being given in-game.<ref name="Gamasutra circular"/>

Other examples include the idle animation of [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] in his games where the on-screen character would look to the player and tap his foot impatiently if left alone for a while, and one level of ''[[Max Payne (video game)|Max Payne]]'' has the eponymous character come to the realization he and other characters are in a video game and narrates what the player sees as part of the UI.<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'', which included a sanity meter, would simulate various common computer glitches to the player as the sanity meter drained, including the [[Blue Screen of Death]].<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> ''[[The Stanley Parable]]'' is also a well-known example of this, as the narrator from the game constantly tries to reason with the player, even going so far as to beg the player to switch off the game at one point.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2011/08/the-stanley-parable/ | title = Brilliant Indie Game The Stanley Parable Will Mess With Your Head | first = Jason | last = Schreier | date = August 14, 2011 | access-date = August 5, 2019 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|wired]] | archive-date = 27 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127064155/https://www.wired.com/2011/08/the-stanley-parable/ | url-status = live }}</ref>