Emergent Hyper-structural Portal Functionality AKA EHSPF

[related: MetroidVania, Virtual Portal Devices]

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Emergent Hyper-structural Portal Functionality or EHSPF (of which VPD's are a subset) refers to various permutations of functional portals offering veiled glimpses of or contact with the Hidden World AKA the contents of the Black Box by articulating a poignant and enveloping alternate reality. Most often EHSPF is used in reference to digital alternate reality platforms (VPD's) containing a palpable aesthetic of loneliness, desolation, and longing. The concept emerged in part as a way to parse the emotional and psychological effects of the MetroidVania series of games originally associated with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Primarily centering on Metroid, The Legend of Zelda and a number of titles from Konami and, to a lesser extent, Capcom, the series was characterized by the insinuation of a world beyond view via scrolling - elements that pre-exist (and post-exist) engagement. Thus, the player itself controls the scrolling, the view of the game orients a limitless reality around self. This conjuring or insinuation of the non-temporal non-spatial aspects of cyberspace led to direct engagement with apeirophobia, or fear/fascination with infinity as it pertains to the generation of so-called existential (and thus poignant) emotions. These emotions result in the digital reality taking on the properties of a simulacrum. Extreme examples of this technique include various "infinite loop" traps from the EHSPF series including, but not limited to, the Lost Woods in Legend of Zelda, the "Hidden Levels" in Solomon's Key, Level 7-4 in Super Mario Bros. and, to a certain extent, the Ladder Scene in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Also vital in the parsing of EHSPF functionality is gameplay based on non-linear, self determination and cybernetic self-advancement via the acquisition of skills and weapons and need to backtrack. The practice of reality morphing/glitches (whether or not intentional) as it relates to Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt or "distancing effect" also serves to amplify emotional effects of the EHSPF series. By reinforcing the digital artifice inherent to such environments, players are made aware that they are inhabiting a parallel reality. Sometimes referred to as "glitch framing", these transparencies of machinery parallel "IRL" moments of contact or awareness with base reality characterized by the transcendence of cerebral conceptual frameworks including a discrete sense of self. Subsequently, EHSPF terminology has come to be applied to the non-digital realm. Rear brake lights in rain, outdated burgundy car interiors, certain cloud formations, the creation and collective acceptance of narrative myth, ornithological bird behaviours –these non-digital phenomena have been cited as having potential ESHPF properties (especially when paired with the appropriate audio) . Additionally, portal functionality can be accessed internally via extended meditation, psychosis, and/or psychedelic/ narcotic drugs. Hyper-structurality here refers to the emergence of portal functionality from larger systems of interlocking alternate reality generators with common practices, phenomenological parameters, and general aesthetic sense . In recent years, a number of prominent neuropsychologists have begun to posit the idea that the public's unquenchable desire for items displaying ESHPF actually represents a turn away from base reality, and that our pursuit of such portals amounts to a sort of Freudian "death wish" in the form of a non-temporal nostalgic oblivion.