A closer look

Nintendo actually owned the legal right to gaslight you through your own television set. The horror game Eternal Darkness featured a 'Sanity Meter' that, when depleted, triggered wildly terrifying fake glitches. The game would pretend to delete your save files, spontaneously lower the TV volume, or display a fake blue screen of death. Nintendo patented this specific form of psychological torment so thoroughly that no other game could legally trick players like that for decades.