Maybe this is a spoiler? I don’t think it is, but if you’re concerned about that kind of thing with regards to Firewatch, then...be warned.
Still with me? OK! So there comes a point fairly on in this excellent video game where you get hold of a camera. Not a fancy digital camera, not a smartphone with a camera...remember, the game is set in 1989, so you’re stuck with 1989 tech.
Instead, the camera is one of those old cardboard disposable ones. You pick it up with a few shots having already been taken, but the rest of the 24-shot reel is yours. The camera can be brought up using a d-pad, and then you just point and click.
It’s a neat experiment in virtual photography, if not a new one, since it’s hardly the first game to allow you to take photos while playing.
What is new, though, is what you can do with those photos. At the end of the game, the photos you take (along with those you found already taken by the camera’s previous owner) are displayed alongside Firewatch’s credits. And when they’re done, you’re given a link.
That link leads to a custom website (here’s mine) that shows all your photos, at full resolution, along with links to download them or share them on Facebook and Twitter.
What’s best about this page is the fact you can buy your photos! Going all in on the 1989 theme, Campo Santo have set up a system where for $15 you can send away and get sent your shots as actual photographic prints, just like the good/bad old days.
I’ve seen some neat gimmicks in my time, but this is just about the coolest. I’m pretty tempted, too...while some of my photos were taken because I wasn’t quite sure if I’d need them for some weird gameplay reason, a lot of the others turned out pretty nice!