Infection

Previous Title	Current Title	Next Title
.hack//ZERO	Games Tetralogy Vol.1~Vol.4 .hack//INFECTION .hack//Liminality Liminality: In the Case of Mai Minase .hack//Another Birth Volume 1 .hack//XXXX New Testament Novel 「.hack」	Games Tetralogy Vol.1~Vol.4 .hack//MUTATION .hack//Liminality Liminality: In the Case of Yuki Aihara .hack//Another Birth Volume 2 .hack//XXXX New Testament Novel 「.hack」

.hack//感染拡大 Vol.1 .hack//INFECTION Part 1 .hack//감염확대 Vol.1 .hack//Vol.1×Vol.2 (PlayStation 2 the Best)
Regions	Japan North America PAL Korea
Languages	Japanese English French German Italian Spanish Korean
Platforms	PlayStation 2
Release Dates	2002 June 20 Japan 2003 February 11 North America 2003 October 22 Korea 2004 March 26 PAL UK 2006 March 2 PS2 The Best
Developer	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.
Publisher	Bandai Co., Ltd Bandai America, Inc. Bandai Atari Europe SASU Bandai Korea Co., Ltd Bandai Co., Ltd
Genre	Singleplayer Offline Action RPG

.hack//INFECTION is the first entry in the Games Tetralogy released for PlayStation 2. Infection and the other games take place within the fictitious MMORPG called 「The World」. Infection came packaged with a bonus DVD of the OVA .hack//Liminality, "Liminality: In the Case of Mai Minase," which shows offline events occurring relatively concurrent with the events in-game. The events in Infection are followed by Mutation.

Synopsis

 You're in their WORLD now!
 Who is Aura? What is the Book of Twilight? Why did your friend, Orca, fall into a mysterious coma? As the outlaw player, Kite, you're on a mission of truth. Take a journey into a virtual world where anything is possible, and nothing is as it appears. Fight your way through contaminated levels of cyberspace as you take on and eliminate enemies, and unlock codes that will allow you to gate travel to even more environments - all in a desperate attempt to discover who or what's behind The World.
 Embark on an epic journey to unlock the truth lurking behind THE WORLD.

 そしてカイトは手に入れた。
 データを改竄してしまうイリーガルな能力。
 仲間とチャットしながらダンジョンを冒険し、リアルではメールやBBSで攻略情報の交換が楽しめる。そんな楽しいネットワークゲーム「The World」を始めたはずだった……。しかし友達が、ユーザーたちが、ゲーム世界が、何か見えない大きな意思に引きずられ、壊れてゆく！そして僕もいつのまにか……。

Plot

Transcript of Game Events: Infection Transcript
The story follows protagonist Kite, who was invited to play the game 「The World」 by his school friend Yasuhiko, who is known online as Orca. After a chance encounter with a monster chasing after mysterious girl in white, Orca is defeated and Kite narrowly avoids the same fate. Kite's computer crashes because of the incident, leaving him bewildered by the turn of events. Kite later discovers that Yasuhiko was rendered comatose after the incident. Kite's player decides to continue playing The World in the hopes of finding answers as to why his friend is now hospitalized.
Kite turns to the BBS to see if any other players may know about the bizarre incident, but his message is quickly removed. He also receives mysterious e-mails, some which aim to help while others contain thinly veiled threats.
While in The World Kite meets and teams up with BlackRose, a newbie who has her own reasons for pursuing the truth. Before Kite can learn more of her circumstances, they are attacked by a Data Bug. Balmung appears to warn them to stay away from the monster before witnessing Kite use Data Drain for the first time. Balmung mistakenly believes that Kite is behind the corruption of data and threatens him before leaving. A mysterious woman who has been seen watching over Kite mocks Balmung for his assumptions, informing him that Kite was a friend of his partner, Orca.

Liminality

Main articles: In the Case of Mai Minase

Setting

Infection is set exclusively on the computer belonging to Kite's player character. When the game starts, it simulates booting into Altimit OS, where the player can access their desktop and log into The World.

Desktop

The desktop features a reader for emails, world news, and a video player to rewatch cutscenes. The player can customize their desktop wallpaper and background music. Wallpapers, music, and cutscenes can be unlocked through game progress, which is tracked via the Books of Ryu.

Mailer

Main articles: Infection Mailer

Throughout the game, the player receive messages from other players and system update information from CyberConnect, the developer of The World.

News

Main articles: Infection News

The game is shown entirely through the player's desktop so world building is done through reading World News. References to events in The World can be connected to events offline and the repercussions of the game's instability can be seen to gradually increase in severity.

The World

The World is the game within the game of .hack//INFECTION. It is a simulated MMORPG that allows players to enjoy a sandbox experience in which players choose how they wish to play the game on an individual level. There is no overarching goal for players to pursue outside of escapism and staving off boredom.

BBS

Main articles: Infection BBS

When players access The World's application, they can read messages from other players in the community forum known as the BBS, or Bulletin Board System. The board posts can expand the amount of areas Kite can access as well as unlock events and plot progression.

Servers

• Δ Serve: Aqua Capital Mac Anu (Games Tetralogy)
• ϴ Server: Highland City Dun Loireag (Games Tetralogy)

Chaos Gate and Keywords

Main articles: Infection Keywords

Areas

Main articles: Infection Areas

Monsters

Main articles: Infection Monsters

Items

Main articles: Infection Items

Characters

Main articles: Infection Characters

Kite	Orca	Aura	Helba	BlackRose	Balmung

Mia	Elk	Mistral	Piros	Natsume	Sanjuro	Gardenia

Production

Staff

Main articles: IMOQ Credits

Game Release

Merchandise articles: Infection PlayStation 2 Release

Version Differences

Main articles: Infection Version Differences
Main articles: Games Tetralogy Version Differences

	Japan Release	North America Release	Korean Release	PS2 the Best Re-release
Title:	.hack//感染拡大 Vol.1 (Kansen Kakudai)	.hack//INFECTION Part 1	.hack//감염확대 Vol.1	.hack//Vol.1×Vol.2 PlayStation 2 the Best
Region	NTSC-J	NTSC-U/C	NTSC-J	NTSC-J
Language	Audio: Japanese Text: Japanese	Audio: English, Japanese Text: English	Audio: Japanese, English Text: Hangul subtitle	Audio: Japanese Text: Japanese
Release Date:	2002 June 20	2003 February 11	2003 October 22	2006 March 2
Developer	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.
Publisher	Bandai Co., Ltd	Bandai America, Inc.	Bandai Korea Co., Ltd	Bandai Co., Ltd
Game Rating	CERO:全年齢対象 (All Ages)	ESRB: T	KMRB: 12	CERO: 全年齢対象 (All Ages)
Anime DVD Rating
Price	5,800 円 (Tax not included)	$49.99 USD (Tax not included)	₩ 49,500Regular ₩ 49,500Pre-order Edition ₩ 49,500Limited Edition
Catalogue Number	SLPS-25121	SLUS-20267	SLKA-25080	SLPS-73230 SLPS-73231
UPC/EAN:	4543112084477	045557180119	8809070472043	4543112415325

	Australia	English	French	German	Italian	Spanish
Title:	.hack//INFECTION Part 1
Region	PAL	PAL	PAL	PAL	PAL	PAL
Language		Audio: English, Japanese‡ Text: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish Quickstart Languages: Swedish, Finnish, Portuguese	Audio: English, Japanese‡ Text: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish	Audio: English, Japanese‡ Text: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish	Audio: English, Japanese‡ Text: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish	Audio: English, Japanese‡ Text: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Release Date:		2004 March 26
Developer	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.
Publisher	Bandai Atari Europe SASU	Bandai Atari Europe SASU	Bandai Atari Europe SASU	Bandai Atari Europe SASU	Bandai Atari Europe SASU	Bandai Atari Europe SASU
Game Rating	OFLC: M15+	PEGI: 12+		USK: 12
Anime DVD Rating		BBFC: PG BBFO: 12
Price
Catalogue Number		SLES-52237 0109922	SLES-52237 0109915	SLES-52237 0109908	SLES-52237
UPC/EAN:		3546430109922	3546430109915	3546430109892	3546430109908	3546430109939

Demos:

SLUS-29042 (Regular Demo)

SLUS-28023 (Trade Demo)

DVDhackGER

DVDhackEUR

Title

The Japanese title of this volume is 感染拡大, the Hepburn romanization of which is Kansen Kakudai, lit. "Infection Expansion" or "Spread of Infection," using language evocative of both computer viruses and infectious diseases found in nature.
The US and PAL title is the word INFECTION, stylized in all caps. Unlike the Japanese and Korean release, which uses "Vol. 1" (i.e.,"Volume 1") to delineate the order of the games, the US and PAL releases use the word "Part 1."
The Korean title of this volume is 감염확대, the Romanization of which is Gamyeom Hwakdae, lit. "Infection Expansion," from the Sino-Korean words 感 (“feel”) + 染 (“infect”) and 擴大 (“expansion”).

Notes

^‡The PAL Version's Japanese audio is not available until after finishing the game, necessitating starting the game anew.
Initially, the Korean release of Infection was planned for October 15, 2003, but was postponed to October 22. 2003 to meet a higher standard of quality. While the game has Hangul subtitles for Japanese and English audio, Liminality was dubbed for a Korean audience as well as having subtitles.

General References

• BANDAI America, Inc. .hack//INFECTION. North America Release. PlayStation 2. CyberConnect2, 2003.
• Famitsu .hack 感染拡大 Vol.1 コンプリートガイド (Complete Guide). (2003, 5th Edition). Enterbrain, Inc. Kadokawa.
• Walsh, Doug. .hack Infection Official Strategy Guide. (2003, 1st Edition). BradyGames.