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 Novelization 「.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 Novelization 「.hack」

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.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 friend Yasuhiko, who is known as Orca in the game. 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 then 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 Server, Aqua Capital Mac Anu
 ϴ Server, Highland City Dun Loireag

Chaos Gate and Keywords

Main articles: Infection Keywords
Main articles: Gate Hacking

Fields

Main articles: Infection Fields

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

Merchandise

Game Release

Merchandise articles: Infection PlayStation 2 Release
Merchandise articles: .hack//Vol.1×Vol.2 PlayStation 2 the Best Release

	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:	June 20, 2002		February 11, 2003		October 22, 2003		March 2, 2006
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
Rating	CERO: 全年齢対象 (All Ages)		ESRB: T		KMRB: 12		CERO: 全年齢対象 (All Ages)
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

PAL releases

	Australia		English		French		German		Italian		Spanish
Title:	.hack//INFECTION Part 1		.hack//INFECTION Part 1		.hack//INFECTION Part 1		.hack//INFECTION Part 1		.hack//INFECTION Part 1		.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:			March 26, 2004
Developer	CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.		CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.		CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.		CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.		CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd.		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
Rating	OFLC: M15+		PEGI: 12+				USK: 12
Price
Catalogue Number			SLES-52237 0109922		SLES-52237 0109915		SLES-52237 0109908		SLES-52237
UPC/EAN:			3546430109922		3546430109915		3546430109892		3546430109908		3546430109939

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.

Pre-order and Special Editions:

Korean Pre-order Edition

Korean Special Edition

Demo:

SLUS-29042 (Regular Demo)

SLUS-28023 (Trade Demo)

Liminality Ratings:

BBFO: 12 ^Liminality

BBFC: PG ^Liminality

DVDhackGER

DVDhackEUR

Version Differences

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

User Interface Changes

The PAL version starts with a language select screen and Loading screen after choosing a language, before opening the Main Menu. The language selection determines the subtitle and written language. The game starts with English audio by default and cannot be changed to Japanese audio until it is unlocked when the game is beaten. Once unlocked, players can continue onto MUTATION and the other games with Japanese audio. All other versions of the game (Japanese, US/CAN, Korea) have audio and subtitle options under the "Options" menu.

The Japanese version has a copyright date of 2002. The US version has a copyright date spanning 2001-2002 and also includes the .hack 2001-2002 Trademark. The Korean version has a copyright date of 2003. The PAL version has copyright dates spanning 2001-2004.

The Japanese and Korean title screens keep the "Vol. 1" below the logo, matching the box art and branding. The US and PAL versions have "Infection" and drop the "Part 1" used in the box art and branding.

The Japanese, US, PAL English, and Korean versions use the same stylized word choice for the Main Menu buttons. The other PAL languages translate the words into their respective languages, uses cramped tracking, and spaces between words.

Name Changes

The PAL German version uses the default name "Drachen," the German word for kite.

Ninja Knife (EN) Couteau ninja (FR) Ninjamesser (DE) Cuchillo Ninja (ES) Coltello Ninja (IT)

WING (EN) is FLÜGEL

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

^‡ PAL Version's Japanese audio is not available until completing the game.

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.