Wirehead is an Interactive Movie developed by The Code Monkeys for the Sega CD, and published by Sega and MGM Interactive in 1995. This game would serve as one of the last ever released for the Sega CD, and one of the platform's most ambitious full-motion video productions. A Sega 32X CD port was planned, but was canceled.
Ned Hubbard, a mild-mannered husband, and father of two kids, has the special gift of having an input device implanted into his brain, his actions and movements being controlled by the player. Nicknamed the 'Wirehead', his gift is wanted by a band of corrupt agents who want to open Ned's head and extract the device to use for their own gains. His life on the line, the player is tasked with helping Ned escape those that threaten him, whether it be a corrupt agent, police officer, or even a bear.
The game is played much like Dragon's Lair, in which the player has a limited amount of time to press the correct directional button, or correct action button, to allow the story to progress, with an incorrect choice or delayed input would result in the protagonist's death. The player is given three lives in the form of batteries. With three deaths, the player loses one battery. If the player loses all three batteries, it's Game Over and the game starts over from the beginning.
This game contains the following tropes:
- Badass Normal: Provided that you're inputting the correct actions, Ned can go from Bumbling Dad to this in an instant.
- Big Bad: Dr. Slitcon.
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Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: After safely escaping from the waterfall, Ned suddenly comes face-to-face with a random bear. Said bear never reappears for the rest of the game. - Damsel in Distress: Ned's wife and kids get kidnapped by the bad guys halfway through.
- The Dragon: Heels, the female assassin.
- Intrepid Reporter: Laura.
- Living MacGuffin: Ned is this, considering the actual MacGuffin that the bad guys are after is implanted into his brain.
- Oh, Crap!: Failure to make a selection in time will usually result in showing a close-up of Ned's eyes raising in panic before the death scene plays.
- Title Drop: Ned is referred to by some characters, and in the newspaper clippings upon losing a battery, as (the) 'Wirehead' because of the input device implanted in his brain.
