NOSTALGIAMARE ENTRY 13: FLASH FILES EDITION (UPGRADED EDITION!)
(NOTE: FLASH FILES ARE NEW ENTRIES IN NOSTALGIAMARE WHERE I LOOK AT A SELECTION OF FLASH/SHOCKWAVE GAMES FROM THE ERAS I’VE STATED. I WILL ADD IN COMMENTARY THROUGH THE PLAYTHROUGHS SO AS A RESULT THESE ENTRIES WILL NOT HAVE MOD THOUGHTS-)
COMPANY/FRANCHISE: MATTEL
CATEGORY: GAME (FLASH/WEB BROWSER)
DESCRIPTION: A selection of multiple Flash browser games that were available on the My Scene website to promote the spin off Barbie doll line. These games utilised Adobe Flash and were only playable up until the doll’s discontinuation and the site’s shutdown in 2011. All of these games have been archived, but due to the discontinuation of Flash in 2021, they can only be accessible via visiting the site with either a Flash emulator or a browser that still supports Flash (Ruffle and Pale Moon). The games can also be playable via Flashpoint and/or other third party sites like Numuki.
Special thanks to @web-back-then for archiving and downloading the SWF files for these games >w0
Given that these games from the get go already have instructions, I don’t need to explain too much about the gameplay. This first game is essentially one of those browser based point and click make up games. First you choose a character (I picked Nolee) and then you go wild with your choices.
(As you can see by this beautiful nightmare, we’re off to a great start!)
There are three sections of this game to complete. There’s hair, makeup and jewellery. To select hair, you click on a style from the book, click on a hair colour, click on a hair streak and click on a barrette to choose. Barrette choices can be optional.
Next is makeup. Much similarly to hair you just click on whatever blush, eyeshadow, mascara, contacts and lipstick you want. Once again a few choices are optional.
Finally there’s jewellery choices (They spell is as “Jewelry”, which only makes me more confused on how tf jewellery is really spelled-). Again you just repeat clicking on choices, whether it be earrings, necklaces, face jewels and/or glasses. Once more choices can be optional.
(The moment of truth. Looks like a female John Lennon lol-)
Now that the game is over you can either print a makeover guide (And risk breaking your computer lol) or play again, though it depends on if you feel like its worth it.
Between 2008 to 2009, My Scene underwent a rebrand; Revamping it’s art style, adding in brand new characters and retiring old ones (R.I.P Nolee ;-;). As a result of this change, the website would also be revamped. The graphics of the site were redesigned, a new reboot of webisodes were produced and reskins of two of the original Flash games from years prior had been made available to play. One of the two being Beauty Studio.
I’m not gonna go into detail about how this version of it works since it’s pretty much the same game. All you need to know about this reskin is that the graphics were changed to fit the art style and aesthetic of the 2008 iteration of the brand, the character options are different (Including the addition of the new My Scene girl Nia) and there are a small assortment of new hair accessories and jewellery to choose from. Moving on.
Think of the previous game, but give one of it’s sections more depth and something more than just clicking on whatever. That’s Dazzling Nails, another simple cursor-capable beauty game.
Once again this game came with easy instructions so I won’t explain things too much.
All you need to do is pick a character and then go manic with the ideas. You’re given a variety of nail polish, stick on items and rings. Just click on them, move them to wherever nail you want and place them on. You can also choose a nail size in case you’re jealous of having short nails and want longer ones (haha funny joke). If you want to undo something, use the nail polish remover.
No, I do not know what I was going for.
Once you’re done, you’re given the option to play with another character or print the set of nails you just created. When they’re printed, you can cut them out and stick them on your real nails. It may seem sad but trust me, it was the closest the target demographic was gonna get to making their nails look “Cool” for a while.
From the info I found this one was actually available by accessing Chelsea’s diary on the old website, which explains why the layout looks different compared to the other 2 games. But we’ll still look at it as a main game since it was on the main games section.
Much like Dazzling Nails this is another creative fashion game that features a wide variety of designs. All you do is pick a character, use the arrows to scroll through a set of tops, bottoms, shoes and bags and click on one of the colours and patterns to colour in a certain part of those outfits.
Hmmm... Does this look familiar to me 0_0?
(ITS A JOKE BRATZ FANS DON’T GO NUTS AT ME PLS-)
Ngl I had a bit of fun with this one.
Once you are finished you’re given the opportunity to print out the designs and make a paper doll version of what you created. You know, JUST in case you guys forgot this was from a fashion doll line.
Ever wanted to feel like a professional interior designer? Well these types of games are for you. Im serious though a lot of the fashion doll line games I’ve played have a few room decorator/makeover games like this, and this My Scene game is just one of them.
You’re given two rooms to choose from, albeit a bedroom and a party room. No I do not know why they call it a party pad (I guess because it’s a room for parties which begs the question how the hell they can afford something as extravagant as that in the first place), so I went with the bedroom.
Once you picked what you want to decorate, you’re given a variety of colours and furniture to choose from. All you do is click on whichever one you want and it’ll be placed in the background. If you’re not happy with the room you can always press the very glitched clear button to start again.
Did I mention this game is kinda broken?
Once you’ve finished you’re given the choice to print out your room or try a new look. Barbie here is also generous enough to give you a present, which is a picture of herself and her friends (Of course characters and gifts differ depending on your room design). Probably either because you need to feel like you have them or she wants to rub it in your face.
This one is very simple. A game all about fashion, dressing up and screaming to the audience “BUY OUR DOLL LINE!”.
You’re given a choice between 8 different doll lines from the brand to choose from (BUY OUR DOLL LINE!). For example, I went with Bling Bling.
Then you get to use two of the characters to dress up (I went with Chelsea and Nolee).
This is where the dress up part comes in, as you’re provided a set of accessories, tops, bottoms, shoes and extra materials that all come from the specific doll line (BUY OUR DOLL LINE!). Limited clothing aside, the game still shows more creativity since we have to dress up both of them.
Once you’ve picked your choices, your characters will appear on a wide background based on the doll line (BUY OUR DOLL LINE!) and you’re also given the choice to print the scene out or try other fashions.
...Have you bought our doll line yet?
The last few games of the bunch, and I say last few for a reason. Lost And Found is a collection of 3 smaller mini games and activities compiled into one game, with each game not being found on the main games page but through the My Friends page of the website instead; Just like how the Fashion Designer game was found through Chelsea’s My Friends profile.
First there is Madison’s MP3 Player, also known as MyMusic; A Lost And Found game that could originally be played on Madison’s My Friends profile. I like to call this game a “Music loop maker”, because it works like a music video maker except that the songs included are a lot shorter and the graphics continuously repeat on a loop similarly to a GIF.
Just as the instructions say, all you have to do is pick a song, pick a background, some icons (Graphics and items that appear in the background) and characters and then presto you have your music loop. You can also instantly create a random music loop with the surprise mix button, adjust the volume and start and the stop the MP3 player at any time. You know, just in case you need some peace and quiet when the My Scene theme blasting 10 times in a row gives you a migraine.
Next we have Fortune Fun. A virtual tarot card style fortune telling game, this one could actually be found on a separate promotional website for Nolee that was launched back when she first debuted.
What you do is input your name, a question either revolving around you and your friend or you and your crush (Yes, ALL of the questions have something to do with one or the other) and the name of said friend or crush.
And then once you’ve shuffled the cards...
Your fortune is revealed, and when you’ve finished reading it you can try another or print the one you already have. The fortunes are not the most amazing or insightful words of advice and they’re always different no matter if you put in the same information, but the game admitted it’s not supposed to be taken seriously so what’s the point in digging into it?
Finally we have Barbie’s Phone, which was available to play on Barbie’s My Friends profile. At first glance from this screenshot, it looks as if this doesn’t even qualify as a “Game”. It’s just a phone that displays a slideshow of screenshots from My Scene webisodes. However, this wasn’t always the case.
Barbie’s Phone originally worked almost like a typical cellphone home screen from the 2000s, meaning there was also much more interactive features. There were messages and photos you could view, a to do list you could create, ringtone and background customisation options and even a “Shoe Sale” mini game. Unfortunately, this first version of the phone was only available during Barbie’s time as a My Scene doll. When she was was retired and replaced with Kennedy in 2006, the original iteration of the game suffered the same fate and was also replaced with the slideshow. What sucks even more is that this version was never properly archived, and so became lost media. The only things that exist of it are the few screenshots I found on the My Scene wiki such as the ones I added above this text and the slideshow version of the phone. It’s disappointing too because I would’ve loved to have played this for myself and see what the Shoe Sale game was all about. Perhaps one day the actual game will be recovered and archived in it’s fullest, but I guess we’re done here for now.
CONCLUSION: I won’t say these games offer anything new to the table as they just seem to follow the same mechanics and ideas. Customise or create a certain something with a drag and/or click. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean they aren’t nostalgic. Many have grown up with these games, and in a way they do still hold up; As they’ve showcased what could be done in the early days of Flash and web browser content. Overall they’re not big games with a lot of variety and do exist for a bit of a cash grab, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. They’re just simple and wholesome browser games from the early - mid 2000s that can make any kid intrigued for at least 5 minutes, even if they are just to sell the brand.
BEAUTY STUDIO: https://web.archive.org/web/20040715064140/http://myscene.everythinggirl.com/games/beauty_studio/beauty_studio.aspx
Remake version: https://www.numuki.com/game/my-scene-beauty-studio/
MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/9k0EVLyR
DAZZLING NAILS: http://www.gamekidgame.com/barbie_my_scene/my_scene_dazzling_nails.html
MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/1slGnSpb
FASHION DESIGNER: https://web.archive.org/web/20080330055716/http://myscene.everythinggirl.com:80/games/fashion_book/fashion_book.aspx
MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/RtEyWLyT
ROOM MAKEOVER: http://www.gamekidgame.com/barbie_my_scene/my_scene_room.html
MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/Zp80lSyJ
SHOPPING SPREE: http://www.gamekidgame.com/barbie_my_scene/my_scene_shopping_spree.html
Remake version: http://www.gamekidgame.com/barbie_my_scene/my_scene_shopping_spree2.html
MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/ZpkH3CDK
LOST AND FOUND: https://web.archive.org/web/20040727025336/http://myscene.everythinggirl.com/games/lost_found/lost_found.aspx
Separate version of MyMusic: https://www.numuki.com/game/my-scene-my-music/
Separate version of Fortune Fun: https://www.numuki.com/game/my-scene-fortune-fun/
Fortune Fun MEGALink version: https://mega.nz/folder/1hdDza4L#RHkG9kUdIhIMzEkH_-cXUQ/folder/Y81WUSAR
Separate version of Barbie’s Phone Slideshow: https://web.archive.org/web/20050316204857/http://myscene.everythinggirl.com:80/friends/barbie/barbie_phone.swf
For more info about these games and how to play them, check out my Nostalgiamare Flash and Shockwave Directory Shop: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DQ-PfElUr4hcpIhjXwJVMvFwXxmO8LWzpewNl3w1Inc/edit?usp=sharing
