Frank West's Camera

Capcom: 2006
As a way to juxtapose the their more serious and dark zombie franchise, 'Resident Evil', Capcom took a chance and made a more light-hearted and comical take on the zombie genre with 'Dead Rising'. Focusing on a photojournalist who was sent to investigate a Colorado town that was under quarantine. While the game's humor came from the player character, Frank West, using near useless items (mannequin parts, guitars, and step ladders to name a few), a key feature of the game was using Frank's Camera to take pictures of the zombies and survivors to gain additional experience points.

Said camera mechanic carried over into the next few games ('Dead Rising 2' and 'Off the Record') as means of extra experience point collection. Additionally, Fank West's appearance in Ultimate Capcom vs Marvel featured his photography as a gameplay element.

After all the undead exposure, the artifact became imbued with the ability to transform the subject of the photo slowly becomes infected with a zombie infection. At the same time, the person taking the picture is pushed into anxiety of having an busy schedule.

Colorado: Today
TBW

Trivia

 * Note: the camera does not play well with George Romero's Director Chair due to a lawsuit filed between the two over the 'civilians fighting undead in a mall' concept.