Thursday, April 25, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Bandersnatch: Straight Mind Trip
Netflix's Bandersnatch, directed by David Slade, is a side movie from the show Black Mirror, which is also on Netflix. Its a interactive, science fiction thriller that gives the viewer the power to make decisions for the main protagonist Stefan who's a gaming programmer trying to make the next big gaming hit. He comes across a fantasy novel called "Bandersnatch", he then gets the idea of turning this twisted fantasy novel into a game. In the process of making the game weird shit starts to happen. Stefan is going through a psychological epiphany about free will and reality itself. Throughout the moive, the viewer/player is making decisions for Stefan which multiple endings are influenced by these choices. This is actually one of the big topics discussed in the movie, the simple fact that free will is a form of an illusion. As the players have control of Stefan's decisions, free will does seem like an illusion. Another thing that is discussed in the movie is the effects of making a decision.
Bascially when one decision is made another alternate universe is created. So in one world a person could wear a blue shirt but in another that shirt could be green. With the previous decision being made once again another world was created. This is called the pitch fork effect, when you have multiple decisions that have an outcome. One decision can be a outcome that effects a later part in the story. Below is the story map to the Bandersnatch movie. The movie has its original ending with alternate endings and even bonus endings. I actually got to the original with him going insane and being taken to a mental facility. Another ending that I wanted to get to was the special one that related to the movie being on Netflix. This ending broke the fourth wall by making Stefan realize that the movie is actually on a streaming service called Netflix. This movie will definitely captivate its viewers with its philosophical thinking and thoughts about gaming and reality.
Overall, I believe that movies like this should appear more in netflix and even in movie theaters. This really helps the viewer get interested in the story and want to participate more to dig deeper in the story. Honestly this might be the next thing up for movies when it comes to the viewer making the decisions. Everything that the protagonists or other characters go through are in the viewers hands. That's a hefty job because the story is effected which ever path is chosen. I would reccomend this movie to those who love interactive fiction and getting towards multiple endings. This is just a great story on the power of choice. Viewers should definitely be prepared to go on a mind trip.
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Interacting and analyzing an e-lit piece titled "Coming out"
"Coming out simulator" by Nicky Case, is a mock up of a representation on what its like to come out to someone. In this piece it seems to be the main character coming out to the friend and wondering if he will be accepted by his parents or not. The player goes through the process and hangs on the edge of there seat for the outcome. Its a great to be in someone else's shoes and get a different perspective. Below is a link to see my walkthrough of the piece.
Within the piece, you are a protagonist who is coming out to their parents. It begins as you are talking to your presume to be lover. You guys started out as friends and it progressed into something more. The protagonist seems like this was his first time encountering something like this. Due to the friend/lover being more experienced, he urges you to tell your parents everything. One thing I like about most interactive fiction pieces, is that it's almost like a choose your own path game. That path is followed by how you want to tell your parents about your sexual beliefs. Also, I noticed that the family you are a part of is a different ethnicity, maybe Asian decent. It's a complete different experience. As there are multiple ways to come out, I chose the path to be upfront and tell the parents about how the main character was seeing his best friend Jack. To me this seemed like an unrealistic path because there were options that had a way to hide you really were. I just chose the not being afraid path. It might've been a result of me watching too many movies, but I believe people shouldn't be afraid of who they really are, regardless of what others think. Just stay true to yourself. As the I chose the brave way, things got out of hand, the mother was sobbing because she knew and the father just thought about punishing the protagonist. Although it seemed bad, I thought wow I give a lot of credit for those who aren't afraid to tell their truth.
Not only did this have a good story but this piece gets a bonus on its style. Everything that is said are in text box's. Which is cool because it all starts with you texting your lover Jack about coming out to his parents. He was also afraid to call Jack. Having the dialog be in text box's was in a way a millennial way of communicating. It relates to modern times and shows how things can change and how perspectives can one day change. Overall, great game would recommend that every player should listen to all three story endings. Peace Out!!!!!
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Ready Player One: Virtual Reality gets slapped with reality
In ready player one, it's a story that touches a lot on the concept of virtual reality. Its set in a dystopian world that is almost, if not, consumed by virtual reality. In the real world new outbreaks of diseases and low resources is effecting the world as it is slowly deteriorating. As a result of this, virtual reality is a way to escape reality. This virtual world is called the Oasis. It's more like a usual gaming world. You make an avatar and give yourself a gamer tag. Everything in this world the player can experience it in full effect. All five senses is used in this gaming world. When reading this it amazed me on how advance the technology was. Honestly I kind've excited for the future of virutal reality and how far it could go. Back to the story, here comes the main protaganist Wade who is one of the top gamers. He meets other gamers and most teens like him like going into the oasis to escape the real world as well. On a series note just like in the real world, people still use this platform to hide there identity.
Although virtual reality is a revolutionary way to get connected to games, it is also a gateway for people to go under false identities. This reminded me of a show called "catfish", which plays on MTV. What they is help those who want to know whether or not the person they reach out to on a social media platform is real. This show represents how powerful it can be to hold an identity and to make it relate to you in real life or someone you think you should be. Power like that obviously in the catfish show seems to land in the wrong hands. It seems like a rarity on the show to actual find someone who actually is the person they say they are. It kindve scary too because when finding love on social is that ever really a good idea? In addition when speaking about virtual reality, this is similar because your character can have any elements that you want to add on to it.
For instance, if someone is within the gaming community considers themselves as transsexual, they have the capability to be who they see themselves as in a game. This actually gives them a sense of freedom, but honesty should come in to play. Its great to see gamers wanting to escape reality, on the other hand misleading others is when there should be limits set. If the person is afraid, they should not be at fault. A lot pros and cons can come into play. Other factors like being afraid to be judged based on skin color or sex correlates to identities being hidden. In the book one of the gamers who portrays herself as a white male and is one of the best gamers. Even the main character, Wade, is a white male who seems to have the power of privilege more likely than others. We should be able to build a safe world where no one should be judged and be who they want to be. It all stops when it gets in the wrong hands. To me I support anyone who want to be true to themselves no matter what. Overall, I liked the book and I think this should stay in the interactive fiction lesson. There is so much gamers and non-gamers can learn about the virtual world, sometimes reality always catches up.
Although virtual reality is a revolutionary way to get connected to games, it is also a gateway for people to go under false identities. This reminded me of a show called "catfish", which plays on MTV. What they is help those who want to know whether or not the person they reach out to on a social media platform is real. This show represents how powerful it can be to hold an identity and to make it relate to you in real life or someone you think you should be. Power like that obviously in the catfish show seems to land in the wrong hands. It seems like a rarity on the show to actual find someone who actually is the person they say they are. It kindve scary too because when finding love on social is that ever really a good idea? In addition when speaking about virtual reality, this is similar because your character can have any elements that you want to add on to it.
For instance, if someone is within the gaming community considers themselves as transsexual, they have the capability to be who they see themselves as in a game. This actually gives them a sense of freedom, but honesty should come in to play. Its great to see gamers wanting to escape reality, on the other hand misleading others is when there should be limits set. If the person is afraid, they should not be at fault. A lot pros and cons can come into play. Other factors like being afraid to be judged based on skin color or sex correlates to identities being hidden. In the book one of the gamers who portrays herself as a white male and is one of the best gamers. Even the main character, Wade, is a white male who seems to have the power of privilege more likely than others. We should be able to build a safe world where no one should be judged and be who they want to be. It all stops when it gets in the wrong hands. To me I support anyone who want to be true to themselves no matter what. Overall, I liked the book and I think this should stay in the interactive fiction lesson. There is so much gamers and non-gamers can learn about the virtual world, sometimes reality always catches up.
As humans we have the capability of "change"......
Recently one of the pieces that I looked at was called "Maybe Make Some Change" by Aaron Reed. It was an e-lit piece about how in the late 2000's there was a huge presence of US soldiers in Iran and Afghanistan. As a result there were many instances in insubordination within the platoons. An issue of unlawful killings motivated by profiling the indigenous people there as threats due to recent terrorist events. Also, I don't know exactly but there had seem to be some psychological factors involved as well. Many soldiers within their platoon were afraid to tell and kept their mouth shut about it. Well that type of soldier is representing within the game and it's based on a real story.
To represent this real world issue within a interactive format, the player starts out as a soldier and apparently this soldier seems to be on trial because the background noise is the actual soldier who witness everything speaking. Also, there are multiple voices speaking of the events that occurred. Some of them sound like lawyers or some legal people in a certain position to speak about it. There are news segments used as background noise as well. Certain actions can be used in order to progress through the game. One thing that pointed out to me about this piece is the first action you have to do is shoot. This specific action right there explains the whole purpose of the piece. Without using any other actions they shoot first and ask questions later. As the player it was hard for me to keep to keep typing in the shoot command. Honestly this part really pulls the player in the soldiers shoes. Once the "shoot" command is used a couple times then comes hear. Hear almost seem like you were a witness to it instead the one committing the killings. Is to say the player hears it but can't do anything. Then I think comes warn. Warn still seemed like the witness to me and maybe even the victims point of view. Various actions come available to the player as they progress throughout the piece.
Make Some Change Walkthrough
E-lit pieces like these are more effective on a interactive format. As stated before we got a small dose of what it feels like to be in an soldier shoes around that time. It was as if we were actually acting out the actions we put in. Honestly as a reader and writer, I think interacted with a story like this is better than reading it. Being able to interact with stories looks like is the future for literature. The future looks bright for e-lit, especially if pieces such as this are being created.
To represent this real world issue within a interactive format, the player starts out as a soldier and apparently this soldier seems to be on trial because the background noise is the actual soldier who witness everything speaking. Also, there are multiple voices speaking of the events that occurred. Some of them sound like lawyers or some legal people in a certain position to speak about it. There are news segments used as background noise as well. Certain actions can be used in order to progress through the game. One thing that pointed out to me about this piece is the first action you have to do is shoot. This specific action right there explains the whole purpose of the piece. Without using any other actions they shoot first and ask questions later. As the player it was hard for me to keep to keep typing in the shoot command. Honestly this part really pulls the player in the soldiers shoes. Once the "shoot" command is used a couple times then comes hear. Hear almost seem like you were a witness to it instead the one committing the killings. Is to say the player hears it but can't do anything. Then I think comes warn. Warn still seemed like the witness to me and maybe even the victims point of view. Various actions come available to the player as they progress throughout the piece.
Make Some Change Walkthrough
E-lit pieces like these are more effective on a interactive format. As stated before we got a small dose of what it feels like to be in an soldier shoes around that time. It was as if we were actually acting out the actions we put in. Honestly as a reader and writer, I think interacted with a story like this is better than reading it. Being able to interact with stories looks like is the future for literature. The future looks bright for e-lit, especially if pieces such as this are being created.
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