Recurrent Themes in Video Games

Yes there are no doubt some recurring themes which are very strangely close to reality. I just wanted to point out Prey in particular because it goes utterly beyond in terms of extreme dehumanization and portraying helpless humans being used for food.

Most games that involve levels of dehumanization and human mutilation will do so by utilizing a glazed over or watered down version of these themes making it easier to digest by player. Not Prey. From the very beginning the game uses effective character buildup introducing the player/hero (Johnny), his grampa and girlfriend. After a full scene of character buildup including a 'pep talk' by grampa concerning the tribulations ahead, you as player are forced into a half-cocked barfight before the UFOs ascend over the bar to end the scene in a mass abduction of the reservation residents.

Prey Intro - Reservation

Scene 1 - Human Processing

Here is one that shows the actual processing of humans. WARNING. Not for faint of heart.

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=8sp_7NU_D … re=related

Just small little pin-pricks, injections. Increasing the temperature so no one knows the difference. Then you got them trapped.

I don't think all video-games are STS oriented.  There is one coming called Haze where you play a soldier that is fed a reality-enhancing fluid called Nectar that totally shifts the perception of reality.  The sun is always shining, enemies don't bleed and simply disappear like a videogame, they even go so far as to have butterflies land on your gun when you sit still long enough.  Eventually you reach a point in the game where your supply is severed and you see war for how it really is - not pretty.  You can join the "rebels" who move faster and can "feign death" which causes them to disappear to a Nectar-powered agent.  Also, using too much Nectar (or consequently shooting the Nectar supply tube as a rebel) makes the user go into a frenzy where they cannot distinguish friend or foe.  I think the Nectar-powered army is a private corporation that fights wars for governments, interesting eh?

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Halo series, but I recognized a few symbols I thought I would share. It's amazing (and awesome) that these underlying mythological concepts are being subconsciously told to millions of people. Alien forces want to unleash a dangerous organism (The Flood, interestingly, because of their religious views) that can attach itself to anything else and mutate it into a deadly member of a hive mind (the matrix theme, again) There are two groups of aliens that agree with this "Prophet of Truth", the "Brutes" and the "Grunts". I think the symbolism is pretty obvious there. The "Elites" realize this is foolish, and side with humanity. The controllable Elite is called the Arbiter, which, according to Dictionary.com is "a person who has the sole or absolute power of judging or determining" - in other words, US, the players of the game. (the Arbiter is also branded a heretic by his alien comrades) The main human character is Master Chief, which has a similar God-like connotation.

Next, my friend recently acquired the latest Half-Life installment, Orange Box. Included in the package is a short game called Portal. This game puts you in control of a test subject given a "gun" that can only create entry and exit portals. The concept becomes increasingly complex and is amazing to see in action. (here's a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb7aDZeO_MQ ) Anyways, here are the lyrics to a song played at the end of the game (you destroy the facility and this is the voice of the machine (the Companion Cube, a cube with a heart on it) that chose you for the portal gun (who would be akin to our concept of "God" or "the observer", symbolically) - Black Mesa is the scientific research facility responsible for the outbreak of hostile aliens in the original Half-Life)  The deadpan computerized comedy makes this game an absolutely hilarious puzzle.  "Query, insert-subject-name-here, does this remind you of insert-hometown-here?"  The turrets say before they shoot,"Hello, friend."

you can download the song here, it's very playful and catchy
http://itsthedoc.net/music/portal_still_alive.mp3

This was a triumph
I'm making a note here
HUGE SUCCESS
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction
Aperture Science
((see! "God" (whatever that means to you) loves us))

we do what we must because we can
for the good of all of us except for the ones who are dead
((we live on the shoulders of giants after all))
but there's no sense crying over every mistake
you just keep on trying until you run out of cake
((life is really all about making and eating delicious cake!))
and the science gets done and you make a neat gun
for the people who are still alive

I'm not even angry
I'm being so sincere right now
even though you broke my heart and killed me
and torn into pieces
and threw every piece into a fire
as they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!
((we break down our barriers and we are better for it after all))
Now these points of data make a wonderful line
((our particle nature becomes more quantum, wave-like, a line))
and we're out of beta, we're releasing on time
((beta is the normal brain-state, as kids we function much more at theta and alpha))
so I'm glad I got burned
Think of all the things we learned for the people that are still alive
((think of all those things we've learned... and very few people apply it!))

go ahead and leave me
I think I prefer to stay inside
maybe you'll find someone else to help you
maybe black mesa
that was a joke, haha, fat chance
anyway this cake is great, it's so delicious and moist
look at me still talking, when there's science to do
when I look out there it makes me glad I'm not you
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done
on the people who are still alive

and believe me I am still alive
I'm doing science and I'm still alive
I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive
While you are dying I'll be still alive
and when you're dead I'll be still alive
STILL ALIVE, still alive

I love the emphasis this rational god-like machine places on cake and being alive. So remember, you're still alive and you're gonna die but there is always more cake!