Let's try something new shall we?! This is me introducing a new format to this blog. Since it's a good time as any to post some new content, I decided to do a video analysis of a video game introduction that was shown at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo. After all, what I wanted to do with this blog is discuss things in a deep, yet engaging level. So let us welcome this new format and see where it takes us.
I decided to start off with Watch Dogs because there is actually a lot to it that I'd like to see. There is definitely a lot of potential but we never know how it will turn out. In this post I will try to analyze as much as I can, give criticism and discuss what the title has to offer. With that said let's begin with the Introduction Video:
00:04 - The aesthetic choice and editing in this video are great and tie in with the who idea of connectivity the game has prepared for us. It's a consistent and yet simplistic cyber style with detailed graphical representations. We'll be seeing something similar in the main game as well.
00:06-00:11 - The event mentioned in this part of the video really happened. The Wikipedia article states the following:
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m. EDT (UTC−04). While some power was restored by 11 p.m., many did not get power back until two days later. At the time, it was the second most widespread blackout in history, after the 1999 Southern Brazil blackout. The blackout affected an estimated 10 million people in Ontario and 45 million people in eight U.S. states.I really like when works of fiction use real world events as an inspiration or part of the story. It adds more depth and authenticity while working with something we are aware of. It's simple to add to a story but difficult to present it in the right way so that it enriches your work.
00:11-00:18 - So far everything said here is a fact. In our modern day and age, blackouts are a really scary occurrence, maybe sometimes scarier than natural calamities, due to society's habituation or even addiction towards technology. I myself depend a lot on my tech. I use my laptop to write on this blog, check out the news daily and consume all kinds of media on it. I desperately rely on my cell phone and it functioning as intended when I need to call relatives or friends, as do a lot of other people. It is clear that technology plays an enormous role in our lives each day, and that's why blackouts are so frightening. Don't get me wrong, natural disasters are horrifying, but we are usually warned and try to prepare for some of them. Not in the case of blackouts though. Some power outages are scheduled and people are warned beforehand, but when the grid overloads and you may need that electricity at that exact moment, things can go very wrong very fast. Now, even though we can prepare for typhoons and similar things, we can't really prevent their devastating outcome, and there are more likely to take lives away than blackouts. It's just funny how far we've advanced in the field of technology but still can't prepare for the really scary things that are yet to come.
00:18-00:32 - From here on everything is fiction and part of the game's plot. It also shows a major concern I have for people working in such important fields. Humans are unpredictable and can make lots of mistakes. These mistakes are especially fatal if you're a brain surgeon, and the smallest twitch of your hand can change a patient's life forever. That's why we have extremely precise machines doing surgeries these days, as well as other jobs in other fields. Machines working with complex algorithms at incredible speeds are more reliable and cheaper long-term, replacing actual employees. Machines can also make mistakes and it's still possible that someday we'll create an incredibly adaptive Artificial Intelligence that becomes self-aware and tries to take over humanity. Or maybe it can actually try to fix things, improve our lives and live with humans in harmony, but that wouldn't be fun now would it?!
All and all, I think we really need to choose the right people for these types of things, and even then we still can't predict whether or not they might do something radical. That's also the reason why I find the concept of trust redundant. Actions have more weight than words and intentions ,and like I mentioned before, you can't predict the actions of chaotic lifeforms such as ourselves.
00:32-00:52 - This was mainly what I was talking about. Make an Operating System that can handle such things and hopefully do a much better job than its human counterparts. I mentioned that machines make mistakes, that's especially true for software. It, much like human beings, is unpredictable but highly capable. You can program a software to do what you want but there is never a 100% guarantee that it won't backfire. It is still objectively better to use instead of people, because it works more productively and efficiently. That said, I still wouldn't advise anyone to make a software in control of so many things that can cause catastrophic problems if not handled properly. Especially considering that software can be hacked and then controlled by the hacker for his or her motives. What if a terrorist hacked this software and used it to cause panic? It would be extremely effective because he/she'll basically gain a key to all of the city's electronics. It would be best if we had separate software for managing separate parts of a modern city, and have a manual override that only members of the staff have access to.
00:52-00:56 - "A Computer now controls a major city, but who controls the Computer?". This reminds me of the Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes", i.e. "Who guards the guardsmen?". It's also a popular phrase from the Watchmen graphic novel and movie as "Who watches the Watchmen?". It's a philosophical concept, questioning stability and corruption in certain organizations. So who does control the Computer?
00:56-01:02 - Yeah, of course, why would the government have control over this, it's always corporations and private companies. It's not really news, but money makes the world go round and sometimes these corporations have enough money to make the government look away or even give them control over such a thing. It is still a conspiracy theory with no solid evidence but it isn't completely illogical.
01:02-01:12 - In our world, the man with the most information is king. This is possibly the best way to present that,"you are no longer an individual, you are a data cluster", that's how insignificant you are to the people with the big pockets. Your personal information is a commodity sold to someone who wants to gain more power and control. Ask yourself this, what if this is reality, even without the ctOS? What if this is a reflection of what is actually happening today, showing where true power really lies? And the scariest part is that we can't do anything about it. This is a fight bigger than that of individuals, it's a fight of ideals and authority questioning political hierarchies and their legitimacy.
01:12-01:37 - There are many things that influence the choices we make nowadays. I mean, advertisements are exactly that. Some things even psychologically trick you into liking them and wanting more from them. If the people "in charge" could influence us what media to consume, then we would never have any thought-provoking or critical works of art that reflect on the problems of our lives. All of those things would be carefully controlled to the point of which you can create a blissfully ignorant society of obedient sheep that would benefit you greatly. That is a world in which I would never want to live in.
01:38-01:58 - "Because all data is interconnected", following what you do, what information you are exposed to and how you interact with everything is the best way to create the perfect psychological profile which can be used against you in any way, shape or form.
01:58-02:16 - One man can shut down an entire network and everything can be hacked. This presents the fears I was having before, but people are even aware of this and are afraid that the next "assault can do more than just turn out the lights". This may tie in with the game's message and how society lives with the knowledge that everything everyone does is monitored and used in such a way. If so, this could make for some amazing storytelling and can really dwell into the human psyche and our appreciation for privacy.
My closing thoughts on this video is that it was really well made and edited, it gave us so much information in so little time and it perfectly presented the game's themes. It is one of the best Introduction Videos I've seen and I am glad I could analyze it for you. I really think the game itself can present all the issues I talked about in a very mature and interesting way.
I am excited about the concept because it's a subject that storytelling hasn't really tackled all that well before and this is a chance to do exactly that. Next time I am going to show you actual gameplay from Watch Dogs and talk about that, but so far I am really excited about what this idea can blossom into.
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. -Ayn Rand
