Showing posts with label Omega Point. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Omega Point. Show all posts

Sunday, 2 February 2020

"The Good Place" [Netflix] - is it set in an Omega Point Singularity?

When I first grudgingly dipped into episode 1, four years ago, I thought it was an unlikely setting but a typically zany and shallow sitcom. Leaning on Kristen Bell's following (since staring in cult hit series "Veronica Mars")...

But it repeatedly subverted my exceptions for the better, in terms of both continual plot twists and a liberal peppering of popular philosophy references (both explicit and situational). I liked its low-key ridiculing of contemporary theological beliefs that stopped short of stomping all over religion (from my heathen point of view).

There's a perpetual ambiguity of context - the show might be attempting to dramatise an actual spiritual afterlife, but there are myriad stylistic touches that scream of technological simulation. From Janet being a high-end sentient Alexa/Siri, to computer terminology or rebooting the neighbourhood, deleting and restoring memories, etc. Also, to cosmological concepts, with regards to the non-some of the non-human characters.

So I'd actually class it as science fiction. And the best type of sci-fi, in dealing at length with serious mid-deep future issues: digital sentience (e.g. via mind uploading), infinite torture, unlimited life spans, etc. As well as the moral philosophy of day-to-day living. Big brain stuff, all wrapped up in a (potentially) popular, approachable presentation.

Spoilers: Seriously, watch the end of the show first, if you're going to!

Monday, 14 November 2011

Zeno Clash VS Arkham Asylum

Zeno Clash is the artistic antithesis of Arkham Asylum's purely derivative, design-by-committee, bland, sexiness: it is a celebration of ugliness and asymmetry; the stranger realms of "Heavy Metal" (1981) with the soft core nudity supplanted by the broken detritus of an steam punk brawl between H. R. Giger and Pablo Picasso (during his surrealist phase).

In the same vein, the storyline is impenetrably mysterious and schizophrenic, very much "Through the Looking-Glass". The entire game experience could well have just been the oddest dream you've ever had. Batman, on the other hand, is Batman; you're getting the whole multi-billion dollar franchise shoe-horned (very successfully) into a Bioshock meets Streets of Rage framework with a side helping of Assassins creed. It incorporates the current characterisation of the whole mythology quite nicely; an epic win for Batman fans (of which there are many, hence the guaranteed return necessary for investing the effort of a large game developer) but perhaps a pretty uninspiring prospect for some regular folk.


Admittedly Zeno Clash is a rail shooter corridor fighter, which makes it positively  claustrophobic compared to some of the spaces available in Arkham Asylum's sandbox-ish environment. However, it's arguable how much all that freedom adds to the game: a lack of location discontinuities does make the story more immersive, but this was balanced (for me) by constantly wondering if I was pointed in vaguely the right direction, or if I had understood correctly which part of the shopping centre island I should be rendezvousing at next. Of course, Zeno Clash is very low budget in comparison, it's creators having had to scale back from a much more ambitious project to get it done at all.

So based mostly on artictic originality, we have an early leader:
Zeno Clash 1-0 Arkham Asylum